What I’ve Been Listening To, 8/11/20
What I’ve Been Listening To, 8/11/20
FIRST EDITION!!
Welcome friends (and strangers? probably not yet) to my first substack post. I’m just going to jump right into it but I’ll talk context at the end for those interested.
Dizzy Strange Summer - Genevieve Artadi
16 tracks, 47 minutes
Released: July 17th, 2020
From: Los Angeles, California
Genres: Electronic, Pop, R&B, Soul
Recommended For Fans Of: Flying Lotus, Thundercat
Dizzy Strange Summer is Artadi’s first release under Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, and sonically it makes perfect sense. While she creates a sound that’s entirely her own, influence from Lotus and her fellow Brainfeeder artists can be heard. The record is her first project that’s entirely self-produced, and like the cover, it showcases sporadic and ever changing glimpses into Artadi’s life. The songs were written at a point in which “I was pretty lost… but enjoying feeling lost,” she said in the album’s Bandcamp description. Constantly shifting through upbeat electronic tracks, slower more soulful cuts, and even touching on some country sounds with Is What You Believe, there’s something for everyone here.
Standout Track: Living Like I Know I’m Gonna Die
Kind - Thanya Iyer
11 tracks, 42 minutes
Released: July 31st, 2020
From: Montreal, Québec
Genres: R&B, Alternative, Folk Pop, Jazz
Recommended For Fans of: Raveena, Amber Mark
KIND is a tender album, that carefully (and expertly) navigates difficult areas of self-care, self-reflection, and healing. The project features an incredible range of instruments from song to song with instances of trumpet, flute, trombone, harp, accordion, violin, saxophone, and much more. As a listener, it’s easy to tell that every moment on this record was made with deep care and intent. Everything about it from the sounds, the lyrics, right down to the cover, all makes you feel like you’re being pulled into a warm hug. Something we could all use right now.
Standout Track: Please Don’t Hold Me Hostage For Who I Am, For Who I Was
Couldn’t Wait To Tell You… - (Liv).e
20 tracks, 48 minutes
Released: July 31st, 2020
From: Dallas, Texas
Genres: Hip-Hop, Jazz, R&B, Soul
Recommended For Fans of: Keyiaa, Erykah Badu, Earl Sweatshirt
Listening to Couldn’t Wait To Tell You… is like getting a chance to dig through an artists sketchbook. In their own words, “It’s like a diary—I don’t feel like there’s one focus. It’s just an album of general entries, with some different perspectives.” It’s only natural that (Liv).e’s diary takes the form of a free flowing album, music is in her DNA. With her mother singing in the church choir, a father who was a blues and gospel keyboardist, and a brother who played the drums, music has surrounded her since birth. Her musical journey has taken her from Dallas to Chicago, on tour with Earl Sweatshirt, and eventually to Los Angeles. You can hear those years of work, practice, and learning all focused into this project, which will undoubtedly be a breakout one for her.
Standout Track: Lessons From My Mistakes…But I Lost Your Number
SURF - BLACKSTARKIDS
10 tracks, 30 minutes
Released: February 28th, 2020
From: Kansas City, Missouri
Genres: Hip-Hop, R&B, Alternative, New Wave, Garage
Recommended For Fans Of: N*E*R*D*, The Internet, All-American Trash era Brockhampton, New Order
I’m not usually into labeling artists with genres and artist comparisons (I only do so here because I’ve found it’s the best way to actually get people to listen to an artist they don’t know). One of the main reasons for my dislike of these labels is for groups like this that move so seamlessly between sounds that they feel beyond genre. BLACKSTARKIDS are a group that takes all their interests and influences and throws them in a blender to create a unique sound that’s entirely their own. The Kansas City band dropped this album through their self run label Bedroom Records, made to create a space for artists in their scene to release music without any major support (the album came onto my radar through another Kansas City artist, Paris Williams). I seriously have not stopped listening to this since I first heard it last week. You’ll want to get in on BLACKSTARKIDS now, because they’re receiving cosigns from Matt Healy and Dirty Hit, have already got a new project in the works, and sound destine for big things.
Standout Track: SOUNDS LIKE FUN
Good Cops Don’t Exist - Chris Crack
12 tracks, 26 minutes
Released: July 31st, 2020
From: Chicago, Illinois
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans of: Westside Gunn, JPEGMAFIA, Joesph Chilliams
Chris Crack has never been one to shy away from blunt titles and themes, and this project is no different. Good Cops Don’t Exist comes on the heels of albums he’s already dropped this year, one in April, and one in June (you’d be hard pressed to find someone having a more productive quarantine). While their rapping styles aren’t similar at all, his personality and charisma reminds me of JPEGMAFIA, or what you’d get if Zach Fox stopped comedy and focused on rapping full time. Just look at the titles from this and his past projects: Black Don’t Crack Unless You Smoke It, Less Jesus More Threesomes, Crackheads Live Longer Than Vegans, Hoes at Trader Joe’s. The list could go on & on. Blast this one while you’re on the way to protest your local police officers.
Standout Track: I Know A Place
Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven 2 - Sir E.U
6 tracks, 23 minutes
From: Washington, D.C.
Genres: electronic, hip-hop, hip-hop/rap, rap, subversive, jazz, noise, post-punk, Washington
Recommended For Fans Of:
BANDCAMP | (Bandcamp exclusive, as of typing this)
Speaking of charismatic titles….
The best way to introduce this is in E.U’s own words (pulled from his bandcamp)
“No cap U not finna feel this if u anti blakc”The project is then tagged under all the genres I listed above. Normally when I see that many genres under a project, it ends up hitting on a few, but not all of what’s promised. This one comes exactly as described. I’ve always known E.U to be an eclectic and unpredictable performer, and he’s no different on this project. Leave any expectations at the door, press play, and get ready to hear music like nothing you’ve heard before.
ROSETTA - Dua Saleh
6 tracks, 18 minutes
Released: June 12th, 2020
From: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Genres: Hip-Hop, Alternative, R&B
Recommended For Fans Of: 070 Shake, early Travis Scott, Kid Cudi
Saleh’s EP is named after Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a black artist whose sound in the 1940s earned her the nickname the Godmother of Rock and Roll. Most of these songs switch between minimal production, with Saleh’s vocals processed hypnotically to draw you in, and maximum production, going all in with distorted guitars and vocals. It’s a far cry from the music of Rosetta Tharpe, but this is the sound of a modern day rockstar.
Standout Track: hellbound
Mabel - baby bari
4 tracks, 10 minutes
Released: July 7th, 2020
From: Florida
Genres: Alternative, Emo, Hip-Hop
Recommended For Fans Of: Juice Wrld
On this quick EP, Baby Bari blends the sounds of warped tour with the sounds of modern rap. A lot of rappers talk like they want to be rockstars these days, but Bari actually brings the sound to back it up with a heavy rock influence and multiple guitar solos across the four tracks. A lot of genre bending on here, but the standout to me has to be Vampires, a straight up alternative track.
Standout Track: Vampires (Feat. Pink Contrails)
A Song
Praying For My Soul (Feat. Flipp Dinero) - Smoke DZA
I’m a fan of Smoke DZA, but the hook by Flipp Dinero is what keeps me coming back to this track. The way the horns hit against his vocals in the chorus just drips with decadence in a way that makes you wonder how Rick Ross wasn’t able to steal this track before DZA dropped it.
A Video
WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion) - Cardi B
Can’t imagine putting any other video here than this one, that will surely go down in history as a cultural reset. Also can’t imagine I have anything to add to the conversation around this video. All I can do is make sure that you’ve watched it, and maybe bring some more attention to this petition.
CONTEXT SECTION
I’m not sure what direction this will go or what this will turn into. This kind of sprouted from some friends and I trying to start a music blog last year. We got fairly involved in the planning process, and it ultimately fell through when I moved, but it made me think that maybe writing about music and spotlighting artists is something I want to do. I might share some of the articles I had written while working on that. Most of the posts are probably going to look like this, going through projects I’ve been listening to and trying to convince you to check them out, but I’ll write about other things too sporadically as I see fit. If you have something you want me to write about let me know, my current plan is to do 2 posts like this a month, and then whatever comes up in-between.
This is a very fluid operation that I hope will grow into something cool and not flame out after a few months. But I’m glad to have y’all here for the start, hope you like it.