The End of the Line (Fall '22 - Spring '23)

A Letter From Our President

Green Line Records isn’t just a student-run record label. Our students and resources provide a self-induced atmosphere for passion and hard work to collide and take form in creativity, collaboration, and education. Green Line Records isn’t just a club. We’re a community. A family.

While tumultuous, we have grown so very much and I have much promise that we will continue to thrive. I am also excited to share that we will be moving to a brand new studio space next year. I have so much love for everyone in GLR and everything I’ve personally received from the community. I feel ecstatic as I reflect upon all that our members, the rest of E-board, and I have accomplished. With the end of the 2022-23 academic year as well as my presidency, I am proud to share with you all the fruits of our labor and love.

Our A&R department signed a variety of diverse Bostonbased artists this year including Kammeron Frost, Clifford the Band, and Main Era, whose singles are out right now available on streaming platforms, and DPF and Aidy,

whose projects to look out for this summer.

Green Line Records also collaborated with Tastemakers Magazine to present “Battle of the Bands” to the Northeastern community, allowing NU artists to battle it out for a chance to work on a single with GLR and be featured in a spread in an issue of TMM, Arden Lloyd emerging as the winner. Keep an eye out for her release as well!

Our Recording team exponentially grew with over a dozen students climbing their way up to Assistant Engineer and Lead Engineer positions for recording projects. This was also the first year our Licensing department was up and fully functioning, and they successfully facilitated five syncs between independent musicians and media makers.

Our Events department put up 11 shows in our campus music venue AfterHOURS this past year, featuring artists from a wide variety of genres, from Ella Jane to midwxst to Lilly to binki. This also included

two shows featuring local bands booked by members of our Events teams. For the first time in any on-campus music organization, members not only had the opportunity to be involved in day-ofshow hospitality for these two shows but also the entire booking and negotiation process from the beginning to the end.

Our previous Marketing, Media, and Design departments underwent a huge makeover, combining all three into one Creative Services department. This has helped with overall organization and efficiency and helped create more opportunities for our budding creatives. And that being said, we are proud to present the second installment of our zine “The End of the Line” which captures the work of our artists, departments, and members through the eyes of our new Creative Services team. Soak it all in and come back for even more next year :-)

With lots of love, Ro

President

Our E-board

President: Roshni Subramonian

Vice President: Remi Wiseblatt

Heads of Recording: Peter Benson, Simon Aber, Matthew Gurlitz

Head of A&R: Dom Pastorelle

Head of Events: Risa Tapanes

Deputy Head of Events: Mia Romo

Heads of Creative Services : Annie Wolfond, Suzy Duong, Julia Towne

Good Dog Licensing Heads: Abby Lopatka, Finn McCormack

Operations Manager: Michelle Wu

INCLUDING...

Each spread in this zine was created by a member of our talented design team.

We are excited to showcase the variety of styles and ideas that they each came up with!

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Artist Bios

Kam Frost

Clifford The Band

Everything Else

Quality VS Quantity in the Music Industry

Seperating Art from the Artist

Boston’s Best

Boygenius - The Record

Where Did They Come From: Joji

Em Beihold: Rollercoasters Make Me Sad

Impact of Tiktok on the Music Industry The Return

Paramore

Kings Elliot & Stephen Sanchez: Live!

Artist Bio

Kam Frost (she/her) is a Boston-based 20-year-old musician studying at the Berklee College of Music. With an outgoing and energetic personality, Kam enjoys different forms of self-expression without the conversations like singing, dancing, painting, etc. Kam’s music does not belong to one specific genre but rather is an amalgamation of urban R&B Hiphop, alternative, soul, funk, and overall experimental. Her musical inspirations are Jill Scott, Doja Cat, Smino, Kyle Dion, Micheal Jackson, SZA, Summer Walker, Tank and the Bangas, and FLO.

For Kam, ”[music is a] gift was given to me by God by sharing with others, being in a room with everyone and enjoying whats happening there - being a community and loving on each other – music is such a big part of that and is so important for musicians to have that energy – fellowship,bringing people together. A break from the problems of the world and focusing on the moment happening in front of you - I want people to enjoy what I make and have to share, the stories I have to tell.”

Written by: Suzy Duong

Designed by: Willow Pannozzo

Photos By: Taliyah Fox

MAIN ERA ARTIST BIO

Main Era is a collaborative project inspired by garage rock, indie, shoegaze and alternative. The band focuses on high energy and experimental live performances that flourished within Bostonʼs DIY music scene. ”

“Main Era is a collaborative project between Garrett, Jack, Maeve, and Willie. Inspired by early 2000s garage rock, indie, and alternative, their music captures the liminal space between juvenile innocence and lifeʼs unavoidable senescence. The band focuses on high energy and experimental live performances that flourished within Bostonʼs music scene.”

written by Main Era — designed by Farah Caban

photo credits: Main Era, Instagram

Clifford is a post-punk band formed in the summer of 2019. Based in Boston, Clifford is one of the bands navigating the New England’s underground band scene. They released their first fulllength album in 2021 titled ‘Projections of A Body Electric.’ The twangy, post-rock band features Miles on lead vocals and electric guitar, Nate on bass, Danny on electric guitar, and Ben on percussion. They Signed with Green Line Records in the Fall of 2022, months later releasing their new EP featuring other local artists like Mei Semones. More recently, they performed a release show for their ep at Tourist Trap in November.

WRITTEN BY JULIA TOWNE DESIGNED BY LUCAS CLAVIJO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PRAAGNA KASHYAP & STEPHANIE WARE

Which Breeds Quantity or

Like most people, I like to be in the know about new music. But recently it feels like the amount of music being put out is far greater than the amount of time I can allot to actually listening to it. Naturally, when there’s an oversaturation of something, we as the audience have to pick and choose what to spend our time on. This age-old dilemma asks us to choose what we want to hear based on what we perceive as “worth the listen”. But what makes music “worth it”?

Audiences tend to rely on the quantity of music released to judge its quality. However, quantity and quality may be more independent than you may think. When push comes to shove, how we judge the success of music is subjective.

How people judge the quality of an artist’s discography is usually tied to the quantity of music they produce within a given amount of time. Artists who turn out songs quickly are often regarded as “easy listening” or lacking emotional depth. Kpop and Jpop are two genres known for their fast turn-around of releases. TWICE, for example,

released two full length albums in 2022, which is a lot more than western artists, who usually put out one album roughly every two years. Similarly, the quantity of music produced by an artist cannot be compared to another on an objective level. The writing and production process of a song or album is completely different based on the genre; how many people are writing the lyrics or music, and the post-production editing. The idea that more music produced at one time is “lower quality” than what takes longer to finalize is arbitrary. For example, Rhianna has not put out an album since ANTI in 2016. Does this necessarily mean her next album will be well received by every listener on Earth? While I would like to say yes, the answer is no.

More Success? Quality:

In contrast, rap artist BONES released six albums in 2022 alone, each with an average of seventeen songs. Does BONES’ rapid release of music automatically make his music objectively worse than someone like Rhianna? The answer is, again, no.

But, keep in mind, the amount of music that is released by an artist is usually not up to the artist themselves. Record labels have final say over releases, and are usually motivated by sales and quotas they have to fulfill rather than when something is actually ready to go. In some cases, the music produced under these circumstances is noticeably incohesive, for example, Brockhampton’s final release: TM. TM was a collection of songs that were never completed over BH’s twelve year-long career all compiled into one album. While TM was well received, fan’s agree that it is far less cohesive than the rest of their releases.

In other cases, record labels withhold the release of music, stunting an artist’s career in the process. A more recent example of producers withholding music was between Lil Uzi Vert and his previous label, Generation Now.

So many factors go into how much music is released at one time, and is more often than not out of the artist’s control. In actuality, the answer to which kind of music is better is up to the listener. Quality is subjective, and differs based on whose discography we are talking about. What is “good” or “bad” quality is based on the individual and their particular tastes. Neither quality or quantity can be used as a measure for the success of an artist’s music. That comes down to personal opinion alone.

Written and Designed by Willow Pannozzo

seperating

the art from the artist

Everybody has their Beatles phase at some point in their life. Mine was this past year. The musical stylings of John, Paul, George, and Ringo provided the soundtrack to my sophmore year of college. I think Beatlemania is just an inevitable phase of life, much like K-Pop fandoms and midlife crises. However, as I began to learn more about the fab four, I very quickly realized that they weren’t quite as fab as they appeared to be–especially John Lennon. Lennon was known to cheat on his wife, act violent and manipulative towards women, and compulsively lie to those around him. This revelation had me questioning their music, and whether or not it was morally right to continue listening to The Beatles’ music catalogue. I then began to ask myself a larger question–what do we do when the music we love was created by problematic people?

The answer is clear: we need to separate the art from the artist. But how can we do that? Art is like a mirror–it’s a direct reflection of the self. Artists pour their ideas, experiences, and passions into their work in order to create something greater than themselves. However, does this mean that art is also a reflection of the problematic aspects of the artist as well? In some cases, yes. Take the case of Floridian rapper YNW Melly. In 2018, Melly released his breakout song “Murder on My Mind.” In 2019 he was arrested

and charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder. The arrest revitalized interest in the song, with it reaching number one on the US Apple Music chart. Melly is a murderous person who wrote a song about his intentions to murder people, so is listening to his music inherently immoral?

written & designed by Brendan DiTullio

Personally, I think listening to the song is acceptable as long as listeners refrain from idolizing YNW Melly and his actions. Music is a deeply personal medium, and because of this, audiences tend to have strong connections with their favorite musical artists. This makes it easy for listeners to idolize artists and put them on a pedestal, regardless of the artist’s problematic nature. This is especially true of larger artists, whose cultural impact tends to overshadow their past controversies. A prime example of this is Michael Jackson. The King of Pop notoriously faced multiple pedophilia and molestation accusations, yet his music is still listened to by millions worldwide. Jackson and his estate have repeatedly denied any and all accusations, and many fans who idolize Jackson have done the same. Idolization is a dangerous game, as it can lead fans to deliberately ignore certain truths in favor of personal attachments.

For some musicians, cultural impact is not enough to overshadow their controversies. Country artist Morgan Wallen was caught on camera using a racial slur in 2021, and his public image hasn’t been the same since. The parasocial relationship between artists and audiences causes listen-

ers to place trust in their idols. When an artist’s controversial actions are revealed, it’s almost as if they are betraying the trust of their listeners. For some, this betrayal is enough to stop listening to the artist’s music entirely. It’s difficult for them to separate the art and the artist, so they quit cold turkey. For others, it’s not that easy. Whether it be due to certain memories or feelings associated with the music, many people form attachments that make them keep coming back despite the controversies.

It is these personal attachments that are key when separating the art from the artist. Art may be deeply personal for the artist, but it can be equally personal for the listener. I believe the only way to separate the art from the artist is to treat the art as a separate entity, not as an extension of the artist themselves. This allows us to assign our own meaning to it, regardless of the musician’s original intention. In short, listen to the music purely for yourself.

In the track “Getting Better” on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, John Lennon sings about how he used to be a cruel person, and how later in life he was striving to be a better man. Before his death, Lennon stated that he was “a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence.” Whether or not Lennon truly changed is impossible to know. But regardless of who he was as a person, I plan on continuing to listen to and enjoy The Beatles’s music not for him, but for myself.

BOSTON'S BEST

THE ARTISTS THAT DEFINE A REGION

Music is the product of a musician's surroundings and experiences, and an artist's city of origin can play a massive role in shaping their sound and the subject matter in their songs. From the signature jazz quintets of New Orleans to the invention of hip-hop in the Bronx, a city can be defined by the musicians it raises and the art form that is born out of it. Just like a sports team can represent a city or region by creating a shared interest for people to rally around, musicians can help personify their city, giving outsiders new context for places and lifestyles that they do not yet know of or understand. Boston's rich history of music has done just that, with local acts like the Pixies, Donna Summer, and Aerosmith putting the city on the map and pushing their respective genres into new directions and uncharted sonic territory. Our city is also notable for the artists that have passed through it, gaining insights and inspiration along the way. With lauded music programs such as the Berklee School of Music and the Boston Conservatory, we are no strangers to producing pop stars; the list includes Charlie Puth, Psy, and Megan Trainor. With that being said, the modern Boston music scene is more diverse than ever. It spans across and weaves between a wide array of sounds and genres with ease, refusing to pigeonhole itself into one sound or identity. At Green Line, we will take a deeper dive into which artists are leading the charge in maintaining the legacy of the Boston arts scene.

Clairo

A t e s t a m e n t t o t h e p o w e r t h a t t h e i n t e r n e t c a n h a v e i n p o p u l a r i z i n g y o u n g a r t i s t s , C l a i r o b u r s t o n t o t h e s c e n e i n 2 0 1 7 w h e n t h e m u s i c v i d e o f o r h e r s i n g l e “ P r e t t y G i r l ” w e n t v i r a l o n Y o u T u b e a n d u l t i m a t e l y l a n d e d h e r a d e a l w i t h T h e F a d e r ’ s r e c o r d l a b e l F r o m t h e r e , C l a i r o ' s c a r e e r t o o k o f f , w i t h h e r d e b u t a l b u m “ I m m u n i t y ” f i n d i n g i m m e n s e c o m m e r c i a l s u c c e s s a n d h e r f o l l o w - u p a l b u m “ S l i n g ” s e a m l e s s l y b l e n d i n g o l d e r f o l k - s t y l e s o n g w r i t i n g w i t h t h e i n d i e a n d l o f i o v e r t o n e s o f h e r p r e v i o u s w o r k C l a i r o ’ s m u s i c n e v e r f a i l s t o g r a b t h e l i s t e n e r ' s a t t e n t i o n H e r s o f t , s o o t h i n g , a n d o f t e n t i m e s w i s t f u l s i n g i n g v o i c e f i t s p e r f e c t l y o v e r t h e l a y e r e d a c o u s t i c a n d e l e c t r i c g u i t a r s , p i a n o f i l l s , a n d d r e a m y s y n t h m e l o d i e s t h a t a r e g i v e n d i r e c t i o n b y h e r r h y t h m s a n d s t e a d y d r u m g r o o v e s , a s s h e s i n g s a b o u t s u b j e c t m a t t e r t h a t i n c l u d e s s e x u a l i t y , m e n t a l h e a l t h i s s u e s , a n d p e r s o n a l i d e n t i t y .

B o r n i n C a r l i s l e , a m e t r o p o l i t a n s u b s i d i a r y o f B o s t o n , C l a i r o ’ s u p b r i n g i n g i n t h e r e g i o n h a s p l a y e d a n o t a b l e i n f l u e n c e o n t h e s u b j e c t m a t t e r a n d t h e m e s d i s p l a y e d i n h e r s o n g s T h e o p e n i n g t r a c k t o I m m u n i t y i s c a l l e d “ A l e w i f e ” a n d i s n a m e d a f t e r t h e B o s t o n s u b w a y ’ s r e d l i n e s t o p T h e t r a c k s e e s C l a i r o r e m i n i s c i n g a b o u t h e r e x p e r i e n c e s o n t h e r e d l i n e d u r i n g h e r t e e n a g e y e a r s a n d s e r v e s a s b o t h a s o n i c a n d t h e m a t i c p r e c u r s o r f o r t h e r e s t o f t h e a l b u m A g i f t e d s t o r y t e l l e r , s o n g w r i t e r , a n d g u i t a r i s t , C l a i r o i s a b i g p a r t o f w h y B o s t o n ’ s i n d i e m u s i c s c e n e h a s p l a y e d a k e y r o l e i n t h e p r o g r e s s i o n a n d p o p u l a r i z a t i o n o f t h e n a t i o n a l i n d i e - p o p m u s i c m o v e m e n t .

Cousin Stizz

B o s t o n h a s n e v e r b e e n k n o w n f o r i t s h i p - h o p s c e n e a n d h a s p r o d u c e d v e r y f e w c o m m e r c i a l l y s u c c e s s f u l r a p p e r s I f a n y o n e w e r e t o c h a n g e t h a t n a r r a t i v e , h o w e v e r , i t w o u l d b e C o u s i n S t i z z B o r n i n D o r c h e s t e r , S t i z z h a s b e e n r e l e a s i n g m u s i c s i n c e 2 0 1 4 H i s d e b u t a l b u m , S u f f o l k C o u n t y p a y s h o m a g e t o t h e B o s t o n r e g i o n a n d t h e a r e a t h a t r a i s e d h i m S t i z z b e g a n a t t r a c t i n g n a t i o n a l a t t e n t i o n w h e n D r a k e p l a y e d S t i z z ’ s f i r s t s i n g l e “ S h o u t o u t ” a t a p a r t y I n 2 0 1 9 C o u s i n S t i z z ’ s s u c c e s s w o u l d t a k e a n o t h e r s t e p f o r w a r d , a s h i s h i t s i n g l e ‘ P e r f e c t ’ w o u l d l a n d h i m a f e a t u r e w i t h p o p s t a r D o j a C a t , v a u l t i n g t h e a r t i s t ' s p l a t f o r m a n d r e c o g n i t i o n t o n e w l e v e l s . I n h i s m u s i c , S t i z z u t i l i z e s a c o m b i n a t i o n o f 8 0 8 b a s s e s , t r a p d r u m s , a n d m o r e n i c h e m e l o d i c s a m p l e s a s h i s w i t t y o n e - l i n e r s a n d c a t c h y h o o k s m a k e f o r m e m o r a b l e , r e p e a t a b l e , a n d f u n t r a c k s

Lake Street Dive

W i t h a k n a c k f o r r i c h i n s t r u m e n t a l t e x t u r e s , p o w e r f u l v o c a l p e r f o r m a n c e s f r o m l e a d s i n g e r R a c h a e l P r i c e , a n d i n t r i g u i n g r h y t h m i c c h o i c e s , L a k e S t r e e t D i v e h a s b e c o m e a f a n f a v o r i t e a m o n g B o s t o n m u s i c f a n s T h e g r o u p i s f i l l e d w i t h t e c h n i c a l a n d p r o f i c i e n t m u s i c i a n s w h o a r e a l s o a b l e t o e n c a p s u l a t e t h e s o u l f u l n a t u r e o f t h e i r b l u e s a n d r e t r o i n s p i r a t i o n s i n a w a y t h a t a l l o w s P r i c e ’ s v o c a l r u n s a n d f l o w s t o s e e m a l m o s t e f f o r t l e s s u p o n a c a s u a l l i s t e n I t t u r n s o u t h a r d l y a n y t h i n g L a k e S t r e e t D i v e d o e s i s e f f o r t l e s s , a s t h e t e c h n i c a l i n t r i c a c i e s i n t h e i r m u s i c , t h e i n t e n t i o n a l i t y w i t h t h e t o n e t h e y p l a y t h e i r i n s t r u m e n t s i n , a n d t h e i r a b i l i t y t o f i n d s p e c i f i c p o c k e t s f o r e a c h s o n i c e l e m e n t a l l l e n d t o a s o u n d t h a t i s n o t o n l y h i g h l y d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e b u t a l s o t i m e l e s s L a k e S t r e e t D i v e i s n o t i n t e r e s t e d i n c h a n g i n g t h e i r s t y l e a n d t h e i r p e r s i s t e n c e i n p l a y i n g l i v e i n s t r u m e n t s l e n d s i t s e l f t o B o s t o n ’ s r e p u t a t i o n f o r p r o d u c i n g s o m e o f t h e m o s t s k i l l e d i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s i n t h e c o u n t r y A f t e r 1 9 y e a r s o f b e i n g a c t i v e , L a k e S t r e e t D i v e h a s c o n t i n u o u s l y p r o v e n i t s s t a y i n g p o w e r a n d i s s u r e t o g o d o w n a s o n e o f t h e m o s t e s s e n t i a l b a n d s t o b e b o r n i n B o s t o n

Boygenius

A Look Into Their Friendship and Music.

Written by: Jillian Iredale

Photo by: Matt Grubb

Designed by: Annie Wolfond

Nearly five years after the release of their groundbreaking self-titled EP, Boygenius has returned to the indie-rock stage with their sophomore album “The Record.” Composed of established artists Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker, it’s no surprise that fans and critics alike were eager to welcome the supergroup back to the scene.

Since 2018, the three singer-songwriters have been busy developing solo careers, with Bridgers rising to international fame after the release of her Grammy-nominated album “Punisher” (2020). Featured on critically-acclaimed records such as Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021) and SZA’s SOS (2022), Bridgers is one of a handful of artists set to open for Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour. While Dacus and Baker have yet to reach the “music-your-dad-has-heard-of” level, as classified by Rolling Stone, the two have developed their own cult-like followings

Boygenius

during the group’s hiatus. Dacus’ autobiographical album “Home Video” (2021) culminated in a North American “couch tour,’’ in which she performed lying down during the shows due to two herniated discs. Referring to the shows as her “most humiliating and hilarious moments,” the unprecedented concerts only amplified Dacus’ fanbase. The group’s final member, Julien Baker, also released her third studio album, “Little Oblivions,” in 2021, featuring her classic rock-infused guitar riffs and gut-wrenching one-liners that have become a staple in Boygenius tracks.

As the countdown to Boygenius’ full album release on March 31st continues, the band’s first three songs, “Emily I’m Sorry”, “$20”, and “True Blue” continue to gain traction, performed at the Tibet House US Benefit Concert on March 1. Not long after their initial drop, the songs were followed up by the group’s fourth release, “Not Strong

Enough”, accompanied by a self-made music video, shot and edited by Bridger’s younger brother, Jackson. An ode to the trio’s unique friendship, the video details the group’s adventures on a cross-country road trip as they entertain themselves with amusement park rides, museum visits, and beach days.

Taking their name from the overconfident men who have long since dominated the music industry, Boygenius has become known for their desire to subvert the industry’s chronic male worship. Similar to the cover of their self-titled EP, where the group mirrored the debut album of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Boygenius was recently featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, recreating the magazine’s iconic 1994 Nirvana photoshoot.

However, despite their criticism of the blind praise given to male artists, the group finds much of their inspiration in

the works of classic-rock musicians like Paul McCartney, My Chemical Romance, and Neil Young. With searing lyrics and perfectly-timed guitar riffs, Boygenius ties together elements of folk, rock, and pop to make genre-defining music that bridges the gap between the music of today and the music of our parents. While Boygenius is often pigeon-holed as “sad-girl music,” true listeners know that the band is much more than a single, confining emotion. Drawing on childhood memories, past romances, and ruminating thoughts, the three songwriters infuse their work with feeling, speaking to their listeners on a personal level with each haunting melody.

With the sweeping success of his hit single “Glimpse of Us”, singer songwriter Joji has cemented himself as the voice of a generation. Spending the past few months on tour, Joji is riding the success of his third studio album Smithereens. However, as Joji continues to rise in popularity, fans have begun to look into his controversial past and ask the question–where did this guy come from?

Joji, real name George Kusunoki Miller, was born on September 18, 1992 in Osaka, Japan. He is half-Japanese and half-Australian, and he lived in Japan until moving to the U.S. at age 18 for college. It was here that George began posting online content under the persona “Filthy Frank.”

Filthy Frank lived up to his name. Known for his shock humor, the character posted everything from offensive rants to embarrassing public pranks and crude music videos. Easily recognized by his glasses and blue polo, his most recognizable trait was his coarse, throaty voice. With video titles like “Filthy Frank vs. Animal Rights” and “How to Dubstep,” it was only natural that his videos attracted the younger, meme-obsessed generation of the early 2010s. Over the course of six

years, George would build an expansive YouTube empire, creating a web of characters tangled up in complex, edgy lore. His videos regularly went viral, with a majority of them garnering over 10 million views each. Most notably, George accidentally kicked off the Harlem Shake trend after a video of him dancing in his notorious pink bodysuit went viral in 2013.

Throughout the Frank years, hints of George’s unique musical stylings would seep through the cracks. He created the aforementioned “Pink Guy” character and used it as a musical outlet, regularly putting out short, lighthearted ukulele music videos about fried noodles and anime women. At the same time, George secretly began to post music under the name Joji. The ukulele acoustics and haunting high-pitch vocals were still there, but the music was less ironic, with lyrics focusing more on George’s personal relationships and struggles. George believed his fan base wouldn’t care for his more lo-fi music, so he decided to keep Joji a secret until his identity leaked in 2016. After this leak, George released two singles and announced his first Joji album: Chloe Burbank: Volume 1.

Chloe Burbank: Volume 1 never released. While there have been leaks, the project in its entirety has never been heard by the public. The common belief is that George simply became too busy as he tried to balance his two musical personas, Joji and Pink Guy. 2017 was a huge year for George, as he started working with record label 88rising to release his In Tongues EP, his first official Joji project. Meanwhile, George put out his second Pink Guy album titled Pink Season. This release was wildly successful, landing at number 70 on the U.S. Billboard 200. Featuring songs about memes, high school, and Nickelodeon sitcoms, George’s signature crude humor was on display in full force, and his audience couldn’t wait for more. Unbeknownst to fans, Pink Season would be the Filthy Frank brand’s swan song.

After months of Filthy Frank inactivity, George posted a Twitter statement on December 29, 2017, putting an end to Frank. While George was grateful to his old fanbase, he simply no longer enjoyed producing crude, satirical content. He also noted health concerns, explaining that throat tissue damage and neurological issues made it difficult to continue playing the character. Fans were saddened, and thousands of tributes started

JOJI

pouring in from across the world for the characters and videos that George created. At the time of its abandonment, the TVFilthyFrank channel boasted 7.88 million subscribers and over one billion views.

Although Frank is gone, George has gone on to find wild success with his projects as Joji. He has released three full-length albums–BALLADS 1, Nectar, and Smithereens–all of which have received critical acclaim. Rather than being about memes or teriyaki sauce, George’s songs are now more personal and genuine. This only makes sense, as Joji isn’t a character like Filthy Frank or Pink Guy–Joji is just George.

TikTok has become a worldwide sensation due to its highly engaging and addictive format that has transformed the way we discover and consume music. As a social media platform, it has enabled emerging artists to reach a massive and highly engaged audience, propelling many to fame through viral music trends. TikTok has also facilitated collaborations between artists, resulting in exciting and unexpected duets and remixes.

Moreover, TikTok has encouraged the creation of new and unique music genres as users experiment with different sounds and styles. This has provided a platform for artists who may not have found success through traditional music channels. For instance, old songs like Aerosmith’s “Dream On” have been rediscovered by a new generation of music lovers on TikTok.

However, TikTok’s influence on the music industry is not without its downsides. One issue is the fleeting nature of many TikTok music trends, which can make it difficult for artists to establish a lasting connection with their audience. The algorithmic nature of the platform means that

artists have little control over how their music is used on TikTok. While going viral on TikTok can lead to success, it may not translate into sustainable revenue streams for artists.

A case in point is the success of Gayle’s “abcdefu,” which initially gained traction due to a comment from her marketing manager asking her to write a breakup song using the alphabet. Although the song went viral on TikTok, it failed to establish a lasting connection with audiences. Gayle’s multiple versions of the song also did not gain much traction, leading some to view the song as a publicity stunt rather than a genuine artistic expression.

In conclusion, TikTok has revolutionized the music industry, both positively and negatively. While it has provided emerging artists with a platform for increased exposure and creative experimentation, it has also presented challenges such as a lack of control, revenue, and audience attention spans. It remains to be seen how TikTok will address these challenges and continue to support the growth of emerging artists in the long term.