Every album Rihanna puts out breaks the barriers of what we thought we could expect from her. Not only has she completely redefine herself she has the music to back it up.
But Rihanna and N.E.R.D’s new track “Lemon” goes even further than that. At first listen, I didn’t even know it was Rihanna since she has never done rap before. It is a pleasant surprise that actually works. She is now going outside her genre of pop to show us even more of talent she possesses. Being able to do other genres, and have it work is the sign of a true icon.
An artist that evolves, is an artist that stays. “Lemon” officially landed Rihanna’s 50th Top 40 single. The only female artist that is ahead of her is Taylor Swift who has 55 Top 40 singles. Rihanna is currently tied with The Beatles and has surpassed Madonna who has 40. Who knows how long Rihanna’s rain will continue? Based on the last 13 years I would predict it not only is here to stay but to thrive. Anti truly marked her as an icon, and “Lemon” is shoving it in everyone’s faces.
The Migos, the hottest thing to happen in 2017, have just released their new single from their new record “Culture 2.” The Migos formed in 2009 and the group is composed of the rappers Quavo, Offset and Takeoff. Although they were formed in 2009, they really had their big break when they released their second album, “Culture” in January 2017. It received a lot of praise and debuted on top the Billboard 200 chart. After this point, one could not turn on the radio without listening to “Bad and Boujee”, which stayed for 36 weeks on the chart. Following this success, they almost defined and created a new style of rap, which includes mumbling and a sauvé style, comparable to Yung Thug. Now that they are so big, the expectations are high. So what can we expect from this new single entitled, “Supastars?”
At first listen, it doesn’t seem very original and it is definitely not as good as “Bad and Boujee.” The main problem with this song is that it doesn’t have a strong chorus that draws the listener in. The chorus also has three lines of just saying, “yeah”, which can get boring. It also doesn’t have a significant beat change in the chorus, which makes it hard to figure out where the chorus actually is. It is more of a freestyle that lasts five minutes with no central theme, which is a tad too long. Quavo also appears to have the most lines in the song, which is starting to become a trend. I would love to see Offset and Takeoff have more of a contribution on this album.
The background vocals of “yea”, “got it, got it”, “real”, “style” along with other call-outs, only detracts from the song since it is used too frequently, even for the Migos. It is almost like these background expressions are trying to make the lyrics more strong when it just doesn’t have a well-crafted component.
They are sticking to what they know, but the problem with that is that it doesn’t have the quality of being a stand out track. They have influenced the rap game, but this certainly isn’t as revolutionary.
This song is a lot better than a lot of what other artists are doing in the game right now, but I expected more from them. The song doesn’t have that star quality to send it to the top of the Billboard charts. Some would say I am being too critical but they have set this high of a bar for themselves, and only on their second album. Overall, the song doesn’t live up to my expectations and I hope that they have more variety on the full album.
It’s truly powerful to see the effect that Logic has done for his fans. He is showing that everyone struggles with depression, even when they are famous, they can still feel down. It is hard to tell what someone is going through since we all have our own personal battles but the most important thing to remember is that we are all human.
Now with the success of this song, he has a bigger and wider audience. In my opionion this wasn’t the rapper’s best song, due to the repetitive chorus but it did send him to instant stardom. I love seeing celebrities that use their platform for good, and also to put out quality content along with the message. The ripple of this song has caused quite the storm of people being more open about their mental health, and not being afraid to get help when they need it. We are one step closer to bringing the rate of suicide down. We truly only have this one life to live- might as well live it, even through the bad.
Rich Brian (previously known as Rich Chigga), Kris Wu, Trippie Redd, Joji and Baauer join forces in this posse-cut collaboration, with their song, “18” that was released, along with the video, on January 18, 2018.
Watch the Video Here:
This marks the first collab with these artists and they mix perfectly. Each of these artists has received a lot of views on their solo stuff and are definitely up and coming musicians. They all have gained popularity through the use of the internet and their capitalization of Youtube. Joji was actually the artist who actually started the Harlem Shake trend back in 2012.
All of these artists are exceptionally creative people, which has produced this combination of a fast paced and high energy video for “18.” The official music video directed by Alex Lee and Kyle Wightman of BRTHR films, who also previously worked with Travis Scott and The Weeknd. The video combines all their creative brilliance into a neon love child, with lasers in space and cute alien girls that serve as perfect background energy. The diversity of these artists is what is missing in rap and music today. Expect this video to get millions of views in the next month, because it is certainly impressive.
The English rock band formed in 2002, The Arctic Monkeys have just made an announcement that they are releasing a new album sometime this year. This has been a long wait since their album “AM” that was released September 9th, 2013. It’s been a four-year wait, that everyone has been anticipating. The bar is set pretty high since “AM”, was the biggest-selling vinyl of the decade so far. I am hoping that their new album has some of their old sounds in it, like “Cornerstone,” “505” and their biggest hit, “Fluorescent Adolescent.” “AM” was a different sound for the band, that worked out perfectly and gave cool elements to the band. I do miss their old sytle, but didn’t get as much traction in comparison. It was almost like they were mirroring the energy from the book “The Outsiders.” I wonder if they will continue with this style since it seemed to be working so well and they did sell 2 million copies of their record worldwide in a year.
Also the band The 1975 have announced the follow-up to 2016’s “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It.” Their debut album “The 1975” came out in 2013 and certainly took the indie scene by storm. They brought something entirely new to the indie scene with their songs have the set up of primarily music instead of vocals, but made sure their lyrics had a huge impact. They have the theme of being light but having heavy lyrics. This can be best displayed by their song, “Menswear.”
These two bands that have done so much for the indie music scene, which has had a huge influence on anyone who has come after them. They are able to take their individual style and make a revolution out of it. In 2013 when both their albums were doing well, people started to also change their wardrobes to fit the style of their music. I am wondering if we are going to have a revive of 2013 in 2018. Time has changed but the power of their music and influence has not. Hopefully, they can bring the creativity of their old albums and apply that to their new projects. Even though the indie scene has always been kind of annoying with their ability to seem “cooler” and better than other “normal” people, but that is just how certain fans react to it, especially the fans on Tumblr. Overall, the power to influence the public’s styles, music tastes and lifestyles is something that speaks volumes and says a lot about the power and reach of these bands. I can’t wait to listen to their new realeases.
Rapper Post Malone got his first big break in February 2015, after the release of his debut single “White Iverson.” In August 2015, Malone landed a record deal with Republic Records, which helped him drop his first album entitled “Stoney” which was released in 2016. For a new artist, he is certainly getting a lot of buzz. His single “Rockstar,” tallies a ninth (nonconsecutive) week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, with 55.3 million U.S. streams, in the week ending Nov. 23. It also makes twin 5-4 rises on Digital Song Sales, which it led for a week, with 58,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 23, and on Radio Songs, with 86 million in all-format audience in the week ending Nov. 26.
Some could write him off as a wannabe white rapper who doesn’t know what he is getting into but after listening to his full album “Stoney”, those judgments fly out the window. The album starts off with “Broken Whiskey Glass” which has a western vibe to the song. His lyrics paired with the haunting production gives the song an element of mystery. It is almost like he is dissociated since he is living life in the fast lane, but seems to not actually remember it. It is a great start to the album that shows he has much more variety than what “Rock Star” entails.
“Big Lie” is a fun song that makes the listener want to dance and hold their drink up. It holds the quality of having fun but also being reminded of a past love who wasn’t honest with you. The tone of this song portrays still living your life and being confident in your own truth. “Deja Vu” is his collaboration with Justin Bieber that is a fun catchy song with flirty elements and lyrics. Basically, one can’t help but blush to this song. “No Option” is one of the stand-out tracks with a beat that makes you bob your head and turn it up full blast. The song’s best lyrics is in the chorus when he sings, “You know, baby, you don’t get a free pass, So I told her “ass, gas or grass.” Then it goes into a fast paced beat.
“Cold” is a play on words that make you feel like you have as much money as Malone does. This is a great transition to “White Iverson” where he sings about owning who you are and being confident about it. The next track “I Fall A Part” is even bigger than him and all of us. The lyrics and the musical production make a song that perfectly describes heartbreak. Although many artists and songwriters have primarily stuck to the topic of love for years, I haven’t heard a song quite like this that makes you feel the pain and the hurt all over again. The vocals that Malone puts in this song can show the raw passion of hurt that he feels. The song speaks for itself with 11 million views on a track that wasn’t even a single.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a66clRobKI
The tracks “Patient,” “Go Flex,” “Feel” and “Too Young” that follow are exceptional. They carry the tone of having fun, but also feeling vacant within the experience. Each song has its own quality and is in no way repetitive. Nothing on this album is a filler song, which makes the album so strong collectively. After that, we get the hit “Congratulations” which isn’t even the best song on the album. The following tracks are “Up There” “Yours Truly, Austin Post,” “Leave,” “Hit This Hard,” and “Money Made me Do it.” These tracks all have to do with smoking, but it’s more than that. He is able to correlate the high one feels with the celebration of life. The lyrics can be silly but the underlying meaning and tone goes deeper. The album ends with “Feeling Whitney” which is a stripped down track which Malone sings, “To each their own and find peace in knowing, Ain’t always broken, but here’s to hoping.” It is a great end to the album that is hopeful and ties together the party and emotional elements that convey his highs and lows in his life, ultimately having peace in the chaos.
Although Post Malone only has one album out, it has spoken to such a high degree and set a huge bar for his next album, and other rappers in the game. He is extremely versatile and a huge threat to artists that are not nearly on his level, musically and spiritually. He is able to convey the traditional aspects of rap such as drinking, smoking and having money but also find places in songs to convey his distaste for life, heartbreak and longing. This creates a perfect combination for a rock star. I am patiently awaiting his next album which is said to come out sometime next year to see what else he has to offer and expand on. This is certainly an amazing start and he is destined to change the game.
