FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Destiny’s Child: Twenty Prime Cuts

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Destiny’s Child (Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé and Michelle Williams) backstage in the summer of 2001/PHOTO CREDIT: Gillian Laub 

Destiny’s Child: Twenty Prime Cuts

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I have this feature…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Destiny's Child in 1999/PHOTO CREDIT: Nicky J. Sims/Redferns

where I can do playlists on anything really. I started it off with a collection of tracks released in 1993. Gems that are turning thirty this year. One of my hopes for this year is that Destiny’s Child get back together. With Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams forming the classic line-up, I think we would all love to see them get back together. I have written about the U.S. trio before, but I have been getting back into them. Their latest album together, Destiny Fulfilled, was released in 2004. I am convinced we have not heard the end of them. My favourite girl group of all-time, their songs are remarkable. I love the conviction, connection, passion and wonderful vocal talents. So powerful, soulful and hypnotic, they have been responsible for some of the most memorable music of their generation. You can tell that modern girl groups like FLO have been influenced by Destiny’s Child. To showcase their legacy and amazing talent, I have selected twenty essential Destiny’s Child cuts. The group has seen some line-up change. LaTavia Roberson, LeToya Luckett and Farrah Franklin were part of the earliest line-up. Beyoncé is the only member who has been there from the very start. Comprising their biggest singles and a few deeper cuts, this is a Digital Mixtape that you will want to keep close to you at all times. If you need music that will get the blood running and the mood lifted, then these diamond tracks from Destiny’s Child…

WILL do the trick.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Ethel Cain

FEATURE:




Spotlight

  

Ethel Cain

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IN terms of sound, image and story…

 PHOTO CREDIT: High Snobiety/Justine Paquette

there are few artists more compelling, arresting and fascinating than Ethel Cain. The stage name of Hayden Silas Anhedönia, I will end with a review for the debut Ethel Cain album, Preacher’s Daughter. Released back in May, it is one of 2022’s most hypotonic and revelatory albums. Ethel Cian has already been tipped as one to watch this year. An artist who released such a distinct and phenomenal debut album, it is small wonder there is so much intrigue around her. I will come to that. There are a few interviews that I want to bring in. Apologies if it is a bit fragmented, but there is a lot to unpack and investigating regarding Ethel Cain and Anhedönia. High Snobiety about the remarkable and unforgettable Preacher’s Daughter:

“In a single word, the songs of Ethel Cain are melodrama: heightened emotions, all-consuming sound, and stories filled with tragedy and trauma. The promo photos for her album Preacher’s Daughter cast Cain as evocative and beguiling, one half a penitent woman conforming to the rigid patriarchal rule of the Southern United States, the other half a wayward pin-up girl with an air of doomed mystery – it’s no surprise the artist made her New York and Paris Fashion Week debuts this year walking for Eckhaus Latta and Miu Miu, respectively.

For all the intensity of the character she embodies, the woman behind Ethel Cain (real name Hayden Anhedönia) is almost disarmingly down-to-earth, as much of a girl next door as her stage persona is a girl gone bad. Born in Florida but now residing in Alabama, the native Southerner listens and observes as much as she acts, like a child in her room passing time by making up ghost stories. The restless creativity that drives her quickly shows itself, and her endless enthusiasm for creation itself, regardless of medium, bubbles up — she’s currently in the process of charting out the larger Cain family tree, not just as future albums but as an entire multimedia cycle which includes a novel and film. “Every project, whether it’s film or photography or music or a novel, it all starts with a story and a place and a setting and a character,” she explains. “It’s that seed that grows into different things. All these different mediums begin with a time and a smell and a temperature. I just close my eyes and imagine myself here, present in this world.”

Though Preacher’s Daughter exhibits a natural gift for catchy hooks and direct storytelling, Cain approaches her musical work like a sound designer, with layers of audio that unpeel with repeat listens. “It’s going back to that place where I’m like, let me immerse myself in this world. Let me close my eyes, and I’m like, ‘What can I smell? What can I see? What can I feel? What do I hear?’ I always think about everything through the lens of film, so if you were in a film, you would hear the soundtrack playing in the background, but you would still have natural sounds of what you're watching on the screen.”

The yarns she’s spun are fictional, but the sensory experience of Ethel Cain is almost tangible, with immense texture to every track; the warbles of the natural world, the incessant buzzing of cicadas and the wind rustling through the kudzu vines, all become a ghostly choral accompaniment to her tall tales and twangy yearning. “I spend a lot of time outside, and sometimes I have to close my eyes and feel the wind on my skin and hear the cicadas and feel the grass on my toes. I love ASMR too. There's so much more that you can get out of music than just listening to a song”.

I am really fascinated by how the persona and embodiment of Ethel Cain came about. Creating this almost literary and historical character, all this comes through in Preacher’s Daughter. I love reading interviews where Anhedönia is asked about Ethel Cain. It is almost like she has been possessed by this spirit. Vogue spoke with Hayden Silas Anhedönia about Ethel Cain and her upbringing:

“One night in 2018, Hayden Silas Anhedönia found herself possessed by a woman named Ethel Cain. As the story goes – charted chronologically across the singer-songwriter’s debut album Preacher’s Daughter – Cain escapes the strictures of her religious upbringing only to fall into a doomed romance. The listener is then drawn into her downward spiral of kidnapping, drug addiction, prostitution, and eventually Cain’s murder and cannibalisation at the hands of her lover (like any good pop album, then).

The parallels between Anhedönia and her alter ego begin with the former’s upbringing in a tight-knit Southern Baptist community in the Florida panhandle, where she was homeschooled by her father, a deacon. On Preacher’s Daughter, we meet Cain for the first time in 1991, a decade after the death of her own father, the town preacher. From then on, their paths diverge – Anhedönia and her dad are both very much alive, let it be known – but given the heady, horrifying trajectory of her protagonist, where does Cain begin and Anhedönia end? “We inhabit the same space, at least visually, but I’m very different from her,” Anhedönia says, before deadpanning: “I love to laugh, and Ethel’s dead.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Givenchy

Cain might be dead, but her fate – and that of her ancestry – now feels inextricably linked with Anhedönia’s own. Growing up in a deeply religious, conservative family, Anhedönia always felt like an outsider. At 16, she came out to her mother as gay, sending shock waves through their town. She found catharsis for her inner turmoil in Christian choirs and high school theatre programs – “I was always singing as a kid,” she remembers, “I was really annoying” – and began honing her abilities as a musician after decamping to Tallahassee, Florida. There, she experimented with hard drugs and even harder electronic music before experiencing an epiphany of sorts and coming out as trans. She realised that it was time to break away and stake her own place in the world. “I knew then that I wanted to be an artist of some kind,” she says. “I didn’t really care if that was film or music or writing or whatever.”

That’s something Anhedönia is not only aware of but has actively attempted to harness. Her sentimental attachment to the culture of her upbringing is a potent force, even as she gently satirises its motifs of hymns, American flags, and crucifixes. Raised on a diet of Christian music and Gregorian chants – punctuated occasionally by the strains of Lynyrd Skynyrd when it was just her and her father in his car – Anhedönia’s only glimpses of the world outside came through peering between the slats of her grandparents’ staircase as they watched horror movies or true-crime documentaries in the evening.

This breezy blend of the sacred and the profane has come to define both Anhedönia’s music and her razor-sharp eye for fashion. Even over Zoom, she has the air of one of Shirley Jackson’s troubled heroines by way of Sissy Spacek in Badlands, with a touch of Picnic at Hanging Rock’s austere femininity thrown in for good measure. A cross necklace might be paired with a thrash-metal-band tee, or a floaty Gunne Sax dress given a more dangerous edge by the delicate tattoos that line her hairline and hands – including one of her most beloved lyrics, “God loves you, but not enough to save you”.

Before getting to a review for Preacher’s Daughter, The Line of Best Fit interviewed Hayden Silas Anhedönia about Ethel Cain and what is next for that alter ego. It has been a transformative and important year (2022). Coming from a poorer working-class family, life has definitely changed for her. One of the most discussed artists of the moment, Anhedönia has left her Alabama home behind, formed a friendship with her idol, Florence Welch, and is now primed for musical greatness:

“Her designs for Ethel Cain’s story can’t be contained to music alone. Her ambition always expanded far beyond that, with an intention to not only write a series of novels but direct and star in an accompanying movie. She started on a shoestring, but now, with every passing project, she feels that she has the resources to execute her vision to the fullest: “The feeling that I get from drawing this story out into the world in a tangible form such as music, literature or film – it’s a feeling I can’t even describe that I hope everyone in gets to feel at least once in their lives, because it’s what keeps me going. Even though it’s so taxing on my body, soul and spirit, it’s so rewarding that I feel that it’s worth it to be consumed.”

The lore surrounding Ethel Cain rewards a patient listener. Part of the thrill of Preacher’s Daughter its subversive method of storytelling: the way that a particular sound is as transportive as prose. But despite many of its songs stretching towards an indulgent ten minutes to evoke the story’s subtleties, there was too much that Anhedönia felt unsaid. “I’ve actually had to stop reading interpretations because they make me so crazy,” she laughs. “I’ve had to learn to ignore whenever they get the lot wrong. I’m like, ‘Let me put the book out, and then you’ll understand what’s gone on.'"

Her first novel will expand on Cain’s world, and she is our narrator. It begins while she’s in high school: “She’s this formal, very nerdy little girl who has this disturbing mean streak,” Anhedönia explains. “But she’s very proper, raised to be very well-spoken and educated by her mother and grandmother. A good girl. But then she has this interest in the darker things of the world, and she starts getting into trouble when no one is looking. She becomes a rebel but does it in a way that’s very guarded because she has it drilled into her from a young age that she has a reputation to uphold. She’s observant, doesn’t really have a lot of friends… a lonely, kooky little girl growing up in the world. I was very much that way when I was a child.”

The book delves into Ethel’s story, but she is merely the conduit for a larger anthology about intergenerational trauma that made her fate inevitable: a young woman hunted, drugged and cannibalised – a ‘freezer bride’.

But before her second record, Preacher’s Wife, which Anhedönia envisions will take a few years to execute, we can expect a new EP on the horizon. Connected still to the Preacher’s Daughter branch of the story, it serves as a prequel: teenage Ethel falling in love with Willoughby, the man who “House in Nebraska” was written about. It begins with her meeting him and unfolds the events of their relationship before he skips town. The book, she tells me, opens with the events of this EP. “It’s been really sad working on it, you know, writing about a sixteen-year-old girl who has fallen in love with a boy knowing what’s down the line.”

Of the sound, she details: “It’s still very slowcore, because it’s still technically tied to Preacher’s Daughter, but it has a Christian rock edge because it takes place in the late eighties. When I was her age, pining over love and whatnot, I was listening to The Fray and Switchfoot, all of these things. But there’s always going to be a dream pop element, because that’s the core foundation of all my music. It’s gonna be really pretty and really sad; an honest look at the part of her life where she experiences gut-wrenching first love”.

I’ll end up with a positive review from CLASH. They were blown away by a records that they say is filled with revelatory insight and emotion. Preacher’s Daughter is definitely one of the best albums from last year – and Ethel Cain is an artist that is going onto huge things through this year. Everyone needs to hear the unbelievable Preacher’s Daughter:

“A preacher's voice echos out a muffled sermon, before giving way to Ethel Cain’s ethereal and hypnotic murmurs, sounding out like a soft battle cry. Cain (aka Hayden Anhedönia) returns with her debut album ‘Preacher's Daughter’, a sonic journey in which the character of Ethel Cain simultaneously embodies and rejects the role of the archetypal All-American Girl. Following the ‘Inbred’ EP and marking a stark growth of stylistic confidence, the record weaves ideas of trans-generational trauma, cultist Christianity and toxic relationships in a queer matrimony with epic soundscapes, Cain’s prodigious voice repeatedly and ruthlessly demanding the emotional response of the listener.

Permeated with a wave-like ebb and flow, the tracks move through Ethel’s soft laments of lost childhood, to ‘Western Nights’ dark obsessive love, to the cannibalistic climax of ‘Strangers’, her voice circling haunting piano’s, grunge guitars and muddy sound worlds of production in a swarm of energetic chaos.

Clear standouts such as ‘American Teenager’ hold the ferocious energy of youth, epic synths and booming drums drive the powerful hooks as Cain sings with an infectious abandon, painting a picture of the American teen that is tinged with a certain darkness.

Hayden found her voice early in life singing in her church's choir and here it echoes out across ‘A House In Nebraska’ in fittingly angelic melodies, layers of reverb twisting around each other with dizzying clarity.

Influences from Hayden’s life are prevalent thematically and sonically throughout, with her appreciation for Gregorian chants finding a place in ‘Ptolemaea’, a song that structurally falls far from the more classic pop form of ‘American Teenager’ and summons flashes of the Florida landscape with its buzzing flies, gradual chanting build and muddy, doom metal guitars, peaking mid-song with a goosebump conjuring scream. Her love of horror movies is also not lost on the sound with the words “I am no good nor evil, simply I am” spat out by a demon-like voice over rasping strums of guitar.

‘Gibson Girl’ drips with an American-gothic eroticism, with stylistic echoes of Lana Del Rey that instead show the raw truths of a failed American dream rather than bedazzling it with glamour.

Similarly, Cain‘s exploration of religion pushes listeners to confront what is seen as good and pure, stripping back the layers and exposing just how nuanced faith can be. Lyrics such as “And Jesus, if you're there, why do I feel alone in this room with you.” Present a profound loneliness while “Give myself up to him in offering, let him make a woman out of me” arguably marries Christian themes with the re-inventional nature of trans-ness.

Hayden Anhedönia’s own musical journey and her longtime DIY approach to writing, recording and producing her projects reaches a new height with ‘A Preacher’s Daughter’, a truly realised culmination of style and composition.

In this exploration of Ethel Cain’s world, pieces of that world are transformed as she diverts for better or worse from norms of faith, gender and relationships and in turn creates new pathways. A heart-wrenching collection of songs that urges the listener to give themselves over to this album as much as Ethel Cain gives herself over to you.

9/10”.

One of the most essential and phenomenal new artists, Ethel Cain is an incredible songwriter. Her seventy-five-minute debut album is a work of brilliance that marks her out as a future legend! The Florida-born Hayden Silas Anhedönia is simply mesmeric! You can see why so many websites and people are marking Ethel Cain out…

FOR huge success and longevity.

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Follow Ethel Cain

FEATURE: Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights at Forty-Five: Will There Be a 2023 Revival and ‘Big Moment’ for the Iconic Debut Single?

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights at Forty-Five

 

Will There Be a 2023 Revival and ‘Big Moment’ for the Iconic Debut Single?

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I will do more…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

anniversary features about Kate Bush’s debut single, Wuthering Heights, which turns forty-five on 20th January. In February, her debut album, The Kick Inside, has the same anniversary. It is a busy couple of months, so I was keen to explore one of the most startling and original debut singles ever. There is something I wonder about the song. Before then, here is some information about Bush’s 1978 debut single from the Kate Bush Encyclopedia:

“Originally, record company EMI's Bob Mercer had chosen another track, James And The Cold Gun as the lead single, but Kate Bush was determined that ‘Wuthering Heights’ would be her first release.  She won out eventually in a surprising show of determination for a young musician against a major record company, and this would not be the only time she took a stand against them to control her career.

The release date for the single was initially scheduled to be 4 November 1977. However, Bush was unhappy with the picture being used for the single's cover and insisted it be replaced. Some copies of the single had already been sent out to radio stations, but EMI relented and put back the single's launch until the New Year. Ultimately, this proved to be a wise choice, as the earlier release would have had to compete with Wings' latest release, ‘Mull of Kintyre’, which became the biggest-selling single in UK history up to this point in December 1977.

‘Wuthering Heights’ was finally released on 20 January 1978, was immediately playlisted by Capital Radio and entered their chart at no. 39 on 27 January. It crept into the national Top 50 in week ending 11 February at No.42. The following week it rose to No.27 and Bush made her first appearance on Top of the Pops ("It was like watching myself die", recalls Bush), The song was finally added to Radio One's playlist the following week and became one of the most played records on radio. When the song reached number 1, it was the first UK number 1 written and performed by a female artist.

When I first read Wuthering Heights I thought the story was so strong. This young girl in an era when the female role was so inferior and she was coming out with this passionate, heavy stuff. Great subject matter for a song.

I loved writing it. It was a real challenge to precis the whole mood of a book into such a short piece of prose. Also when I was a child I was always called Cathy not Kate and I just found myself able to relate to her as a character. It's so important to put yourself in the role of the person in a song. There's no half measures. When I sing that song I am Cathy.

(Her face collapses back into smiles.) Gosh I sound so intense. Wuthering Heights is so important to me. It had to be the single. To me it was the only one. I had to fight off a few other people's opinions but in the end they agreed with me. I was amazed at the response though, truly overwhelmed.

Kate’s Fairy Tale, Record Mirror (UK), February 1978”.

I was thrilled that Bush’s Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) got to number one last year and has enjoyed this success. Bush has very much been back in the spotlight, and I do hope that there is a lot more Kate Bush love this year. Who knows what will be offered up. Stranger Things helped get the Hounds of Love song to number one. I have raised this before, but will Wuthering Heights provide another ‘Kate Bush moment’. Other T.V. shows are using older songs in incredible scenes, partly to give the artist credit and new exposure, but also to be original and fresh. The Netflix series, Wednesday, used The Cramps’ Goo Goo Muck in a scene involving Jenna Ortega as the titular character. I do not want every Kate Bush hit used in shows, but Wuthering Heights is a song I think needs revival and new purpose. It does not necessarily require the track on a big American series, but Wuthering Heights is so vivid and extraordinary, it would be remarkable if it gained new life. The original videos are great. The ‘white dress’ version and the ‘red dress’ version are appropriately spellbinding, but I have always imagined the song scoring something beguiling. Whether it is a gothic scene similar to the one from Wednesday or a dream sequence, my wish is Wuthering Heights gets picked up and makes it onto the small or big screen.

I feel there is a tendency for producers and filmmakers to go for something from Hounds of Love, as that is the most popular and recognisable album. Maybe the singles are more commercial and accessible, so they are flexible and better suit themselves to the screen. The amazing production (by Bush) definitely sounds less dated than the production of Wuthering Heights by Andrew Powell. Even so, I do fear that Wuthering Heights get a bit overlooked in terms of radio plays and any wider exposure. That said, it is the second-most-streamed Bush song on Spotify. I wonder whether a lot of the new generation who are discovering her work are aware of Wuthering Heights or have spent time with it. In future anniversary features, I will explore other sides to Wuthering Heights, including its huge importance and legacy. A song that is incomparable and has this power and beauty, it is definitely primed for spotlighting on the screen. Maybe Kate Bush has not been solely responsible for this phenomenon of classic songs working their way onto modern series, but she has definitely lit a fuse. More will definitely come about this year. Seeing Wuthering Heights scoring a big scene would get the song to new people and prove what an important release it is. Forty-five years after its release, I have not heard anything like it. I know that there will be new perspectives and articles written about the single very soon. Forty-five years later, Kate Bush’s number one debut single remains…

ONE of her greatest moments.

FEATURE: Spotlight: MJ Nebreda

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Gabriel Duque

 

MJ Nebreda

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WHEN thinking of the artists…

who will shape the direction of this year, MJ Nebreda spring to mind. For most of my Spotlight features, I have featured English-speaking artists. Music that is sung in the English language. I have neglected other languages. A wonderful Spanish-language artist based in Miami, María-José Nebreda’s incredible music and production stands her out as someone to watch closely. Born in Venezuela and currently Miami-based but raised mostly between London and a handful of other cities, this is a worldly talent who is influenced by Electronic and House. Her new E.P., inspired by the Raptor House genre that originated in Venezuela, is Amor en Los Tiempos de Odio. There are some interviews that I want to bring in. CLASH featured an amazing artist who is reaching those far beyond the Spanish-speaking world. Music that is instantly connecting with such a wide and admiring audience:

“A generation of incipient stars are sidestepping big label attempts to commodify the worldwide Latin takeover. Take Sandungueo, also known as Perreo, a ceremonial style of dance synonymous with reggaeton, adopted en masse by fans even beyond the Spanish-speaking world. MJ Nebreda, a singer, DJ and producer based in Miami, is much more than a proponent of Perreo, but a scholar honouring its roots.

“There’s a big difference with what Perreo means depending where you are,” MJ explains. “Perreo in Miami is different from in Perreo in Spain, but it comes from Puerto Rico and draws inspiration from artists like Plan B, DJ Nelson and Jowell y Randy. It’s one of my biggest passions as a DJ and where I do most of my research.”

With a background in A&R, MJ developed an acuity as a tastemaker within the Latin urbano and pop worlds, but her own latent ability as a producer bubbled to the surface during the pandemic. “I was working in the background of the music business for 4 years but once I started producing during quarantine I simply couldn’t stop. I was singing on top of the tracks from the start and I guess somewhere in that process, I realised I was making songs that I needed the world to hear,” she shares.

MJ soaked up her influences moving between Latin America, London and her current base in the US, and the impact of those scenes and subcultures is an implicit marker of her creative DNA. “I let my music explain that part of my story but being multicultural is of course a part of my identity. I was an 11-year-old dancing to reggaeton songs in a Minteca and also a 15-year-old obsessed with Frank Ocean, Grimes, and Odd Future in London. Both parts heavily influence how I approach any song that I create,” MJ continues.

Still, a sense of being tethered to one place has brought with it a sense of ownership and belonging. The place she calls home is Miami; its embrace of cross-cultural experiments in dance enriching her fluid process as a budding beatmaker: “I’ve always loved Miami because it’s the first city I lived in that makes me feel like I’m from here. Miami is the city I chose to be my home. The scene is so inspiring. I’ve had the chance to work with club scene artists like Coffintexts, Bitter Babe and Danny Daze. Look out for my track ‘Arquitecto’ in the Homecore! Miami All-Stars EP with all your faves coming out in December!”

MJ’s ‘Sin Pensar’ EP, released earlier this year, is a patchwork creation of buoyant 90s house tropes and dembow dirges – a soft precursor to the darker, hybrid feel of her new collaborative EP, ‘Amor En Los Tiempos Ds Odio’. The latter was created with Nick Leòn, affiliated with innovative Mexico City imprint and talent incubator NAAFI. Together they shift between honouring and destabilising the essence of raptor house, which came to prominence in the 00s as not just a genre but a municipal lifestyle born in the capital city of Venezuela. There are of course core conventions to adhere to. “To me, it’s about the fast-paced drums, vibrant synths and dance melodies,” MJ explains. “There is a heavy cultural meaning behind it and I think we have to keep pushing it out so that more people support the growth of the genre and continue to elevate its pioneers”.

There are not that many interviews available with MJ Nebreda online. I think that will change this year as her music spreads worldwide and she gets more exposure. Back in September, in one of the best interviews with Nebreda, Remezcla spoke with an incredible producer and artist who was bringing Raptor House back. Many might not know of the genres and sound. It means Nebreda is even more essential and important. It is going to open so many people’s eyes to something new or undiscovered. It is no wonder she is already acquiring a healthy and growing fanbase:

“Now embarking on a new side of the industry, she has new avenues to express herself she didn’t have access to before — something she uses to full effect in Amor en Los Tiempos de Odio. The four-track EP is inspired by the Raptor house genre that originated in Venezuela and even features the style’s originator, DJ Babatr, on her first single, “Frida Kahlo.” The project was made alongside fellow producer Nick León and, as a whole, the four songs encompass a different manifestation of expressing love.

As MJ approached them, “Bubalú” is love towards a partner in the romantic sense, while “Ahora Empezó” is more carnal love and passion. “Rottweiler,” in turn, is about the complicated love between family members and neighbors. The track was inspired by a recent trip to Peru, where half of her family is from, to bury her late grandmother. “I was there, and my whole family was just being so anxious and dramatic and loving each other but also fighting each other, and I was actually inspired,” she shares. “We all have so many [inner battles], and all I could think is, ‘This is my tribe — we’re all anxious, but look at us all still here, meeting up.’” Finally, “Frida Kahlo” is an ode to oneself and an endorsement of what you can accomplish when you bet on your talent and drive. MJ hopes the song’s cheeky chorus isn’t taken the wrong way and interpreted as an insult to the celebrated Mexican painter, instead intending it as “move aside Frida, I’m also a badass.”

As for her next steps, she’s already in the planning stages for a few more EP releases she wants to stagger across 2023, including a concept album/opera following an alter ego of her own creation named Fiona. She tours as a DJ and performer as well, with an upcoming show in Puerto Rico, Isla del Terror Soundsystem, MC’d by fellow singer-producer Enyel C, whom she collaborated with on his song “Nuestra Canción.”

Her innate smarts and natural intuitiveness have made her well aware that she’ll have to scale uphill to succeed — and she is already running into some of the many sexist speed bumps other female artists have long spoken about. “It’s become so much more obvious how many more things I need to do to be seen as respectable as a man at my same level,” she says. “Even though this guy is doing something, and it’s dope, as a woman, I feel like I have to do three times as much. You have to prove yourself way more.”

Hand-in-hand with the business acumen and creative wherewithal she gained working in the industry, she also saw some ugly truths that she’s now facing head-on, including body shaming. “The Latinx music industry is super sexist — it just is. And things are changing; people are finally into [queer and Black artists] and beyond,” she remarks. “At first, it was just like, ‘You’re not anorexic-looking enough, you’re not polishing yourself enough to look presentable to men,’ and shit like that. I’m not doing that, and you’re going to take me less seriously? Because I’m not getting work done on my face, or not doing the things that you think that a female artist should do? [It] doesn’t mean I’m less good.”

Having finally found her calling, MJ is determined to add her voice to a genre sorely lacking it — and isn’t going to allow those who underestimate her to disillusion her. “I’m just not gonna put myself in rooms where, as [an artist], I’m not feeling welcome,” she declares. “I know what I’m doing, and I’m focusing on that”.

I am going to wrap it up with an interview from Glamcult. They spotlighted an artist who was firmly putting sound of Venezuela on the map. Many people might not be aware of the music culture and sounds of the nations, so it is wonderful that MJ Nebreda is such a wonderful and passionate proponent. She is someone who is going to have a remarkable and successful future:

“Hello – great to be in touch – how are you today?

I’m doing amazing thank you!

Your new work, Amor En Los Tiempos De Odio is dedicated to Venezuelan music culture. Can you talk me through the significance of  Changa Tuki (aka Raptor House) to yourself as an artist, and the ways it is hailed through your sound?

When I started releasing my music my family back in Venezuela first reaction to hearing it was to tell me that I was doing raptor house. I didn’t know what it was but the second I started to learn about it I just saw myself so identified with the hyper-ness of it all. I think that it’s a genre that hasn’t had the chance to popularise itself because of the crisis Venezuela has been in for the past twenty years. It could be for Venezuela what Dembow is for Dominican Republic and Reggaeton is for Puerto Rico. To me, it’s something that I feel connected to naturally.

Within this, however, there is a futurism – love songs beyond the ballads or slow-emotive betas – what inspired this take?

In the raptor house genre in general, there hasn’t been much exploration into what that genre can look like with lyricists on top. I wanted to just push myself to go there which ultimately also made the EP give its own take on it.

The visuals are also beautiful, the red veil with the bodysuit. How important is visual identity to your artistry?

Thank you! I’m exciting to keep working on my visual identity as I progress sometimes it can be a little overwhelming as I really like to keep most of my focus on being better at making music and DJing. This being said, I like to use a lot of symbolism in my imagery usually something that can get a message across without having to do too much.

There is also a level of humour in some of your work that feels somewhat reminiscent of the early work of Doja Cat. Is this an important element of your practice?

The early work of Doja Cat is amazing. I have been tuned into what she was doing since those days so that’s a huge compliment! I’ve noticed it is, I like to be real and have fun and find that the silliest things can hold so much meaning to me.

I can’t wait to see what is on the horizon for you – any goals for the coming year?

I’m excited to just keep releasing music and keep discovering things as a producer, a writer and a DJ. My goal is to release my three projects by the end of next year, so basically I will be working non-stop until 2024!”.

It does genuinely seem like MJ Nebreda has this drive and tireless work ethic that will see her tour the world and bring her music to people through this year. I do hope she gets to rest at some point but, with a recent E.P. under her belt, there is a demand for her to tour. I am a recent convert to her music, but I am already so compelled and fascinated. The phenomenal MJ Nebreda is among those who are going to make this year…

AN amazing one for music.

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Follow MJ Nebreda

FEATURE: Categorially Wrong: Why Have the BRITs Largely Overlooked Women and Non-Binary Artists?

FEATURE:

 

 

Categorially Wrong

IN THIS PHOTO: The hugely successful Becky Hill is a notable omission from the BRIT Awards list this year/PHOTO CREDIT: Bartek Szmigulski for Wonderland. 

 

Why Have the BRITs Largely Overlooked Women and Non-Binary Artists?

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NOT that award shows are everything…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Wet Leg are one of very few British females/female acts nominated this year/PHOTO CREDIT: Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York Times

but it is a chance to recognise artists and their achievements. I posted a feature yesterday that reacted to the news that the nominees for this year’s BRIT Awards has been revealed. The ceremony takes place next month and, whilst I have stated the field is very strong and there is a lot of musical diversity, there are some talking points that need expanding on. Even though categories like Best New Artist has diversity when it comes to gender, other categories do not. One of the biggest reactions to the nominees yesterday was the fact it was male-heavy. At a time when women are dominating music and, in my view, posting some of the best sounds we will hear for years, they are not being recognised. Sure, Best New Artist is female-heavy and has a good field, I think it is the only category that sort of got the tone right. Look at the Album category and only one is by a woman/female act! That is Wet Leg’s eponymous debut. Considering Rina Sawayama’s Rina Sawayama Hold the Girl and Nova Twins’ Supernova should have been included, it does seem baffling that women are not being recognised. Sawayama herself has had to fight to be included in the BRITs, as she was seen as ineligible in the past because she was not born in this country (in spite of the fact she has been here since she was a toddler). There are so many established and rising female artists who have been snubbed!

 IN THIS PHOTO: Little Simz/PHOTO CREDIT: Kosmas Pavlos for Rolling Stone

It seems such a shame that the same debates need to be raised every year. Award ceremonies always struggle to effect equality and parity, but I think the BRITs is especially culpable and hesitant. Whilst this year’s shortlists are strong and recognise some brilliant artists, where are women and non-binary artists. Aside from Sam Smith, there is a shocking lack of representation for non-binary artists! I would have thought Kae Tempest would have been a shoo-in for their album, The Line Is a Curve. In terms of women and recognition this year, here is what The Guardian observed:

“Women-led acts made up 33% of the overall nominations. Following Wet Leg, the only other female artists to receive multiple nods are producer Eliza Rose, whose collaboration with Interplanetary Criminal, Baddest of Them All, was a smash hit in summer 2022, and saw her nominated for song of the year and best dance act; and rock duo Nova Twins, nominated for group of the year and best alternative/rock act.

Last year, Little Simz won the best new artist prize, despite having released her debut album six years prior; however, she only became eligible for the award after her 2021 album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert became her first to place in the UK albums chart, reaching No 4. This year, the rapper Kojey Radical appears in a similar position: he has been active since 2014, but his 2022 album Reasons to Smile was his first chart placing, reaching No 11.

The best new artist category is also notable for the inclusion of British-Japanese pop star Rina Sawayama. In 2020, she highlighted that she would be ineligible for the Brit awards and the Mercury prize, both run by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI): born in Japan and raised in the UK since the age of four, she does not hold a British passport but has indefinite leave to remain. In February 2021, the BPI changed the rules to stipulate that artists who have been permanently resident in the UK for five years will qualify for British categories. Sawayama was previously nominated for the 2021 Rising Star award”.

 IMAGE CREDIT: The BRITs

The biggest blowback against the BRITs comes with regards the Artist of the Year category. I am not going to argue against the fact there are some great names there. Why is Central Cee and Fred Again… in contention!? I don’t think they are artists who have realistically achieved a great deal. Alongside Stormzy, Harry Styles and George Ezra could have come some women or non-binary artists. Sam Smith deserved to be there for their incredible work and impact. What about women like Self Esteem, Little Simz, Becky Hill, PinkPanthress, Charli XCX or countless others? It is glaring that women are missing from the Album category and there is ample choice for some terrific albums by female artists. I also think that an all-male category sends out a bad message. In the past, there were separate categories for female and male artists. That has been merged, and that has come at the expense of women. Think about representation too. Non-binary artists are not recognised. I have heard suggestions Smith should be included, also artists like RAYE. She is someone who has earned a nomination. What about Becky Hill? One could easily reel off a few dozen names that are more worthy than some who have been nominated. Look right across the BRITs award list, and there are very few categories where women are properly acknowledged. Just a little tangent, but another argument came from the Best Pop/R&B Act. In terms of representation and equality, this should have transplanted the Artist of the Year.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Sam Smith

Sam Smith, Cat Burns, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Harry Styles are in there. That would have been a fair Artist of the Year category! It represents women, and a prominent non-binary artist is in there too. The trouble is that the tact-on ‘R&B’ seems cheap! The artists nominated, maybe aside from Cat Burns, are Pop. There is no R&B in there! It takes away from R&B acts who are not included and recognised. Seemingly realised that R&B needs to get in somewhere, it has been merged into a category but not actually represented! It is another misfire from the BRITs! Coming back to inclusion, and what has been revealed once more is award shows being tone-deaf to change and what is front of them. It is bad enough with festivals. I feel this year will see imbalanced line-ups and few committing to a 50-50 gender split. Award ceremonies are not everything but, as I say, they do champion great work from the year. By leaving out non-binary artists and women, it is saying they are not worthy or have been struggling to produce quality. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Women are right at the forefront, and we could easily have had a 60/70-40/30 split where women were leading the charge. For every Mercury Prize – where the gender balance is good -, there is a BRITs! It is a prestigious ceremony that should be setting an example. Maybe the international categories have done a better job including women, but that is saying British female talent is falling behind. With very few non-binary talent in the pack, women are also struggling to get heard and seen after producing truly remarkable music last year. Let us hope that the reaction to a lack of women and non-binary artists in the running this year shows there is a continuing problem that needs to be addressed. The BRITs (and all other award shows) need to commit to evolution and change. Recognising how insanely discriminatory and short-sighted their nominations are. This is a change that…

 IN THIS PHOTO: RAYE/PHOTO CREDIT: Hanifah Mohammad for BRICKS

HAS to happen right now.

FEATURE: Let Me Reintroduce Myself: A Complex Debate: Cultural Appropriate vs. Appreciation in Music

FEATURE:

 

 

Let Me Reintroduce Myself

IN THIS PHOTO: Gwen Stefani 

 

A Complex Debate: Cultural Appropriate vs. Appreciation in Music

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I love Gwen Stefani…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Gwen Stefani via Instagram

and I have nothing but respect for her. From fronting No Doubt and being responsible for some of the most important songs of my childhood, through to her amazing solo career, she is someone that I am in we of her. She can do no wrong in my eyes. That said, she caused a stir this week following an interview with Allure. In it – when she was promoting beauty/perfume brand -, she claimed that she was Japanese. Some have seen this as her coming out as Japanese, or at least saying she identifies with their culture. It has provoked an argument as to whether her comments were cultural appropriation or appreciation. Not saying that she is a Japanese person, Stefani did suggest that she felt Japanese. Maybe her choice of words was not wise, but it did make me wonder whether artists should be cautious when it comes to potential cultural appropriation:

“GXVE isn’t Stefani’s first beauty brand, though. Before that, there was Harajuku Lovers. The fragrance line launched in 2008, four years after the release of her solo album Love.Angel.Music.Baby., which took inspiration from Japan’s Harajuku subculture for its visuals and marketing (and subsequently Stefani’s own personal style). The fragrance collection included five scents and each was housed in a bottle shaped like a doll caricatured to look like Stefani and her four "Harajuku Girls," the Japanese and Japanese American backup dancers she employed and named Love, Angel, Music, and Baby for the promotion of her album. The perfumes gained industry recognition, winning The Fragrance Foundation’s Fragrance of the Year Award in 2009, and spawned generations of flankers. Magazines (Allure included) covered them extensively. Meanwhile, I, a first-generation Filipina American teen in New Jersey, starving for Asian representation in pop culture, begged my mom for the "Love" fragrance. She consistently responded with a hard no, always pointing to its price tag: $45 for one ounce of perfume at Macy’s.

I desperately wanted that little perfume bottle on my dresser because it made me feel seen in a way that I never did in fashion or beauty or really any mainstream media or marketing. I honestly didn't question, or even really register, that the woman behind this Asian representation was white. As an adult, however, I have come to examine Stefani's Harajuku era — and I have not been alone.

In recent years, the "L.A.M.B" universe, along with some of Stefani’s other projects, has been the subject of many conversations surrounding cultural appropriation. So when I recently sat down to interview Stefani at an event celebrating GXVE’s latest collection, I asked her about her new brand’s mission — "I wanted to create a community of makeup lovers like me" — and what went into its newest products, which include lipsticks that are a departure from her signature red: "We all have different color skin and all have different things that we wear different colors for." But I also included a question about what she felt she may have learned from Harajuku Lovers — considering its praise, backlash, and everything in between. She responded by telling me a story she’s shared with the press before about her father’s job at Yamaha, which had him traveling between their home in California and Japan for 18 years.

Like Stefani, I am not Japanese. But I am an Asian woman living in America, which comes with sobering realities during a time of heightened Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate. I am a woman who has been called racial slurs because of her appearance, feared for her father’s safety as he traveled with her on New York City subways, and boiled with anger as grandparents were being attacked and killed because they were Asian. I envy anyone who can claim to be part of this vibrant, creative community but avoid the part of the narrative that can be painful or scary.

I spent 32 minutes in conversation with Stefani, many of them devoted to her lengthy answer to my question about Harajuku Lovers. In that time, she said more than once that she is Japanese. Allure’s social media associate (who is Asian and Latina) was also present for the interview and we were left questioning what we had heard. Maybe she misspoke? Again and again? During our interview, Stefani asserted twice that she was Japanese and once that she was "a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of a Japanese girl, a little bit of an English girl." Surely, she didn’t mean it literally or she didn’t know what she was saying? (A representative for Stefani reached out the next day, indicating that I had misunderstood what Stefani was trying to convey. Allure later asked Stefani’s team for an on-the-record comment or clarification of these remarks and they declined to provide a statement or participate in a follow-up interview.)

I don’t believe Stefani was trying to be malicious or hurtful in making these statements. But words don’t have to be hostile in their intent in order to potentially cause harm, and my colleague and I walked away from that half hour unsettled. I wanted to better understand why.

Stefani told me she identifies not just with Japan’s culture, but also with the Hispanic and Latinx communities of Anaheim, California, where she grew up. "The music, the way the girls wore their makeup, the clothes they wore, that was my identity," she said. "Even though I'm an Italian American — Irish or whatever mutt that I am — that's who I became because those were my people, right?" I asked Fariha I. Khan, Ph.D., codirector of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, to help clarify the line between inspiration or appreciation and appropriation. "Simply put, cultural appropriation is the use of one group’s customs, material culture, or oral traditions by another group," she said, and raises two important factors to consider: commodification and an unequal power relationship”.

This is not a new thing. Cultural appropriation has always existed in music. Artists blurring the lines between appropriation and appreciation. Even Kate Bush, someone who I obviously adore, has been accused in the past when she visited Japan in the 1970s. I know artists want to show they are fitting in and love a particular culture, but there is a line between saying that she admired Japanese culture and identifying herself as Japanese. Things can be taken out of context, but I think there will be a larger discussion following this Gwen Stefani interview regarding what artists say in terms of other cultures and countries. ThoughtCo. explored cultural appropriation in the music industry back in 2020. They mentioned a few artists (Gwen Stefani included) who have been highlighted as possibly being guilty of appropriation:

“Cultural appropriation is nothing new. For years prominent White people have been accused of borrowing the fashions, music, and art forms of various cultural groups and popularizing them as their own. The music industry has been particularly hard hit by this practice. The 1991 film “The Five Heartbeats,” for example, which was based on the experiences of real Black bands, depicts how music executives took the works of Black musicians and repackaged them as the product of white artists. Due to cultural appropriation, Elvis Presley is widely regarded as being the “King of Rock and Roll,” despite the fact that his music was heavily influenced by Black artists who never received credit for their contributions to the art form. In the early 1990s, White rapper Vanilla Ice topped the Billboard music charts when rappers as a whole remained on the fringes of popular culture. This piece explores how musicians with wide appeal today, such as Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Miley Cyrus, and Kreayshawn have been accused of cultural appropriation, borrowing heavily from Black, Native American, and Asian traditions.

The Italian American superstar has been accused of borrowing from a host of cultures to sell her music, including gay culture, Black culture, Indian culture, and Latin American cultures. Madonna may be the biggest culture vulture yet. In “Madonna: A Critical Analysis,” author JBNYC points out how the pop star wore Indian saris, bindis, and clothing during a 1998 photo shoot for Rolling Stone magazine and the following year participated in a geisha-inspired photo spread for Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Prior to this, Madonna borrowed from Latin American culture for her 1986 video “La Isla Bonita” and from gay, Black, and Latino culture for her 1990 video “Vogue.”

“Although one can argue that by taking on the personas of otherwise underrepresented cultures and giving them exposure to the masses, she is doing to world cultures like India, Japan, and Latin America, what she has done for feminism and gay culture,” JBNYC writes. “However, she made political statements about feminism, female sexuality, and homosexuality about their ideological representations in the media. In the case of her Indian, Japanese, and Latino looks, she has made no political or cultural statements. Her use of these cultural artifacts is superficial and the consequence is great. She has further perpetuated the narrow and stereotypical representations of minorities in the media.”

Singer Gwen Stefani faced criticism in 2005 and 2006 for appearing with a silent group of Asian American women who accompanied her to promotional appearances and other events. Stefani called the women “Harajuku Girls” after the women she encountered in the Harajuku district of Tokyo. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stefani called the “Harajuku Girls” an art project and said, “The truth is that I basically was saying how great that culture is.” Actress and comedienne Margaret Cho felt differently, calling the foursome a “minstrel show.” Salon writer Mihi Ahn agreed, criticizing Gwen Stefani for her cultural appropriation of Harajuku culture.

Ahn wrote in 2005: “Stefani fawns over Harajuku style in her lyrics, but her appropriation of this subculture makes about as much sense as the Gap selling Anarchy T-shirts; she’s swallowed a subversive youth culture in Japan and barfed up another image of submissive giggling Asian women. While aping a style that’s supposed to be about individuality and personal expression, Stefani ends up being the only one who stands out.”

In 2012, Stefani and her band No Doubt would face a backlash for their stereotypical cowboys and Indians video for their single “Looking Hot.” In the late 1990s, Stefani also routinely sported a bindi, a symbol Indian women wear, in her appearances with No Doubt”.

I have a couple of other articles to get to that have written about cultural appropriation and artists. It is a complex and decades-running debate and issue that needs highlighting. Also in 2020, Pitchfork wrote about wokeness and cultural appropriation. Whether it is a sound, culture or race, they note how music has always been the site of cultural shifts; a medium that is ripe and receptive for discourse about the intersections of race and power. I am borrowing quite heavily from their article, as it does provide some fascinating insights and angles:

“The registry of celebrity missteps, like life itself, is long and often horrifying. Some things linger, many fade away. On the collectively-forgotten end of the scale is whatever Lily Allen was doing in 2013. The British singer-songwriter had come to fame a few years before, in her early 20s. With a studied irreverence and a MySpace origin story, she presented as a kind of acceptable agitator—rougher around the edges than some of her pop-star peers but not so much that she precluded tabloid appeal. (Her family, which includes an actor father and Oscar-nominated film producer mother, certainly fueled the press’ interest.) A few years into her career, the erstwhile outsider had become an insider, and Allen made an attempt to reckon with the patriarchal structures of the music industry. The result, her third album Sheezus, wasn’t exactly a success. Not only was its first single, the satirical “Hard Out Here,” a flop, it was widely considered a racist flop.

The song’s primary conceit—that it’s “hard out here for a bitch”—borrows heavily from a Black colloquialism; its lyrics, at points delivered in AutoTune almost to the point of absurdity, further suggest who she may be critiquing: “I won’t be braggin’ ’bout my cars or talkin’ ’bout my chains/Don’t need to shake my ass for you ’cause I’ve got a brain.” The references are not subtle. In the video, a caricature of a manager-type, ostensibly a stand-in for the music industry at large, encourages Allen to receive cosmetic surgery and later to twerk her way towards success. And yet that is not who gets the brunt of her critique; instead, it’s the Black women who surround her, backs bent and butts jiggling. She both blames and uses them as props for her own clunky purposes.

Critics swarmed to accuse Allen of cultural appropriation, and worse. “The return of Lily Allen, an artist whose career encapsulates the concept of white privilege, with a video that encapsulates [a] clumsy fascination with and liberal disdain for black music, feels apt,” wrote Alex Macpherson in The Quietus, pointing to the video as “ugly race/class caricaturing.” Allen defended her work and her intention to take on the “objectification of women within modern pop culture,” and deflected blame onto her label for the quality of her music. Just a few years earlier, though, she might not have even needed to. Not because there weren’t people who, for example, objected to Gwen Stefani's flirtation with Indian, Jamaican, and Japanese cultures during the 1990s and 2000s, but because those objections were not given much airtime then. That is to say, cultural appropriation hadn’t yet been appropriated.

In academia, the ethics of appropriation have been debated for years, covering issues that include archaeological artifacts, indigenous spiritual practices, and, yes, music. But its leap into the zeitgeist over the past decade was large. The Google Trends graph for the phrase “cultural appropriation” between 2010 and 2020 looks like a cityscape. Among its first peaks—that is, periods of time during which searches for the phrase shot up—were in April 2010 and October 2011. The first corresponds with the publication of a pointed, F.A.Q.-style post by scholar Adrienne Keene explaining why it’s damaging for non-native people to wear indigenous headdresses or similar sacred items as costumes. She’d run Native Appropriations, a blog exploring issues of appropriation as they relate to indigenous people, for a while. But April and October account for Coachella and Halloween, holidays for people who casually wear indigenous headdresses.

The idea had traction, and a platform, elsewhere too. By then, Tumblr had emerged as a home base for social justice-minded young people, and a repository for growing networks of stan bases. They overlapped in the form of blogs like Your Fave Is Problematic, offering a taxonomy of offending celebrities, and a simple, effective framework through which to consider morality in pop culture. Concepts like intersectionality, rape culture, toxic masculinity, and safe spaces joined appropriation to puncture mainstream language around race, gender, sexuality, and beyond. Such terms, once the domain of academics, theorists, organizers, and nonprofit professionals, popped up everywhere. So much so that their meanings became slightly obscured; any bad male behavior could be described as toxic masculinity, Audre Lorde’s radical practice of self-care was reduced to signify personal indulgence, and intersectionality went from being a legal theoretical framework to a buzzword vaguely gesturing at progressive gender politics. Ironically, the effects of appropriation—what happens when something is removed from its original context—happened to the language itself.

This was the world into which Allen had released “Hard Out Here”: People knew what they were not to do, even if they didn’t seem to understand why. Writing in Grantland in 2013, Rembert Browne declared cultural appropriation the winner of the year. “People were existing with an almost reckless abandon, with discussions previously too taboo to breach exploding everywhere,” he said by way of diagnosis.

IN THIS PHOTO: Robin Thicke/PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Takes

It’s true that in 2013, the decades-long norm of white artists making ‘Black music’ seemed to have reached a new apex. The year’s farthest-reaching songs included takes on R&B by Robin Thicke, Justins Bieber and Timberlake, and Ariana Grande. Macklemore had a breakout arrival. Pop culture seemed to reflect the philosophy that undergirded centuries of American life: We want the fruits of Blackness, but not Black people. That this followed a string of widely publicized events involving racist police, the vigilante murders of Black people, and the inception of the Black Lives Matter movement, was crucial context. It was the simple act of loudly and proudly listening to Black music, after all, that made teenager Jordan Davis a target for murder in a Florida parking lot in 2012. These connections lingered, even if they weren’t always articulated.

Still, music has long been the site of cultural shifts, and it continued as a potent venue for discourse about the intersections of race and power. The visibility of artists offered an accessible entry point through which to understand discrepancies mitigated by the parameters of race. Around 2013, and for the two or three years that followed, race and raceplay became increasingly common lenses through which to digest and discuss pop music. Segments of the public watched, named, and critiqued, for example, Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz-era racial performance, how she was profiting from Black women while rendering them invisible. What was disparagingly dismissed as ‘outrage culture’ could have more generously been understood as a collective grappling with concepts that weren’t new but were newly front-and-center. During that time, I thought often, with a kind of esprit d’escalier, about an argument I’d had with a white friend at a bar; I regretted that, just a few years earlier, I didn’t have the language to explain to him why I bristled at his casual use of Black slang and why that bristling was valid.

Also during that time, I joined many others in projecting my own experiences of the world onto artists whose work, or words, validated me in the right way, or challenged me but only enough that it felt comfortable. The neoliberal obsession with individualism crystallized, and focused growing social justice discourse on celebrities and eventually, to the burgeoning class of influencers made in their image. In 2013, that meant taking the parts of Kanye that aligned with my values and conveniently discarding those that didn’t. In the absence of real-world progress, I saw his defenses of Beyoncé and of his own ambitions as a mirror.

Representation had been elevated as the solution to centuries of structural, systemic, and interpersonal racism. For every Katy Perry dressed as a geisha and every Macklemore being Macklemore, some semblance of balance could be achieved by focusing on the identity markers of their counterparts from marginalized backgrounds. Representation is objectively good. But in the absence of critical thought, heralded as the end all and be all, it can be a flattening. The public began to equate identity with morality, erasing the complex relationships between people and the powerful structures that govern our world. Identity was enshrined as a weapon for some, and a shield for others.

Within the chaos of wokeness as a litmus test, urgent considerations were rendered secondary. Instead of, “Who is problematic?” we should have been asking, “What is the harm being done, and to whom? How can it be repaired, and by whom?”

A recent tweet sums up the frustrating paradigm: “Millennials love to say ‘problematic’ without understanding the problem.” One widely understood objection to cultural appropriation is that white or non-Black people of color benefit from Blackness while Black people go unrewarded or even stigmatized for our cultures. But there are even more insidious effects. As rap officially became recognized as the most dominant music genre in the U.S., its whitening has had dire consequences for certain groups. Police and prosecutors across the country have increased their use of lyrics to criminalize Black and Brown people”.

I am going to finish in a minute. This 2019 article discusses how to distinguish between cultural appropriation and appreciation. I guess this is the main point. In most cases, I think artists are trying to show appreciation, but it comes across as appropriation. Maybe crossing and blurring lines, it is admirable that artists do want to embrace and embody other cultures. What is the solution going forward?

“Artists are crossing cultural lines with music, as evidenced by recent Billboard Hot 100 hits like Post Malone’s “Wow.,” Ariana Grande’s “7 rings” and Cardi B and Bruno Mars’ “Please Me.”

But when they break these boundaries and take on genres from other cultures, some fans wonder if artists are practicing cultural appreciation or cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation is when a person takes elements from another culture without paying tribute to their authenticity and value, said Timothy Welbeck, an Africology and African American Studies instructor.

Post Malone, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars and Iggy Azalea, all non-Black artists, are known for performing music like R&B and hip-hop influenced by Black people and culture.

Azalea’s performances, particularly the voice she uses while rapping, is an example of appropriation, Welbeck said. Azalea uses a “blaccent,” an imitation of a Black accent by a non-Black person, while rapping, he added.

“When she raps, she sounded like a poor imitation of a Black woman who lived in an urban area in America,” Welbeck said. “But then when she spoke, she spoke in a dignified Australian accent.”

When an artist tries to profit from the music style without showing respect to the culture, they also demonstrate cultural appropriation, said Gabriella Duran, a freshman global studies and political science major.

Justin Bieber’s inclusion on the remix of “Despacito” stood out to Duran as a bilingual track that disrespected Spanish culture and helped Bieber profit.

“Music is an art form, and we can learn so much from it when it’s done correctly,” Duran said.

But distinguishing between cultural appreciation and appropriation in music isn’t always easy to define. Fans of Bruno Mars debated whether or not the artist respectfully represented Black culture in his music last March, Vice reported.

Mars was accused of cultural appropriation by Seren Sensei, a writer and activist, but Black celebrities defended him on Twitter.

Sensei accused Mars of using “his racial ambiguity to cross genres.” In response, celebrities tweeted he has paid homage to Black culture and helped bring back certain aspects of the culture’s sound.

Mars, whose father is Puerto Rican and Jewish and mother is Filipina, often credits Michael Jackson and other Black musicians as inspirations.

“The situation is complicated, but the point is that there is a lot of misunderstandings and not enough conversation,” said Dynas Johnson, a junior English major”.

Gwen Stefani’s recent comments (where she identifies as Japanese) will reignite the discussion as to how artists discuss other cultures through interviews, their music and other avenues. The distinction between cultural appreciation and appropriation has been active for many years now, and it does need to continue. Stefani meant no offence with what she said, but it has received backlash. As the article I have just sourced says: the situation around cultural appropriation is complicated, so there needs to be fewer misunderstandings and…

MUCH more conversation.

FEATURE: My Skin: The Issue of Sizeism and Fat Shaming in Music

FEATURE:

 

 

My Skin

IN THIS PHOTO: Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor)/PHOTO CREDIT: Olivia Richardson

 

The Issue of Sizeism and Fat Shaming in Music

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THERE are a couple of things that…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Suzie Howell for The New York Times

I saw recently that open up a wider discussion, and they raise concerns and fatigue at the same time. Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) posted to her Twitter account recently that some American fans/listeners had seen her perform. She heads to America in March, and it will be the biggest gigs of her career I think. She has conquered the U.K. and won hearts here, but the U.S. is also loving her music. No wonder! Although Self Esteem did not give details regarding the context of the comments she faced – and whether these remarks came from people watching her on T.V. -, it got me thinking about sizeism and the standards women are held to in music. I am going to come onto another issue that has reared its ugly head. In terms of Rebecca Lucy Taylor, she is not the only woman who has had to face people mentioning her size. As Self Esteem, we have this hugely inspiring and confident artist who is speaking to a whole generation. An extremely beautiful and sexy woman, it is upsetting to think that she is having to read cruel or nasty comments about her weight. I am not in a position myself to be able to personally relate, but there is a lot of expectation towards women anyway. There has always been this ‘ideal’ in terms of looks and size. Maybe things have changed in the modern day, but this sense that women should be thinner.

Unhealthy and sexist, there are not the same expectations on men. Self Esteem, in every sense, is amazing. Her body should never be the topic of mockery or any sort of offensive comment! Self Esteem posted how Americans were calling her fat on the Internet. She has struggled with disordered eating, and she said that it makes life a lot less lovely sometime if you are really thin. It shouldn’t be, as she correctly said, a talking point. I think women with fuller and real figures should be celebrated and highlighted! Self Esteem is a positive role model to so many people who might have been told they need to be super-thin or follow other people’s ideals and expectations. A healthy and happier artist than she has ever been, it does seem to be this immense and horrible setback when you read about the comments received. One would think there would be more understanding and less toxicity towards women and body image now. Maybe I am being naïve, but embracing and celebrating all body types and sizes should be paramount.

This narrative that women should be thin and that is what makes them desirable. I recently compiled a playlist of body-positive songs. Women celebrating their body and size. From Lizzo to Billie Eilish, through to Self Esteeem and Andra Day, these are powerful tracks that embrace the body. The fact they do not have to be perfect and flawless – or at least according to the rules and standards placed on them by society. I know there is a tonne of love out there for Self Esteem and, when she posted her reaction to getting called fat by American fans, it was met with a wave of support, reassurance and love! She is visiting the country soon, and I hope the fans and media are far kinder than the horrible few that have recently posted what they did.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Eilish featured in Vogue in May 2021/PHOTO CREDIT: Craig McDean

It would be wonderful to think that women can embrace their bodies and feel comfortable in their skin without having to receive abuse and misogynistic comments. Callous, sizeist and hugely harmful, I am not sure people realise the effect their words have! American sensation Billie Eilish is someone who has struggled with body image and her feelings towards her own body. Last year, Cosmopolitan reacted to an interview from The Sunday Times, where Eilish stated how she has hated her body since she was a child. Here is another woman with an incredible and healthy body, but she has been the recipient of jibes and comments about her figure. I remember when she was snapped last year walking near her home and revealing her figure. So many comments that homed in on her figure; stating she was overweight or looked horrible. She didn’t! The sort of devastation that must have caused. The impact that would have had on her self-confidence and mental health:

“Speaking to The Sunday Times the 20-year-old (who will this week become the youngest ever headliner at Glastonbury Festival) revealed that she's "hated" her body since she was a child, noting that she previously self-harmed "because of my body".

"Nowhere good," she replies when asked where her relationship with her body is at currently. "My relationship with my body has been a truly horrible, terrible thing since I was 11."

Billie went on: "I love that my body is mine and that it’s with me everywhere I go. I kind of think of my body as my friend. My ugly friend! It’s complicated. But what are you gonna do?

PHOTO CREDIT: Mason Poole

"I honestly don’t feel desired, ever. I do have this worry that I felt so undesirable that I may have occasionally tried too hard to be desirable. It makes me sad to think about."

On the topic of why she struggles with her body image, the singer explained that extended periods of alone time during the pandemic left her spiralling over her appearance. "COVID made me go right back down into the spiral of, who am I?" she said. "There was nothing happening and I remember thinking, I need to figure out who I am right now. Then halfway through COVID I felt as if I was starting to have an identity again, let’s do different things, let’s have different experiences. And then it [another identity crisis] happened again."

Billie continued: "Being known for the whole start of your career for one thing — 'she wears baggy clothes and she sings like this' — it was driving me mad." The thought triggered her to overhaul the look she'd previously been known for, appearing on the cover of British Vogue in a pink silk corset and later channeling Old Hollywood Glam at the Met Gala.

But, she says with the praise came criticism, too. "No matter what you do, it's wrong and right," the singer said. "Wearing baggy clothes, nobody is attracted to me, I feel incredibly unlovable and unsexy and not beautiful, and people shame you for not being feminine enough.

"Then you wear something more revealing and they’re, like, 'you’re such a fat cow whore'. I’m a slut and I’m a sell-out and I’m just like every other celebrity selling their bodies, and woah! What the f*** do you want? It’s a crazy world for women”.

It is interesting what Eilish said about what to wear and that desirability. If she dresses casually in baggy clothes, she is seen as uncouth and unattractive. If she is more revealing, she then gets jabs about weight and size. It is an impossible situation and reality that women should not have to face! Body positivity is such an important thing. There is this curse when you look at platforms like Instagram. So many photos posted by famous women and models. The fact that, still, a certain body type is popular and considered sexy. It extends to music. I think, especially in the mainstream, artists are watched closely and judged if they are not thin or put on any weight. It is about women feeling confident and comfortable in their own skins. That, in turn, inspires young women (and men), who will also feel the same. Lizzo is an artist who has faced fat shaming and remarks about her weight. She is someone who is defiantly proud of who she is and her body. As this article from 2019 highlights, Lizzo is someone who says the only thing that matters is what she thinks of herself and her own body:

“A few days later Lizzo explained her journey from diet obsessed, self-doubting young woman to tour-de-force performer.

Speaking to Jameela Jamil on her I Weigh programme on Instagram, Lizzo revealed insecurities about her size, shape and colour plagued her early years. As a result, her first forays in music were always as a member of group.

“I would be in these groups with people who I thought were prettier and cooler than me,” she said. “I thought they deserved the spotlight. I was like no one wants to hear what I have to say. No one wants to just look at me. Making solo music was so hard for me.”

The turning point came when she was 20 and excessive dieting meant she was thinner than ever but, according to her boyfriend at the time, not thin enough.

“I realised it doesn’t matter how small or big I am, or how I look, no one is going to be completely happy about it. I’m not going to be able to please everybody with my outward appearance. What matters is what I think about it.”

This realisation granted her the freedom to express herself how she wished, and her career blossomed. Go Lizzo”.

I guess the common factor is that it shouldn’t be up to others to judge and comment. Women in music need to feel comfortable in their own skin and be happy with themselves. I know, again, I do not have that personal relatability, but fans and the industry should embrace women to be who they want and actively ensure that there is no fat shaming or sizeism. Celebrating all figures and sizes, I don’t think there is this inclusiveness and acceptance that there should be. I know Self Esteem, Lizzo and Billie Eilish are not the only women in recent years who have highlighted their negative experiences when it comes to their bodies and how they have been perceived. I hope that, very soon, things change and there is not this problem where women are receiving shaming or abuse because of their size. Artists like Self Esteem are such positive role models! Although it is the minority who are responsible for fat shaming and sizeist comments, it does open up a wider conversation and question. Are women in music still expected to look a certain way and be a particular size?! For decades, the mainstream has been filled with women who are thinner. The feeling that this is sexier and more commercially appealing. It seems that this still pervades. Not only should size not be an issue, but women should be made to feel accepted and comfortable in their own bodies! Taking focus away from the music and their talent, there is so much toxicity and judgement levelled at women. I am writing a separate feature on Madonna, as she is touring soon to celebrate forty years since her debut album. There have been articles wondering whether she’ll embarrass herself because she is in her sixties – and maybe it will be awkward watching her truing to reclaim her past. It is heartbreaking and depressing to see how women are treated. They should not be judged and face such sexism and abuse. Instead, they should be…

EMBRACED and accepted.

FEATURE: BRIT Awards 2023 Nominees: The Playlist

FEATURE:

 

 

BRIT Awards 2023 Nominees

IN THIS PHOTO: Cat Burns/PHOTO CREDIT: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis

 

The Playlist

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THE nominees are in…

IN THIS PHOTO: Arctic Monkeys

for this year’s BRIT Awards. The ceremony will take place on 11th February. Mo Gilligan is returning as host. There is some awesome talented shortlisted for awards. I think it is one of the strongest fields in years, but the shortlists are quite male-dominated, which will raise a lot of debate and questions. I have put together a playlist of songs from artists that have been nominated. It is an incredible list of tracks from some of the best artists around the world. If you have not seen all the action and nominations, then take a look at the Twitter page for the BRIT Awards. One of the most prestigious music award ceremonies in the world, I think we will see a mix of shocks and deserved wins. Below is a list of songs from some amazing artists. I am not sure who will win in each category, but it is sure to be a…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift/PHOTO CREDIT: Beth Garrabrant

TRULY memorable night!

FEATURE: Spotlight: Blondshell

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Olivia Brissett for The Line of Best Fit

 

Blondshell

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I could have sworn…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Daniel Topete for DAZED

I had included the magnificent Blondshell in a Spotlight feature before. I love the string of singles she released last year. Each with incredible cover art (largely in black-and-white), the New York artist is stunning. These are early days for her but, in such a short time, she has been tipped by so many people to be among the elite artists who will rule and strike hard throughout this year. The amazing artist (Sabrina Teitelbaum) was interviewed through last year. I will bring in a few of those, as I hope it will help you geta wider and bigger picture of her music and background. Based in Los Angeles, I think that Blondshell is going to be this solo incarnation that lasts for many years. I know that Blondshell is touring very soon. Supporting the brilliant Suki Waterhouse, she had dates around North America. Happily, she comes to the U.K. in May. She plays Brighton’s Great Escape Festival., and she heads to Europe before coming back to the U.K. later in the month. You can check her dates here and go and order a ticket if she is playing near you. I want to see her play London, as it will be remarkable to witness the reception this wonderful and hugely promising young artist will receive. For this DAZED interview from December, Blondshell shares her ultimate break-up playlist…but she also talks about rage and relationships:

“Sabrina Teitelbaum had no idea how angry she was before she began writing as Blondshell. An exercise in uninhibited creativity initiated during lockdown, the NYC-raised alt-rock artist suddenly found herself accessing all the ugly, inconvenient truths she’d suppressed in previous musical projects.

“Before that I had always thought I was being personal,” the 25-year-old singer-songwriter says of the transition today, speaking over Zoom from her apartment in LA. “But it takes a certain amount of confidence and desperation to write about really personal things. So I was like, these are just gonna be my diary songs that nobody’s gonna hear.”

Unrepentant candour has quickly become Teitelbaum’s calling card. Launching Blondshell back in June, the slow smoulder of “Olympus” detailed a romantic infatuation exacerbated by substance abuse, and arrived prefaced by the weary assertion, “I’d still kill for you.” Follow-up “Kiss City” saw her demanding intimacy in lines like, “Just look me in the eye when I’m about to finish.” Better still was “Sepsis”’ jaded opening gambit, “I’m going back to him / I know my therapist’s pissed,” which set up the barbed kiss-off, “We both know he’s a dick.”

“That was a thing that happened,” Teitelbaum chuckles, offering a glimpse of the self-lacerating humour that so often bleeds into her songwriting. “Like, therapists typically don’t share those kinds of opinions, but it was just so obvious she hated him. And I don’t think I would have been able to write these songs had I not been having these discussions every week with my therapist.”

Teitelbaum had been performing for more than a decade before her creative breakthrough. Growing up in Midtown Manhattan, songwriting had always been her default mode of expression – a passion fostered in early childhood after being introduced to the work of David Bowie, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones by her father, and later nurtured via artists like Feist, PJ Harvey and Adele. During high school she was in and out of a succession of bands (including one with classmate Blu DeTiger), using a fake ID to play open mic nights on the Lower East Side.

Looking back on the period now, she experiences little to no nostalgia. “I had a hard time in high school and music was my hideaway,” she shrugs. “And the energy is so heightened in New York – there’s just, like, this tunnel vision.” Seeking some respite, she uprooted her life to LA at the age of 18, majoring in Songwriting at USC. By the time she dropped out in her sophomore year, Teitelbaum had found her musical tribe: a tight-knit community of like-minded queer artists, also featuring fellow Partisan-signee NoSo.

There were solo outings before Blondshell – most notably BAUM, which sat somewhere on the soul-pop spectrum – but it’s through this project that Teitelbaum has finally learned to consolidate all facets of her personality. She recalls, “I started showing the songs to my friends, and everybody just responded being like, ‘Oh, now this is you as a person.”

On her forthcoming full-length debut, Teitelbaum spares nobody, least of all herself. Recorded in and around LA with her long-time collaborator Yves Rothman (Yves Tumor, Sunflower Bean), with reference points including The Cure, Interpol, Hole’s Live Through This and Butch Vig’s production on Siamese Dream, subject matter includes heartbreak, grief, addiction and social anxiety. Though she’s not keen on revealing the specific context behind some of the songs, she concedes to being floored by the fury the songs illuminated”.

Having been responsible for a couple of my favourite tracks from last year, I have been intrigued reading about Blondshell and her music. Whereas Sabrina Teitelbaum has made music in the past and been quite active, Blondshell is this new phase and sense of revelation. Able to make the music she has always wanted, songs like Sepsis and Veronica Mars are enormously powerful and pure. This is an artist whose lyrics make you think – and they provoke so many different emotions. We get a sense of this when The Line of Best Fit chatted with Blondshell in December:

“I’m going back to him / I know my therapist’s pissed,” she plainly declares on her song “Sepsis”, an admission of defeat. The treatment she accepts in a relationship spreads through her self-worth like rot as she tries to untangle the riddle of herself through the lens of someone else. “And I think I believe in getting saved,” she sighs in a streak of masochism, “Not by Jesus, validation in some dude’s gaze / And I think I believe in getting saved / Holy water pull my hair right from the base.” But there came a point where Teitelbaum couldn’t force herself to swallow this long-brewed resentment. She’s spitting it out.

Blondshell, the alias of her latest project, is a vehicle for female rage. When she wiped the slate clean and announced her debut single, “Olympus”, the caption of her Instagram post read: “It’s the music I’ve always wanted to make but was too scared to”. But what is fear when there are scores to settle?

The story takes place in the Californian hills of Mount Olympus, named for the Greek home of the gods. It’s a love story with a death drive, careening towards oblivion. The relationship is defined by toxins: the dizzying highs and the cold-sweat lows, where the lines between the enabler and the addiction itself are blurred. The guitars are slow-burning, almost laconic, like the West Coast summers of your imagination – and so is her voice, until it cracks wide open with a human ache: “Baby wanna erase this / You’re not shameless / I’m afraid of your description that I’m fitting when I’m faded”. But this is not a song about them; it’s a song about Teitelbaum running into the blaze to safe herself.

PHOTO CREDIT: Olivia Brissett for The Line of Best Fit

“It was a painful era,” she reflects. “That era was really chaotic.” Her life had no direction, the days beginning and ending with no definable middle. It was only until she disentangled herself from that unhealthy relationship that she had the clarity to write about it. “There’s so much more to a relationship than you’re able to say in three minutes,” she explains. “I think, growing up, I was always kind of hesitant to express my emotions. Except in music. The music became the place where I would get all my emotions out. That’s why people have described my music as ‘intense’, ‘heavy’… stuff like that. I think that makes sense, because so much gets channelled to that space, for me.”

There is an old trope of New York City that its people are harsh, direct – unafraid to say exactly what they mean. Teitelbaum is the first to admit that as far as she’s concerned, it’s true. I ask if her music is always rooted in reality: “Yes”. So Blondshell doesn’t represent a persona? “No.” Her lyrics are unambiguous. “I was never able to write figuratively,” she admits. “That concept is so hard, like, people who write metaphors in their music. I think it’s awesome, but it’s just not my skillset. My songs are all pretty literal.”

Before writing “Olympus”, she was still tethered to her previous project, Baum, which she started as a teenager. She came of age in the era of bedroom demos, cutting her teeth by uploading covers of 1975 tracks to SoundCloud. “I just didn’t really know who I was,” she recollects. “I think I was figuring a lot out – and I still am. It just got to the point where I lost sight of the music I grew up listening to.” When the COVID-19 pandemic splintered her momentum as Baum, she was forced to confront realities about herself that she could’ve otherwise ignored. That sound, something far more pop-driven, felt two sizes too small – so she picked up her guitar. The time she spent with it led her back to the beginning: the albums that ignited the spark that took her this far in the first place.

It was the unbridled rage of Hole, in all their violent contradiction; the measured wit of Fiona Apple and the torn-at-the-edges rock of PJ Harvey, who had the greatest influence on Blondshell. “They were young women figuring out who they are. And they were angry. They sang about it in a way that still has a sense of humour, despite how dark things are,” Teitelbaum explains. “Because things are fucking dark and hard sometimes when you don’t know who you are yet. I can’t wait to be, like, fifty. I can’t wait – because why not? Everyone looks so much calmer, happier and more confident. I think it’s scarier to really show who you are in your music instead of trying to be somebody else.”

Blondshell was about daring to embrace the rage her progenitors embodied in their music, which to a male ear, has historically equated to a kind of madness. With “Sepsis”, in particular, she says, “I was fucking pissed.” She begins to explain that, “With ‘Kiss City’, there’s this vulnerability which was so scary for me, like, ‘I’m going to take this step and say this thing that’s embarrassing and necessary’, and then there’s the other side of it, which is like, ‘I’m so fucking mad, and I did not get what I deserved - and I’m going to scream about it for the first time”.

There will be a load of interviews with Blondshell this year. Seeing as she is touring very soon and there will be more music, there will be this extra material, fascination and another step. Before an album, many more fans will come the way of the New York-raised artist. It seems songs such as Kiss City and Sepsis were an act of catharsis and emotional exorcism for Teitelbaum. Explaining to THE FACE that she didn’t expect people to hear them, she wrote them alone in her apartment. I think that so many people will be deeply excited about the thought of a potential debut Blondshell album:

“This week, the 25-year-old known as Blondshell released her new single, Veronica Mars, a simmering, guitar-laden rebuke to how films and TV shows can condition kids to grow up too fast. ​“Veronica Mars /​2004 /​I am disturbed /​Gimme shelter,” she sings languidly, before the song erupts into a full-blown rock ballad.

It turns out Teitelbaum is quite the student of satisfying sonic build-ups. Before Veronica Mars came out – the first track she’s released under Partisan Records, also home to IDLES and Fontaines D.C. – she self-released three anthemic tracks, all of which start off slow before crescendoing into powerful vocals and scuzzy guitar riffs.

All of this bodes well for a potential debut album, we say. For now, Teitelbaum’s been booked to play next year’s Primavera Sound festival in Madrid and Barcelona, and she’ll support model and musician Suki Waterhouse on the US leg of her tour before heading out for a string of solo shows across the UK and Europe next spring.

10% Where were you born, where were you raised and where are you now based?

I was born and raised in New York. I’ve been living in LA for the last six years.

20% What kinds of emotions and experiences influence your work?

A lot of the heaviest, most intense things I feel are what show up in my music. That can be any emotion: anger, sadness, feeling overwhelmed. What doesn’t come up a lot is happiness. I’ve always thought of music as a therapeutic outlet. If I’m feeling great about something, I don’t feel any urgency to write about that, because I’m busy living it. Also it ends up being cheesy.

30% If you could travel back in time to see an iconic music act perform, who would it be?

The Cranberries in ​’95, when their first two albums were out”.

100% What can artists do to help save the world?

I think artists have the power to make people feel like it’s OK to feel really big feelings and express them. It takes the shame out of really big emotions, which is so important. That’s what music did for me”.

Undoubtably an artist that is going to grow and keep releasing such incredibly important music, this is someone who bares their soul. In return, there is so much affection and respect for Sabrina Teitelbaum. As Blondshell, she is a name that everyone should follow and cherish. I am excited to see what comes from her this year. Touring North America and Europe, we will get to see her in the U.K. soon. There are so many wonderful and enormously talented emerging artists coming through right now. There is no doubt that Blondshell is…

AMONG my absolute favourites.

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Follow Blondshell

FEATURE: Spotlight: Jennifer Loveless

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

  

Jennifer Loveless

_________

ALTHOUGH she is an artist in her own right…

Jennifer Loveless is better known as a D.J. and producer. I have known about her work for a couple of years now but, last year, I got even more into her music. Her sounds and the way she puts them together is entrancing, intoxicating and utterly fresh! She is someone who is going to be in the sights of many as we head through this year. I have dropped some songs in, but I would advise people to do some deeper diving and check out Jennifer Loveless’ stuff on Spotify and Bandcamp. She is a remarkable! I shall come to a few interviews, leading with one from 2020. First, and to give us some biography, here is what you need to know about Loveless:

“The Toronto-born Australian-resident, and now London-based queer artist is a diverse selector who found her love of club music through its most fundamental element; dance.

In recent years she’s headlined Australia’s biggest festivals including Pitch Music & Arts Festival and Gaytimes Festival. Panorama Bar, Maricas Mxricas, Boiler Room, Body Movements are just a few of the notable gigs she’s already played during her short time in Europe. Jennifer has supported international heavyweights including DJ Sprinkles, Ben UFO, Steffi and Midland. In North America she’s performed alongside artists-to-watch Ambien Baby, D.Tiffany and Korea Town Acid. Her set at iconic festival YinYang took place on the Great Wall of China.

Jennifer’s mixes are notable, featuring on Crack Mag, Daisychain, Trushmix and C-. Her work has been broadcast on Rinse FM, Noods Radio and Balami. On Skylab Radio she hosted her own show 'Weatherall'.

Since 2020 Jennifer has been prolific in her production releases. She’s released on Pure Space, Sex Tags UFO, Planet Euphorique, Body Verse, Butter Sessions and contributed a track to Jayda G’s critically acclaimed DJ Kicks compilation. Her releases have received praise from Laurent Garnier, Bill Brewster, Extrawelt, Bandcamp and RA, whose Music Editor Andrew Ryce described her sophomore EP 'Water' as “the kind of career-making EP that most artists could only hope for their second-ever record to sound like.” She returns this summer 2022 with her latest EP titled ‘Around the World’ out on Butter Sessions, a womping 6-tracker featuring the already classic single as reviewed by Pitchfork, ‘Muzik’.

Jennifer’s live performances are experimental, fluid, and charged with emotion. Her narratives weave a love of the ocean, a love for her community, an ear for details and concern for the climate. She’s performed live in support of Ciel and Hakobune. Alongside these projects, Jennifer also writes for screen for clients including: Nike, Timberland, Posmos and more”.

An influential and hugely impressive artist, D.J. and producer. In her elements behind the decks, I wanted to stray away from more conventional artists to focus on Jennifer Loveless. Here is someone forging a very golden and bright path. Stamp the Wax interviewed her back in 2020. It is unsurprising to learn that she was born to a very musical family. No doubt her talents were spotted pretty early on:

“A core part of Australia’s thriving dance music scene, Jennifer Loveless’ influence and has spread far and wide through her indisputable talents behind the decks, her transmissions on the Skylab radio waves and her work within the community.

Having cemented her position as one of the country’s foremost selectors – with sets for Australia’s Discwoman Showcase Boiler Room and tours across North America and Asia – she’s focusing on her own productions, with her debut outing, the emotive and nostalgic Hard/Soft, coming out on Andy Garvey’s Pure Space imprint.

She describes her Self-Portrait mix as “a bit of Internet ADHD, a bit of introspection and a tinge of commerce”, characteristics she says could apply to herself personally. Alongside the original material mix, we chat to Jenn about her musical background and her production process…

Let’s start with an ice breaker, what’s your earliest musical memory?

Hmm, I think there are a few that come to mind. Playing piano, performing with my brothers, my old purple and silver RCA stereo system, where I would listen to cassettes and stay up to record new tracks from my favourite radio shows.

Did you have a particularly musical upbringing?

Yes, me and my whole family did. We were all classically trained in piano from a young age, but we really lived for doing renditions of pop and r&b songs together. I have to give it up to my father who put in his savings and time, and pushed us to perform at every opportunity. He often mentioned that he wished for us to be a version of the Jackson 5… Definitely a pipe dream but his obsession made for an interesting upbringing.

What led you into music production?

Natural progression I guess, I started writing poetry as a form of expression and therapy from a young age and music provided a similar outlet for me.

Are there any producers or artists who have inspired your production?

It’s hard to put inspiration down to just producers and artists. I think experience is a large source of inspiration, as are stories both fiction and non. The tracks in this mix have been written over a large span of time, so to that, there have been many.

Are there any particular rituals you go through before you head into the studio?

The studio is my bedroom, so I wake up here and I fall asleep here. I am often anxious about time and there not being a lot of it. When I’m in that head space I can’t seem to write anything – I need to feel like time is infinite. To remedy that, I try to set aside whole days where I can be in my room without being disturbed or scheduled for anything.

Do you come in with a destination in mind before starting a jam?

Not at all.

Are you the type of producer to work on a track until it’s perfect, or are you more of an impulsive creator, happy with first takes and sketches?

A bit of both. I like to only do one take of whatever I’m recording in analog into my DAW, and from there I rearrange, warp, and mix. Only recently have I started going back and re-recording drum tracks in separately because my girlfriend wouldn’t leave it alone, and she has a point”.

There are a couple of other interviews I want to get to before finishing. Mixdown Mag spoke with her in April last year. As a D.J. and Electronic Dance producer, there is no doubting that she is a fast-rising star with a big future. I think that 2023 may be the biggest year yet. It is exciting to see what is going to come next from the incomparable Jennifer Loveless:

“Raised in Toronto, Jennifer came from a musical family. At the age of three she started to learn piano and by the age of 15 had completed her eighth grading, which despite her protestations to the contrary, is an incredible achievement at any age, let alone a teenager! During childhood, there was a lot of familial pressure to perform together with her siblings at school and community events. Jennifer jokes that they were being raised to be the next Jackson Five by her father. The constant pressure to practise and perform took its toll and Jennifer decided to give up on piano altogether later in adolescence.

Some years later, in an effort to connect with her Chinese heritage, Jennifer left Toronto to explore her family’s home in Guangzhou. It was there she discovered Ableton Live and started to learn music production. As an artist, now, she is grateful for the time she spent with music as a child which provided her a strong foundation as a producer and DJ. “It’s amazing to have all that knowledge in my back pocket. It’s in my body so much that it becomes intuitive,” she says.

PHOTO CREDIT: Alan Weedon

Her diverse cultural background manifests in her music as it morphs effortlessly through mood and timbre. That said, her sound is unashamedly dance-focused and devoid of world music tropes. Rather, it blends huge beats, derived from acoustic samples, with a dense tapestry of synth-driven basslines, chords, and melodies to realise textures simultaneously organic and electronic.

Her most recent release, Water, was inspired by David Attenborough’s Blue Planet documentary series. She explains, “I became obsessed with underwater life and the cultures and behaviours of the different fish and marine life”. In terms of terrestrial influences, she cites DJ Koze, Moodymann, Matthew Herbert, and K-Hand.

When producing, Jennifer employs a unique workflow. Her DAW of choice is Ableton and interestingly, she combines old school MPC beatboxes with hardware synths, preferring to capture performances as audio, rather than sequencing in MIDI. Personal hardware favourites include the legendary Teenage Engineering OP-1, Yamaha TX81z, and the Akai MPC 1000. This preference to work with hardware sequencers like the MPCs, rather than sequencing MIDI directly in Ableton, sees Jennifer writing beats on the MPCs then recording them into a beat-matched Ableton Live session as audio. Once these beats are recorded, Loveless spends time writing basslines, chords, and melodies on her hardware synths, before committing these sounds and performances directly to disk.

For her, the endless options presented by software synths and plugins, impedes the creative process. Rather than searching through endless software instruments and presets for “that sound” in her head, Jennifer looks to hardware synths to create sounds and as soon as she hits on something workable, hits record to ensure the inspiration keeps flowing. “Even it wasn’t exactly the sound I was thinking of, as long as it’s close enough, I’m like, ‘oh! This is the character now. I can’t go back and change it.’ Otherwise, I end up in this self-hating mode, pathetically looking for this “thing” and after a while I can barely recall what I was looking for.

“Then, if I do another take it will be missing this little swing or something that I did the first time. So, unless I’ve recorded it too hot, I’ll use EQ to make the sound work and use Ableton’s warp to bring a few stray notes into time and make the take work. For me, that’s the nicest on my brain. So, it’s largely hardware sound design with sample packs for the beats via the MPCs. I want to work quickly.”

On her latest release, the first track is driven by an infectious bassline coupled with a huge beat. The bottom end is seriously impressive. When asked about the genesis and development of the track, Jennifer offered the following: “On my latest release, the first track ‘Out/Under’ was mostly just me, building up a beat without a computer, on the MPC. From there I jammed along with a bassline and once I was happy with it, I started up Ableton, record-enabled all the tracks and went for it.”

As an artist these days, the number of hats to be worn can be dizzying. Songwriter, performer, producer, mixer, mastering engineer, the list goes on. Jennifer is comfortable drawing on collaborators to assist as required so she can focus on the writing and production. The mix for ‘Out/Under’ is fantastic and the balance between the huge kicks and bassline, perfectly executed”.

That previous interview was from an Australian publication. MixMag Asia spoke with Jennifer Loveless in September, around the release of her E.P., Around the World. Even though she is based in London, as she says near the end of the interview, she is very proud of the neighbourhoods and sounds of Melbourne. It is clearly somewhere very dear to her heart. An important part of her life:

“Fluid, hypnotic and sun-soaked atmospherics would be a quick way to introduce the sonic repertoire of Jennifer Loveless.

A follow up to her globally acclaimed 'Water' EP, her latest output titled 'Around The World' dropped last week on Butter Sessions, and it comes loaded with the intention of keeping a Summer anthem-fuelled dance floor gyrating into Autumn. It’s not a seasonal album per se, but it’s loaded with all the ripe ingredients. Mildly put, it’s a full of beans before breakfast-kind-of affair and that’s just how we like to be in the wee hours.

We speak to the sapphic heiress about her movements from Toronto to Melbourne, and how she's now settled in London, whilst diving into her 'Around The World' EP.

Hi Jennifer, thank you for taking the time to speak to Mixmag Asia in your busy schedule.

You were born in Toronto, but your musical roots are heavily weighted in Melbourne, and now you’re in London. How did these shifts around the world happen?

I moved to Melbourne (Naarm) in 2012 for what was only supposed to be a short stint. I was going on exchange and I chose Melbourne because I had heard about its amazing music scene and chose Australia in general due to its proximity to the ocean. I stayed for 10 years after that because of the music scene and the people and the place. I think it’s pretty common knowledge now that there is a thriving electronic scene in Australia, I mean Roza Terenzi, Sleep D, Tornado Wallace to name a few who have been doing it for a while and have crossed over. And it’s only getting more abundant! Moving overseas was something my partner and me started talking about seriously during lockdown. I wanted to grow as an artist and of course that involves being in the largest electronic music hub EU/UK.

Jayda G was actually a bit integral to the choice of London; she’s been living there for a minute, and during a conversation one evening in the depths of lockdown she convinced me it was time to start putting the plans in place and here we are. I’ve not said goodbye to Australia at all, just having a bit of a poke around for a bit elsewhere. After two years of lockdown it’s nice to be plunged into a completely different environment.

A reigning theme across your releases would quite easily be ‘dance’. Tell us your story from the floor to the booth.

Yes, Toronto and Markham were pivotal to my relationship with dance. From elementary school days, me and my friends were always learning the latest dance routines from r'n'b and hip hop music videos. We’d also throw soca and dancehall parties in my basement and sneak off to community centre dances. Our lives were so rich in this way, we had so many cultures around us and that was absolutely essential to my taste and relationship to dance.

Later in life, around the age I went to uni, me and my parents moved to a one bedroom apartment in Toronto and I was exposed to the electronic music (it was first dubstep), the after hours culture in Toronto, and the DJs there. Deep house, soul, disco, boogie, minimal, acid house, tech house were what reigned supreme at the time, at least in the circles I was running in.

What’s the first gig you ever played?

My first gig outside of my bedroom was in Melbourne at this bar called GoG Bar. I brought and used my Vestax controller for the first few months before switching over to burning CDs and playing on the CDJs there.

Your sophomore EP ‘Water’ accelerated the awareness of the Jennifer Loveless brand — how did it feel to get a warm reception early in your production career?

I felt good about the EP and I still do. I by no means think it’s perfect, but it was true to me then and it holds now. The warm reception was I guess a cherry on top. It’s really nice to shout into the abyss and have something come back.

What would you say has changed about your production techniques from ‘Water’ to ‘Around The World’?

I’d like to think I’ve gotten better at mixing. Finding the line between too many elements and just enough to get the sound I want across. I’m still a bit stubborn about things and probably will continue to try to jam too many elements into one”.

A brilliant creative force who I am sure will be taking her music and D.J. brilliance around the world this year, I hope there are some U.K. dates and appearances. Having released the remarkable Around the World in September, I am sure we will get another E.P. or album later this year. Keep your eyes peeled for someone who is among the most remarkable D.J.s and producers there is. I think that 2023 is going to be the year where things really take it off. Having released so much amazing music, it is…

SO richly deserved.

____________

Follow Jennifer Loveless

FEATURE: Second Spin: Paul McCartney - Off the Ground

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

  

Paul McCartney - Off the Ground

_________

THIS might be a…

contentious one, but I think that Paul McCartney’s ninth studio album, Off the Ground, is underrated and deserves another spin. It was released on 2nd February, 1993, so I wanted to highlight it ahead of its thirtieth anniversary. You can find out about Off the Ground here. It has received some negative feedback through the years. As McCartney’s first studio album of the 1990s, it is also the follow-up to the well-received Flowers in the Dirt (1989). Some saw it as a weak follow-up. The two albums are pretty different in terms of sound and material. I really like both, and I feel Off the Ground is underrated and stronger than it has been given credit for. Reaching number five in the U.K., it was a commercial success. I have seen quite a few mixed reviews. My first taste of the album was the single, Hope of Deliverance. I heard that in 1993, and it instantly became one of my favourite Paul McCartney songs! Listening to the rest of Off the Ground, and there are more than enough strong cuts. Singles C’Mon People and Biker Like an Icon are great. I love deeper cuts such as Peace in the Neighbourhood and Get Out of My Way. I would urge people to give the album a spin ahead of its thirtieth anniversary. I want to bring in a few reviews. The first one, from AllMusic is one of the more mixed reviews:

“Flowers in the Dirt did earn good reviews but perhaps more important was its accompanying tour, McCartney's first full-fledged world tour in years. Given the tour's enthusiastic reception, McCartney could wait until 1993 to deliver the album's proper sequel, Off the Ground. Though it isn't as consciously ambitious, Off the Ground certainly picks up where Flowers left off, as McCartney feels no shame in making an album that doesn't aim for the charts (though success would certainly be welcomed), yet is still classy, professional, and ambitious. Two key differences appear: it's a leaner production (making the midtempo numbers seem less cloying and giving the rockers real kick), and McCartney's social conscience dominates the record (which is easily his most politically active, as he rails against animal testing and pleads for world peace several times). He doesn't leave love or whimsy behind ("Biker Like an Icon" is easily his worst, most studied stab at whimsy), and he still has a pair of fine McCartney/MacManuss songs ("Mistress and Maid," "The Lovers That Never Were") to pull out. This all results in a record that has its virtues -- it's clean and direct, where many of his solo albums are diffuse and meandering, and it's serious-minded where many rely on cutesiness -- but, overall, Off the Ground feels like less than the sum of its parts, possibly because the seriousness is too studied, perhaps because the approach is a bit too stodgy. Nevertheless, this has nearly as many successful moments as Flowers in the Dirt, standing as a deliberately serious comeback record by an artist who spent too much time relying on his natural charm, and who feels no shame in overcompensating at this stage of the game”.

I want to come of the more positive reviews for Off the Ground. I know McCartney has received a lot of detractors through his solo career. Whilst he has released some average albums, I feel Off the Ground is one of the stronger efforts. The 1990s was not his best decade for albums, but 1997’s Flaming Pie (the next solo studio album after Off the Ground) is one of McCartney’s genius works. This is what the Chicago Tribune wrote about McCartney’s 1993 album:

“Paul McCartney's new album, "Off the Ground" (Capitol), will be out Tuesday, and it's easily his best studio work in a decade.

That's not exactly lavish praise, given the paucity of punch in McCartney's recent albums, but "Off the Ground" is a solid, sometimes inspired, work of pop craftsmanship.

It uses the same key personnel (bassist Hamish Stuart, guitarist Robbie McIntosh, drummer Blair Cunningham, keyboardist Wix Wickens) and uncluttered production aesthetic that made McCartney's 1991 performance on MTV's "Unplugged" so energizing.

Not everything works: "Biker Like an Icon" sounds half-finished, "Golden Earth Girl" and "Get Out of My Way" are awfully slight and there are far too many clumsy lyrics.

Yet there's pop dazzle aplenty, beginning with the first single, "Hope of Deliverance," in which the brush-stroked Latin rhythms echo the Beatles' "And I Love Her."

And there's also unexpected toughness. Hamish's slide guitar adds grit to the buoyant title track, and his crunching riffs drive the animal-rights anthem "Looking for Changes," one of McCartney's angriest and most convincing performances in recent years.

That veracity carries through much of the album. McCartney has made a career out of making everything seem easy, sometimes too easy, but his cutie-pie propensities are now balanced by emotional grit.

His vocal technique and command on the bridge of "The Lovers That Never Were" are a marvel, and the whole of "Winedark Open Sea" is captivating, as McCartney's voice works a simple lyric for every drop of resonance.

These songs elaborate on the album's central themes of hope in the face of strife and enduring love as a balm against suffering.

If not exactly a new message, McCartney makes it at least seem like a necessary one-and that makes all the difference”.

I’ll end with a 2007 review from Rolling Stone. In the U.S., Off the Ground peaked at seventeen on the Billboard 200. Its first-week sales were only 53,000 copies. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Even if the sales were lower in the U.S. and U.K. than expected, it fared better in other key markets such as Spain. In Japan:

“In addition to copiloting the greatest bands in rock & roll history, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger have something else in common: Both have watched their solo careers sputter. McCartney hasn't placed an album or single at the top of the charts in nearly a decade, and only one album, an "unplugged" MTV concert, has broken the Top Twenty. Jagger waited until 1985 to test the solo waters and has thus far found them icy. His last album, Primitive Cool (1987), stalled at Number Forty-one, while its would-be anthem "Let's Work" logged one lonely week at the tail end of the Top Forty.

No acts will ever rule the rock realm so completely for so long as the Beatles and the Stones. Times have changed; attention spans have shortened, owing to video overexposure (resulting in careers with the trajectory of a Roman candle), rigid radio formats, the corporate trivialization of rock's mission and the sheer accumulated mass of music, old and new, being thrust at listeners. These days the sales go to the likes of Michael Bolton, Garth Brooks, Boyz II Men and Kris Kross, while living legends like McCartney, Jagger, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and arguably even Bruce Springsteen are consigned to an elder rockers' Valhalla, where they bask in critical favor and do good tour business while watching their new work hobble and fall off the charts.

So why suffer the ignominy of being outsold by artists of far less luster? Why not stay home counting royalties and tending investments? For both Jagger and McCartney, pride and ego figure in, certainly; but there's also the matter of creative viability. There's plenty of ambition, not to mention craft, to be found on both Wandering Spirit and Off the Ground. McCartney, fresh from dabbling in light classical with his Liverpool Oratorio, imparts a mock-orchestral grandeur to his pop sensibility on Off the Ground. While occasionally slow-moving (McCartney could use a boot from an aggressive producer), Off the Ground contains some fine songs and sustains a guardedly optimistic mood that conveys a faith in the future. Jagger manages to paint in the primary hues of an inveterate rock animal on Wandering Spirit while decorating the margins with some left-field material that recalls the fervid eclecticism of the Between the Buttons-era Stones. If Wandering Spirit gets the nod over Off the Ground, it's because Jagger sounds livelier and more welded to the present than McCartney.

The differences between the two can be illustrated by their lyrics. Whereas McCartney sings, "I feel love for you now" in "Winedark Open Sea," Jagger growls, "I don't ever wanna see your picture again" in "Don't Tear Me Up." McCartney is a family man whose idealism springs from his commitments; Jagger remains a realist and, true to the title, a wandering spirit whose blood runs hot. Wandering Spirit rises to a rousing boil, while Off the Ground maintains a mannerly simmer. They're about as different as day and night, and as it was in the early days, when people were either Beatles fans or Stones fans, you'll probably prefer one to the exclusion of the other.

Poking their heads above the manicured surface of McCartney's song cycle are "Hope of Deliverance" and "Peace in the Neighbourhood." The first is one of those perfect little tunes McCartney plucks from his songwriter's subconscious like a pearl from a shell. Deceptively wispy, effortlessly catchy, it finds McCartney breezily proffering a positive attitude toward the days ahead: "When it will be right, I don't know/What it will be like, I don't know/We live in hope of deliverance from the darkness that surrounds us." "Peace" is a cheerful, dreamlike vision of a halcyon world; its sunny, casually funky groove recalls odes to brotherhood by the likes of Sly and the Family Stone and War.

Elvis Costello rejoins McCartney as a songwriting collaborator on two numbers: "Mistress and Maid," in which fanciful flourishes provide a Sgt. Pepper-style spin, and "The Lovers That Never Were," a gorgeous, lushly arranged vocal showcase also taken at a swaying waltz tempo. McCartney falters when he tries to rock out on "Looking for Changes," a literal-minded animal-rights broadside, and "Biker Like an Icon," a quixotic character study. At this juncture, he doesn't seem able to rock with authority, and he under-mines his effort by applying a sugary glaze, such as the inappropriately tame chorus to "Biker Like an Icon." A clutch of longish songs – "Winedark Open Sea," "C'mon People," "I Owe It All to You," "Golden Earth Girl" – seems calculated to cast an ambient stargazing spell, and McCartney closes the album with an Aquarian Age reminder to remain "cosmically conscious." While the sentiments are commendable and the music pleasurable, Off the Ground is a tad undercooked – a souffle that doesn't quite rise to the grand heights its creator envisioned.

Jagger, on the other hand, rocks with a willful, desperate abandon on Wandering Spirit, the most purposeful and assured of his three solo discs. With Rick Rubin coproducing, the album has a live, knife edge feel to it, from Jagger's counting off the bristling opening cut, "Wired All Night," on through to the reckless declaration of independence of the title track. While Wandering Spirit possesses a rock-solid backbone that will please Stones fans, Jagger adroitly tosses a few curves – a pure-country foray, some hard-hitting urban funk, a courtly overlay of harpsichord and Mellotron – to keep things interesting. And though not everything works – particularly problematic are "Handsome Molly," a dire foray into Celtic folk, and a starchy retread of Bill Withers's "Use Me" – Jagger communicates both laser-focused directness and far ranging versatility.

Jagger, who will turn fifty this year, seems determined to cede nothing to age, dismissing the idea of mellowing out as anathema: "I'm as hard as a brick/I hope I never go limp," he rages from the center of the cyclonic fury of "Wired All Night." His brashness and swagger are well intact on numbers like "Put Me in the Trash" and the doggedly relentless cover of James Brown's "Think." The first single, "Sweet Thing," finds him applying a "Fool to Cry" falsetto to a danceable, "Miss You"-style track. On "Out of Focus," a churchy piano-vocal intro segues into reggae-accented gospel-funk as Jagger deals squarely with a harsh comeuppance that tempts with autobiographical overtones: "Maybe I lied a little bit too much.... I saw the future just shatter like glass." "Don't Tear Me Up" is another sadder-but-wiser reflection bolstered by echoes of "You Can't Always Get What You Want." The title song spells out his rootless dilemma with forcible resolve: "Yes, I am a restless soul/There's no place that I can call my home," he sings as the band ensnares him in a tight jump blues.

But Jagger isn't content to let matters rest there. From this defiant perch he reveals the cracks in a vulnerable façade with three remarkable songs near the album's end. "My cards are on the table/You can get up and walk away/Or stay," he importunes in the country-flavored ballad "Hang On to Me Tonight." Tart Memphis-soul guitar and a solid backbeat buoy Jagger's bittersweet plaint in "I've Been Lonely for So Long." "Angel in My Heart" closes this trilogy with a heartbreaking plea – "Stay with me till night turns to day/Let me in your dreams" – set to an exquisite melody reminiscent of "Lady Jane." Wandering Spirit, then, illuminates the varied aspects of a complex personality. But best of all, it rocks like a bitch”.

I am a big fan of Paul McCartney’s solo work, and I feel that Off the Ground has not been talked about in overly-positive tones since its release in 1993. It has a few weak tracks, but there is a lot to love about it. My attachment to Hope of Deliverance means it will always have a special place in my thoughts. If you have been wary about tackling the album or have never heard it, then give Paul McCartney’s underrated 1993 gem…

A bit of time.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Thirty Years On: Great Tracks from 1993

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Salt-N-Pepa/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Putland 

 

Thirty Years On: Great Tracks from 1993

_________

I might do a couple of playlists…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Sheryl Crow/PHOTO CREDIT: Karjean Levine

compiling songs from important years. I have explored 1993 before but, in 2023, these tracks are thirty. It was an essential  year for me. Aged nine/ten, I was really starting to discover music and bond with it in a very real way. I bought my first album, NOW That's What I Call Music! A compilation of great and popular hits from that year (and some older), I remember 1993 very fondly. To mark that, I have selected some popular singles and incredible tracks from albums released in 1993. It is hard to believe that these tracks are thirty this year! They seem so timeless and fresh to me. Maybe you know some of these tracks, but there might be some that are new. If you need a reminder of what variety and quality was around thirty years ago, these songs should…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Beck

GIVE you a reminder.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Somadina

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

  

Somadina

_________

IT is hard to keep a track…

of all the amazing talent that will define and mould this year. One artist I am a fan of and love the music of is Somadina (Somadina Onuoha). The Nigerian artist is absolutely phenomenal! I have out her social media links at the bottom. Make sure you keep abreast of what is happening and all her latest musical offerings. In November, she released the stunning album, Heart of the Heavenly Undeniable (HOTHU). I am going to wrap up with a review for that album. First, there are a few interviews with Somadina I want to bring in. New Wave Magazine introduced this incredible talent:

“Still sticking on the topic of growing up, we asked Somadina on her influences and prominently through her music career. For her, her father was a person who allowed her to do whatever she wished to do through the lens of admiration; as she bears that given love from her father to champion herself through the music industry. Another inspiration is the Ghanaian songstress Amaarae, an artist that organically exudes the embodiment of black femininity. Somadina quickly mentions how she attended her writing camp - “Going to the camp was quite unplanned because I met her before but we never really spent time together. When I went to LA last year, she happened to be there at the same time so coincidentally, someone invited me to dinner. From then on, everything was so organic with her! At the camp, I was somewhere comfortable with producers, songwriters and singers and her. It was so cool and she makes incredible music. Seeing that and also the way she worked, it was so inspiring.”

In 2018, IHY was Somadina’s first studio produced song. Highlighting how much better off you are from that man/woman, we experience first hand from her discography her extraordinary ability to display her voice and her lyrical composition to the world. From then on, songs such as the punk-rock coated ‘SUPERSOMA’ and sensual ‘Kno Me’ have received international appreciation. When making music, being genre restricted contains Somadina within a box. Experimenting with new sounds, feelings and emotions allows her to really showcase her motto of being free and, through her own words, “Always be fearless, throw yourself into the deep end, and never give up.” When I had asked the question of what difficulties she had faced in her career, and what song highlighted that, I heard a response that was refreshing to hear:

Her response demonstrated that Somadina is using her patience to shape herself into a better musician because she is working with it. We get an insight of an icon, and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Being versatile includes everything that you do with patience mastered.

Christianity and Somadina go hand in hand as she mentions that “artistry to me is about growing as a person only and growing spiritually, mentally, physically”. Growing up in a predominantly Christian environment and family, she uses her religion to channel her artistry. “Making music and Christianity are both important to me. I make every effort to pray and talk to God on a personal level. It is the root of my foundation of affections, and I feel really blessed by him, so I don't take that relationship for granted, and I believe it keeps me grounded”.

In August, prior to the release of her album, Raydar Magazine spoke with Somadina. An artist that has been taking the scene by storm for years now, I think that 2022 was her biggest year. It was definitely one when her music found a larger audience:  

“Nigerian-based artist Somadina bleeds talent. The young artist has been taking the industry by storm for some time now. Starting with her 2018 single “Ihy”, which set the tone for the singer. Shortly after, her popular single “Lay Low” ft Nigerian artist Orinayo, was released in 2019. A duet-themed R&B ballad consisting of heart-felt lyrics wrapped in boundless emotion. Following the fast-moving artistic progression of Somadina came a 5 track EP titled, Five Stages, which was released in 2020. She was brave enough to share her painful journey with the world, a journey that was an offspring of heartbreak.

The project takes the listener through the same lows and highs that the singer experienced in her young adulthood. She emphasized the fact that pain is not forever and that “acceptance is the most blissful part of grief.” Acceptance is an important component of growth, which Somadina indeed continued to do. Later that year, she also showcased a different, more wild side of herself and released her popular single “Kno Me” featuring the well-known Nigerian-based artist SGaWD.

The single would lay the groundwork for her building enough confidence to release her latest single “SUPERSOMA,” showcasing a more provocative and raunchy nature of the artist. Now, Somadina is looking to break through sonic barriers. The alternative rock-themed song hints at some influences from the brit-pop and 70’s Afro-rock era. The dexterous artist does a great job mixing the rock/punk-based production with a dominant Nigerian top line. A unique combination that has all the formulas for success. “SUPERSOMA” is not a regional record by any means.

The record has been spotted on stations all around the world, including my city Washington, DC. Nigeria is proving to be a breeding ground for top talent in the music industry, and she’s proof that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Furthermore, we got a chance to sit down with Somadina and talk about her upbringing, creative process, beliefs, and more. Check out the full interview below.

 Tell us a bit about where you are from?

I’m from Nigeria. I was born in Nigeria then I moved to the Netherlands when I was about one or two. I lived there for nine years. So, I grew up in the Netherlands then I moved back to Nigeria. When I was back in Nigeria, I was about 10 years old, continued living in Nigeria for a couple more years. I went to secondary school here then I went to school in London for six years. Yeah, I’m from everywhere. I currently live in Lagos, Nigeria – a fun city.

Your music displays different facets of your personality. It ranges from sweet and gentle to raunchy and provocative, is your music a direct reflection of who you are as a person?

My music is a reflection of the stages I have experienced in life. More than just me. I think I always have periods where I’m making a certain type of music or discovering a certain type of sound. It just reflects the period in time in my life. I believe I’m capable of making anything and everything. I’m inspired by so much music.

It also has to do with the way I grew up. I’ve heard so many things. I’ve listened to music in so many different languages. So I just feel like it’s periodic. I’m making a lot of rock music right now, but I started as an R&B girl.  I had a whole phase last year where I was just rapping and it’s just always very periodic.

How involved are you with the production process?

My new project will have songs that are mostly executive produced by me. I’ll ask producers to play certain sounds I’ve thought about. I also like giving people a lot of space to create with me because I don’t want to start ‘over-creating’ with just myself in my mind. So, like when I was in LA working with producers and writers, I would have an idea of a melody but then be like, “okay do what you want with that” and they will just take it to another dimension. It’ll be something new. Overall, I’m very, very intentional with everything I make but  I like exploring with people and trying new things, having new ideas and input. I’m very particular about that too.

As an artist should be?

I don’t even know what to say,  I don’t see myself past anything. I don’t think that one thing ever changes. I want to always be so connected to the music and I want it to be so intentional, like, it doesn’t have to be fake deep. Do you know what I mean? At the end of the day, a lot of my lyrics are just very passive and you know, you make what you can make what you want from it. Everything has to have an intention and has to have some type of perspective.

Even when I was making this new song “SUPERSOMA” I suppose, I was just listening to a lot of afro-rock from the 70s, a lot of psychedelic rock music. I wanted a lot of Nigerian culture to be inspired by that new song but I wanted it to sound very evolved, where you could listen to it globally.

What kind of music inspired you growing up?

So my dad was a music head growing up, he played a lot of music on Sunday mornings. I heard a lot of gospel growing up. I think that’s where a lot of the actual singing styles came from. My dad used to play John Legend. My dad’s in love with John Legend. I like Fela Kuti! My dad never played him for us, I found him on my own when I went to boarding school. I started listening to Fela Kuti, a lot of afro-rock and psychedelic rock. So like William Onyeabor, Lijadu Sisters. Just a lot of these older artists and those guys were phenomenal.

Like nobody was doing that, they were some other shit. I don’t know if it was all drugs but they were so good.  And you know, that was Nigeria in the 70s. So, I got a lot of inspiration from that type of music, but I had to search for the type of music. I listened to a lot of rock, like just normal rock music. I listen to a lot of Avril Lavigne. I guess everybody can tell and  I listened to a lot of old bands. One of my favorite bands is called Shampoo,  They’re amazing. I love their visuals as well. Yeah, just so many bands. I listen to a lot of band music. Maybe I should be in a band”.

I am going to round up soon. Before getting there, Wonderland. asked Somadina about her upcoming work, and the importance of working alongside other female artists. It is clear that she is firmly on the radar now and is primed for massive things this year:

“Somadina is emerging as one of Nigeria’s freshest talents. Her new EP “Heart of the Heavenly Undeniable” marks a turning point in her sound, and there’s no looking back. Banding together with a group of Nollywood, punk inspired girls – Somadina is calling on women to revel in their power. This is the very core of the artist’s new EP, through which an undeniable energy burgeons and flourishes – which is exactly what makes her an intriguing prospect.

The project traverses effervescent soundscapes, employing the production prowess from the likes of the Grammy-nominated producer Soft Glas. Somadina also joins forces with a repertoire of up-and-coming artists, like neo-soul talent Chi Virgo, the singer-songwriter L0la, and the critically acclaimed highlife band The Cavemen. While the tracks oscillate and meander between different genres and sonic qualities, Somadina’s unparalleled vocal talent is the glue holding each song together.

At the tender age of 22, the young artist is a globetrotter of sorts. Flitting between Nigeria, The UK, and The Netherlands while growing up – Somadina’s musical talent is a testament to her shapeshifting identity, wherein she can express herself through a range of genres with ease. With a UK festival performance at The Great Escape 2023 on the horizon, and another performance at London’s illustrious venue KOKO under her belt – this new EP is fuel to the already flaming fire.

 Congrats on your new EP “Heart of the Heavenly Undeniable!” It’s an intriguing title. How did that come about?

Making the EP has been quite the journey. The title changed over time. Just like I’ve changed and evolved after each new song. When the journey was concluding, I started realising a lot more about myself. I found a greater purpose in my faith, and the title is really just a reflection of me finally accepting that purpose and seeing the bigger vision.

Can you talk us through the writing process of the EP?

I write based on life experiences, memory, fantasy- at times. The process has never been set in stone for me. I just do what comes naturally. I sing from my soul. Sometimes I freestyle or write in my bedroom. Other times, I’ve collaborated with dope writers in sessions. The EP was made across LA, Nigeria, Ghana and London. Each experience was special and memorable to each song.

It’s your first fully fledged project. Did you find it daunting at all?

Not really. I’m quite chill about it if I’m being honest. I’ve been working on the project for the last 2 years and I believe in the sound a lot. I think many people will resonate with it. It’s fresh and kind of tickles your brain a bit. Especially its bridge between future and nostalgia. I’m sure it’ll find the right home. I’m not worried, I just have to be patient.

There’s a lot of feminine energy on the EP, with features from Chi Virgo and L0la – what’s the significance of female representation to you?

Honestly, I just really love both artists. There are Nigerian artists right now really breaking the status-quo and I think that’s super important and relevant to our sonic history, especially as women. Both features came about so organically. I don’t even think we knew we were working towards music for the project. It all kind of just… happened”.

I will end with a review from Pulse. They provided their thoughts on the incredible Heart of the Heavenly Undeniable (HOTHU). Although I have seen it called an E.P., it is definitely an album. It is one that I would recommend to everyone. I keep coming back to it time and time again:

“H.O.T.U.H is rich in exportable potential amongst a lot of young European and American fans, who will be transported to new realms when they hear some of these songs performed live.

When Somadina was 20, she released Five Stages, a picture-esque conceptual, diaristic depiction of the infamous ‘Five Stages of Grief.’ It was a sad album, illuminated by the brilliance of detail and the occasional moments of reminiscent luster.

In certain moments on ‘Five Stages,’ Somadina looked like a young woman, robbed of her innocent admiration of life’s warmth. It felt like she was being stripped of the final vestiges of her psychological naivety - the kind that makes human beings believe in good things; the kind that keeps the inner child alive.

Since then, she has matured and continues to school in the United Kingdom. Now 22, her new 11-track album, Heart of the Undeniable Heavenly [HOTUH] loses all the admirable innocence and grief. In its place lies a more aggressive and seemingly mature edge.

The lyrical content of Somadina's latest project is such a rude awakening, that the prayer at the end of ‘Dreams’ - presumably from Somadina’s mom - feels like a necessary intercession. Don’t laugh, this is serious, please.

H.O.T.U.H is a show of range, and a sharp left from R&B. At its root, it explores desire, self-discovery, sexuality, cravings, liberation/freedom, rebellion, growth exploration, the growing pains of early adult angst and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it, but that’s all covered by Somadina’s pungent indifference.

Across the album lies Gen Z liberal tendency for emotionless attraction barring the retributive tendencies of ‘Citrus Tears,’ where she chases a dude, like someone chased her on ‘Everybody Bleeds.’

Before then, even when she gets a little vulnerable with passive amorous longing on ‘Dreams,’ she mires it in vagueness.

But underneath all the ‘maturity,’ there lies an undertone, that this phase has reactive and momentary coming-of-age tendencies.

Perhaps, the more mature, less emotional feel to ‘H.O.T.U.H’ is a reaction to the pains of ‘Five Stages,’ as Somadina tries to forge a way towards healing in her own way, while she also grapples with the oft-overwhelming happenings, desires and tendencies of early adulthood, in a liberal world as a Gen Z woman, affected by the internet and the alluring tendencies of the contemporary values like sexual liberalism, which nurture her.

And those values can be addictive because they offer a sense of power, and even dominance.

Perhaps, that is why Somadina transforms from a lovestruck teenager, into a young woman, who is bold enough to cop a young man who suits her taste into a tryst, but without the usual emotional baggage or trappings that come with it - just sex, as they say.

‘I Saw An Angel On The Rooftop and Wept’ and ‘Everybody Bleeds’ typify this mindstate. To put an exclamation point on the casual nature of the said tryst, she sings, “I don’t give a f**k about you” on ‘Everybody Bleeds.’

But this type of life also comes with pressure, which Somadina aims to dispel on the self-explanatory, ‘WDYWFM' or 'Imagine Give A F**k,' just like the atypical mid-2000s Teen Pop/Teen Rock song, pulled from a mid-2000s soundtrack to a High school/coming-of-age flick. Think Joan Jett’s ‘Bad Reputation,’ with a Brookes Brothers remix, ‘In The Summer.’

There was also a nod to an exploration of sexuality on ‘Crzy Girl,’ where Somadina embodies a character, who appears to be convincing a girl to leave her boyfriend for her.

The Sound

All of these themes were canvassed on a markedly different sound as well. The sonic theme of the album seems to be "Emotional Psychedelia."

Somadina explores Teen pop/Teen Rock with grown topics, Alt-pop, Plastic Afro-soul, Synth Pop, Soul, Sophisti-Pop, Neo-Soul, Techno, Reggaeton and mid-2000s Kylie Minogue Post-Pop sounds.

In fact, if sped up Nelly Furtado, Gym Class Heroes Pop, Kid Cudi, Lorde’s slurp but with a heavily alternative edge, mid-2000s Kylie Minogue Post-pop and Paramore had a baby, delivered by Madonna’s 80’s Pop vocal manipulations and intentionally dexterous blandness, and was raised in 70’s Psychedelic Rock-obsessed post civil war South Eastern Nigeria, but grew up on 2000s Teen Pop Disney songs, it would sound like this album.

Standout tracks

It’s not all doom and gloom either. The album’s sonics excels in its detail and throwback tendencies. The Rock elements of the album were perfected, and songs like ‘Everybody Bleeds,’ ‘I Saw An Angel On The Rooftop and Smiled,’ ‘Small Paradise’ and ‘Citrus Tears’ stand out.

In fact, ‘Small Paradise’ is the most judicious and most exciting use of a Cavemen feature in over 18 months. It is an amazing Psychedelic Soul piece, by way of ChillWave”.

One of the most important artists of this year, I think that the years of incredible work Somadina has put in is paying off now. The Nigerian artist is going to be a massive name very soon. Her music is for everyone. Go and spend some time with Somadina. I know that she will be busy touring on working on new music. I can only imagine how incredible her songs sound on the stage! It is an experience that I want to have…

VERY soon.

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Follow Somadina

FEATURE: #OneTrack: A Valentine’s Day Music Viral Campaign for Worthy Causes

FEATURE:

 

 

#OneTrack

 PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Nix/Unsplash

 

A Valentine’s Day Music Viral Campaign for Worthy Causes

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I have been trying to get something going…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Mercedes Mehling/Unsplash

on social media that turns into a viral campaign. There are so many worthy causes and charities doing amazing work. From organisations working in the music industry to those fighting discrimination, raising awareness for L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ equality, to battling sexism and discrimination, there are so many causes I feel passionate about. I know there are great bodies and charities that raise money and do good work, but I think a viral campaign would bring more financing and support their way. Years ago, we have seen viral campaigns that have raised money for a single cause. I remember the Ice Bucket Challenge a while back. That involved people filming themselves pouring a bucket of cold water on them. Launched in 2014, it was to raise money and awareness for the ALS Association. There has not really been one for a long time. I like the idea of people anywhere being able to share a video, post it to social media, add the hashtag, and then donate to the charity. There were problems with some not donating money after posting the video. Others felt campaigns like the one for ALS did not really address the seriousness of the disease. I guess it is hard to do a video or post something that does connect personally if you are not impacted by the disease. I don’t think it cheapened anything or was insincere. At the very least, it raised a lot of money and awareness.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Katie Rodriguez/Unsplash

I think that is the most important thing. I have a number of causes dear to my heart. From climate change to L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ rights, to homeless and gender equality in music, it would be a way of joining people together through music, and also bringing to light worthy and vital causes and areas to tackle. I was hoping to launch something on Valentine’s Day. Not only is love being shared between couples, but it extends wider. Showing love to charities and causes, without all the commercialism. I was thinking of the hashtag #OneTrack. People would post a link to the charity they have donated to (tagging them in too), but the concept would not involve people filming videos. Instead, it would be a song that means a lot to that person. Whether a new song or a classic, each person would post that instead of a video. I have been wondering it there could be a challenge or video. My area is music, so it needs to be related to that. Posting a song would be the easiest thing, but I would definitely be open to options. Something simple enough that it would draw in big names and stars around the world. If there was anything too complicated, it might put people off. I look online and social media, and so many people talk urgently and passionately about causes and ways we can come together.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Samsung UK/Unsplash

I am aware people can donate to charities themselves, but causes can be brought to light and a wider audience through something viral. The central theme of that one track. A single song that is around the theme of love and togetherness. In posting a song that means that much to someone, one also gets to donate to a cause that has that importance. I guess the songs could be posted from YouTube, so there is still that video element. I am not sure why there hasn’t been a viral initiative that has captured the worldwide imagination over the past few years. This year is one for change, activation and togetherness. We all have causes that we want to fight for, so this is why the concept came to mind. If very few people see this post, then I don’t think it can take hold. That might be an issue. I might have to poll and campaign beforehand, ensuring that I can get some traction. I have been trying for a long time to start something that could catch on like the Ice Bucket Challenge. So many charities and causes need greater exposure and funding, so this would help. It would also bring great music to people too. On a day of love (14th February), it would be nice for people to spend some money and time to get involved with something I feel would be worthy and important. There is no doubt that 2023 is…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Pavel Anoshin/Unsplash

A year for change and joining together.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Crawlers

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Em Marcovecchio fort DORK

Crawlers

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TIPPED by the likes of…

NME and DIY as part of their wave of 2023 artists who are going to hit hard, I couldn’t well ignore the majesty and sheer dominance of Crawlers. The Liverpool band released the incredible mixtape, Loud Without Noise, last year. They are one of the most promising bands I have heard in years. I think they are also one of the most important bands around. Everybody needs to tune into them. It is no wonder they are being tipped as an act to watch his year. I love their sound. It is cool that they name-check Queens of the Stone Age as an influence. No that you can hear that clearly on their sleeves, but they do channel elements of the Josh Homme-led band. In actuality, Crawlers are a hugely original band primed for festival headline slots. I am going to source some interviews with the band from last year. Getting into the minds and hearts of many music websites, The Forty-Five featured a compassionate young Rock band whose powerful message in their coming-of-age music was hitting the masses and singling them out as an amazing force:

“As a band, we’re constantly trying to strive [to create] a safe space,” Crawlers’ singer Holly Minto says firmly. That’s an attitude that’s key to everything the Merseyside band does – from their live shows to their compassionate, captivating rock songs – and why they’re quickly becoming the new band to believe in right now.

Although they’re still relative newcomers – Minto co-founded the group with guitarist Amy Woodall and bassist Liv Kettle in late 2018, cementing their line-up with drummer Harry Breen in 2021 – they’ve swiftly scored a legion of loyal fans thanks to their commitment to tackling the issues affecting themselves and their peers in their music. Whether they’re singing about social justice on 2021’s blisteringly urgent ‘Statues’ or the sexualisation of female-presenting people on the dark stomp of ‘Monroe’, they don’t claim to have all the answers but invite you to join them on their journey to figuring it – and themselves – out.

‘Fuck Me (I Didn’t Know How To Say)’, their electrifying and important new single, is no different. Over searing rock riffs, it broaches the sensitive but perennially timely subject of consent and sexual assault in a way that makes you look at the topic from a new angle and makes your own experiences feel seen. “You deserve better so I gave you my body,” Minto whispers on the track, later adding: “The kisses that led to sex were close enough.”

The song’s chorus tackles not knowing how to tell a sexual partner what you want – or don’t want – and the pressure that can come from intimate situations. “I said it was fine in your defence,” Minto acknowledges. “But I didn’t know how to say I don’t want you to touch me.” They’re lyrics that highlight some of the complexities of consent and the fact that it’s not always black and white.

With such a nuanced issue, it can be hard to know how to improve education and awareness around it, but she suggests consent being taught in schools “not just in a sexual way” as a step in the right direction. “‘No means no’ applies in every kind of circumstance and respecting your boundaries from a young age is what it’s about,” she explains. “Teaching that and what that means from a young age is so important. It’s still very hard to teach those things because there are such blurred lines, but I’m hoping that as we grow, that becomes more of a considered thing.”

‘Fuck Me’ will not only spark conversation around that topic but will also raise awareness for charities working in that area. The band are partnering with Brook, an organisation that offers sexual health, education and wellbeing services to young people across the UK, and will be fundraising for them via merch and other avenues. “Doing a single with such a hard topic, we’re gonna do it as sensitively as possible and make sure that now we have a label [Crawlers are signed to Polydor] and financial support, we do it in a way that’s safe for our listeners,” Minto says.

Beyond that, Crawlers will be spending 2022 sharing yet more inventive and inspiring music with the world. Where ‘Fuck Me’ takes influence from hip-hop beats, their upcoming tracks delve even deeper into their “no rules” approach to mixing genres. “We’ve got a pop song in drop C tuning, very pulled back acoustic songs with trumpet swells [in the vein of] Neutral Milk Hotel,” Minto lists off. “We’ve also been playing around with influences like The Cure, Bauhaus and Fleetwood Mac, which we’ve not really explored before. It’s nice to not feel boxed in – it’s gonna confuse some listeners but we’re actually making what we like and that’s a great place to be.”

That assessment of their position right now feels largely applicable to the world in general as the band continue their ascent. Life might be a struggle with countless trials to get through but, with Crawlers around to help us all on the way, it’s an infinitely better journey to be on”.

I love the interview with NOTION. Crawlers discussed their creative process, the new mixtape/project, Loud Without Noise, and who they would like to collaborate with. I think that, as they are taking off right now, the band are going to be commanding some big support slots and traveling around the world. I think that they are the band this year that will dominate and get recognition and love in America and beyond. They are a sensational and hugely exciting proposition:

“Hey, your debut mixtape is out this Friday, firstly congrats! Can you give me a quick intro to the project for fans who might not have come across Crawlers yet?

Amy Woodall: So Crawlers are a band from the northwest, we make alternative rock music. We’re just about to put out a new mixtape, there are a lot of different genres in it, but that’s the purpose of a mixtape!

Harry Breen: It’s ​​the last opportunity where we can dabble in whatever genre we want before we have an album out, which will probably be a little bit more concise. But at the moment, we’re sort of doing whatever we want.

How long was this mixtape in the making?

AW: We recorded it all over two months ago. But some of the songs have been written for a few years now. “Hang Me Like Jesus”  was actually written two, or three years ago. Whereas “I Don’t Want It” was written in a week, then we recorded it and two weeks later it was on Spotify.

HB: We’ve been sitting on the majority of them for a while now, so it’s about time that they started coming out. We spent a lot of time trying to get the mixes right, to the point where people started getting frustrated with us, but it ended up sounding good in the end.

PHOTO CREDIT: Morrigan Rawson

Would you say you’re quite speedy with the production side?

AW: It just depends song by song really. Sometimes, we have a really clear vision and other times we don’t and we have to work a bit harder.

Yeah, that makes sense. Throughout the project you explore themes of sex, love and drugs and make a point of the importance of gaining autonomy over your body, sexuality and emotions. Why is it important to you to spread this message.

AW: I think a lot of our lyrics are really personal, and mostly our own experience. So you know, of course, we’re going to write music that is from our lives.

HB: I think with any kind of music or art, you have to dig down to your own personal feelings in order to provide something unique. You can obviously still have generic lyrics or generic conventions of the music, but if you want it to stand out, it has to come from deep down. Everyone has their own story to tell.

One of the main things about Crawlers is that you’re determined to create a safe space for misrepresented groups. Can you explore why this is important to you and how you wish to use your platform to help spread the message of the importance of safe spaces?

HB: It’s always been an important thing, literally from our first day, we’ve always made sure that people knew our gigs are safe spaces. Especially when most of the people that come to our shows are around 14 years old, it could well be their first ever gig and we don’t want them to have a bad impression of what a gig entails. We want them to feel like they’re welcome, and that not all gigs are raucous, sweaty, or heavy. We’ve got a proper community going on and we just want to incite that message that you can always come to our gigs, and you will be safe, and you will be comfortable, and you don’t have to worry about anything. We don’t want people to think that they can’t enjoy a live show.

Lastly, what’s next for Crawlers?

HB: So we’ve got this mixtape coming out, and once that’s done, the next year I guess we’ll just be prepping for the album songwriting. We want to make sure that our debut album blows up and that everyone knows us. That’s what we’re aiming for. We want to spend a lot of time in the new year songwriting and recording to make sure it’s perfect within the first few months. Then we just want to do everything that’s necessary to make sure it reaches the right people and the right ears”.

I will end with DIY’s interview from December. I have gained a lot of guidance from them, as their Class of 2023 names are incredible. Even the Liverpool four-piece are quite new and still taking their earliest steps, they have a huge army of fans and millions of streams. It is like they are an already-established band that have been playing huge venues for years. It bodes very well for the amazing Crawlers:

“And while their music admittedly does sit nicely alongside the current renaissance of emo - after their stint supporting My Chemical Romance in Warrington this May, they “had a lot of elder emos” coming to shows, says Liv - it’s also their ability to open up conversations around the very present concerns of young people that’s become an appeal. Their openness isn’t just resigned to their songs; the band also use their social platforms - most often, TikTok - to discuss everything from identifying as queer, experiencing panic attacks and misogynistic industry rumours, through to highlighting outfits fans have chosen to wear to their gigs.

Hoping to use all of their outlets to create a community of their own (“a scene we never had,” Liv says. “It’s really, really special to us that more and more people are finding it and can carve out their own little space in it”), their message of acceptance and overcoming trauma is one that seems to be truly resonating with those listening. “We’ve been meeting fans a lot recently, and hearing how many of them connect to our songs because of what they’re about,” Holly says. “[We] write about what we’re feeling, whether that’s an observation or whether that’s something we’re going through all the time, and [having] people who relate and carry their own stories with our songs is the most important thing.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Miles 

With their crowds growing bigger with every show (“Over the summer, we’ve noticed different people are starting to pay attention to us,” Liv comments), it seems little wonder that Crawlers’ list of objective outside achievements is beginning to increase too. And while, of course, few bands ever release something with the hope of charting well, there was a certain level of satisfaction that came with their mixtape’s success.

“It was pretty mad,” Amy admits. “We make the music for ourselves, but when we were told that it could chart, we were like, ‘Well, if we’re gonna go for it, then we’ll really go for it’.” It paid off, not only landing them the aforementioned Rock & Metal Chart top spot, but also reaching Number 22 in the Official Albums Chart too. “We didn’t realise it was Number One in Rock & Metal until later in the evening,” laughs drummer Harry Breen. “Someone texted me and I was like, ‘…guys, apparently, we’re actually Number One! What the fuck?!” To celebrate the achievement, his mum has promised to get a tattoo. “She didn’t specify whether it had to be the Official Chart,” he jokes, “and this said Number One so… that’s good enough!”

Harry’s mum wasn’t the only woman keeping a watchful gaze over the record’s success, either. On release week, the band took to their TikTok channel to share a special ritual, in which they lit candles around a printed photo of Charli XCX and chanted the chorus of her iconic single ‘Vroom Vroom’ while holding hands, in an attempt to summon the chart spirits. “She actually commented on our TikTok!” exclaims Holly. “I was so ill yesterday and I couldn’t play the show. I had no voice, and I was in the middle of Subway just checking my notifications, and I saw that she’d commented: ‘I’ve done this ritual before - it defo works’. She is our motivation for getting up in the morning, no joke! So seeing that, I was like, ‘What is going on in my life right now? Like, what the fuck?’”

An act of higher power, or just all of the band’s hard work starting to pay off, it seemed to do the trick. Now, with their debut album on the horizon - “We’re working on [it] currently and can’t say more than that,” Holly tells us - let’s hope Chaz is keeping a guardian eye on Crawlers for the foreseeable future too”.

Go and acquaint yourself with the sensational Crawlers. Both heavy and compassionate, they are a band who put their heart and soul into every song. Projecting powerful messages that will resonate with a lot of their fanbase, I know what an impact they have made to people already. After releasing a successful and amazing mixtape last year, they will look ahead to dates, festivals and maybe an album. I think the mixtape title, Loud Without Noise, is apt. Not needing to be raucous or too explosive to be powerful and heard, Crawlers are definitely here…

FOR the long-run.

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Follow Crawlers

FEATURE: Spotlight: Hemlocke Springs

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Michelle Li

  

Hemlocke Springs

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SHE may have put out a new song…

before I publish this feature. I am writing this on 27th December, so we might get another Hemlocke Springs track soon (I think one is due on 13th January). One big reason to love her is the fact she counts Kate Bush as a heroine. Compared to the legend, Springs has named The Dreaming (Bush’s 1982 album) as important to her. More on that later. In the space of a short time and with a couple of tracks under her belt, there is already this huge buzz and excitement around Hemlocke Springs. A lot of the attention centres around the viral smash, girlfriend. A song that has connected with a huge audience, it is an exceptional offering from an artist that instantly seduced me, I want to source a few of the interviews that Hemlocke Springs gave last year. Rolling Stone looked at the background and swift rise to prominence of an artist you will hear a lot more from this year:

“BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL singer was not Hemlocke Springs’ plan. Born Isimeme Udu in Concord, North Carolina, the budding star had more academic plans for her future: After getting a biology degree from Spelman and thinking about a career in the medical field, her interest in bioinformatics led her to the Master of Science degree from Dartmouth.

“In my first couple months here, I was starting to think med school is not for me,” she says with a laugh. She’s speaking to Rolling Stone from her current apartment near Dartmouth’s campus before she moves back home to North Carolina. “My thing was like ‘I’m gonna do medical research, maybe get some papers in, and then I can do my PhD somewhere.”

But music lingered in the background of Udu’s life. She did choir in middle school and was introduced to GarageBand by a friend in high school. She toyed around with the program, eventually investing in Logic while in college.

“It was kind of a stress mechanism,” she explains. “Whenever I just wanted to get things out, I was just like ‘I’ll just go on Logic.’ But it was never anything concrete. Just a hobby.”

Around the time she started making songs on GarageBand and Logic, Udu became obsessed with Eighties music. She had grown up loving EDM like Cascada and Calvin Harris as well as K-pop groups like BTS and EXO, but a Spotify recommendation of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” sent her into a nostalgia-fueled synth-pop rabbit hole that reshaped her taste and musical inspiration.

As she was beginning her program at Dartmouth, Udu began to wonder if she should let people hear the songs that were becoming more fully formed realities. She would put a song up on SoundCloud only to immediately delete it soon after. Then, one day, she got tired of giving up so quickly.

“I’ve always been reticent about revealing that I sing and do Logic on the side,” she explains. Around the start of this year, she made a resolution to own it and start even telling her friends. “I just wanted to get rid of that feeling of embarrassment.”

In the spring, Udu, under the name Hemlocke Springs, released a demo called “Jacob” that was then followed by “Gimme All Ur Luv,” an indie romance of a song with one of the year’s dreamiest choruses. It was written during a time she was really depressed, taking three of her hardest classes. She was avoiding an assignment for one of those classes and recovering from a bout of Covid when she stayed up late one night to write out the track. It ended up changing her life.

“I was just kind of getting into TikTok,” she says. She saw how independent artist promoted their own songs on there and thought that she might as well try it herself. “I posted it. And I went to sleep. And I woke up and it got more views than I thought it was going to get”.

@hemlockesprings even better fun fact: girlfriend was on my “bad songs” list (yes, I have a list of songs I’ve written that i consider to be bad) …I went thru a time i absolutely ABHORRED the song, and it was never going to see the light of day. People who hate the song will NEVER hate it the way I did lol 😂 #hemlockesprings #newindiemusic2022 #newmusic #fyp #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ♬ girlfriend - Hemlocke Springs

This year is going to be the one where Hemlocke Springs explodes and puts more of her amazing music out there. She has gained press interest in the U.K. too. Many are sniffy when we say someone is a ‘TikTok artist’, but it is a valuable platform that means artists like Hemlocke Springs can find a willing and supportive audience. NME spoke with the U.S. artist when she was visiting North Carolina. I have selected a few parts of the interview. It is interesting what she says about Kate Bush and The Dreaming:

“But following the viral smash of ‘Girlfriend’ – which has already racked up over 10 million plays on Spotify since its early November release – the self-described musical “hobbyist” has put any immediate plans for a medical career on ice. And it’s easy to see why, even if the recorded output has been limited: on both ‘Girlfriend’ and ‘Gimme All Ur Luv’, Hemlocke Springs displays a rare gift for making percussive pop music with an intimate and deeply emotional core, not unlike Prince during his ‘Purple Rain’ peak.

Between trips to New York, Los Angeles and Asheville, NME caught up with Hemlocke Springs during a rare visit home to Concord, North Carolina, a suburb a few miles outside the city of Charlotte. All her music to date has been recorded in this home on the outskirts of the city, where she resides with her brother and her parents. Inside, she gives us a brief tour, including the bedroom where she recorded ‘Girlfriend’ to her phone in a matter of hours. “I recorded the vocals under a blanket so I wouldn’t wake my brother,” she says.

There are no instruments to be found in her bedroom, and she readily admits she has no formal musical training of any kind. “I wanted to learn the piano, but I took sewing lessons instead,” she quips at one point. The only real hint that we’re in the home of a musical artist comes once we’re seated in Hemlocke Springs’ living room and she opens her computer. We’re greeted by a sprawling document with various working song titles, and her wallpaper: a picture of BTS. “I went through a big K-Pop phase in college,” she says by way of introduction.

 So now that you are doing music full-time, have you started to give any thought to what your live show will look like?

“I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll admit that the few times I’ve been on stage I don’t remember much. I know I was probably anxious, but the way I look at it, you either keep feeling that way or you put on a show. I don’t think I’ve shared this with anyone, but I definitely want to incorporate dance, even though I don’t consider myself a dancer. I was watching a video where Kate Bush was performing ‘Babooshka’ and she was doing all these amazing choreographed dance moves. It didn’t even seem like the kind of song you could really dance to, but she was doing it anyway. That’s what I want to do, but so far, it’s just been me and my hairbrush.”

Is Kate Bush a hero of yours?

“Totally. ‘The Dreaming’ completely changed my perspective on what music could be. The way she expresses her emotions vocally is so cool. I also like that it was a polarizing album when it first came out, but now so many artists name it as one of their favorites. I hope I can do that – put out an album and people are like, ‘What in the world?’, but then years later they’re like, ‘She was onto something.’”

Do you think that’s the reaction you’ll get with your debut album?

“I hope so. I do think people are going to be surprised. If I just heard those two songs [‘Gimme All Ur Luv’ and ‘Girlfriend’] before listening to the rest of the album, I’d be like ‘Oh.’ I’ve always had this fear of being boxed in, so I have a tendency to go in the opposite direction. Maybe not a 180, but let’s call it a 165.

“It’s weird to me the only two songs I have out are both under three minutes because I don’t usually like short songs. Those two just sounded complete. The rest are over three minutes and there’s probably going to be one on the album that’s over 7 minutes. It reminds me a bit of the Eurythmics and Depeche Mode”.

I don’t think anyone can overstate the importance of girlfriend. A song that has taken on a life of its own, there is no doubt that Hemlocke Springs is a sensation. Someone who has considered a life outside of music, I think she will have to accept the fact that music is now where she belongs. The Times wrote about the runaway success of the incredible girlfriend:

“On an app brimming with established stars pushing new music and small musicians trying to make it big, Hemlocke Springs stood out almost immediately — no dance, trend or gimmicks required.

Isimeme Udu — who also goes by Naomi — is the 24-year-old medical student behind the viral TikTok hit “girlfriend.” The pop newcomer created her musical alias with the help of a random name generator, following in the footsteps of artists like Childish Gambino and Post Malone. (The addition of the “e” in “Hemlocke” was Lorde-inspired.)

The day before Halloween, Udu teased the bridge of her single “girlfriend” while dressed as Dionne from Clueless. She was about to leave for a party when she thought to herself, “You know what? You’re just going to do a quick running man dance and then call it a day.”

The following afternoon, the video hit a million views.

After sharing the catchy bridge, which has now been used in over 60,000 TikToks, the North Carolina native quickly amassed a loyal following and landed on the radar of musicians like Khalid before the track even hit Spotify, where it has garnered over nine million streams since its Nov. 2 release.

The undeniable earworm quickly became an “awkward Black girl anthem,” a title Udu says she saw on TikTok and immediately embraced: “I’ve gotten a lot of support, particularly from a lot of Black women saying, ‘This is tapping into my awkward high school phase,’ or saying, ‘Where were you during high school?’”

“To be in such a space and to be regarded in such a way, it’s just amazing,” Udu tells PEOPLE. “I’m so honored.”

@hemlockesprings #duet with @hemlockesprings this will probably be one of the last vids I make before teasing the new single saturday #hemlockesprings #musicvideo #fyp #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ♬ girlfriend - Hemlocke Springs

Months before “girlfriend” was even written, Udu laid the foundation for her TikTok fame with her first single “gimme all ur luv.” The Grimes-esque tune grabbed the attention of celebrities like Bella Hadid, who used it in a mini vlog, and Grimes herself, who called it “good.” The dreamy track kickstarted Udu’s popularity — but it almost didn’t make it out of the vault.

“On my SoundCloud, I would go and I would post a song and I would immediately remove it literally one minute later,” the singer confesses. “That was just a thing that I did.”

Udu still isn’t sure why she formed this habit — her exact words are “I have no clue” — but, ultimately, she had a change of heart. About six months ago, she decided to leave some of her songs up under the impression that “nobody is going to listen or see it anyway,” and one of them was “gimme all ur luv.”

Hemlocke Springs.

Michelle Li

The singer says she’s “still confused” about why “girlfriend” blew up and, to echo the song, it wasn’t really in her plans. Though the budding pop star has been making music secretly for seven years now — a statistic that shocked her to hear out loud — she’s been working toward a career in medicine for much longer.

As her song captivated TikTok, all that stood between Udu and the ability to become Hemlocke Springs full-time was two weeks of school. Motivated by her newfound notoriety, the Dartmouth master’s student powered through her “hellish” final semester, and says she’s ready to exchange her microscope for a microphone — at least for now.

“Multitasking is just not my thing,” she says with a laugh.

The rising star says that her family, particularly her mom and brother, are supportive of her career change, but her father still doesn’t know about her “music side”: “It’s always just been like, ‘I’m gonna go and I’m going to be a doctor. That’s been the path and that’s still what he thinks.”

Now signed to Good Luck Have Fun Records, Udu says that she’s working on an album and “would love to perform live” in the near future — something she’s previously only done in high school productions and talent shows.

“I’ve been practicing in my room with a hairbrush,” the TikTok star admits. “I don’t know if I should have said that out loud, but I have”.

Undoubtably one of the most original and exhilarating artists around, the brilliance of Hemlocke Springs is clear. This wonderous and exceptionally innovative artist already has so many fans behind her. When a debut album does come, I think it will be among the best and most interesting in years. A new song, stranger danger, looks like it may drop on 13th January. Everybody needs to be aware of…

THIS amazing musician.

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Follow Hemlocke Springs

FEATURE: Mesmerized: The Susanna Hoffs Birthday Playlist: Her Essential Cuts

FEATURE:

 

 

Mesmerized

 

The Susanna Hoffs Birthday Playlist: Her Essential Cuts

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ON 17th January…

 IN THIS PHOTO: The Bangles on the Champs Elysees T.V. broadcast in 1987/PHOTO CREDIT: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images

one of my favourite ever artists, Susanna Hoffs, celebrates her birthday. The Los Angeles-born legend is one of the most iconic artists ever. Co-founder of The Bangles, Hoffs founded them (originally called the Bangs) in 1981 with Debbi and Vicki Peterson. The Bangles enjoyed a successful career and released some truly memorable songs. They did go on hiatus, but they came back in 2011 with Sweetheart of the Sun. I wonder whether the group will release another album. Hoffs did start a solo career after The Bangles disbanded in 1989. Her first solo album, When You're a Boy, came out in 1991. She has worked alongside Matthew Sweet, and also appeared in the faux-1960s band, Ming Tea with Mike Myers. Someone who has appeared in different acting roles, I also wonder whether we’ll see her on the screen again. She would naturally fit a comedy film I think. It would be intriguing to see her in a bigger role. To mark the birthday of a music great, I want to end with a playlist of essential Susanna Hoffs songs. These are either tracks she has sung on or written. Before that, I want to bring in AllMusic’s biography of the great Hoffs:

“Susanna Hoffs is best-known as the lead singer and guitarist with the well-known pop group the Bangles, but Hoffs has also enjoyed an impressive career as a solo artist and a collaborator with a wide range of artists. Hoffs was born in Newport Beach, California on January 17, 1959; her father, Joshua Hoffs, was a physician, while her mother, Tamar Simon Hoffs, was a screenwriter and film director. Susanna was the second of three children, and she and her siblings learned to play guitar from their uncle, a folk musician who also built dulcimers. Hoffs grew up on classic AM radio pop and literate, folk-influenced artists such as Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt; she enjoyed singing with family and friends, but was more interested in pursuing acting or dance as a career (she played a small role in the 1978 film Stony Island, an acclaimed independent feature co-written by her mother) until she enrolled as a ballet student at UC Berkeley.

After her big brother passed along albums by the Ramones, Blondie, and Talking Heads, and Susanna saw Patti Smith perform in San Francisco, she became a quick convert to the new wave, and formed an informal band with her brother and David Roback, a friend from the neighborhood who played guitar. While the trio proved short-lived, Hoffs and Roback, who were a couple for a while, recorded some living-room demos that emboldened her to form a band. (Echoes of these unreleased recordings can be heard on the 1984 album Rainy Day, coordinated by Roback after he became leader of the acclaimed Paisley Underground band Rain Parade; Hoffs contributes striking lead vocals to versions of the Velvet Underground's "I'll Be Your Mirror" and Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It with Mine.")

Looking for like-minded musicians, Hoffs answered an ad in an L.A. weekly newspaper, The Recycler, in late 1980 and met guitarist Vicki Peterson and her sister Debbi Peterson, who played drums; the three shared a fondness for '60s-influened pop/rock and the Petersons were impressed with Hoffs' vocal abilities. The three formed a band called the Colours that would quickly evolve into the Bangs, and became the Bangles after a threat of legal action from another group called the Bangs. The Bangles would become bone fide superstars in the '80s, scoring two multi-platinum albums (1986's Different Light and 1988's Everything) and a handful of hit singles (including "Manic Monday," "Walk Like an Egyptian," and "Eternal Flame"), but as their fame rose, so did tensions within the group, compounded by the media's focus on Hoffs as the "star" of the act. Though all four members wrote and sang, Hoffs received the lion's share of the press as the principle lead vocalist, and when she was cast in The Allnighter, a comedy written and directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs, Susanna was made the focus of the film's advertising and publicity campaign, which unwittingly helped upset the balance of the band. By the end of 1989, the Bangles broke up.

In 1991, Hoffs released her debut solo album, When You're a Boy (the title comes from the David Bowie tune "Boys Keep Swinging," which Hoffs covered), but while the song "My Side o the Bed" fared well as a single and received steady MTV play, the album was a commercial and critical disappointment, and Hoffs subsequently took several years off to focus on her personal life. In 1993, Hoffs married film director Jay Roach, and they welcomed their first child two years later. In 1996, Hoffs' self-titled sophomore album was released to enthusiastic reviews, though once again it failed to sell as well as expected. In 1997, she teamed up with Matthew Sweet, Christopher Ward, and Mike Meyers to form Ming Tea, a fictive British rock band who appeared in Jay Roach's comedy Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, and they recorded a tune for the film's soundtrack, "BBC." Ming Tea gained something of a cult following after Austin Powers became a hit, and they also appeared in the film's two sequels.

In addition to covering "The Look of Love" and "What's It All About, Alfie" for the Powers' films, Hoffs reunited the Bangles to record the song "Get the Girl" for 1999's Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; the group subsequently set out on tour, and returned to the studio to record a new album, 2003's Doll Revolution. (The title came from Elvis Costello's song "Tear Off Your Own Head [It's a Doll Revolution]," and Costello apparently approved of Hoffs' vocal on their cover, inviting her to sing it at a concert released on his 2011 live album Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!)

In 2006, Hoffs and her Ming Tea cohort Matthew Sweet teamed up to record a duet album, Under the Covers, Vol. 1, in which they interpreted 15 ‘60s pop classics. The album earned rave reviews, and in 2009 the pair returned with Under the Covers, Vol. 2, which focused on songs of the '70s. Sweet and Hoffs also toured together as Sid ‘n' Susie, the name being a play on Sweet's Ming Tea character name, Sid Belvedere. (Hoffs' Ming Tea name was the far more British Gillian Shagwell.) Sweet and Hoffs crossed paths in the studio again when he was tapped to produce a new Bangles album in 2011, Sweetheart of the Sun. In 2012, Hoffs released her third solo album, Someday, a collection dominated by songs she wrote in collaboration with guitarist and tunesmith Andrew Brassell. The following year, Hoffs re-teamed with Sweet for another collection of covers; for Under the Covers, Vol. 3, the duo tackled pop songs from the '80s”.

In order to properly salute Susanna Hoffs, below is a playlist featuring some of her best work. An amazing songwriter and artist that I have loved since I was a child, there is nobody like her in music! Let’s hope there is more from her in the not-too-distant future. There is so much love out there for. With one of the finest voices in all of music, here is someone who is…

ABSOLUTELY hypnotising.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Chappell Roan

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 

Chappell Roan

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I know I am highlighting…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Clemens

a lot of American artists at the moment. I will focus on other nations soon but, as there is so much talent coming out of the U.S., I cannot ignore the likes of Chappell Roan. Her is an exceptional singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Someone who describes her music as dark Pop with ballad undertones, I think Roan is going to go a long way. Maybe not the most opportune period but, in summer 2020, she released the track, Pink Pony Club. One of the songs of that summer, Chappell Roan is now an independent artist. I know there will be big labels out there bidding for her. I wonder whether Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records label. Maybe that match will happen! As Roan released quite a bit of music last year, I suspect an album or E.P. will arrive soon. She is one of the most impressive young artists out there. I want to source a few interviews so that we better know a wonderful artist. Illustrate Magazine asked Chappell Roan about her musical upbringings and what the key elements of her music are:

“Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

Chappell Roan: I took piano lessons for a few years, but refused to learn theory because it was boring and learned by ear and copying my piano teachers hands. I also took vocal lessons for a couple years, but not classically. She taught me how to really belt and sing with confidence. It was more of a pop approach to vocal lessons.

Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘Chappell Roan’?

Chappell Roan:  My strongest influence is definitely 80’s synth pop. I love weird sounds. I love dance and anthemic pop. Queen and Madonna Vibes. But, my biggest idol is definitely Alanis Morisette. She’s so so amazing. Everything about her I love.

As for my name, Chappell was my grandfather’s last name. I told him I would be Cahppell in his honor because we both knew he wouldn’t make it to see my career because of his brain cancer. His favorite song was “The Strawberry Roan” which is this old country wester song about a pinkish horse. It took me YEARS to find a last name, but Chappell was always 100%.

What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

Chappell Roan: Queerness, acceptance, nostalgia, and sparkle.

I always describe my music as slumber party pop, because it’s fun and anthemic, but also heavy and somber at times. Just like when you’re all lying there talking.

For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as INDIE?

Chappell Roan: I definitely wanted to imitate the witchiness of Stevie Nicks and Lorde in my first EP “School Nights”. I was also just in a much darker spot in my life. Now, I’m in a much better place and I want to write pop and party on stage.

What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?

Chappell Roan:  I think you should use music and say whatever you want to say. Regardless if it’ll ruffle some feathers. I definitely try to approach sex in a positive open way in my music, and queerness. I don’t mind making listeners uncomfortable. I’m definitely not a technical artist haha. I just like singing fun pop songs and creating different aesthetics and makeup and outfits to go along with them. It’s like playing dress-up and arts and crafts”.

Rolling Stone profiled and interviewed an amazing artist who left her home for Los Angeles, one assumes, to make it big in music. Although that will happen, there were setbacks along the way. Her incredible talent, vision and perseverance will turn her dreams into a reality very soon:

“WHEN RISING POP star Chappell Roan left Missouri for Los Angeles, she thought she hit the jackpot.

Born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz in the town of Willard, Missouri, she’d grown up feeling stifled by her small, conservatively Christian upbringing.

“I felt so out of place in my hometown,” the now-24-year-old recalls. “I wish it was better. I wish I had better things to say. But mentally, I had a really tough time.”

Discovering the likes of Katy Perry and other pop heavyweights of the 2010s opened up her worldview and inspired her to start writing songs of her own. She quickly caught the attention of major labels and was signed to Atlantic Records when she was 17, choosing a stage name inspired by her late grandfather (Dennis K. Chappell) and his favorite song (“The Strawberry Roan”).

“I had no idea what was going on and neither did my parents or my parents’ friends. It was so messy… I felt very unprepared. I didn’t know the consequences of how much I had to sacrifice. I didn’t do my senior year. I didn’t go to prom. I didn’t go to graduation. I missed a lot of what would have been the end of my childhood to do this job,” she says.

Up until she released her debut EP School Nights in 2017, Roan’s supportive parents would fly with their teen daughter back and forth from Missouri to LA or New York. Eventually, Roan flew the coop on her own, moving to LA in 2018. In LA, she discovered a new, free life as well as a second shot at adolescence. She was able to dress how she wanted without fear of standing out in the wrong ways. And she was able to live out and proud as a queer woman, for the first time in her life: “I feel allowed to be who I want to be here. That changed everything.”

After moving to the west coast, Roan started meeting with new producers and songwriters. One of them was Dan Nigro, the former lead singer of indie rock group As Tall As Lions who re-emerged in 2011 as a brilliant, edgy pop writer and producer with credits on albums like Sky Ferreira’s Night Time, My Time and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion.

“I am really picky when it comes to writers,” Roan admits. “I like it when people push me and tell me that my lyrics or the performance is not good enough. That’s not really the case for most co-writers out here that I’ve worked with. Until I met Dan.”

They translated Roan’s L.A. puppy love into the neon bright “Pink Pony Club,” a slice of pop fantasia about wanting to be a go-go dancer at famed West Hollywood gay club The Abbey. The song was released in spring 2020, as the world was shutting down, making it increasingly more difficult for new artists to build their audiences without an immediate viral moment. “Pink Pony Club” gained some traction and attention, but not enough for Roan to be a profitable addition to her label, who dropped her in 2020.

“I burst into tears,” Roan says. She was fond of her team but understood that her project wasn’t making much money. “As time has gone on, I realized that no matter how hard that label experience was for five years, it was the biggest blessing ever. And being independent has taught me I can do it by myself”.

I am going to move onto an interview from Earmilk. They revolved their interview around the sensational Chappell Roan song, Femininomenon. It is an anthem and wonderful cut that seems to be her most personal and confident song yet. As she says, it is the song she has been trying to make her whole career:

“Her new song "Femininomenon" is a mouthful, and the production reflects that chaos. Starting off with the roar of a dirt bike in the background, the song somehow goes in a million different ways but fits together so well. The little voice notes before the chorus hits when Chappell cheekily screams, "Can someone give me a fucking beat." It's all so fun and loud but so intricate.

"I've been dreaming of releasing a song like this my whole career. It took years to build up the confidence to even sing in that style," Roan tells me. She worked with her trusted producer Dan Nigro, writing sections of the song on different days, putting it together like a puzzle. Even though this song feels like a completely new direction from her previously released music, it still has that thread that ties it all together into what she describes as a "slumber party pop world."

"I always try to push myself and how I write pop music. I want to see if I can get away with being as ridiculous as I possibly can," she says, "I wanted a dance song. Something people could do drag to. A Queer anthem that had a sad undertone of what really happened to me, but with a beat." Roan is truly a master at turning something heartbreaking into a shimmering pop song, it's the reason her music resonates with so many people

For an independent artist, visuals are one of the first ways to draw in an audience, and Roan knows her audience and sets the stage perfectly. "It's definitely a character and a performance piece," she says, "I'm pretty particular about everything because I want it to be cohesive and believable." She plans everything in her costumes and videos down to the last rhinestone. Having a hand in all aspects of her career helps her perfectly curate that image”.

I want to end with a Billboard interview from the end of last year. It was a chance for Chappell Roan to reflect on a very busy but successful year. I don’t know what her expectations were heading into 2022, but she has achieved soi much and set herself aside as an artist who will conquer the music world. Everyone needs to follow her:

“Unencumbered by label expectations, the singer-songwriter finally began bringing her full creative vision to fruition in 2022. The first step, as she tells it, was nailing her presentation: Gone was an attempt at presenting a clean-cut facade, now replaced by a more effortless deconstruction of style. “Once I let go of trying to be this very well-managed, put-together pop girl, it felt like everything just fell into place,” Roan explains. “I leaned into the fact that my looks were tacky, and very obviously using fake diamonds and Gucci knockoffs. I leaned into my queerness for the first time. When I did that, the songs got easier to write, the shows got easier to design, and my aesthetic was finally there.”

While putting together a rapid-fire rollout schedule of singles throughout the year (including “Naked in Manhattan,” “My Kink Is Karma” and “Femininomenon”), Roan quickly began accruing a fiercely loyal following on TikTok. According to Roan, while she was promoting the release of “Naked in Manhattan” in January 2022, she gained over 30,000 followers in one month, with fans anxiously wondering when the song would come out.

Roan doesn’t see herself as a “TikTok artist” — not necessarily due to fears of pigeonholing, but rather out of a healthy dose of skepticism. “I go so back and forth with TikTok,” she says. “I gained a lot of speed at the beginning of the year with TikTok because I wasn’t busy; I had time to post twice a day, go live once a day, repeat. It doesn’t work when you’re busy.”

The singer knows that because she has, in fact, been busy — along with unveiling her new set of singles, Roan filled the latter half of her year with plenty of touring. After opening for Olivia Rodrigo in May at her San Francisco Sour Tour stop, Roan caught the attention of fellow queer singer-songwriter Fletcher, who offered Roan the opening spot on the second half of her Girl of My Dreams Tour. Embarking on 10 dates with Fletcher, Roan honed her live show in real time while her song “Casual” began to pick up steam online.

“I don’t even know what I discovered, besides the fact that this is incredibly hard,” Roan says with a laugh, looking back on her time opening for Fletcher. “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that the live show is where the heartbeat of the project is. Luckily, it’s my favorite part of what I do — I like touring, but a lot of people hate it because it’s horrible and hard.”

The singer likes touring enough that she’s embarking on her own headlining tour in 2023. Spanning 20 dates through February and March, Roan will be traveling coast to coast with an ambitious performance goal — every show, she says, will be themed. “It’s already really hard to do that on an independent budget — but also coming up with that many different themes is insanely hard,” she says. “But, if the live show rocks, then everything else will trickle down.”

It’s also important to her to create a show worthy of the very queer fan base she’s garnered — that means making tickets affordable (“College kids don’t have money!” she says with a giggle), keeping her concert spaces safe and donating $1 of every ticket sold to For the Gworls, a Black, trans-led organization dedicated to helping Black trans people pay for their rent and gender-affirming care. “If I can create a space where people can afford to come into a mostly queer space, and dress up and feel good and meet other queer people in a town where maybe there’s not a lot of other places to meet queer people — aka my hometown — then that is great,” she says”.

With much more music arriving this year from the jaw-dropping Chappell Roan, it just shows what exciting, hugely inventive and strong artists are out there! I have been spotlighting a few, but the scene is so busy and varied. It is an amazingly inspiring time for music. Among the sea of great new artists, Chappell Roan surely ranks…

AMONG the very best.

_____________

Follow Chappell Roan

FEATURE: Up on Those Wiley and Windy Moors: Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights at Forty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Up on Those Wiley and Windy Moors

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

 

Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights at Forty-Five

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I have more to say about…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

the masterful and iconic debut single from Kate Bush, Wuthering Heights. The song turns forty-five on 20th January. Ahead of that, I am writing pieces that explore the song in different ways. The first feature is a more general look at why Bush wrote the song and the impact it has. Before continuing on, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia has collated interviews where Bush discussed the song and its inception:

“I wrote in my flat, sitting at the upright piano one night in March at about midnight. There was a full moon and the curtains were open, and every time I looked up for ideas, I looked at the moon. Actually, it came quite easily. I couldn't seem to get out of the chorus - it had a really circular feel to it, which is why it repeats. I had originally written something more complicated, but I couldn't link it up, so I kept the first bit and repeated it. I was really pleased, because it was the first song I had written for a while, as I'd been busy rehearsing with the KT Band.

I felt a particular want to write it, and had wanted to write it for quite a while. I remember my brother John talking about the story, but I couldn't relate to it enough. So I borrowed the book and read a few pages, picking out a few lines. So I actually wrote the song before I had read the book right through. The name Cathy helped, and made it easier to project my own feelings of want for someone so much that you hate them. I could understand how Cathy felt.

It's funny, but I heard a radio programme about a woman who was writing a book in Old English, and she found she was using words she didn't know, but when she looked them up she found they were correct. A similar thing happened with 'Wuthering Heights': I put lines in the song that I found in the book when I read it later.

I've never been to Wuthering Heights, the place, though I would like to, and someone sent me a photo of where it's supposed to be.

One thing that really pleases me is the amount of positive feedback I've had from the song, though I've heard that the Bronte Society think it's a disgrace. A lot of people have read the book because of the song and liked it, which I think is the best thing about it for me. I didn't know the book would be on the GCE syllabus in the year I had the hit, but lots of people have written to say how the song helped them. I'm really happy about that.

There are a couple of synchronicities involved with the song. When Emily Bronte wrote the book she was in the terminal stages of consumption, and I had a bad cold when I wrote the song. Also, when I was in Canada I found out that Lindsay Kemp, my dance teacher, was in town, only ten minutes away by car, so I went to see him. When I came back I had this urge to switch on the TV - it was about one in the morning - because I knew the film of Wuthering Heights would be on. I tuned in to a thirties gangster film, then flicked through the channels, playing channel roulette, until I found it. I came in at the moment Cathy was dying, so that's all I saw of the film. It was an amazing coincidence.

Kate Bush Club Newsletter, January 1979”.

Until this year – when Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) reached the top of the chart – Wuthering Heights was her only number one single. In 2020, The Guardian ranked it the fourteenth-best U.K. number one single ever:

“Had the teenaged Kate Bush listened to the wishes of her record label, Wuthering Heights would not have been her debut single. EMI preferred the pop-stomp of James and the Cold Gun to the eerie, circular song that introduced her to the world. But by her late teens, Bush clearly knew herself and wisely pushed for Wuthering Heights instead. When it saw the light of day, in early 1978, it was a hit. By March that year, it had become a No 1 hit, the first single written and recorded by a female artist to top the British charts. It replaced Abba’s Take A Chance on Me, and remained at the top for a month.

It is sometimes worth remembering the incredible fact that Bush wrote Wuthering Heights when she was 18 years old, though perhaps its keen ear for adolescent angst is part of what makes it so special. She had been inspired by an old television adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel, which led her to seek out the book. Written from the perspective of the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw, a young woman pleading with the brutal Heathcliff, whom she loves and hates, to let her soul into the house, the song is a gothic melodrama that builds until it is thick with intensity. It is a magnificent achievement, though the writing of it was seemingly painless. “Actually, it came quite easily,” Bush recalled later, telling the story of a single moonlit night at the piano. The vocal was said to have been recorded in a single take. Bush found out that she and Brontë shared a birthday, and the fates were aligned.

The casual story of its creation belies the odd unwieldiness of the song itself. The piano gently heralds the arrival of this haunted tale of lost love and longing, then that tight, high melody reels you in. It loops and lilts, ascending, descending, as Bush’s vocal urges the story on, like Catherine striding across the moors. In the BBC’s 2014 documentary The Kate Bush Story, artist after artist recalls hearing it on the radio for the first time, thinking some variation of: what on earth was that? “You can hear one note of a Kate Bush song or one note of her voice and know what it is,” said Annie Clark, AKA St Vincent, and it has been that way from the start.

The spectacle of Bush as a performer inspired similarly wowed and unsettled reactions. She made two videos for the song, and appeared on Top of the Pops with it five times in 1978, cementing her public image as an ethereal spirit, embodying the essence of Cathy through a combination of wide eyes, floaty fabrics and wild choreography, still fondly mimicked and parodied today. Wuthering Heights turned Bush into a pop star, the rules of which she continues to bend to her own will: her individuality was set in stone from the very beginning”.

Wuthering Heights still sounds like nothing else in Kate Bush’s catalogue. Such a unique and spellbinding song, there are a number of reasons why it resonates and endures. Bush’s heightened vocal (so that she could embody Catherine Earnshaw and this ghostly figure) and the fact she recorded the vocal in a single take gives it this that extra bit of urgency and magic. It is a wonderful single that introduced so many people to Kate Bush. I was a small child when I first saw the video for Wuthering Heights. It was a very special moment that opened my eyes in so many ways. As it turns forty-five on 20th January, this is the first part of a small run of features that I will do about the amazing Wuthering Heights. I have bene rewatching the music videos (the U.K. and U.S. versions), the live performances of Wuthering Heights, in addition to new vocal; Bush recorded in 1986. It is a song that, in each performance and iteration, is like nothing else! A remarkable song and one of the most impressive debuts of all time, I wonder how many critics of Kate Bush thought we would be talking about her forty-five years after her debut single was released. One of the most enduring and phenomenal artists ever, Wuthering Heights is a masterpiece! I hope, on its forty-fifth anniversary, Kate Bush debut single reaches…

A whole new generation.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Ice Spice

FEATURE:

 


Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Trinecia Amor

 

Ice Spice

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THE past week or so…

has seen me doing a wide range of Spotlight features looking at artists who will be defining this year. Ice Spice is someone who has already been tipped for big things. The New York-born Bronx Drill artist is someone who should be known to all. Real name Isis Gaston, because her parents were frequently busy working, she spent much of her time with her grandparents and cousins growing up. It was at age seven that Gaston formed a love of Hip-Hop after listening to rappers like Lil' Kim. She started rapping in 2021 after meeting producer RiotUSA while the two were attending SUNY Purchase. I will end this feature with all the social media links for the amazing Ice Spice. First, and as I do with these features, there are interviews that I need to bring in. The first, from DJ Booth was a chat from one of the rawest and realest artists from The Bronx:

“In March 2021, the two released their first song, right after Ice went viral for doing Erica Banks’ “Buss It” challenge. Since then, they’ve dropped four more tracks and have garnered a significant buzz very quickly; some skeptics have even deemed Ice Spice an industry plant. But after seeing where she grew up and studying her appeal, I can assure you she’s not. Ice Spice simply has all the tools for success and knows how to use them.

The 22-year-old pairs her appearance with the cleanest and catchiest production coming out of the Bronx, grabbing listeners' attention before she even speaks. (She and RIOT found a formula in “Name Of Love” and “No Clarity,” sampling popular EDM earworms to soften the traditionally menacing drill production.) Once her vocals come in, listeners’ interest is solidified—she’s a natural who raps with an attitude shaped by the bustling borough she was raised in. She walked us through her old stomping grounds, leading us to the steps of her childhood apartment complex so we could speak in the shade.

This is my first time in the Bronx. What are some things I need to know? The rules of thumb, if you will.

Mind your business, that’s number one.

Number two, you gotta really stay on your toes, you always gotta look over your shoulder—just be very aware. Don’t always be on your phone; look behind you, look around you.

Third, don’t be too flashy, unless you’re ready to fight or tryna get robbed.

And lastly, you gotta be tough. You can’t be pussy. You gotta just put on your gangsta face, especially if you’re by yourself.

“Bully” is the first song you dropped. Was it also the first song you ever recorded?

Yeah, so actually it was both. I got the beat from my producer RIOT. We met in college and he had been giving me beats for a while, but I wasn’t feeling them yet. But once I heard the beat for “Bully” I was like, “Nah, this is the one.” I listened to it for about a month before recording to it. I was just trying to find the vibe, just waiting, waiting.

But then, I did the Erica Banks “Buss It” challenge and it got a million views. So after that, I was like, “Nah, I gotta hurry up and put this song out.” So we recorded and finished the song the same week that it went viral, then we released it a bit later in the month. So I waited until I had a little moment to put it out.

Since then, you’ve built a pretty big buzz with just five songs. Did you expect things to move this fast for you?

I expected things to move faster, to be honest. I just believe in myself so much. But I think things are moving at a good pace.

Your dad was a rapper, right?

Yes, but he was an underground rapper. I wanna make that clear, ‘cause they tryna say that I’m a plant, and I’m not.

Has he given you any wisdom about the game?

He just basically tells me to continue to be myself and to be careful, ‘cause it can get grimey.

Why do you think Bronx drill is so hot right now?

Because Cardi B put the Bronx on the map AGAIN, especially for females. But also because it’s the last authentic borough. I think people are interested in how it truly is, in how everybody from here is really from here. Our parents are from here, our grandparents are from here, you know? People are just really interested in our culture. They’re fascinated by how raw it is.

Other than drill, what types of music do you wanna explore in your career?

I wanna do Latin music at some point. I’m actually working on some Spanish songs right now. I wanna get into more pop stuff, just fun vibes, but later on down the line when that makes more sense.

What would you say to the people who think you’re a plant, or are just riding the drill wave?

That I don’t really care, ‘cause I know what it is. I know what it took to get me here, and I know how much work I’m putting in. I also feel like when they say stuff like that, they don’t really mean it. I truly feel like they know I’m not a plant. I think they just say stuff like that ‘cause they’re mad that I’m going up faster than their fave… If anything I would say stream your fave more”.

I am quite new to American Drill. I think the best examples are coming from New York. It seems that Bronx Drill is particularly fertile and innovative. I feel Ice Spice is going to hit the big leagues before too long. Someone who can join her Hip-Hop heroines. For Interview Magazine Ice Spice and the legendary Erykah Badu (who were joined by Badu’s daughter, Puma Curry) were in conversation. Among other things, they discussed the state of female Rap:

“BADU: Speaking of school, can you tell me a little bit about your up bringing? What was your home life like?

SPICE: My parents would be at work a lot so I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. I have so many cousins, and after school, we’d all link up at my grandparents’ house. We’d chill, eat, laugh, watch TV. I went to after-school a lot, too. Actually, I shot the “Munch” video at the park that I went to after school. Then when I finally went to Catholic school, things started changing. I didn’t go to church a lot at home growing up, I was never even baptized. But I’m still religious in the sense where I strictly pray every day, all the time.

BADU: Yeah.

SPICE: My parents were separated when I was two, and I have five siblings. I’m the oldest. It’s all separated. My parents had me and then they split up and had their own kids.

PHOTO CREDIT: Richard Kern

CURRY: I can relate to that. I have five siblings and I’m the only baby my mom and dad had together. What does that feel like?

SPICE: Growing up I would get jealous that my other siblings had siblings that came from the same mom and dad, but now that I’m older I just feel special. Don’t you feel special?

CURRY: Yeah.

BADU: She’s pretty amazing. Gen Z is just very mature. I’ll segue into hip-hop. You’re from New York, the birthplace of hip-hop. Do you consider yourself a rapper?

SPICE: I consider myself an artist. I know a lot of people try to categorize me but I just like to create things.

BADU: What you’re doing, the spoken word, is in the category of rap, which originated from hip-hop. Are you familiar with or do you have any ties to New York hip-hop? Do you know the history of it?

SPICE: I think it’s important to remember where everything started, but I don’t have a direct connection to the first people to do certain things. I do know about Roxanne [Shanté] and other legendary people. I just met the person that invented the scratch at the 50th hip-hop anniversary Nike shoot that I did.

PHOTO CREDIT: Richard Kern

BADU: Grandmaster Flash?

SPICE: Yeah.

BADU: [Laughs]

SPICE: [Laughs] Thank you for that. He was cool. And I just met Crazy Legs.

BADU: Even in hip-hop we, as B-boys and B-girls, consider ourselves artists. The teacher from the Boogie Down Bronx, KRS-One, he’s kind of like the prime minister of hip-hop. He keeps the culture informed and the guidelines in place. He once said, “Rap is something you do and hip-hop is something you live.” Hip-hop was break dancing, graffiti art, backpacking, DJing, MCing. And it came up out of a necessity. We didn’t have the entertainment industry to back that art. It was just something that we loved and did. What motivates you to keep expanding as a creative and an artist?

SPICE: It’s the urge that I have to impact the culture. I want to leave a cultural footprint like you did. I want a girl to want me to interview her years from now and just be like, “You’re the GOAT.” The crown you’re wearing, I want a crown, too.

BADU: What kind of imprint do you want to make?

SPICE: I want to make girls feel confident. Like the Marilyn Monroe impact or the Rihanna impact, the Erykah impact. You have a way of hypnotizing people, you cast a spell on them. I want to do the same thing”.

A new sound and sensation to my ears, so far Ice Spice has released singles. I am not sure whether a mixtape, E.P. or album is coming along this year. With huge momentum behind her, it is only a matter of time before this future titan releases something more explorative and expansive. Last year saw her drop some amazing singles. Billboard spoke to Ice Spice last year and asked her about women in drill her influences, and what it has been like playing some big festivals:

“What was your path to music like?

What’s funny is my mom sent me a video the other day – and I don’t even remember this of course, because I was like four. But I’m singing in the video. And I’ve never seen this video my whole life, I was shocked by that. So I was singing since [age] four, but I didn’t actually take music seriously until I was older. I was writing poems and little freestyle raps in my notes throughout all of elementary and high school. Once I got to college, I went viral on Twitter for the “Buss It” challenge. So then I was like, “Nah, I gotta take it seriously,” and I started putting out music.

Did you always go by Ice Spice?

Yeah, my name is Isis, so my nickname always been Ice my whole life. And the spice came from Instagram, I was just trying to come up with a username when I was like, 14.

You recently did two festivals, what was that like for you?

It was very fun. [Rolling Loud NY] was a little messier, but it still worked out. They showed mad love. I can’t wait for the next Rolling Loud. I never had a soundcheck for none of my performances, they just throw you out there. Everybody thinks that like you go in all prepared and s–t with your own mic, but you don’t get that until you’re like G.O.A.T. level.

My first performance ever was back in May at a college in New Jersey. That was lit, the crowd was actually pretty big. It’s hard to perform. Practice makes perfect for real. I’m sure in a year from now, my performance is going to look drastically different. I can’t wait to pop out and prove everybody wrong that’s been talking a lot of s–t.

You’ve been teasing a new song “Bikini Bottom” on socials. Tell us about that.

It’s called “Bikini Bottom” because it kind of gives a SpongeBob vibe. I was just having fun with that one. I was addressing a couple of things that’s been going on, you’ll hear it more in the second verse. But I feel like it’s a good follow up after “Munch.” I made it last week.

Why do you think there aren’t more women getting mainstream looks in the drill space?

I don’t know, honestly. I feel like there are a lot of girls coming up in the drill space and rap in general. Right now feels like the time for the ladies. Drill is such a new sub-genre that I feel like it just needs time for more girls to enter.

Are there any women artists whose careers you look up to?

I’m inspired by Nicki, Lil Kim, Cardi B. All of the greats. I’m definitely inspired by Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu. But I definitely want to like have my own lane. Where like, it’s just it’s mine. And not like really copying somebody. With Nicki, Cardi and Kim, it’s them being from New York of course. That New York swag and aggression and bad bitchness. [Laughs.] When it comes to Lauryn and Erykah, they give a graceful angelic vibe of timeless beauty. All of them are icons.

You mentioned you’re half Dominican. Are we getting that dembow collaboration anytime soon?

Oh my gosh. Yes. You know what? I’ve actually been talking to a lot of Latin artists and I’m figuring it out. And I got this Spanish type of beat that I’ve been plotting on. I’m probably gonna lay that down soon.

What piece of advice would you give aspiring artists?

I feel like being independent is super lit, especially when you get the hit independently, like I did with “Munch.” I wrote that by myself, just me and my producer. That would be like my advice to any up-and-coming artists, definitely stay independent as long as you can”.

A fierce and insanely talented artist with a stellar career ahead, I would recommend anyone to dive into her music. Even though it is Drill, it is accessible and has this lasting impression. Someone I am hugely interested in, you will be hearing a lot of Ice Spice through this year. With her best days ahead, it will be exciting seeing this artist make big steps. Just sit back and…

WATCH her conquer!

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