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.
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.
It’s been months since ASAP Rocky and Famous Dex shocked everyone with their collaborative record “Pick It Up”. From then to now, the song has accomplished so much. A gold certification, more than 93 million streams, and it’s landed it’s own spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It’s about time they put out a visual! Throughout the clip, Rocky and Dex post up at a New Jersey flea market looking through goods and mingling with pretty ladies. Show Jersey some love yall, watch this AWGE/Hidji Films – directed video below… this song is FIRE.
The rap group Migos, have been under fire this week due to Offset’s homophobic lyric on YFN Lucci’s new song “Boss Life.”
You can hear the song here:
Offset rhymes: “Pinky ring crystal clear, 40k spent on a private Lear / 60k solitaire / I cannot vibe with queers.” The term “queer” is not a term that should be taken lightly since it is very offensive to the gay community, which made his LGBT fans quite angry. Although rappers have used the term “faggot” in songs, “queer” hits lower than that in 2017 and new listeners were not so happy with his ability to just throw this term around. Also, the Migos have been accused of being homophobic in the past when they reportedly refused to perform onstage with drag queens during Katy Perry’s SNL performance of “Bon Appetit.”
After fans took to Twitter, The rapper Offset—a member of the hip-hop group Migos- issued a statement on Instagram after getting slammed for the homophobic lyric. He stated that it wasn’t meant to be homophobic and screenshotted a dictionary definition of the word “queer” that means “strange or peculiar.”
Overall, this might be a case of fans being overly sensitive since it was in fact just a lyric and not an attack on someone’s entire identity. This generation has the tendency to make a small thing into something much bigger. They tend to go crazy on social media and jump on the bandwagon without even knowing the full story, which has been displayed in this instance. So what do you think? Do you believe that the Migos are homophobic or just misguided? The apology did seem sincere, but was it due to the black lash? I would say we should keep listening to the Migos, but they should just become more mindful of the lyrics they put in their songs, or they might fade out.
The Bronx rapper Cardi B took 2017 by storm when her track “Bodak Yellow” dropped June 16, 2017, by Atlantic Records. In the three months since the debut of “Bodak Yellow,” the song climbed all the way to No. 2 on the Hot 100. VH1’s reality series Love and Hip-Hop made her a cultural phenomenon and she capitalized on this to its fullest extent. She went from the woman who made the vine “A Hoe Never Gets Cold” to top the Billboard charts, which was an unexpected gift that we keep thanking her for. This was pretty shocking and exciting to see a female rapper, besides Nicki Minaj getting so much attention and praise.
Watch Cardi’s famous vine here:
“Bodak Yellow” became one of the highest-charting songs by a solo female rapper since Nicki Minaj‘s “Anaconda,” which reached the same peak in 2014. Should Nicki be scared that Cardi is going to take her place? When there is a clash of interests, much like Nicki’s feud with Remy Ma, when Remy dropped “ShETHER,” on February 25th, 2017. Nicki responded by teaming up with her Young Money crew by releasing “No Frauds” on March 14th, 2017. Nicki also has a history of disliking the previous queen of the rap game, Lil Kim. Nicki has a lot of bad history with other female rappers but she seems to have a liking towards Cardi B, which could be a result of actual fear. But I believe that Nicki is rooting for Cardi and taking her under her wing since Minaj has always been a proud feminist. It would be hard to take Nicki’s spot when she already has 15 top 100 tips on the Billboard Top 100. Migos, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B even released a song together, “Motorsport” on Dec 7, 2017.
Cardi B just dropped her latest single, “Bartier Cardi” ft. 21 Savage on December 22, 2017, and it is showing a lot of promise. She also just released a feature with Bruno Mars called, ‘Finesse’ that has jumped from just outside the Top 40, all the way to No. 3. Cardi seems to be getting bigger and better, which is only a positive. Love her or hate her, she is doing so much for the rap community and for female rappers that want to come up in the game. Nicki Minaj has been one of the only female rappers that have been on the charts for the last eight years, and I think we have grown tired of the same few rap verses on every pop song. Nicki’s verses have been played out and have been showing a lack of creativity, especially on her verse in “Swish Swish.” At least when we turn on the radio we will get more variety and another voice in this genre. I’m glad we can hear the phrase “money moves” besides “pussy on your sideburns” for once, and maybe this might make Nicki step up her game as well.
