"Why Do You Like Kpop, You're Black" - Indigo Detry
Indigo is a creator that I've been enjoying for quite some time now, and hearing her thoughts as a longtime fan of kpop provides me with more context as a someone with more experience. As a black fan myself, this question has come up and the way that Indigo seems to approach the inquiry herself I feel mirrors much of my own. When it comes to culture, especially African-American culture, appreciation/appropriation is always a conversation that is inevitable to wrestle with when it comes to kpop and there's a lot of nuance that must be considered with it. Ultimately, it does come to each person's individual guidelines, but I think it helps to hear multiple perspectives, like the one I recommend here.
Favorite Comeback
Nail - Yves
She did it again! I tell you, Yves is on an absolute tear!! This is certainly going to be one of my favorite title tracks from her ever and I already had high praise for some of her last singles. Yet, it doesn't end there, since the album itself is quite an enjoyable listen. She continues to explore the varied styles of electronic and alternative pop in ways that are so pleasing to the ears, in my opinion. My favorite song is still the title, though. If you need a taste, the best morsel is to start here to whet your appetite.
Favorite Interview
Kehlani on Complex News
Kehlani had a lovely interview with Complex News, as well as Sway in the Morning, but it all marks the release of her self-titled album. She takes these great interviews to sit down and connect with her audience, and in this case, the interviewer. The openness and determination to also reinforce the importance of bringing the soul back into mainstream R&B has been much appreciated. I always love getting into the heads of creatives and their creations when they release. I think this was a fun one to explore right before diving head first into the stellar album.
Nardwuar is truly an interview savant! Tyler the Creator is such a music nerd! Combine the two in a record store that love to collect all the music goods of the past and you get quite an amazing video. Nardwuar, as usual, goes into deep connections to Tyler's past and interests in ways that still amazes him. Though hearing and seeing Tyler geek out over not only the gifts prepared for him, but the other merchandise in the venue as well was fascinating. You can't go wrong with a Nardwuar video, so give it a watch.
Favorite R&B Song
Everything - Kehlani
The entirety of Kehlani's Blue Water Road album is phenomenal, but one of my absolute favorites is "Everything". The simplicity of its production with arpeggiating guitar and wonderful vocals of Kehlani, paired with the touching lyrics make me fall in love. Honestly, this is an entrancing song that just makes me want to put it on repeat and drift away in the feeling it emotes with such ease. The video is above for you to enjoy, but give the whole album a listen if this tickles your fancy!
Favorite Kpop Video Essay
The History of f(X) - Midnight Theories
As a still Kpop baby, I love watching video essays about groups I don't know much about. This is especially true for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd gen groups. Although I have already taken the time to listen to f(X)'s entire discography, I haven't looked into how they were received in the moment. This channel, as typical, goes into depth about the group and all of their influence on the Kpop industry. I've heard before that f(X) were quite an important yet poorly supported group from SM, but this put everything into perspective. If you're a 4th gen newbie like myself, you might want to give this a watch to learn a thing or two.
Favorite Rap Album
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers - Kendrick Lamar
I have a full review of this to come, so above I just have the pre-release music video, "The Heart Part V". The impact of this video alone is enough to have importance of mentioning here. The deep-fake technology at work here is expertly used to drive home the point of view of each prominent figure presented. All leading to how the view of the culture from Lamar's eyes, and possibly even the "cameos", has changed over time. This is an excellent precursor to how this macro look at his environment lends itself to look into the micro internally, which is what the album delves into. All the things surrounding the album is something to be in awe over, though some aspects may make outside ears uncomfortable. It will undoubtedly stand as an enduring work of art.
When this project was announced, I instantly lit up with joy. If you don't already know, Stik Figa is one of my hometown legends and has been carrying the torch for Topeka in the underground for a while. When I heard that this project was another one backed by Mello Music Group, I became even more ecstatic because these connections would push their music even further than before.
Speaking of the music, Stik Figa puts you in the mind of the everyman in Topeka, Kansas. He displays his skills as an emcee as he delivers punchlines and paints you pictures of his surroundings and how that environment has affected not only himself, but the fellow townsfolk as well. This is all placed over a generally classic boom bap soundscape with the one experimental rap entry, "James Lemonade" featuring independent stars Homeboy Sandman & Quelle Chris. Other featured artists, such as Elzhi & Rappin 4-Tay, bring their full set of skills, too, adding to the project's enjoyment factor.
In conclusion, anybody who digs the roots of hip hop should find this album a quality buy. Its runtime is concise and doesn't lend itself to any filler, so every song definitely hits its mark. Yet, my personal favorites would have to be "Cold", "James Lemonade", & "The Ends & Outs". The lyrical prowess of this emcee is on full display with this release and it's certainly capable to make it Stik's time in the limelight.
I became privy to Kehlani a long while back due to a collaboration with one of my favorite artists, Dyme-A-Duzin. They did a R&B track that brought me back to the days I grew up with the genre. I soon decided to look her up and found her rather talented, but the You Should Be Here project grabbed me the most. That was a few years later and since then, I kept up with her single releases on the road to this major label debut with anticipation.
This album reinforced what I believed she had the potential to achieve. She writes and performs songs with a very clear and honest voice. It's all delivered in a way that fuses the throwback feel of 90's/early 00's R&B and today's contemporary take on the sound. This brings a very nice ride with variety as she embodies the album title with each topic. She tells tales of love, lust, trust issues, her musical ambitions, & more. The only gripe may be the length of the track list, despite there not being many misses.
To me, she's an artist that reminds me of heavily hip hop infused R&B artists like Mya, Ciara, Aaliyah, & Amerie. Some tracks that have entered my heavy rotation are "Undercover", "Personal", "Not Used to it", "Everything is Yours", "Do U Dirty", & "In My Feelings". Honestly, this is a very solid debut and warrants a listen for any contemporary R&B fans. I would find it hard not to become infatuated by this sweet, sexy, savage debut.
Various Artists - Suicide Squad: The Album (2016, USA) Rating: 3/5 Favorite Tracks: Heathens, Standing in the Rain, Gangsta, Slippin' Into Darkness
After seeing Suicide Squad, a movie I've surprisingly haven't reviewed yet but will, I had to hear this awesome soundtrack everyone was talking about. It's not very often that I hear positive commentary about more mainstream movie soundtracks. It also helps that a certain little song I had been repeating a lot was on it and I wanted to own it. So, here we are with a soundtrack review for a movie I look forward to sharing my thoughts on...after I see that extended cut.
The first track on the album, "Purple Lamborghini" by Skrillex and Rick Ross, was a song I first heard on a Rap Critic review. Not being a big fan of either of them, I was curious what he had to say about the song, especially with a title like that. I also thought it was an interesting mash-up of talent, so that added to my curiosity. For an opening track, it definitely presents some good build up and energy to get you into the feel for the movie and the album. For the most part, I agree with Rap Critic's opinion on the content of this song. Rick Ross's lyrical content kinda doesn't understand its subject matter, but Skrillex's beat backs up Ross's cocky delivery with an intense fusion of hip-hop and almost grungy dubstep elements, especially when the beat drops and the chorus kicks in. Yeah, I totally understand that feeling of wanting to headbang to that; it's practically the best part of the song. I think without Skrillex's addicting beat, this song would've fell flat and simply be another brag rap with no connections to the movie. Of course, if you watch the music video, it does pull you into the moment of Joker in the club and being a boss for sure.
"Sucker for Pain" by Lil' Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons, Logic, Ty Dolla $ign, and X Ambassadors is the next track on the album. Most of these artists I'm not that thrilled about, meaning I don't care for their music much. There are a couple I'm not familiar with, meanwhile one of them disappointed me quite a bit when I went to explore their sound beyond what was airing on the radio. Much like the first track, I was curious how all these different artists would sound like together. The song has a surprisingly smooth rock sound that doesn't overpower the rap verses from each rapper, but emphasizes the chorus sung by Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds. The melody softens just enough during the verses, except a bit of the bass, but doesn't distract from the content. Paying attention a little more as I watch the music video for this review, some of the transitions in the later half of the song seem kinda off to my ears. After Lil' Wayne's verse, it goes to Wiz and it just sounds kinda off to me like something was cut to make the song shorter, then there's that last part that leads to the fade which seemed a bit random to me.
Now for the reason I really wanted to check out this album: Twenty One Pilots' "Heathens". Honestly, I think this is the first song I heard from the soundtrack and it made me really curious what this hot new-ish band had to offer and why they were so damn popular last year. All bias aside, I think this song represents a perfect balance of darkness and melancholy that the movie offers for certain characters. There's something about this song that just really knows what's appropriate for a movie. Even looking at the music video, it just matches it so perfectly. Not only is this song earwormy as hell like their other hit songs "Ride" and "Stressed Out", but for me being a new listener to the duo, it just seems like a slightly different side for them. I love the soft, uncertain vocal delivery and the nice balance between all the instruments. Clearly, a very solid song that you just can't get enough of.
Next up is "Standing in the Rain" by Action Bronson, Mark Ronson, and Dan Auerbach. I've heard of Action Bronson through best of lists by Rap Critic and commercials on Viceland, but never searched out his music, while Mark Ronson is someone who most people, including myself, have only heard of because of his collaboration with Bruno Mars. I've also haven't heard much from Dan Auerbach's group The Black Keys, but the little I've heard was alright. I must say the tone of this song kinda matches the feeling of the movie, like "Heathens". Action Bronson has a pretty confident and enjoyable flow to his words and I like the retro sound and perfectly balanced sample from Oran "Juice" Jones' "The Rain" I'm sure Ronson provided. I also enjoy the hard hitting sound of the verse transitioning to this Pulp Fiction-esque vibes I get from the vocals. It's really chill and I should probably listen to this song more often.
A surprising gem I've quickly grown to love quite easily was Kehlani's "Gangsta". Taking the role of Harley Quinn in the music video, I feel like this song is very appropriate for that point of view. I really love this music video and how it interlaces Kehlani's relationship with her mysterious gangsta with Harley and Joker. I feel like the tone of the song doesn't completely glorify this kind of relationship; it's almost like a dangerous addiction that she probably needs to get away from, but can't because it feels so right. I love the contrast of her confident vocals with the hard hitting trap beat during the verses and then it softens to this vulnerable, dream-like singing in the chorus. It's quite a treat that's definitely too short. Every time I listen to it, I keep wondering where's the rest of the song! The good thing about this song is that it made me check out more of Kehlani's work and I learned a little something about her from BlipMasta5 as well.
"You Don't Own Me" by Grace featuring G-Eazy is another sampled track featured on this album. I think the first time I listened to this song, I passively listened to it simply thinking it was a cover and really...it kinda is. It has a few modern musical tweaks to it, adding more bass and vocal reverberations...oh yeah and unremarkable rapping by G-Eazy. Now I know what Todd in the Shadows meant in his Worst of list for last year. The video isn't anything special, just the two of them performing in a sound studio. Listening to this song for the second time and looking up to see that this video exists on YouTube made me understand why a no rap version exists. Grace's voice is quite pleasing to the to the ears. Her vocal styling is very similar to the original singer Lesley Gore, but she does manage to try to put a little of her own personality in it as well. In short, pretty good cover sans G-Eazy.
By using Grace's cover as a gateway or divider for new and old material, the album presents an Eminem gem from 2002. "Without Me" is a good song for chaotic superheroism, if you go back to the music video. It remains an enjoyable and amusing song from Eminem and gives me flashbacks of TRL and the days when MTV played music videos in the day time. I guess this could represent the fun vibes of the movie and the video does parody comics. I'm sure not many young people will understand some of the references in the lyrics or even the pop culture mockery in the video, but for people around my age will still find amusement and even a bit of nostalgia from listening to this off beat track from our favorite white rapper Eminem.
Next up is Skylar Grey's "Wreak Havoc" with a hard hitting electro-pop track. It definitely fits the chaotic and aggressive tone of the movie and kinda goes well with our first track. I've heard of Skylar, but I don't think I've explored her music very much. Judging by this one song, her voice is quite nice during the lead up to the instrumental chorus. I kinda like the chasing feeling she has to her voice in the verses. At times she kinda reminds me of Natalia Kills. The song has a very predatory feel to it and it makes me want to start a battle or something, which I think is appropriate for the soundtrack. Another female artist I'm somewhat familiar with, Grimes follows up with "Medieval Warfare". Unlike Skylar Grey, I have listened to her music beyond her contributions to this soundtrack album. I honestly should listen to more of her stuff beyond the few music videos I've watched on YouTube. Anyway, this song is a heart pounding electronic track with some very angelic and subtly haunting vocals from Grimes. I love the hurried feeling of the instrumental, the taunting guitar sounds, and the slight bump of bass. The song kinda gently pumps you up with the contrast of soft vocals and aggressive beat. I kinda wish I could hear more of her voice on top of this hard sound, but overall it's quite an enjoyable track.
I want to say that the cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Panic! At the Disco was used in some of the movie's promotional material, but it's possible that the original by Queen could've been used instead. I must say that this was very good cover to the iconic Queen track. Yes, cover, children! Panic! At the Disco did not write this song. Anyway, they did a very good job keep the integrity of the original while subtly making it their own, especially in the vocal department. Good job, guys!
Since this album wants to bring the old with the new, we have War's "Slippin' into Darkness". This was an almost surprising track to reminiscence on while listening to this album, but I could see this fitting with Deadshot or Killer Croc's characters to some extent. Of course, this song is a classic and I remember hearing this track as a kid. The funk soul beat never fails to make me feel like a badass from the 70's while walking down the street like Jackie Brown. Another oldie, but a goodie comes from Creedence Clearwater Revival with "Fortunate Son". This classic rock track always makes me think of dusty roads, motorcycles, and bar fights. I guess I could see this as a song for our squad to band together, getting ready for their fight, or Rick Flag gathering the squad together and shouting out orders. This short track is appropriately placed toward the end with the psychedelic funk that War has given us previously.
Lastly, the soundtrack closes out with "I Started a Joke" by ConfidentialMX featuring Becky Hanson, which I think is a cover from the Bee Gees. It's definitely a softer and more orchestral oriented version with Becky's vocals softly echoing throughout the song. Her voice is almost drowned out by the gentle swelling of the music, which is kinda unfortunate because her voice is quite nice. It doesn't quite mesh too well with the previous tracks sound wise, but as far as old songs and covers go, it does belong in this section of the album.
Suicide Squad: The Album is a pretty enjoyable soundtrack. I like that they divided the new from the old and gave people familiar with the older tracks some relief if they didn't enjoy some of the newer stuff. The collaborations featured on this album were very interesting and I can't see them working together outside of anything like this, in my opinion. They did manage to produce some quality tracks that I could mostly confidently recommend to my friends and family, but I know that there are some tracks I know I won't be returning to for a while. On the negative end of the spectrum, the rappers I'm familiar with musically that I don't care for produced the quality what I expected, but their collaborators made up for their flaws. Also, the couple tracks that I enjoyed musically, I wished didn't drain out their singers (i.e. Grimes and Skylar Grey). Nonetheless, I think the album fits the tone and attitude that is Suicide Squad.
