Issue 66: Sonic Shape Shifters: A Guide to Sparks

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Meet the Staff About Listening to Quote

Trevor Gardemal

Position Promotions

Major Journalism

Graduating 2025

Favorite Venue Royale Tastemaker Since Fall 2021

Neeloy Bose

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Tastemaker Since Fall 2021

Charli XCX

“New Shapes” (feat. Christina and the Queens & Caroline Palochek)

Taylor Swift “Treacherous (Taylor’s Version)”

illuminati hotties “Protector”

Eyedress Mulholland Drive

Namasenda

Unlimited Ammo

Garbage Queer

“I love Mondays”

- Garfield on Opposite Day

“The spotify daily mix algorithm has a better sense of self than i do.”

Taylor Swift

“All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”

Lucy Dacus “Brando’”

Gracie Abrams “21”

“Wait can I put myself on Meet the Staff?”

Of Monsters and Men

FEVER DREAM

Alec Benjamin

“Water Fountain”

The Lumineers “Brightside”

“Bread is always the answer.”

beabadoobee, Royale

Photo by Kimmy Curry (Architecture and Design)

Cover Story

26

Sonic Shapeshifters: A Guide to Sparks:

“Dive into the near 50 year discography of the hugely influential and criminally overlooked Sparks.”

Features

14 15 19 36 38 40

Screams and Samples:

“Learn about one of music’s most used and least known samples.”

The Mission of Zili Misik:

“Hear how the pan-African band seeks to unite Boston residents through music.”

When J-Pop Met Heavy Metal:

“When J-Pop and heavy metal meet, you get BABYMETAL.”

The Voice: From a Contestants Point of View

“Go behind the scenes of The Voice with former contestant Grace Nourbash.”

The Power of the Mixtape:

“Why can mixtapes allow artists to connect with their fans in a way that album’s can’t?”

Detroit Scam Rap

“Detroit’s latest musical innovation is the viral and ridiculous scam rap.”

Editorials

8 10 12 20 22 34

Sad Girl Indie:

”Many female artists recently have risen to fame on account of their depressing music, expressing their own experiences in a way that lets listeners draw closure towards their own wounds.”

The Changing Narrative Behind the Boy Band:

“Boy bands are often oversimplified to heavily marketed cliches, ignoring the history and innovation that has made them such a institution in the music industry.”

Mac Miller’s Faces:

“With its recent release on streaming, look back on Mac Miller’s dark and confessional mixtape Faces.”

Money Can’t Buy Talent:

“Affluence and connections in the entertainment industry can certainly boost a music career, but don’t always make one.”

How Kanye Wears an Album:

“Though many other superstars will reinvent their look with each new era, no one quite compares to Kanye’s wardrobe make-overs.”

The Culture of Concert Fashion:

“Music and identity have always gone hand-in-hand, developing distinct cultures, and fashion senses, around genres, bands, and movements.”

32 School of Rock: Sing Street:

“Dive into the themes of Sing Street, a coming of age film brimming with 80s nostalgia”

Interviews

30 47

Local Talent: Omesi:

“Nigerian singer, producer, and rapper Omesi Abulu discusses his inspirations and future.”

Local Talent: Chance

Emerson:

”Hear from local artist Chance Emerson about his process, inspirations, and what it’s like to be an indie artist in New England.”

Reviews

24 43

Show Reviews

Surfaces, JPEGMAFIA

Album Reviews

Lana Del Rey, JPEGMAFIA, James Blake, Don Toliver

Etcetera

18

In Defense Of: Katy Perry’s Future:

“Stars tend to fall hard from grace, and Katy Perry has been no exception, but there is still a place for her maximalist anthems in today’s pop.”

Up-and-coming indie rock artist Samia is gracing the Boston music scene yet again this January 27 at the Paradise Rock Club! Bringing Annie DiRusso along with her, this show is not one to miss. With her poetic lyrics, jazzy dance moves, and energetic band, this stop on the Loving U, Thanking U Tour won’t disappoint. Since her 2021 tour was so magical, I have no choice but to be front row. Get your tickets today!

After the release Gravy Train I don’t know how you could resist this ‘Sensational’ flavor. Go for the meme or go for the mems, Dillon Francis will make you shake at the House of Blues Feb 8th.

Billie Eilish is finally back with her long awaited Happier Than Ever World Tour, coming to Boston’s TD Garden on Feb 20, 2022 with special guests Willow, Duckwrth, Jessie Reyes, Jungle, Arlo Parks, and Girl in Red. Known for her powerhouse vocals and electric energy that no other artist can match, you’re not going to want to miss this unforgettable experience

Fresh off her third album, “Let Me Do One More,” illuminati hotties is gracing The Sinclair accompanied by Fenne Lily, Katy Kirby and the Pom Pom Squad. The self-proclaimed “tenderpunk pioneer” is sure to bring a blast to Boston!

SAD GIRL INDIE SAD GIRL INDIE

What felt like millions of fans dressed in all black and skeletonthemed outfits poured into the doors of the Leader Bank Pavilion on September 26 to hear Phoebe Bridgers play extremely devastating music. As her set begins, one fan holds up a sign saying “I missed my antidepressants so I could cry tonight.” Though this may seem extreme, it’s a running joke among parts of the internet that Phoebe Bridgers merchandise is just depression or anxiety medication, since Bridgers’ music can be so incredibly sad that it can allow fans to connect with their own grievances.

Bridgers is one of many artists that have risen to fame on account of their depressing music. This genre is known as “sad girl indie,” a term coined somewhere on the internet around 2017. Musicians such as Mitski, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, Soccer Mommy, and Indigo De Souza all fall under this category of intensely emotional music about all kinds of variations of pain and trauma. The criteria for this side of sad music that becomes so popular is personal yet empathetic lyrics. While these artists are expressing their own experiences, they are also paving the way for listeners to be able to relate to the lyrics or draw closure towards their own wounds.

Bridgers’ 2020 album Punisher is a perfect example of this sound. Through songs like “Moon Song” and “Savior Complex,” Bridgers delivers raw, aching ballads about giving everything she has to the person she loves despite their mistreatment of her and themselves. The fragility and sting of her lyrics grab the attention of many fans because they are not only beautifully well-written, but often remind them of their own traumas and dark times. This gives Bridgers’ music an incredibly personal aspect, evoking painful feelings while also being able to provide an outlet for these negative emotions to be let out.

In a June 2020 interview with Stereogum, Bridgers describes “Moon Song” by exclaiming that “everyone has this experience: you really love someone so you have to pretend like you’re cool with every shitty thing that they do, because you want to seem like the cool one.” Even though the lyrics to “Moon Song” are personal, they are also relatable.

Another sad song that has gotten a lot of acknowledgement for its emotional ties is “Night Shift” from Lucy Dacus’ 2018 album Historian “Night Shift” is about the aftermath of an intense breakup, something that anyone who has ever gotten their heart broken can immediately relate to.

intensely emotional music about all kinds of variations of pain and trauma

intensely emotional music about all kinds of variations of pain and trauma

intensely emotional music about all kinds of variations of pain and trauma

Designer: Nick Alonzo (Architecture)

She specifically writes about the feeling of having gotten accustomed to a certain way of life, and then having the rug pulled out beneath you when your significant other leaves and you are forced to reform. The first line of the song is particularly devastating, “the first time I tasted somebody else’s spit/ I had a coughing fit,” describing the disheartening feeling of kissing someone else for the first time after a breakup and feeling awful and unfulfilled.

According to an interview with Fader, Lucy illustrates the song as the idea where you ultimately have to reimagine “what your life is going to look like. If you accommodate somebody else and you think they’re going to be part of your life and then they’re not, you have to reform.” This can be a common theme for anyone going through their

first big breakup, which can be a taxing and difficult experience that takes a lot of hard emotional work in order to heal.

Despite these traumatic anecdotes and feelings falling into a similar category of sad indie music, all these songs and artists process and describe their pain in different ways from different perspectives. Some do not even like to claim the term “sad girl indie” simply because of what it implies. Dacus took to Twitter to voice her opinion about this label, and why it may be invalidating to the many women placed within the genre.

“Sadness can be meaningful but I got a bone to pick with the “sad girl indie” genre, not the music that gets labeled as that, but the classification and commodification and perpetual expectation of women’s pain,” Dacus wrote. According to Dacus, this genre generalizes what is actually a really diverse assortment of music with completely different topics and intimacies.

This genre of depressing music is getting recognized for all the right reasons, but each song and artist should be treated with the individual respect that they deserve. These artists do not write similar songs, yet they relate to each other in the way that they dissect and explore niche topics and divulge personal trauma with beauty, extraordinary attention to detail, and an incredible performance of musical genius. And if Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers have one thing in common, it is that they sure know how to make us cry.

the classification and commodification and perpetual expectation of women’s pain

the classification and commodification and perpetual expectation of women’s pain

• Nora Holland (Journalism and English)

on what a boy band is: heavily

industry, and many iconic bands have pioneered what it means to be a boy band. Although current fans may be reluctant to admit it, the Beatles were a boy band. Giving rise to the modern pop-rock scene, the group produced 12 hit studio albums and went on four massively successful world tours at the peak of Beatlemania. In contrast, the Rolling Stones cultivated an image as the “bad-boy band” due to their influence on grunge and hard rock. In spite of their more mature aesthetics, Boyz II Men and Brockhampton are also boy bands that helped shift the narrative behind the genre expectations of such groups.

Technically speaking, any band composed wholly of maleidentifying artists can be defined as a boy band, but this idea has been rejected by fans across all genres and eras. Factors like marketing and target demographics clearly play a role in feeding negative perceptions, as certain groups are labelled by the industry as “boy bands,” while others are simply thought of as “bands.” Categorically, “boy band”-ish music is usually bubblegum pop, often with cliche lyrics and standard melodies. The members are often portrayed as immature womanizers, and held under strict media scrutiny for their every action because of their young, impressionable audiences. How did the label “boy band” get such a negative connotation, and how have groups, like The Beatles and Jackson 5 in the past, and BTS and Brockhampton today, begun to change the narrative?

To understand the modern state of the boy band, one must start with their predecessors. The Beatles broke onto the scene in the early 1960s. Before winning ten Grammys (including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Oscar, and three BRITs, the now-iconic band was dismissed as a boy band, perhaps the world’s first. Ironically enough, critics today debate this classification, since “boy band” is not easily defined. However, their early pop sound and audience composed largely of teenage girls are enough for many to place them within the definition of a boy band, even if their music doesn’t fit into the variety of pop associated with the modern boy band. The Beatles innovated pop and rock music, incorporating new facets like country, folk-pop, and psychedelia as they built their discography. They took music itself into a new realm, and the culture as a whole gained respect for their practice — the Beatles were the first entertainers to become Members of the British Empire (a prestigious award typically reserved for civic leaders and veterans) under Queen Elizabeth II.

In the same era, the group The Monkees were created for the purpose of crafting a TV show about the wacky adventures of a boy band, a concept that was inspired by the success of films released by the Beatles. Group members had backgrounds in either music or acting, and their TV show ultimately won recognition in both the television and music industries. However, their history isn’t all peachy: members had minimal control over their destinies, as they weren’t

able to play instruments in recording sessions or write their own songs. Their TV show was at the mercy of industry executives, leading to the group’s demise when the series failed to get renewed.

The idea of marketing to teen girls, who in turn form parasocial relationships with the band members, is central to the existence of the boy band. This concept is reflected in the modern era by merchandise marketed specifically to young girls at Claire’s and in toy aisles. .Carefully scripted concerts and social media interactions also allowed for the cultivation of these false relationships, boosting sales for the companies holding stakes in a boy band’s image. Ironically, the fabrication behind the bands of the era gave the Monkees the moniker of “Pre-Fab Four,” mocking their origins as an industry plant.

auditioned specifically to be members of a boy band, and their team worked intentionally to curate an audience of teen girls by performing at malls and schools as they built their reputation. Meanwhile, while O-Town doesn’t usually come to mind when thinking of the most iconic boy bands of the era, their creation for reality TV with support of legendary boy band manager Lou Pearlman parallels the way many of these boy bands were created at the time. By basing music around economics and primetime entertainment, members of such groups are not usually respected for their talents. The phenomenon of hotshot managers curating boy bands via solo auditions carried into the early 2000s, maintained by Simon Cowell on reality television competitions like the X-Factor and America’s Got Talent.

The brothers of the soul-pop group Jackson 5 dominated the charts in the late 60s and early 70s. Their lead vocalist, Michael Jackson, was only 11 years old at the time he took on the role. Their music was wildly successful, producing ten studio albums and six tours. At the same time, The Osmonds were a family band thrust into the spotlight by a TV show, a la the Monkees. Donny Osmond, the youngest brother, was made into the frontman, likely as a move to appeal to the audience of young girls. These boy bands asserted youth and family as key marketing tactics, capitalizing on the close-knit bond and apparent innocence of members, as well as their ability to relate to a young audience.

Additionally, Menudo was a Puerto Rican iteration of the boy band that made the importance of youth obvious, rotating members as they got older so the group itself was eternally young. While it is clear that their existence was a cash-grab for producer Edgardo Díaz, they brought Latin American music into a global spotlight, launching the future careers of artists such as Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony.

Singers of boy bands have consistently had massively successful individual careers following the disbanding of their original groups, notably Michael Jackson and Ricky Martin. Both may not have gotten the exposure that led to their later fame if it weren’t for their origins in boy bands which afforded them marketing teams and massive audiences.

At the same time, Hanson reasserted the stereotypical boy band sound with vocals being led by the youngest member, the 11 year old Zac Hanson. They also continued to fight for independence of band members, recording and releasing music independently after facing restrictive label practices at the peak of their career. By fighting the limits put on boy bands in the 90s, Hanson and their contemporaries gave larger opportunities to their modern predecessors, who have been afforded more writing freedom than previous boy bands.

Meanwhile, Shinhwa, who were founded in 1998, have established themselves as one of the most successful K-Pop groups of all time, allowing for modern groups like BTS and ENHYPEN to become prominent in the western world. In true boy band fashion, they left their original management in 2011 to form their own, speaking to the inherent flaws in band recruitment and management. Shinhwa have remained together throughout multiple roadblocks like mandatory Korean military service, breaking the stereotype that every boy band splits up in order to kickstart members’ individual careers. In fact, many of the members have successfully released albums independently of the group’s 14 studio albums.

New Kids on the Block evolved the concept of the boy band by setting a precedent for artistic input from performers. NKOTB initially failed at producing a bubblegum pop record, due to the fact that managers typically hired songwriters and performers separately, posing the band as a brand rather than a collection of artists. The concept of boy bands breeding independent singer-songwriters led the industry into the golden era of the boy band in the 1990s. NKOTB dominated the charts with their subsequent albums, raking in millions of dollars as they became increasingly merchandised with clothing, toys, a cartoon, and more. However, the group, which was created as a white counterpart to black “boy band” New Edition, received backlash for their attempts to assert an “urban” image through their musical embrace of gangster rap and grunge music. This consistent criticism eventually led the group to leave their management and ultimately break up in 1994, although they still reunite on occasion.

The so-called “golden era” of boy bands was helmed by Boyz II Men, the Backstreet Boys, Hanson, *NSYNC, and 98 Degrees. Other key players of this time include k-pop group Shinhwa as well as O-Town, who was created by MTV. The Backstreet Boys were

The Jonas Brothers’ partnership with the Walt Disney Company, as well as Big Time Rush’s creation for a television show on Nickelodeon, play into the age-old trope of boy bands existing for the entertainment of children. One Direction continued this trend, with audiences full of tween girls, merchandise, and PG-13 songs appealing to this particular demographic. Their brother band, 5 Seconds of Summer, appealed to these same fans as they aged, employing slightly darker tones and mature song themes into their music.

For years, One Direction claimed fame as the biggest boy band in the world. Alternative hip hop group Brockhampton attempted to challenge the British group following their hiatus, even writing the iconic lyric “Best boy band since One Direction” into their song “BOOGIE.” And as of 2021, the Bangtan Boys, more commonly known as BTS, have shattered records and garnered a massive global fanbase, truly earning the title of “biggest boy band in the world.” Through Brockhampton and BTS’s efforts, the narrative of boy bands being bad music only for teen girls is continuing to slowly be challenged, an uprooting in thought that began back in the 1960s.

• Julia Towne (Architecture and English)

Designer: Vanessa Peng ( Business Administration and Design

MAC MILLER’S AN ALBUM REVIEW

Seven years after its release as a free download, Mac Miller fans can finally experience his 2014 mixtape, Faces, on streaming platforms. The dark and confessional tape is Mac’s best project, albeit little-known compared with the jazzy Swimming and Circles albums that came out near and after his untimely death from a drug overdose at 26 years old. Faces deserves all the glory that Mac’s later albums achieved, as it paints a sometimes disturbing but deeply vivid portrait of a then 22 year old struggling with drug addiction, mortality, fame, and the human condition. The album art itself, an abstract jumble of soft images forming Mac’s hand-covered face, visualizes the themes of the album: dealing with all the emotions that come with being a human being, trying to be understood, and managing anxieties that arise when displaying yourself for the world to judge at a young age.

Listening to Faces now, knowing that Mac would eventually succumb to the addiction that he freely and earnestly raps about, creates a foreboding shadow as he acknowledges the dangerous elements at play in his life. “I shoulda died already,” Mac confesses in the opening bars of “Inside Outside,” the first track of Faces. The hour and thirty minutes of songs that make up the tape display who Mac was becoming as a person and artist, a mega-talented teenage star in the midst of an evolution into a complicated, thoughtful person. Faces is a self-reflective journey to the corners of Mac’s evolving psyche and musicality.

On the celebratory “Here We Go,” blaring trumpets back Mac’s bars as he proudly explains how he “did it all without a Drake feature!” Some forget that Mac was just 19 years old when his first

album, 2011’s Blue Slide Park, became the first independent debut album of this century to hit number one on the Billboard charts. The money and fame he gained at a young age had caught up to him on Faces, and the excesses of the celebrity lifestyle caused him both pride and uneasiness. On “Angel Dust,” Mac describes a hazy scene from his drug-fueled life, filled with dread about what others think of him and stream of consciousness bars illustrating his stupor. “Woke up annihilated / covered in items I regurgitated under a fire escape,” he raps, before imploring listeners “don’t be scared / just come with me / it feels so good to / feel this free.” Mac’s bars don’t always have a cohesive theme on Faces. They are often contradictory, but this serves as a sign of his openness rather than a lack of cohesion.

Sonically, the beats Mac employed on Faces continued the inventive trajectory he was on following 2013’s Watching Movies With the Sound Off, an album that found Mac launching away from the bubbly, braggadocious frat rap he was known for and into a more daring and experimental orbit. On “Diablo,” a fan-favorite, Mac samples the melancholic piano of Duke Ellington and John Coltrane’s “In A Sentimental Mood.” Meanwhile, “Colors and Shapes” utilizes an interview with Timothy Leary, the famous psychedelic drug advocate. Regarding his drug use during the making of the mixtape, Mac tweeted, “I was not on planet Earth when I made Faces. Nowhere close.” Across the mixtape, death by overdose is an eerily common theme.

It’s not so much that Mac is glorifying his drug use on Faces, but instead, he presents his problem in tandem with thoughts on depression, happiness, sex, celebrity, and the meanings and minutia

of life. Faces is a sprawling portrait, and by focusing on the non-conformity of his beats and the unreserved sincerity in his lyrics, Mac’s career arc becomes simultaneously powerful and tragic. The influences of his out-of-the-box musical approach and candid, honest wordplay can be seen in the generation of artists that have come after him, like Cordae, MAVI, and even SZA. His close friends were some of his collaborators on Faces, including Earl Sweatshirt, ScHoolboy Q, Thundercat, and Vince Staples, and thei rintimate chemistry is evident across the mixtape (Earl delivers an all-time verse on “New Faces V2”).

Faces marks an epic evolution for Mac. It is the chapter that put him on the path to becoming not just a rapper, but the bold, crooning musician that he became. Mac was a superstar who had been a millionaire since high school, but he was still relatable in his honesty, thoughtfulness, and curiosity, and Faces is now streamable proof of that. The music world would be better off if he was still here.

• Lucas Cooperman (Media and Screen Studies and Journalism)

Designer: Maia Fernandez Baigun (Communications and Graphic Design)

Scream S a ND Sample S :

The Voices of Rock & Roll Legends in Popular Music

It’s 2013 and you just discovered a brand new artist. Her lyrics fuse social commentary with unsettling biography. Her sound is effortless and elegant, yet edgy and dark. You’re about to show your friend one of your favorite tracks, “Blue Jeans,” and as the opening notes roll, a gritty shout slips through the guitar. You’re not sure if it’s saying “sure,” “sing,” “sir” or “sail,” but it does exactly what it needs to do. It’s a harsh release that digs into you each time it sounds off. Once you start listening closer, you find it’s interspersed generously throughout the whole song, and even the entire sad girl rite of passage album titled Born To Die.

This sample is one of many that was widely used on Lana Del Rey’s debut record. Courtesy of producer Emile Haynie, the sample was used almost percussively throughout several songs, including “Blue Jeans,” “Lolita,” “Dark Paradise,” and “National Anthem.” It originates from a Rick James live recording of his song “Mary Jane.”

The 1981 live recording offers an energetic exchange between the singer and his audience that leads into a Bob Marley tribute. James himself leads a singalong which he repeatedly stokes by prompting even louder and more passionate singing for the late reggae legend. The exact moment of the sample occurs at 9:22 in the recording when he does, in fact, shout “Sing!” which makes a lot of sense in context.

Perhaps it’s the fire behind James’ voice, the apt wording or something else entirely that does it. Regardless, this sample has since become a staple for producer Emile Haynie and has wound up in several other high profile artists’ work since. A few more tracks Haynie has production credits on, notably including Kanye West’s “Runaway” (see 0:40), feature vocal samples, or some ambient variation, from that same performance.

Additional Haynie production credits, The Neighbourhood’s “Afraid” (see 1:27) and Bruno Mars’ “Gorilla” (see 0:20), feature

very similar sounding samples, but do not explicitly credit the Rick James performance.

The “Mary Jane (Live)” sample action does not end at Haynie, however. The sound is prominently featured in tracks like Childish Gambino’s “I.Crawl” (see 0:01), A$AP Rocky’s “Ghetto Symphony” (see 1:23), and Kid Cudi’s “Creepers” (see 1:47) to name a few. With the hip hop community being perhaps the most frequent users of sample sounds across traditional genres, it is a solid feat to wind up in the work of so many household names. On top of this, it can be assumed that the Rick James estate is getting a handsome check in the mail every month as a result of these usages because, unless specifically allowed, every sample sound needs to be cleared with some sort of financial compensation in return on behalf of US copyright law.

This is, of course, not the only case of a historic rock performer’s live vocals being widely sampled. An even bigger example would be MOUNTAIN’s Woodstock performance of their track “Long Red,” which spawned one of the most widely used sample shouts in recorded music history. With its use officially cited in over 780 songs, lead singer Leslie West’s “Yeah!” and “Louder!” shouts are even more iconic than those of Rick James.

For those who would like to use Lana Del Rey as their reference point, the “Long Red” sample appears in the intro and throughout the track (see 0:14). For those who prefer Kanye, check out the 2006

Graduation cut with Lil Wayne, “Barry Bonds” (see 0:26). Other significant uses of the performance include Lizzo’s “Jerome” (see 0:00), early BTS track “Coffee” (see 0:28), and a drum sample in Jay Z’s “99 Problems” ( see 0:07). Put simply, this sound is everywhere.

An even more fascinating piece of information on the MOUNTAIN sample is that the band, aside from their respectably successful 1970 track, “Mississippi Queen,” enjoyed very little other success since their Woodstock performance. Only charting one single and one album after 1970, MOUNTAIN slipped right off the radar (intentionally or not) shortly after those “Yeah”s and “Louder!”s were uttered. However, Leslie West and MOUNTAIN remain alive and immortalized in the popular music sector thanks to the power of sampling, which has stamped them into hundreds of tracks and undoubtedly assisted with their lack of album sales post 1970.

Not only do these samples represent the impact of a single voice, but they represent the intersection of music at its most raw and stripped, live performance, and music at its most produced and processed. These vocal samples that wound up in tens and hundreds of other tracks are the result of a single moment between artist and audience that is relived and reimagined with each use. This is the power of a sample. To take a single, charged moment and place it in a brand new environment where it is able to take on a whole new meaning and amplify a completely different set of emotions. Is it likely that Rick James and Leslie West will continue to permeate even the most unlikely of genres and tracks into the future of recorded music? “Yeah!”

• Drew Quercio (Music Industry)

Designer: Maura Intemann (English and Graphic and Information Design)

How a pan-African band seeks to unite Boston residents through music

The Launch of “New World Soul”

Kera Washington remembers what it was like to be the only female instrumentalist performing in male-dominated bands. In the 90s, it was her constant reality.

“When I began to play, most of the musicians were men,” she said. “I often encountered folk that did not take female musicians very seriously.”

Washington, donning a traditional African-printed dress and surrounded by her vast drum collection, passionately recounted her early days in the music industry. She originally began percussion work in Boston-based Haitian bands, joining groups as the solo female member. Her frustration grew when producers and artist friends alike told her that they “couldn’t find” female musicians. Washington knew this was a lie, and she knew it was up to her to do something about it.

In 2001,Washginton launched Zili Misik – an all-female ensemble that promotes the empowerment of music from African and its diaspora. “Zili” is a product of Washington’s deepest ideals: femininity, unity, and human connection. Ever since its conception, the band has rapidly grown, with Washington as its faithful leader. Zili’s ensemble, which includes everything from bassists to percussionists to clarinetists, perform internationally and have even opened for Ms. Lauryn Hill and Shaggy.

The band name’s etymology draws from two sources. The word “Zili” comes from the goddess “Erzili,” a Haitian entity of femininity, generosity and love. “She’s a warrior,” said Washington. “She is many, many versions or visions of womanhood. Her energy: that’s the root, that’s the heart of what we do. That’s the source.”

“Misik” is derived from the Creole word, “Mizik,” or music. The slight alteration in spelling was Washington’s deliberate decision. “We are not a Haitian band,” she told me. Instead, Zili Misik is a fusion and reflection of various cultural sounds, all paying homage to African roots.

“I was raised by folks that believe in pan-Africanism,” Washington said, “which is that all black folk are connected. I was raised at a time when many people were recognizing the fact that the seat of humanity is in Africa.”

Zili Misik embraces the idea that there is a connection between black cultures in the diaspora, said Washington. Whether the band mirrors Haitian gospel, Jamaican reggae, Neo Soul, Afro-Cuban pop, or Southern-based soul and blues, Washington seeks to weave a colorful tapestry by pulling threads from each unique sound. In essence, she’s created what she calls “New World Soul.”

An Early Passion

Washington, a native Bostonian, embraced her musical side at a young age. She was raised in a family of strong women, she said, and her father and brother were never part of her household. Her mother, aunts and grandmother taught her how women uphold and pass on rich musical tradition.

Although Wahsington’s mother never considered herself a professional musician, she returned home after work every day to spend an hour by the piano, immersed in her music. “That was her

therapy,” said Washington. “For the first hour that she got home, I couldn’t talk to her unless I was making music with her.”

Before long, Washington also found ways to channel emotion through music. As a student at Wellesley college in the 90s, Washington began to learn percussion.

“Nothing really hit me until I touched a drum,” she said. “Then that became my voice.”

Music became a form of fervent self expression for Washington. As she became privy to the deeply racist policies at her college, she turned towards music to address institutionalized inequality and release her anger.

To Washington, performing is a form of activism. Powerful people recognize the importance of change, she said, when they’re “touched by the music.”

“Either you go inward, and you become depressed, or you go outward and express and try to make change,” she said. “It became a story that I had to tell, that I have to tell… the ways in which we are connected.”

Change Starting in the Backyard

Music is not universally understood, said Washington. It is, however, universally felt. Washington seeks to unite people, no matter their differences, through the omnipotent influence of song.

That’s why, during the pandemic, Washington started hosting informal music sessions in her own yard. She and her wife had just moved with their one-year-old daughter to a little neighborhood in Dorchester, which presented the perfect opportunity to host fellow artists in a safe, outdoor setting.

The recurring sessions were far more than just convenient spaces for musicians to play. They were the backdrop of cultural education, something that is very near and dear to Washington’s heart.

Washington’s neighborhood was one of the only places in Boston that “went red” and collectively voted for Trump, she said. “I thought about what that meant for me, as a person of African descent living in this neighborhood,” she recalled. Washington wanted her community to reflect on how votes “may affect the people that they live next to, their neighbors.”

Over the summer, Washington hosted various musical workshops to call attention to these discrepancies. “We had the dual pandemics going on, where all of the sudden, because of the murder of George Floyd, there was a huge awakening for some people that hadn’t thought about the affects of racism on people of color, particularly BIPOC folks,” said Washington. “They weren’t thinking about that so presently in their reality.”

Therefore, the music sessions provided a platform to highlight Black music and culture. Individuals of African descent were able to lead workshops promoting education through collective experience. Washington recalled the interactions: as everything from reggae to Haitian rasin washed over the crowd, people gradually began to acknowledge the deep roots that connect them.

The Power of Education

The community collaborative was an offshoot of Project Misik, the aid organization that Washington founded in 2010. Project Misik aims to provide instruments and instruction to Haitians, and it expanded after the devastating earthquake that left over 200,000 dead. “We made music with people who had survived, physically, but emotionally did not have their voice,” said Washington. Project Misik gave Haitian artists the ability to process their trauma through music, she added.

Today, Project Misik promotes racial justice both internationally and domestically, from the homes of Mirebalais in Haiti to the backyards of Dorchester in Massachusetts. Washington has high hopes that the Project will continue to grow.

Washington is an educator in various ways. She’s taught workshops, directed bands and is now an elementary school teacher. Education, she said, influences people to embrace cultural appreciation. “I believe in the power of education, but at the same time I know that racism is a disease,” she said. “However, [education]

plants a seed. And seeds grow – sometimes into beautiful big trees.” Washington’s daughter recently turned one. Between fretting about her naptimes, Washington also fears for discrimination her daughter may face. The fight for an equal world is a continuous struggle. “She will be continuing this struggle, along with the next generation,” Washington said. “But I believe the key is to…. make more space for each other, allow each other the room to breathe and have respect and more appreciation – particularly for folks of African descent, who are often erased from our story.”

• Kenneal Patterson (Journalism)

Designer: Jenny Chen ( Business Administration and Design

AT Y RY’S FU TU RE INDEFENSEOF:

Katy Perry strolled into the 2010s with the world in her hands

One of the most prolific and popular artists of the 21st century, her inspiringly escapist, bubble-gum pop anthems dominated the charts. Perry’s career-defining album, 2010’s Teenage Dream, landed her five separate U.S. number one records, making her only the second artist in history to do so. Billboard aptly named the record “one of the defining LPs from a new golden age in mega-pop.” Her followup effort, Prism also burst onto the charts at number one, leading her to headline a world tour and an explosive, critically acclaimed performance at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show.

Though stars tend to fall hard from grace, few have seen such a shift in public favor as Perry. As the decade wraps up, her light has faded almost completely from sight, struggling to break the top 50 of Billboard’s Hot 100, even with the lead singles of her recent effort, Smile. When did America decide that Katy Perry was no longer the pop superstar? And does Smile dignify a place for Perry in an industry and genre that banks on the near-constant reinvention of its brightest stars?

There was no one moment where the public turned away from Perry; rather, it was a series of small choices that led to a hard-toexplain, widespread distaste for the artist and persona she was attempting to embody. Much of the blame for Perry’s disappointing downfall is rightfully placed on Witness (2016), a record expounded by a disappointing array of tired pop tropes and a failed effort at redefining a waning star. In an attempt to popularize what Perry deemed as “purposeful pop,” she turned towards politically tinged music that tried to make a statement without taking any risky stances. This backfired. Big-name sponsors pulled endorsements while conservatives battered her for coming out in full support of Hillary Clinton, which included releasing an uninspired political anthem for the campaign. “Rise” was her first stand-alone release in years to underperform. Liberal circles were no more generous to this artist with a personal history of tone-deaf missteps, including appropriating braids in the “This Is How We Do” music video, donning a Geisha costume at the AMAs, and fetishizing queerness as a career stepping stone in “Kissed A Girl.” In exchange for music that was simultaneously far too real to be fun and far too uninspired to be catchy, Perry’s Barbie Girl persona perished at the heightened scrutiny and pressure that her newfound political aspirations, wellintentioned as they were, brought upon her own shortcomings as an artist and self-appointed activist.

There’s also an expectation for women in pop to have to constantly reinvent themselves to earn our attention. As fellow pop powerhouse Taylor Swift noted, “female artists have to reinvent themselves 20 times more than these men who do the same shit.”

The Witness era epitomizes this pressure. With a new edgy haircut (albeit one that was unfairly lambasted across social media platforms) and a more adult, revenge-tinted aesthetic, Perry tried to keep it

fresh, but failed to win the stingy public’s approval. She emerged defeated in a media-crafted, “catfight” feud with Swift, contributing to her decay in popularity. Despite her own real missteps, Perry’s career has been damaged by unfair expectations of women in the industry to stay young, interesting, loud in the right ways and quiet even more. After a failed reinvention that left Perry less prolific and popular than she had been in over a decade, it was uncertain if Perry’s most recent project, Smile, could be a triumphant comeback or another step down into the mausoleum of fallen stars. However, the reality was… more mixed. Coming at probably the wrong time to an audience not really interested in joyful, Hallmark lyrics, Smile’s collection of everyday, inspiration-porn anthems, soaked in nice but generally uncreative platitudes, represented a more mature, self-aware return to form for the original pop supernova. While the album exemplifies hit-or-miss, Perry proved she still has it by asking less of her audience. We don’t have to rise up in revolution or fight her battles for her, but rather sit and lose ourselves in positive messaging and conventionally enjoyable dance pop.

Picking through some of the more formulaic mush, multiple songs on Smile stand out in a way that no Perry effort has since 2013. “Daisies,” an endearingly simple, mid-tempo anthem, allows her voice to shine through on an ascendant yet tastefully mellow chorus. “Harleys in Hawaii” melts together breezy summer days with a sensual guitar riff and a vibey, laidback beat, representing a dreamy return to Perry’s escapist roots. In the pointedly dramatic “Not The End Of The World,” surprising cynicism and impressively high vocals are capped by a creative, bouncing interpolation of Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” Above all, “Never Really Over,” the album opener, lead single, and clear peak of the record, illustrates a promising way forward for Perry’s artistry: thoughtfully and adeptly distilling complex feelings of love into a catchy, magnetic, warm, and laudable display of electropop fare. It was one of her best singles in a decade and charts a course for the future (and a possible return) of Perry’s artistry.

It’s hard to know if Perry will ever be able to grab the ears and hearts of America like she once did during her Teenage Dream reign. However, with an audience too quick to toss out worthy stars for the next hot thing and a web of entertainment industry journalists focused on curating clicks over meaningful discourse, it’s worth asking if we were too quick to send Perry’s career out to pasture. Smile proves that not only does Perry have more to say, more inspiration to spread, and more escapism to design, but that there is absolutely still a place for her big-production, maximalist anthems to rival current dance pop icons in the scene. If she keeps moving in this right direction, Katy Perry deserves a chance to move on from her flop era.

Jacob Kemp (Political Science)

•

When J-Pop Met Heavy Metal

Heavy metal, as a genre, has long been characterized by high-octane instrumentation, apocalyptic aesthetics, and good ol’ Christian pearl clutching. The countercultural antithesis to the prim and polished juggernauts of Adult Contemporary radio, heavy metal lies within a particularly anarchic corner of alternative, tucked somewhere between the mainstream and the fringe. In a genre defined by jaw gnashing caricatures of hypermasculinity, one of heavy metal’s brightest stars over the past decade has undoubtedly been one of its least expected.

In 2010, Kobametal, a Japanese record producer, approached Sukuza Nakamoto of Sakura Gakuin, a Japanese idol girl group with a particularly disconcerting fixation on schoolchildren. Sukuza, who was given the name “Su-metal” as the lead vocalist of the group, was accompanied by Yui Mizuno (“Yui-metal”) and Moa Kikuchi (“Moa-metal”) to carve out a niche fusion of heavy metal instrumentation with J-idol culture in the creation of BABYMETAL. Their campy visual attire sees to the marriage of gothic Lolita aesthetics with the effervescent twinkle of Japanese idol worship. In live performances backed by militaristic strobe lights, distorted depictions of the Virgin Mary, and session musicians donned in skeleton robes, who are lovingly referred to as the Kami Band, the trio performed intricately choreographed dance routines while flashing heart signs at the audience. With Su-metal at center stage and Yui and Moa-metal at her sides for added flourish, BABYMETAL builds into the storied experiences of J-idol girl groups with heavy metal iconography, creating immersive performances that are only complemented by their high-budget gimmick.

Yet in all its kitschy glamor, BABYMETAL never approximates inauthenticity. Instead, it reaches into the aesthetic fusions of Shibuya-kei to meld the mainstream vitality of Japanese idols with the distinctly alternative subcultures of heavy metal that vehemently oppose this

consumerism. In this, BABYMETAL is able to burrow into a niche, widely accepted as “kawaii metal,” which somehow commands the same intensity of its source material without sacrificing its integrity or relying on artifice. However gaudy the performance of BABYMETAL as an entity may be, it never feels uninspired or superimposed by corporate prospects. Having sold out some of the largest international festivals in the genre while performing alongside established legendary acts such as Metallica and Slayer, BABYMETAL was legitimately embraced by the industry, and their fanbase has been dedicated ever since. They became the first Asian act to top the Billboard Top Rock Albums Chart, as well as the first Japanese act to break into the Top 40 in nearly 50 years. “Gimme Chocolate!!” from Metal Resistance was a hyper-viral sensation globally which amassed hundreds of millions of streams and attracted the attention of mainstream audiences overseas. If success could be quantified by an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—which for all intents and purposes, it should not be— BABYMETAL’s bubblegum horror camp had made it to worldwide recognition within a few years of their debut.

But BABYMETAL is, in a way, larger than the sum of its members or its commercial success, gaining a sort of notoriety and influence that outpaces any of the individuals behind it. In this, it directly contradicts idol culture where fanbase allegiances and social followings can be split among the parts of the whole. Though Su-metal is their primary vocalist, as BABYMETAL sees it, their creation is founded in the divine inspiration of a Fox God who brought them together and uses them as a vessel. Refusing to categorize themselves into genres or conventional labels, the overarching destiny of BABYMETAL is to perform and spread their message of music to the masses across the globe, which allows BABYMETAL to become a singular unit, one of resistance against a status quo enshrined in the static. Through choreography and visual aesthetics, they are able to communicate to their audiences with a defined purpose. And it all may be a gimmick, but it is a resonant one that has branched well beyond the initial seed of Sakura Gakuin and gone on to capture the hearts and minds of millions.

And in this divine destiny, BABYMETAL’s roots have breached into Western pop stardom, rapidly taking hold of and becoming enmeshed into digitized movements in contemporary pop music. Where BABYMETAL’s records storied messages of anti-bullying and body image issues among young women, Western artists harnessed the angst of kawaii metal to express their frustrations against indoctrinated systems of gender, capitalism, and artificial humanity.

“Play Destroy” by Poppy featuring Grimes highlights the juxtaposition between thrashing heavy metal guitar instrumentation and melodic confectionary pop that BABYMETAL is known for. Relying on this approximation of kawaii metal, Poppy and Grimes reiterate the distinction between the femininity that informs BABYMETAL and the inherent masculinity of the heavy metal genre, only to bulldoze through the conventions of artifice that uphold these boundaries. Poppy further expanded upon this project in her 2020 record, I Disagree which fused elements of kawaii metal with the surging popularity of nu-metal to create a destabilized, nihilistic soundscape. It’s a far stretch from the Japanese schoolgirl idolatry from which BABYMETAL formed, which is only a testament to the breadth and influence that the girls had on the genre, as a whole.

Fusing the sickly saccharine of J-pop with the cathartic embrace of heavy metal, BABYMETAL forged a new path forward that refused to find a welcoming middle ground between its disparate influences. Kawaii metal teetered between the uncomfortable and the comfortable with precision, carving out stability from stagnant depictions of femininity and masculinity where the fluidity between the two had frozen over. And with audiences across the globe still ogling at their foundation on the polar ends of this spectrum, BABYMETAL had created a disquiet in the long-held conventions of the genre, and their impact upon this space has only echoed louder and stronger with time.

• Neeloy Bose (Bioengineering)

Designer: Syd Tomasello (Graphic Design)

Money Can’t Buy Talent

Failed Celebrity Music

Money can’t buy talent, but sometimes it can help form it. There’s a common joke about the music industry, chuckled among groups of close friends, starving artists, and internet dwellers alike: “have you googled who this person’s parents are?” When new artists find success, especially seemingly overnight, it is inevitable that rampant googlers will do a deep dive on the musician’s family. Is their mother a CEO? Does their father work for a record label? Is their uncle a successful free Jazz saxophonist? Occasionally the answer is no, and sometimes it’s unclear, but when it’s a yes, a small, righteous militia takes the Internet by storm with cries of “INDUSTRY PLANT, INDUSTRY PLANT!”

It would be ridiculous to suggest that affluence and connections in the entertainment industry don’t support careers. Wealth can buy vocal coaching lessons from the most esteemed singers,

ample time to write music without worry, and the ability to produce high quality assets (like music videos). Strong connections can also put an artist in front of the right music industry executive as a favor. Despite these obvious advantages, it can’t be denied that talent is still a key factor in an artist’s longterm success, whether it was nurtured by thousands of dollars or not.

There are countless instances that prove power, influence, and ample means are not always able to produce a prosperous music career. A-list celebrities with the best industry connections in the world have often failed to make it in music. Ex-WWE kingpin and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson voices the character Maui in Disney musical Moana, so it’s safe to say he has some singing ability. But his recent rap debut on “Face Off” with Tech N9ne, Joey Cool, and King Iso has become somewhat of a laughing

stock across the internet. “It’s about drive, it’s about power” Dwayne contorts over the beat. Gen Z TikTokers have taken Dwayne’s hollow lines about hard work and satirized them to no end, with the sound having over 230k videos. Some may consider these numbers success of a kind, but the song’s adverse reaction is certainly not what was intended upon release. Are there little league coaches who enjoy this style of hypermasculine, hustle-culture-core music? Most likely. But overall, Dwayne’s verse missed the mark of mainstream acceptance.

The Rock is not the only celebrity who has faced backlash for his music. Arguably, there may be no family more public, influential, and full of exorbitant wealth than the Trump family. With that publicity and power-hungry nature comes the potential to dominate every industry: television, real estate, music, and more.

Tiffany Trump

released the song “Like a Bird” in 2011, which recently enjoyed a controversial resurgence. The track has been labeled by some as “Grimes for conservatives,” has been compared to TikTok phenomenon PinkPantheress in style, and has been called “the epitome of Y2K” by earnest teenagers. With these comparisons came waves of contention, with some concerned about supporting the Trump family through streams. Despite this, “Like a Bird” has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts. Though it has grown in popularity in some corners of the internet today, its 2011 debut led to no such notoriety. The song can currently only be found on YouTube and Amazon, and despite Donald Trump’s ability to access the best in the entertainment industry, “Like a Bird” essentially reached an audience of none. Part of the song’s novelty today is the shock of its existence.

A family that comes close to the Trumps in terms of their celebrity status are the indestructible Kardashian clan. With Caitlyn Jenner running for governor of California, the success of the Keeping up with the Kardashians television franchise, and Kanye West’s outspokenness on Twitter, you could argue that the two families are parallels of each other. So closely so, in fact, that Kim Kardashian also released a forgotten pop single in 2011. The critically panned track is

called “Jam (Turn It Up),” and has been cited as Kim’s “biggest regret in life” in a 2014 interview with Bravo. While Kim now cites the song’s purpose as a means to donate to charity, this may or may not have been the song’s initial intention. With a music video directed by Kanye West and Hype Williams, some of the most influential figureheads in the music industry, “Jam (Turn It Up)” had a team of experts in the wings. Yet, despite Kim K’s fantastic connections, the track is flat, one-dimensional, and not even redeemable for its early 2010’s nostalgia.

Perhaps one of the most notable failed grasps at nostalgia is John Travolta and Olivia Newton John’s 2012 collaboration album, This Christmas. Responsible for performing some of the most iconic and well-known musical hits of the 70s, it’s safe to say a certain demographic of aging adults would enjoy the idea of a Grease cast reunion. Filled with saccharine, cloying lines about the holiday spirit, the Christmas album fits in with most cheaply produced Christmas records. While most of the album is predictably uninteresting, the oddest track by far is “I Think You Might Like It,” where John and Olivia’s extremely autotuned voices are set to a possessed, repetitive country beat. The track is accompanied by an even stranger music video. With John and Olivia’s alienlike synchronized dancing, the majority of

the video being set on an airplane runway, and the random inclusion of children and military members as an attempt to tug at our heart-strings, there is a lack of cohesion that has led to much laughter among YouTube commenters. It seems like John Travolta took part in this song just to take a professional video in his private jet. Despite both Olivia Newton John and John Travolta’s abilities to create music, their lack of creative coherence managed to create a very strange piece of pop culture.

How do some celebrities delve into the industry effectively? Actors like Donald Glover (Childish Gambino), Jared Leto (Thirty Seconds to Mars), and George Miller (formerly known as Filthy Frank, now Joji) have all built careers in music stemming from their former platforms. Simply put: these artists have musical talent in addition to their other abilities. In the same way that famous musicians can more easily jump into acting, some actors jump into music. Most people have some level of musical aptitude. However, there are people who no amount of training and monetary expenditure can help. And those celebrities, perhaps surrounded by yes-men or conflated by their own egos, release songs that aren’t enjoyable but allow listeners to have a good laugh.

• Hannah Lowicki (Marketing)

how kanye

Before pressing play on a new Kanye West album, before forming an opinion on the new work, what is on a listener’s mind? Kanye. That is, specifically how he has been acting, and how he’s been dressing. In the music industry, many fans, and even critics, tend to focus mainly on the music, and underestimate the impact clothing and aesthetic has on the listening experience. Since Kanye West first gained popularity as a rapper around 2004, he has redefined his personal image, along with his sonic persona, on every major project. Though many other superstars, like Machine Gun Kelly and Tyler, The Creator, have been known to undergo re-invention along with project releases, Kanye West seems to be the most consistent in implementing wardrobe make-overs along with his albums.

When Kanye releases an album, he is not just putting out a compilation of songs, he is telling a story, of a new Kanye, in a new chapter of his life, with a new mindset, embarking on new journeys. In order to deliver the sense of rawness and candidness Kanye is so well known for as an artist, he must portray his new image through fashion, not just through the speakers. Surrounding the release of his 2004 album Late Registration, Kanye’s vantage point was that of a young college dropout, the underdog attempting to defy all odds and make it big for himself and his mama. Fittingly, Kanye took on this musical standpoint through his wardrobe, almost playing the character of himself with each outfit. Wearing bright colors, baggy clothes, and acting rebelliously, Kanye became the college dropout he rapped about. When West released the groundbreaking album 808’s & Heartbreak in 2008, he was credited for the futuristic sounds he delivered thanks to his employment of heavy autotune, lo-fi synths, and the science fiction-esque electronic drum sounds he was able to bring to life using the Roland TR-808 drum kit. To compliment the sonic elements that 808’s is praised for, Kanye changed his wardrobe to leather pants, monotone colors, and white striped glasses. In matching his wardrobe with the defining sonic aspects of the album, Kanye brought to life the heartbroken man his listeners are greeted with upon pressing play.

In 2013, following Kanye’s heartbreak and self-reflection period with albums 808’s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye transformed himself into a heartless, grunge inspired menace, feeling nothing but ignorance and confidence on the album Yeezus. Setting the tone of the album and Kanye’s current state of mind are the songs “Black Skinhead” and “Blood On the Leave,” which houses roaring synth, distorted guitar riffs, chilling vocal samples, and angry lyrical and sonic delivery by the man himself. Sonically lining up nearly seamlessly with the project, is Kanye’s wardrobe, consisting of black leather, ripped denim, and custom made gem-set face masks. Kanye is expressing the anger portrayed in Yeezus through his frightening, punk motivated persona.

In 2019, when West began his spiritual journey to find his faith and preach his new inspiration with the world on Jesus Is King Kanye, yet again, he underwent a major image and wardrobe change to embody the christianty driven person he has become. The album consists of cameos from Kanye’s choir, and songs like “Follow God” and “Use This Gospel,” to tell the story of his personal journey to find his faith, and his belief that his fans should do the same. Kanye refrains from swearing, as well as speaking of any clothes, cars, and girls, which is typical for a Kanye project. For most of that year, and especially during the Sunday services Kanye would hold for friends and family, West could be seen wearing mono-tone, earth hued clothing consisting of oversized t-shirts trousers, with no lettering, no brading, and no jewelry. Kanye turned himself from a flashy, almost stereotypical rapper, to a simple-minded and dressed man, focused on repairing burned bridges, and teaching the ways of Jesus to his fans.

On Kanye’s most recent release, 2021’s Donda, he is telling his life story from his current untouchable resting point at the top of the rap game. He is painting himself not as a human, but as a larger than life character. The bittersweet life update that is Donda tells stories of deception, heartbreak, scrutiny, and family, and dives into Kanye’s lowest lows and highest highs. In order to bring to life the scarred warrior character that Kanye is playing on this record, West presently dresses himself like a modern day Batman villain, dressing in all black with tall leather boots, a spiked jacket, and a black mask covering his full face. Through his wardrobe, Kanye brings to life what he believes the person he is rapping about should look like.

For most MC’s, getting your audience to relate to and believe what you are presenting is a hard feat to achieve. In order to achieve this goal, Kanye redefines his image, along with the sonic journey and exportations he undergoes. By dressing to match his music and current frame of mind, Kanye is bringing to life the person he is rapping, developing a sense of realness within the music for the fans.

• Cyrus Alamzad (Music Industry and Communications)

THE

surfaces blind date with a concert

I arrived at the House of Blues on Wednesday night in bright pink pants and a black top. I tried to pick something simple but stylish, because after all, I had no clue what to wear for my blind date.

In an effort to expand my music taste, I decided to send myself on a blind date with a concert, where I attend the show of an artist I don’t listen to and decide whether or not their performance would encourage me to listen to their music again. My criteria consisted of judging the artist’s live vocals and band, the crowd’s energy, type of fans, and, of course, whether or not I enjoyed the music itself.

Surfaces seemed like the perfect candidate for my blind date. Their reggae-pop hit “Sunday Best” put them on my radar not only because of its popularity on social media, but because of how Surfaces uses minimalistic production to create something effective. It was the first time I’d witnessed a song of that style blow up, so I was eager to see how their discography and performance would measure up to it.

The outfits that gathered around me in the mezzanine followed a strict pattern: mom jeans and a flannel, or the occasional Hawaiian shirt. The dress code seemed fluid throughout the audience, as did the peaceful demeanor of the fans, indicating I was in for a very calm night.

Perhaps a little too calm. Lead singer and one-half of the band Forrest Frank appeared jaded the moment he stepped on stage. His live vocals sounded exactly the same as their recorded music, or at least “Sunday Best”—like an audible smile. But that good-natured positivity did not make up for how low-energy most of the songs in the set were.

Lead guitarist, instrumentalist, and other half of the duo, Colin Padalecki, was the complete opposite. He jumped up and down, ran his hands through the crowd, bounced to the steel drum beats from his electric keyboard, and re-engaged the audience whenever he felt the energy faltering. From the crowd, it seemed like only one of them knew they were putting on a show that night—the two members were on completely different wavelengths.

The live band was exceptional. Padalecki made it a point to interact with them, frequently walking towards their zones and leaning into them while intensifying his own guitar riffs. His impenetrable liveliness encouraged them to channel his energy into their own music and have more fun with the set. It was obvious that both the band

and Padelcki were trying to compensate for Frank’s lack of stage presence. In fact, if it were up to me, I would have removed Frank from the show entirely. His presence contributed nothing to the quality of the performance, whereas the band properly utilized their artistic liberty to solo with their instruments, sparking palpable hype within the crowd.

The band’s performance revealed that the only thing distinguishing the tracks from each other was the amount of energy with which each was performed. I was essentially listening to the same few songs on repeat, and was only able to note standouts through Frank’s rare vocal fluctuations, small bits of choreography, and positive crowd feedback. Songs like “So Far Away,” “Take it Easy,” and “Wave of You’’ were memorable because of these components, but even with a slight change in Frank’s delivery, it was still the live band that carried the performance.

As a result, I predict that their recorded music won’t compare to the concert at all. The performance was basically the live band featuring Surfaces, and not Surfaces featuring a live band, which is a significant indicator that their recorded music will fall flat. It was the strange, unbalanced chemistry, the product of Frank’s lethargic performance, that did them in, even though the songs themselves weren’t half bad. From here, I’d maybe consider listening to the few standout songs to see if they have the same merit without the band, but for now, it doesn’t look like I’ll be adding their music to my playlists anytime soon.

Not all hope for new music is lost, however. I discovered a loveat-first-listen artist: Surfaces’ opening act, Public Library Commute. The up-and-coming singer-songwriter valued every note he sang on stage, interacted with the crowd consistently through his set, grooved alongside the accompanying band, and made it clear that he was genuinely grateful to be there. He truly used his set to its fullest potential. I was sure to note the title of each of his songs, frantically adding them to playlists on the spot. His songs were the sweetest bedroom pop tunes I didn’t know I needed. So, even though Surfaces fell short on our blind date, I’d happily be serenaded by their opener again.

• Snehaa Ram (Business and Communications)

Designer: Jessica Xing

JPEGMAFIA

November 3 @ Royale

My first time seeing JPEGMAFIA was in November of 2019, a few months after his expansive album All My Heroes Are Cornballs released. My friend and I successfully begged his dad to drive us to Manhattan and get us into the 21+ show, where we got to see the Baltimore rapper deliver a raucous set. Almost two years later to the day, that same friend and I got to see him again (without his dad this time) following the release of LP! , and the results were exactly the same. From the moment opener Zeelooperz took the stage to the instant Peggy (as he’s called by fans) ended his performance, the set was nonstop energy.

While the venues where JPEGMAFIA performs have grown dramatically in size since 2018, he has stuck to the same winning formula at his live shows for the past few years. JPEGMAFIA loves nothing more than a truly raw concert, with no frills to coast on besides standard strobe lights and an LCD screen behind him. Excluding a cameo from BROCKHAMPTON member Dom McClennon, JPEGMAFIA was the only one on stage. He used no vocal backing tracks — letting his vocal imperfections occasionally show — and had no DJ up there with him, opting to start songs himself by running behind his computer and hitting the spacebar. While this may seem low-budget, it creates an incredibly honest performance that resonates with fans everywhere. Just like in his music, he’s not giving people a polished

product, he’s creating something that showcases his personality and energizes his crowds on a primal level.

The crowd at Royale was galvanized the second Peggy hit the stage. When the first piano notes of All My Heroes Are Cornballs opener “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot” flowed through the speakers, the entirety of the elevated floor was converted into a mosh pit. He kept that energy at 11 throughout the set by screaming his lyrics and moving around stage wildly; not surprising when performing known bangers like “Baby I’m Bleeding,” but more so during low-key songs like “NEMO!.” The only time this vivacity came to a halt was at Peggy’s request. In these moments—most notably “Free The Frail” and his autotunesoaked cover of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”—the crowd calmed and engaged in harmonious singalongs.

singer of The Smiths (a known xenophobe/ racist/asshole). As his set winded down, he gave fans a choice of which songs to end the concert with, letting crowd noise determine which two songs got played (“Real Nega” and “Rainbow Six” were selected). He even stayed afterwards to sign autographs by the merch table, personally thanking those who came out to support him.

Though the setlist spanned his whole discography, it pretty much stayed at surface level Peggy without going into any deep cuts, including the ones on his new project LP!. JPEGMAFIA is an artist that’s known to rotate in less popular songs from show to show, so his set not being that unique was somewhat disappointing (it was also disappointing that I lost the merch I bought, but I will not hold that against JPEGMAFIA). Nevertheless, he put on an unforgettable performance that was raw, high energy, and full of personality.

• Henry Bova (Journalism)

Peggy also appeased fan requests the whole night, making it clear that despite his success the past few years, he hasn’t become detached from his fanbase. When fans tried to coax him into playing his 2018 track “I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies” by chanting “Fuck Morrissey,” Peggy strayed from his scheduled setlist and pivoted into the track named for the lead

“...an incredibly honest performance that resonates with fans everywhere.”

“The crowd at Royale was galvanized the second Peggy hit the stage.”

With over fifty years in the music industry, Sparks thrives on contradiction. The duo, composed of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, are a living dichotomy. Their unique and often comical brand of songwriting and their willingness to experiment across genre lines results in an inability to be boxed in, but an instantly identifiable sound. On stage, vocalist Russell is a flamboyant performer, while Ron plays the keyboard with a stoic scowl. They have achieved limited commercial success but are cited as influences for musical juggernauts such as Beck, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack Antonoff, Joy Division, The Smiths, Franz Ferdinand, and Björk. Edgar Wright, director of The Sparks Brothers, a recent documentary about the Maels’ career, describes them as “successful, underrated, hugely influential, and criminally overlooked -- all at the same time.” The Sparks Brothers is one of two films featuring the Maels to arrive this year. The other is the Leos Carax-directed musical drama Annette, featuring a screenplay and a soundtrack from the brothers. This new spotlight on the band opened the floodgates for a new generation of listeners to enjoy their eccentric 25 album discography, but it can be difficult to know where to start.

Designer: Megan Lam

After Kimono My House, Sparks shifted towards a traditional poprock sound while keeping Ron’s signature writing style, releasing Propaganda in 1974, Indiscreet in 1975, Big Beat in 1976, and Introducing Sparks in 1977. Their eighth project, No. 1 in Heaven, sees the brothers navigating uncharted territory in synthpop and electropop with production assistance from disco legend Giorgio Moroder. Only six tracks long, No. 1 in Heaven quite literally speedruns the concept of life. “Tryouts for the Human Race” kicks off the album with a pulsating sense of euphoria, written from the perspective of sperm racing towards an egg. “Beat The Clock,” a song about the pressures of achieving at a young age, is a sonic time trial against itself. “The Number One Song in Heaven,” the album’s closer, is a danceable ode to our proximity to death and the afterlife. Furthermore, throughout the album, Sparks interpolates a sonarflare synth motif to tie all the tracks together on the same path. No. 1 in Heaven exemplifies Sparks’ ability to embody two conflicting principles at once. It is both intensely alien and extremely human, intimately aware of what it means to exist yet cold and distant to the struggle of the mere mortals it looks down upon.

Kimono My House, the band’s third full-length record, is widely considered to be their breakthrough. Their first two albums, Sparks (1971) and A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing (1972), produced disappointing sales in their native US, prompting the group to relocate to the UK. Kimono introduces elements of glam rock and new wave into Sparks’ repertoire. In contrast to previous releases, Ron, the elder Mael, takes over as the band’s primary lyricist from here on out. Ron’s zany style of storytelling debuting in Kimono is now an unmistakable aspect of the brothers’ music. The narrative in “Here in Heaven’’ is reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, one of countless Shakesperian references peppered in the Maels’ body of work. It tells the tale of a failed suicide pact between lovers, with the deceased partner watching over his living other half, resenting her for not going through with her end of the deal. “Talent Is An Asset” employs physics-related puns to describe members of Albert Einstein’s family exploiting his genius (“Everything’s relative / We are his relatives and he doesn’t need any non relatives”). In addition to its deep cuts, Kimono produced many of Sparks’ most well-known songs, including the bizarrely iconic “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us” and the ostentatiously anthemic “Amateur Hour.” While Kimono does not have a centralized set of themes, its greatness lies in its spontaneity and chaos. The combination of joyfully hysteric melodrama and larger-than-life musicality cement Kimono My House as the quintessential Sparks album.

Sparks subsequently shied away from the synthpop territory that they had quickly conquered with No. 1 in Heaven and its follow-up, 1980’s Terminal Jive. The brothers’ decision to return to a more classic band structure was made for the sake of comfort rather than creativity, as the heavy synth equipment proved to be too bulky and inconvenient for touring. Low sales and poor critical reception repeatedly plagued the band’s releases throughout the 1980s, resulting in this era becoming the most neglected and overlooked area in their discography. Their tenth album, 1981’s Whomp That Sucker, is criminally underappreciated despite being one of the duo’s most humorous and theatrical productions to date. It is an album so visceral and full of character that the music is not just being played, but performed. Ron’s songwriting style, as established in Kimono, is top-notch as always. “Funny Face” is a textbook Mael tale: a model

with a perfect look wishes that he was ugly, with his desire burdening his life so much that he jumps off a bridge, only to survive and have the “funny face” that he always wanted. “Upstairs’’ is the closest look we may ever get to the inner workings of the Maels’ brains, which are bursting with chaos. “The Willys’’ might be the most absurd song Ron has ever penned, as hinted by these lyrics: “It started on a Tuesday / It must have been that lunch meat / I haven’t been intimate.” But there is an exuberant level of charisma that Russell oozes throughout this album that transforms his brother’s already likeably ridiculous lyrics into personable, palpable stories. Russell not only takes on the role of narrator but also acts as a Greek chorus, further amplifying the frenzy and offbeat lunacy that the songs depict. Whomp That Sucker, although buried in a forgotten period of the band’s history, is one of Sparks’ hidden gems due to its thrilling, show-stopping irreverence.

By the time that their sixteenth record, Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins, was released in 1994, Sparks had taken some time off from making music. For six years, the brothers were on hiatus and unsuccessfully tried their hand at filmmaking, a dream of theirs from a young age that wouldn’t be fully realized until the 2020s. Inspired by their frustrations with both the music and film industries, Gratuitous Sax is a Eurodance-inspired record critiquing fame and power, filled to the brim with pop culture references. Lead single “When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way’” best exemplifies this irritation, name-checking Frank Sinatra and Sid Vicious along the way. “Let’s Go Surfing” is a bouncy, ethereal fantasy chronicling the brothers’ desire to escape for a little

bit. But the record is not just a collection of the Maels’ personal gripes with the industry. Rather, it is a critique of celebrity and influence as a whole. “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil” is a biting lamentation of being underestimated, channeled through the equally powerful yet often sidelined wifes of male leaders throughout history, including Cleopatra, Madame Mao, and Hillary Clinton. In a twist of irony that only Ron Mael could conceive of, Sparks’ album about the lows of stardom ended up charting high in Germany and earning them a new legion of devoted fans there.

The remainder of the 2000s and 2010s saw Sparks continue their streak of imaginative projects, most notably their 2015 collaboration LP with Franz Ferdinand, FFS. Released in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020’s A Steady, Drip, Drip, Drip is a showcase of the band’s far-stretching range. It borrows from pinches of genres that the band has already conquered --- from art rock to pop to dance to whatever genre you think Lil’ Beethoven is. Their twenty-fourth LP and most recent release (aside from the soundtrack to Annette) doesn’t lose sight of their trademark, off-kilter nonsensicality. “Onomato Pia” personifies the literary tactic of onomatopoeia, while in “Lawnmower,” the brothers really just want to let you know how much they like their new lawnmower. However, like past releases, they are not afraid to tackle more serious subject material. While the Maels’ music has never been considered apolitical by any means,

In 2002, when it seemed as if Sparks had attempted every sound possible, they defied expectations and revitalized their career yet again with Lil’ Beethoven, self-marketed as their “career-defining magnum opus.” Lil’ Beethoven, their nineteenth album, trades in rock band setups and heavy synths for a full-blown orchestra and swaps more complex storytelling for simpler lyricism. Although the messaging is more toned down compared to past Sparks releases, the backing of the orchestra intensifies their histrionic storytelling and maintains their trademark wit. “The Rhythm Thief” is a meta, spellbinding epic that bids farewell to their more fast-paced past releases by utilizing a minimal amount of percussion, as indicated by its title. “My Baby’s Taking Me Home” are the only words in the song of the same name, but Russell is able to sing them compellingly enough to establish a meaningful narrative that cleanly traverses the spectrum of human emotion. “Suburban Homeboy” lampoons middle-class and rich people cosplaying as poor with tinges of triumphant brass and haunting organ chords. The brothers create a stark juxtaposition between the classic and the futuristic by incorporating vocoder effects over Russell’s singing in “I Married Myself” and “Your Call Is Important To Us Please Hold.” Lil’ Beethoven is not only a cinematic explosion of Sparks’ creativity, but a selfreferencing tribute to the art of reinvention.

A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip sees them take a more political tone than ever before. “The Existential Threat” is a manic, sax-backed jive about how our current news culture makes every day feel like doomsday. “Nothing Travels Faster Than The Speed of Light” lambasts the widespread dissemination of fake news and misinformation over the Internet. The album’s final track, “Please Don’t Fuck Up My World,” is a plea for action on climate change for the sake of future generations, even implementing a children’s choir as a way to communicate this urgency. Although they have no intention of slowing down, A Steady, Drip, Drip, Drip is the perfect culmination and celebration of all of Sparks’ work thus far --- and music is better for it.

• Orla Levens (Political Science)

Local Talent Omesi

Omesi Abulu is a Nigerian singer, producer, and rapper studying Computer Science and Economics at Northeastern University. He recently dropped his single, “Imbalances,” and has been releasing music for almost two years. Tastemakers sat down with the fellow Husky to discuss Omesi’s inspirations and talent.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Tastemakers Music Magazine (TMM): Can you give a brief introduction of yourself?

Omesi (O): My name is Omesi Abulu. I’m from Nigeria. I’ve lived in a couple places around the world – I went to boarding school in Connecticut before coming here [to Northeastern], and I’m a second-year student.

TMM: Cool! So let’s get started here. Firstly, who is an artist you grew up with, and did they have any influence on your current music-making?

O: Funny enough, I never used to listen to music a lot when I was growing up. I actually used to play it – I was in a band and stuff like that. So my music knowledge, well it’s good now, but when I was a kid, I didn’t use to listen to music that much because I didn’t have a phone or earphones for the longest time, so I used to just play instruments. But I listen to a lot of African artists: Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, all of them. Their music is really inspirational because they’ve been able to transcend from being only within Nigerian culture – like you hear people from Northeastern listening to them. I wouldn’t say I draw inspiration from one particular person, but I definitely get inspiration from all different types of sounds.

TMM: Speaking about inspirations, could you break down your songwriting process?

O: My writing process is like I’m almost trying to tell a story. And it doesn’t necessarily need to relate to me. I think of a person, whoever that person is, I don’t care. Whatever, could be the listener, it could be me. I try and combine that with different types of melodies and tones and stuff like that. Like in “Imbalances,” the ending part is definitely like, like people wouldn’t have guessed it, but it’s definitely Afrobeat inspired. The way I changed my accent a little bit at the end… It’s very Afrobeat driven.

TMM: Your oldest single, “Memories,” touches on topics of death and mortality. And the track cover also says it’s dedicated to Ogheni?

O: So, it’s actually Ogheni (pronounced Og-benn-ee), and it’s a Nigerian saying for “friend.” I think it’s epic - my mom’s from Calabar in Nigeriaand it means “friend” because my uncle actually passed prior to making that song. But in “Memories,” the lyrics are about a lot of things that I’m reflecting on. I’m reflecting on self-inward thinking, I guess. It’s like, people think a lot about where they’re going to be after death or whatever. So a lot of lyrics are inspired by that.

TMM: So, where do you see yourself in the next five years in regards to your music career?

O: I have no idea. I’m a computer science and economics major here, so school is important to me, as much as music is. Obviously now music is a big part of my life. When I started, I was like ‘I might as well just make some songs.’ But now, you know, I’m getting recognition. I got put on a Spotify playlist, which is very exciting for me – honestly, I was on top of the moon. And yeah, I really don’t know. And I really don’t want to think about it too much, because I’m just gonna keep on making music and see where it takes me. But hopefully, my music gets the recognition I think it deserves.

TMM: Of course. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Like maybe upcoming projects?

O: Hopefully! I’m working on an album… maybe. So if I end up coming up with that, just stay tuned.

Designer: Maia Fernandez Baigun ( Communications Local Talent Fall 2021 30

and Graphic Design

la i ec nol g y o g ao

rockwell theater 11-7-21

Designer: Avery McMurtry ( Design )

Photo by Nick Alonzo (Architecture)

The 80s was a decade filled with some of the most iconic and well-known bands of the century. Groups like Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and the Smiths left a lasting impression on countless musicians past and present. These trailblazers of sound broke away from the traditional rock mold, creating space in the modern musical landscape for more experimental, unconventional music. It’s bands like these that influenced the titular band from John Carney’s 2016 film Sing Street. The fictional band’s musical progression and commentary on the greater musical landscape of the 80s highlights the mark that these bands left on generations of musicians and music listeners alike.

Set in Dublin in 1985, Sing Street is a film that follows 15-year-old schoolboy Conor Lawlor, played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, as he creates a band with some classmates in order to impress the enigmatic Raphina, played by Lucy Boynton. The movie is witty, heart-warming, and overflowing with talent and musical references. Aside from the obvious romantic plotline, the film focuses

on Conor’s musical journey as he develops his own taste and style alongside his bandmates – Eamon (Mark McKenna), Ngig (Percy Chamburuka), Larry (Conor Hamilton),and Garry (Karl Rice). The film clearly exhibits Conor’s journey through his fashion, approach to the band, and the incorporation of trailblazing 80s musical groups and artists.

The most critical component in Conor’s musical journey is his brother Brendan, played by Jack Reynor. It’s Brendan who introduces Conor to all the important musical figures leading up until and through the 80s. At the start of the movie, they watch BBC’s TV music show Top of the Pops where they admire Duran Duran’s “Rio” music video. Brendan imparts his knowledge of the group on Conor, saying, “Jury’s out on which way those guys’ll go. They’re a lot of fun, and James Taylor is one of the most proficient bass players in the UK at the moment, giving them a funky edge.” Conor is transfixed watching the show, and Brendan’s assessment furthers his curiosity of the subject. He later regurgitates this exact statement when recruiting Eamon, the band’s resident musical genius, making him seem more knowledgeable about the topic than he actually is. As Conor forms the band, whose name is a pun off their school’s location on Synge Street, he gains “lessons” from Brendan. The elder brother tells him: “Did the Sex Pistols know how to play? You don’t need to know how to play. Who are

you? Steely Dan? You need to learn how not to play, Conor...Rock and roll is a risk. You risk being ridiculed.” The guidance from Brendan helps Conor in his quest to become a better musician – and impress Raphina in the process.

While Sing Street starts off as a “no nostalgia,” “futurist” band influenced by the likes of Depeche Mode, Joy Division, and Duran Duran, it transforms into its own entity. The evolution of Sing Street, and most notably Conor, is evident in the way that they present themselves. Conor’s first look, which includes bleached streaks and electric blue eye makeup, is one that his school’s head priest forces him to take off, saying “no more Ziggy Stardust” – an obvious reference to David Bowie’s eccentric sense of style. Conor continues to transform his style with the music he listens to, most notably embracing the teased hair and long, dark peacoat symbolic of the Cure’s “happy sad” persona. These are Conor’s attempts at figuring out the group’s “look,” which is something he finds very important in a successful band.

The movie’s soundtrack further emphasizes this musical journey, blending a mixture of iconic 80s songs with Sing Street’s own original discography. Early tracks on the soundtrack include Duran Duran’s “Rio” and Sing Street’s “The Riddle Of The Model,” which is the band’s attempt at replicating the

English band’s new wave style. The Cure’s “In Between Days” is almost directly paired with Sing Street’s “A Beautiful Sea” as they venture into a “happy sad” tone. By the end of the soundtrack, the Sing Street songs become more indistinguishable from their inspirations, blending the influences into one cohesive sound that perfectly embodies the heart and soul of the band. Tracks like “Up” and “Drive It Like You Stole It” reflect their true style and unique vision as a young and emerging band.

Lyrically, the fictional band draws on their experiences living in Dublin in the 80s, which was a challenging time for Irish people seeing as many emigrated to England for work. Within the film, the characters also face familial issues, restrictions imposed by their Jesuit school, and the search for their own identities in the pivotal time of one’s teenage years. This is what makes Sing Street so important and relatable – it emphasizes the need for music and its ability to make the most out of even a bad situation. It’s incredibly layered, and discusses topics that are so prevalent in life. With the help of his brother and bandmates, Conor grows to understand the importance of “good” music – and finds himself along the way.

• Chelsea Henderson (Journalism and Communications)

Designer: Laura Mattingly (Communications and Design)

From Skeletons to Streetwear:

Music and identity have always gone hand-in-hand, with distinct cultures developing around genres, bands, and movements. From punk to indie, hip-hop to country, these “musical” categories are a complex web of self-expression. Despite art and music being the most obvious manifestations of this, perhaps the most influential byproduct of fan culture is fashion. Artists themselves have a distinct impact on their audiences, with fans imitating and incorporating elements of the musician’s distinctive style.

Phoebe Bridgers Reunion Tour

Phoebe Bridgers’ style has become synonymous with one distinct outfit: a skeleton jumpsuit. For Bridgers, the outfit is more than just a Halloween costume; it is her brand. After first making its appearance on the cover for her 2020 album Punisher, the skeleton suit has been worn by Bridgers and her band for music videos, interviews, and late night show appearances. The skeleton suit has also been given a new life in the world of high-fashion, with Gucci reworking the framework of a rib cage into a pearl waistcoat for Saturday Night Live, as well as on the Grammys red carpet where Bridgers wore a 2018 Thom Browne skeleton dress.

Given the instantly recognizable yet simple nature of Phoebe Bridgers’ iconic look, it is an easy outfit for fans to recreate. Skeleton costumes lined the streets of Seaport as fans gathered outside of Leader Bank Pavilion for the Boston shows of Bridgers’ 2021 “Reunion Tour.” The effect was a line of people who looked like they took a quick detour to Spirit Halloween before the evening’s show. Even those who did not sport some form of skeleton attire were still homogeneous in their look; Bridgers’ melancholy music and more casual attire inspired a dark color palette for her fans. Thick eyeliner, Doc Martens, and torn tights were standard accessories at her Boston show, and many outfits were reminiscent of soft-grunge fashion trends of the early 2010s. Phoebe Bridgers is as distinct in her look as she is in her sound, and has attracted an audience that emulates her style.

• Jessica Gwardschaladse (History, Culture, and Law)

WILLOW lifE Tour

From the early garage days of 1960’s punk-rock, physical expression has been a key tenant of counterculture. The term “punk” itself evokes an equally strong image as it does a sound, with heavy dark clothing, intense makeup, and liberty spikes becoming defining characteristics of the aesthetic. For many, the stark contrast between punk and mainstream was a badge of honor, incorporating social as well as political messaging into the way they dressed. Today, this tradition still lingers. With the rise of modern poppunk groups, the live music scene has been experiencing a combination of genre-allegiance, but also artist influence. For many musicians, fashion has become synonymous with personal brand, as musical artists become style icons.

Willow Smith, known in the music world as WILLOW, is one of these musicians. Growing up in the spotlight, she distinguished her personal style early. Favoring edgy clothing and experimental makeup, her music and style project a modern equivalent of the underground punk days of yore. This translates not only into magazines, but onstage and in crowds.

The line outside the Royale in downtown Boston on October 13 was distinctly WILLOW. Contrasting the late-night dinner crowd and theater goers, heavy jewelry, platform boots, black leather, and lace dominated the lineup. The crowd seemed to straddle the line between the trendy “alternative” looks of the modern era, as well as the traditional, homespun DIY punk the genre dictates. Each person mirrored the looks Smith has been projecting for years, perfectly illustrating that artists do more than create content for fans — they create a community bonded by expression. Smith herself, in fishnets and an oversized The Craft t-shirt, emulates her own punk influences, paying homage to the genre while defining her own musical and stylistic niche.

Groups formed around music will always occupy a space in the artistic world. Self-expression is a key tenant of musical culture and will continue to evolve as musicians influence and are influenced by their base. Fashion is a defining feature of personality and belief, and as punk grows into the modern era, so will its clothes.

• Alexandra Anderson (Journalism)

The Culture of Concert Fashion

Harry Styles Love on Tour

Colorful stray feathers from boas litter the floors of the venues played by Harry Styles during his 2021 “Love on Tour,” serving as a physical manifestation of the impact that Styles has on the fashion choices of his many fans. The inspiration behind the feathers comes from Styles’ appearance at the 2021 Grammys, where the /Fine Line/ singer accessorized his different suits with green and purple boas. From boas to colorful pantsuit sets, Harry Styles’ influence was palpable in the outfits of his crowd.

Known for his love of vibrant colors, fun patterns, and retro style, Harry Styles has risen in his status as an icon for fashion. His highfashion looks often have a flair of eccentricity to them, and Styles frequently makes public appearances in colorful and printed suits. He is also well-known for his experimentation with androdgynous fashion, perhaps most iconically with his appearance on the cover of Vogue Magazine. The first man to ever pose solo for the cover, Harry Styles selected a lace dress as his chosen outfit for the photoshoot. Fans of Styles lauded him for challenging traditional gender norms in fashion.

The fashion among a musical community can be spawned by many different factors, such as the tendency of the artist to wear something outside of the norm, or these communities having overlapping values and ideologies with other groups. In the case of experimental hiphop, the second case is significantly more prevalent. As a genre built on the creation of music that rebels against what is considered the “right way” to create, many of the communities that overlap have foundations in rebellion. Streetwear and skateboarding cultures along with drug use and vulgar imagery have always seemed to exist in the fashion among these people.

At an Injury Reserve concert, a niche but prevalent experimental hip-hop group, at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA, it could easily be seen that streetwear was among the most popular fashion styles in the room, with an assortment of baggy clothes and graphic tees. One would expect that the artist on stage would have a similar style, but Injury Reserve has never really been known to wear anything out of the ordinary. When Ritchie came out with a tank top on and Parker with a simple button down overshirt, it was nothing but expected. So why the commonality among the fans? The void of fashion influence from the artist is filled by the other communities that they are a part of. The similarities among the styles at this show give an extremely interesting visual of how taste is built on foundations of the people that one surrounds themself with.

• John Buergler (Data Science and Mathematics)

Styles’ devoted fan base took inspiration from his collection of bold looks in preparation for “Love On Tour.” Colorful suits, bold makeup looks, and 70s-inspired flared pants were staples of the audience. Not only did this channel Styles’ distinctive style, but it also matched the charismatic pop sound found on Fine Line

• Jessica Gwardschaladse (History, Culture, and Law)

Designer: Megan Lam ( Architectural Studies and Design )

The Voice

The Voice has become a fan favorite in the space of talent competition television, attracting audiences with its intimate portrayals of contestants working with their coaches on their vocal performances in hopes of progressing through the show to become a newfound star. The audience feels the anxiety and excitement accompanying the potential for a turned chair during the show’s signature blind auditions, with audiences knowing what the contestant looks like before the judges do. Celebrity judges like Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, and now Ariana Grande have contributed to the elite reputation of the show, and every season brings aspiring artists jumping at the opportunity to gain the exposure that they deserve.

However, the audience is sheltered from some of the behind the scenes aspects of the show. For example, although a contestant may only appear for a few minutes on each episode, they often put all other aspects of their lives on hold to keep up with training and filming for the show. Additionally, fans may be surprised to find out that the famous whooshing sound of a judge turning their chair is actually added on post-filming during edits. Contestants focused on their performance may not even notice that a chair was turned, relying on the audience’s applause to catch when an interested judge has turned around. A more exciting surprise that aspiring contestants and audiences may not know about is that although contestants dress themselves for the blind auditions, stylists for the show shop for the outfits of the following performances. Although this may be a bit of a controversial aspect of the music industry, there is no question that the “look” is also an integral part of an aspiring artist’s success, so it’s helpful that /The Voice/ contributes to performers developing their style.

From a Contestant’s Point of View

A key component of the show is the filmed interactions between performers and coaches. However, only short clips of these coaching sessions make it into the final cut of an episode, leaving audiences wondering what really happens off camera. Previous contestants have affirmed that every coach’s approach is different in terms of how involved they are in a performer’s progression throughout the show, but that the main topic of conversation between coaches and artists is song choice. There is greater contemplation on the song choices of performers than the audience may expect, but this is justifiable, as the aesthetics of a performer matter. While style is a part of this aesthetic, so are the genre and mood of the songs that an artist sings. As the judges featured on the show have already perfected their public image, it makes sense that they can provide contestants with their expertise regarding how to develop a memorable character through their song choices.

Designer: Catherine Terkildsen (Behavioral Neuroscience)

One contestant, Grace Nourbash (whom I attended high school with), provides greater insight into the audition process of The Voice. Recounting her experience auditioning for the show on Instagram, she said that while she “didn’t have a strong performance and it didn’t sound the way [she] hoped,” she was “so grateful for the opportunity” and got to meet “so many talented people” during the process. Grace is a current college freshman from Chicago who consistently blew her hometown away in her performances at the talent shows of her local high school. She competed on the most recent season of The Voice, and while she didn’t get any chair turns, her performance of “Control” by Zoe Wess has racked up over one million views on YouTube. Kelly Clarkson commented on her “amazing range,” and Ariana Grande even took home a photo of the both of them from when Grace had previously met her years ago.

Grace’s performance on The Voice highlights another aspect of competing on the show that may be overlooked: the nerves. Ultimately, contestants have one chance during their blind audition to deliver a flawless performance to impress the judges. Although Grace had experience performing in front of hundreds of people before, she personally expressed (when reached out to) that she thinks she “blacked out when [she] stepped on to that stage.” She “was aware of the fact this moment could potentially change [her] life, so that was pretty insane to think about.” Grace’s statement sheds light upon the level of variability each season of The Voice has up until the minute before recording. Despite years of experience and practice, the success of a contestant on The Voice is determined by a performance only a few minutes long. For a contestant to be successful on the show, many factors have to come together harmoniously to provide the best environment for a performance. Issues like health, energy level, audition order, conversations with family and friends before the performance, conversations with other contestants before the performance, and even the responsiveness of the audience that day all need to be congruent for a performer to sing to their utmost ability. Hence, luck and coincidence may be understated in their importance in the success of a contestant on the show. But, this is not to say that talent and training aren’t vital elements to success as well, as a contestant cannot progress far through the show even with just luck and coincidence if they do not possess genuine singing ability.

Nevertheless, for contestants like Grace, who clearly had enough talent to be cast on the show yet did not progress further into the season, being on The Voice is still a major accomplishment to be proud of. Reflecting on her experience auditioning, Grace said she “felt honored because [she] was one of the people to be able to sing for four incredibly famous celebrities and millions at home”. To her, The Voice was still an incredible journey that [her] younger self would be proud of,” as she remembers “being ten years old watching The Voice in [her] living room and telling [her] family [that she] wanted to be up there one day.” Ultimately, she made it there, and Grace is a prime example of the impact that The Voice has on its contestants, whether they go on to win the show or not.

• Amy Oh (Finance and Psychology)

“Reflecting on her experience auditioning, Grace said she ‘felt honored because [she] was one of the people to be able to sing for four incredibly famous celebrities and millions at home.’”

“For a contestant to be successful on the show, many factors have to come together harmoniously to provide the best environment for a performace.”

The Power of the Mixtape: Why They Still Make an Impact Today

While the delivery and impact of mixtapes has changed since they first became popular among hip-hop artists in the 90s, their essence is still the same—mixtapes allow artists to connect with their fans in a way that albums generally cannot.

Releasing music for free on platforms like DatPiff allowed artists to put their music directly into the hands of their fans without going through a third party, increasing ease of access for fans to their projects. Mixtapes have always been an incredibly important part of rappers making a name for themselves. Once they were released not only in physical copies, but also online, artists were able to solidify their positions in their specific music scenes and expand their fanbases outward.

For some artists, mixtapes were what skyrocketed them to fame in the first place. Chance the Rapper had made a name for himself long before the release of his widely anticipated first studio album, TheBigDay. Although TheBigDay was heavily criticized and was largely a flop, Chance’s mixtapes are what hold him steady as a rapper. His first two mixtapes, 10Day and AcidRap, were met with resounding support and catapulted him into the public eye. By the time he released ColoringBook, his third and most popular mixtape, he was already a star.

MIXTAPE

MIXTAPE

The essential part of mixtapes is their accessibility—something that Chance the Rapper has made very clear with his consistent intent to release his music for free. For him, the price of selling his music is that he loses the connection he has to his supporters.

Releasing a mixtape without the constraints of a label is also a way for very young artists to begin putting their music out there without necessarily having to navigate the ins and outs of the music industry. Earl Sweatshirt did this when he was 16 years old, releasing his debut mixtape Earl for free on Tumblr.

Upon its release in 2010, Earl instantly captured the attention of critics and of Odd Future fans. With production and features from other Odd Future members such as Tyler, the Creator, Left Brain, and Hodgy Beats, listeners were mesmerized. It was even recognized by Pitchfork Media on their list of “The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010-2014).” Earl was new, it was raw, it was at times disgusting in its lyricism and visual accompaniments. Like Tyler, the Creator’s iconic music video for “Yonkers,” Earl’s edgy content pushed boundaries and made parents angry, much to the enjoyment of the teenagers who loved it.

Earl cemented Earl Sweatshirt in the Odd Future crew. Looking back, it is a clear stepping stone on his route to his more serious projects like 2018’s SomeRapSongs. It allowed him to build connections with his target audience first before moving on to bigger albums and collaborations. The foundation of Earl Sweatshirt’s career lies with his first mixtape and the audience who supported him in 2010, and that is made evident by his consistent band of long-term supporters who were die-hard Odd Future fans from the start.

Even larger artists sometimes put out mixtapes in this way to escape label controls. Charli XCX once tweeted, “you have no idea how fucking hard it is to just release a free fucking mixtape in 2017,” since she was having difficulty dealing with being tied to a major label. For her mixtape Number1Angel, she wanted to work on the project independently without being bogged down by any constraints. She has never believed that an album should be an artist’s end goal, she wanted to be continually releasing music, and that’s what she did with her mixtapes.

Fans who listened to artists back when they were releasing their first mixtapes often cling to those projects as their favorite works the artist released, in large part because of nostalgia. Now, with streaming services re-releasing old mixtapes, they are becoming even more accessible. But back when they were only available on specific online platforms that have since died out with the rise of Spotify and Apple Music, they were accessible but still felt exclusive to the niche group of fans who downloaded the music onto their computers, frantic to hear the new sound and energy that came with each mixtape. Mixtapes were a gift directly from artist to fan, often dropped with little to no warning beforehand. The moments where a new mixtape from a favorite artist dropped out of nowhere were precious.

Fans of Mac Miller are particularly connected to this feeling. The recent re-releases of his mixtapes Facesand K.I.D.S.on streaming services have reopened the vault of Miller’s many mixtapes to a new generation of listeners and have allowed long-time fans to re-experience the joy of receiving the gift of a new Mac Miller project. His impressive 13 mixtapes have proved to stand the test of time because they are what allowed him to have such success with his album releases.

K.I.D.S radiates so much pure euphoria and reminds young adult listeners of their early teenage years, and Faces emulates all the emotional turmoil and pain that Miller dealt with during his battle with drug use. It is clear that Miller experimented with new sounds and new topics on each mixtape, giving each one a defining presence in his career. He used mixtapes as a way to change his identity in the rap scene as well, beginning his career known as Easy Mac with the Cheesy Raps on ButMyMackin’Ain’tEasy and then quickly moving away from that to more serious works like BestDayEver and Delusional Thomas

In this way, mixtapes have often been used by artists to find a new sound without having to commit to a much more significant album. Artists use mixtapes to shift their sound into something new, something closer to their heart. Each mixtape gives their career and identity new meaning.

With streaming services readily available to the public now, mixtapes aren’t exactly the same anymore. Releasing a mixtape on Spotify in 2021 will never be the same as it was releasing one on DatPiff or Tumblr in 2011, and sometimes because of difficulties with sample clearance, the songs might literally not even be the same. However, they still hold the same weight in an artist’s career and still make the intention clear—that music should be accessible for everyone, and that the importance of an audience connection is more impactful than the importance of making it big with a studio released album. No album will ever quite compare to the gift of a mixtape.

• Lily Elwood (Journalism)

Designer: Michelle Wu ( Communication Studies and Graphic and Information Design )

Designer: Jenny Chen ( Business Administration and Design

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absurABSURDITY Scam ↓

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Detroit has long been home to one of rap’s most influential and underrated scenes. The city sits on the periphery; it has never had a big enough population to become a dominant voice in the larger hiphop conversation, is relatively geographically isolated in the Midwest, and is one of the poorest cities in America. All of these conditions have led Detroit to form a culture unto itself, completely unlike that of the major hip-hop epicenters. This independence is about the only common thread among the subgenres of Detroit hip-hop. From the city’s all time greats like Eminem, J Dilla, and Danny Brown to up-and-comers like Zelooperz and Boldy James, Detroit hip-hop is consistently bold and creative above all else.

So what happens when you combine the bold musical creativity of Detroit with its dire material conditions and an internet connection? You get scam rap.

“My uncle said in World War II he shot at a T-Rex. Next bar.”

Scam rap is exactly what its name implies: rap centered around the act of scamming. The microgenre has risen to popularity over the last few years as internet communities have become obsessed with its ridiculous subject matter and crude sense of humor. Viral sensation Teejayx6 is largely responsible for scam rap’s widespread success with his distinctive voice and infectious energy.

Teejay’s popularity so far peaked in 2019, but the absurdity of his music has given him some amount of longevity; his songs spark a viral TikTok or reaction video every few months as new listeners are confronted with his hilarious novelty. This is because Teejayx6 lyrics are often literal step-by-step tutorials on different scamming methods. This is the premise of both his “Swipe Lesson” and “Swipe Story” song series. In “Swipe Lesson 3” he raps about how to use Tor browser to purchase strangers’ credit card information on the dark web and commit credit card fraud at Best Buy. More often, however, his references to scamming are just a backdrop for more typical rap flexing and punchlines, like in his most popular song, “Dark Web,” where he references Tor and VPNs in the hook, but brags about Benzs and five thousand dollar fits in the verses.

Recently, ShittyBoyz, a trio from Ypsilanti made up of BabyTron, TrDee, and StanWill, have also seen some success in the genre. In some ways, they feel like a new wave of scam rap, as their lyricism and production builds upon the foundation Teejayx6 set. As the genre has evolved, the focus has also shifted away from just scamming as the subject matter. ShittyBoyz (especially BabyTron) incorporate their love of basketball through incessant esoteric NBA references and put a larger emphasis on the humor that has always been at the core of the genre.

The sense of humor that has evolved in scam rap is crass and absurd in the best way. In practice, it manifests itself in describing ridiculous situations, for example BabyTron in “PunchGod 3” (“Fucking on his BM, his kids watching Paw Patrol”) or Teejayx6 in “Dynamic Duo 2” (“Robbed my little cousin ‘cause I found out he bisexual”). When asked about the group’s goofy sense of humor

in a recent interview with Pitchfork, Babytron said “if a meme goes too far it’s unstoppable, but also a joke on Twitter might just be an introduction to what I can really do.” That seems to be the thought process behind much of the genre: to be so ridiculous that audiences have to pay attention. For example, Babytron’s new mixtape Bin Reaper 2 starts out with a trap remix of the Harry Potter theme, which is about as ridiculous as it sounds, but he still absolutely kills it.

While the lyrics give scam rap it’s name and reputation, the aesthetics of the genre are a defining feature in their own right. Beats are often built around 808 drum patterns and deep bass lines. Piano and mallet melodies pulse along at medium tempos. Hi hats add some rhythmic texture, but the beats are not generally very complex. These sparse beats, while immediately recognizable, are more to set a dark and edgy tone for a song’s illicit lyrics.

The ShittyBoyz take a slightly different path on the beats they choose, rapping over a blend of more traditional Detroit trap percussion with samples taken from 80s electro and freestyle music. This gives their songs a glossy, throwback finish, like Babytron’s “PunchGod 3” which rolls along with smooth chords and chipmunked vocal samples.

And in terms of flow, rappers like Teejay and Babytron break every rule in the book. The most recognizable feature of the scam rap flow is how each bar overlaps the last. Each line is recorded individually and then stitched together with adlib after adlib filling up every moment in between. There’s no real concept of being “onbeat” or trying to vary the flow; entire songs just meld together like a run-on sentence. But the constant barrage of punchlines give the songs a sense of urgency and anxiety that perfectly accentuates the subject matter. It’s hectic and bizarre and unlike anything in rap’s mainstream.

There’s also not a lot of concern with complex rhyme schemes within scam rap, or even rhyming at all sometimes. If it doesn’t fit the flow or a joke calls for it, rappers like Teejay are more than happy to go without it. At this point, they have even begun to parody their own tendencies. For example, in Teejayx6 and Kasher Quon’s track “Dynamic Duo 2,” the duo trade lines rhyming “truck” with itself for six bars in a row.

Scam rap is by no means a commercial or critical force, but fans of the genre find in it a unique energy in modern rap. The stars of the genre don’t take themselves too seriously, but also have a work ethic and output that makes their success feel inevitable. There’s an obvious novelty to what they’re doing that they embrace head-on, and in doing so they rise above being just a novelty. Scam rap has already outlasted the shelf-life you might have predicted from seeing its viral hits in the late 2010s, and with the efforts of Teejayx6 and Kasher Quon, ShittyBoyz, and others like Flint rappers Rio Da Young OG and Rmc Mike, the genre has surged in 2021 and has a bright future ahead.

• Grant Foskett (Computer Science)

Designer: Julia Aguam (Communications)

Photo by Emily Gringorten (Computer Science and Business Administration)

Album Reviews

Lana Del Rey Blue Banisters

Released October 22, 2021

Label Interscope

Genre Pop/Alternative

Tasty Tracks “Dealer,” “Text Book,” “Thunder”

Lana Del Rey has evaded easy explanation for nearly a decade now. Past attempts have been tainted with misogyny, accusing her of either glorifying patriarchal structures or shallowly reveling in pop maximalism, depending on who you asked. In critics’ defense, she hasn’t offered easy answers to who exactly Lana is, and how much of her work is autobiographical. Further complicating this was the time in which she came to the forefront of pop culture. Her rise to fame has been concurrent with a prolonged and amplified obsession over the concept of celebrity, where day-today consumers of media tend to project their own morality onto those who create. By not providing easy answers over who Lana (born Elizabeth Grant) is, the morally ambiguous scenes of deserted highways, watering holes, and romanticized cities where conflict and abuse run rampant came to define her personhood as something morally questionable and unforthcoming.

Undoubtedly an unfair assessment of one of the best living songwriters, Del Rey avoided broaching the topic of her life too deeply until her most recent release, Blue Banisters. Her second album of the year, and first since 2017’s Lust for Life to not feature Jack Antonoff as primary producer, the record feels a combination of both a reset for the artist and a reset for the listener and culture at large. Still not one for pure autobiography, Del Rey weaves anecdotes of mother-daughter relationships, life in the time of COVID-19, and cryptocurrency-

obsessed friends-of-friends among others into her signature songs about love and loss. The result is an album that reveals itself more with each listen, offering immediate reward while leaving easter eggs to discover at a later time.

Most noticeable among the features of the album is Del Rey’s voice, which has moved further into center stage. While the arguably over-produced sound of earlier releases, such as Born to Die, typically served as counterweight to her still-maturing voice, the production on Blue Banisters is sparse in comparison. Vocally, she has never sounded better. This shift is most evident on “Dealer,” a collaboration with The Last Shadow Puppets frontman, Miles Kane. The chorus is effectively Lana wailing, hitting a volume and range not yet seen from the artist. It’s devastating and jarring, marking a new sound for an artist previously accused of monotony during the release of Chemtrails over the Country Club earlier this year. The same can be said of album highlights “Arcadia” and “Beautiful,” where clearly audible microphone static cuts through as she hits her upper range.

Though still early, it’s possible to say that this is Lana Del Rey’s best. Pulling from fan-favorite songs previewed in Instagram lives and incorporating disarmingly personal lyrics, she has written an album as close to her essence as one can get that doubles as a gift to her most dedicated of fans. The markings of every album era can be found within its tracks, with the added bonus of

her own life beginning to fill the cracks. It’s self-aware, funny, and overwhelming, with subtle risks taken across each track. One would expect Antonoff’s absence to be more pronounced, as their work on Norman Fucking Rockwell! and Chemtrails is often noted as a career highlight for both. It’s certainly true that the album lacks his signature big-name pop sheen, but it would feel out of place on an album that reads so personally. With Blue Banisters, the artist that has confounded, frustrated, and compelled since 2011’s “Video Games” has, in her own signature way, pulled back the curtain. At times erratic in track ordering and the insertion of bizarre conversations inside stanzas, the album carries itself as a love letter to Lana Del Rey and her fans from Elizabeth Grant.

Robert Hyland (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics)

Designer: Megan Lam (Architectural Studies and Design)

JPEGMAFIA LP! (Offline)

Released October 15, 2021

Label Independent release (online version released by EQT Recordings)

Genre Cloud Rap/Industrial Hip Hop

Tasty Tracks “HAZARD DUTY PAY!,” “WHAT KINDA RAPPIN’ IS THIS?,” “DIKEMBE!”

JPEGMAFIA’s non-stop stream of experimental hip hop and R&B since 2018’s Veteran has continued into late 2021 with the release of the rapper’s fourth LP titled, well, LP!. Explosive, erratic, and cathartic, it’s the most JPEGMAFIA album that JPEGMAFIA could have released.

After breaking out with Veteran, Peggy, as he’s affectionately referred to by fans, decided that on his follow-up project, 2019’s All My Heroes Are Cornballs, he wouldn’t “edit” anything. While most artists who suddenly had more eyes on their work would try to create something more focused, he leaned into his spontaneous music making sensibilities even more, throwing away any conceptual lyrical ideas or traditional songwriting structures. He opted for something that would simply speak for itself in how leftfield and loose yet intricately crafted it was.

The result was a huge hit among fans. It felt like a true representation of who JPEGMAFIA was in that moment: an artist who was going to do everything in his power to push through feelings of imposter syndrome to cement his newfound success in hip-hop. Fast forward to LP!

and JPEGMAFIA is sticking to what got him here. He’s doubling down on his unedited approach, letting his diverse instrumentals take on a life of their own, and writing lyrics that range from hilariously blunt one-liners to not-so-serious, yet anthemic, statements of self-love.

The album features two versions: one released for streaming services, and an offline record only available on Bandcamp and YouTube. It bounces from style to style without much of an overarching theme. The instrumentals are all entrancing in how disorienting and intricately layered they are, requiring multiple listens to fully unpack each sample. Soundscapes come in all shapes and sizes, from the tight synth progressions on opener “TRUST!” to the 6/8 hard rock sample featured in “END CREDITS.” Many of the beats here have a lo-fi haze to them, which contrasts Peggy’s shouted delivery. “ARE U HAPPY?” pairs a laid-back drum beat and ghostly guitar passages with harsh atonal beeps, adding texture to the record without ruining its relaxed energy. “WHAT KINDA RAPPIN’ IS THIS?” features a rickety drum beat with mock-harp arpeggios and horn shots. As a producer, Peggy keeps growing from project to project, and this album contains some of his best instrumental efforts yet.

Lyrically, JPEGMAFIA continues to stay true to himself. After the release of AMHAC, where feelings of self-doubt permeated the lyrics due to the unexpected success of Veteran, JPEGMAFIA has officially established himself as one of the top creative minds in hip-hop. On LP!, he’s writing like he knows it. Every song finds him flexing his sound state of mind while going after anyone who’s ever doubted him. On “WHAT KINDA RAPPIN’ IS THIS?,” he lets everyone know that he hasn’t been getting better, but rather he’s always been on this level, professing to listeners, “Bitch I been rappin’ like this.’’ Following track “REBOUND!” has five verses of JPEGMAFIA at his most assertive, screaming on the chorus, “Why would I pray for your health?/ Baby I pray for myself.”

Where the two versions of the album diverge lies in the five songs that were not cleared for streaming services. These tracks are major highlights that make the offline version the one worth hearing. “DIKEMBE!” is one of the strongest on the album, where melancholy

guitars and a synth bass play off each other as Peggy brags he feels like “Dikembe [Mutombo] when I block the demons.” Closer “UNTITLED” contains the bulk of his best, most ridiculous one-liners, like, “Out west with the Smith like I’m Jaden” and “Im’a be swinging on these crackers like I’m playing hockey/Young PK Subban with the stick on me.” The album’s true centerpiece, however, is “HAZARD DUTY PAY!.” It is the most soulful song JPEGMAFIA has ever released, with a gorgeous, heavy gospel sample that creates an intoxicating atmosphere. JPEGMAFIA is able to pierce through this with his typical manic vocal performance in a combination that surprisingly works beautifully.

Though there are a few spots with less engaging instrumentals, like “THOT’S PRAYER!” and “NEMO!,” but the main issues with this album are seen in the lyrics. As lively as they are, there’s no variety in content whatsoever. Because the album runs for 20 songs and 54 minutes, the lyrics get a bit monotonous the more the album progresses. This is especially a problem on tracks like “END CREDITS.” His voice gets completely swallowed by the production, and without him saying anything new from song to song, these moments make his lyrical contributions seem almost pointless.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to be disappointed with what Peggy gives listeners. With the music being “unedited,” it is equal parts high energy, disorienting, and fun to listen to.

Mercurial World’s inventiveness and thematic complexity makes it an essential indie pop record of the year.

Henry Bova (Journalism)

James Blake

Friends That Break Your Heart

Released October 8, 2021

Label Republic

Genre Alternative/R&B

Tasty Tracks “Life Is Not the Same,” “Coming Back,” “Say What You Will” and “Show Me”

James Blake, who built a career off of melancholia and production credits, has had consistent success in his minimalistic take on electronic R&B. With a combination of bold synth arpeggios and dreamy vocals, his sound is very unique among his peers, but his enormous span of work across the industry shows that Blake’s versatility is not to be ignored. Having a hand in many of the recent big-name releases in hip-hop, he is just as much a producer as he is a standalone artist. Despite this rampant success over the past decade, James Blake has maintained a sense of isolation in his music, taking his fans on a journey of lost loves and internalized conflict. With his newest album, Friends That Break Your Heart, James Blake has shattered his old formula with a story of self-love and reconciliation.

Blake begins the album with an ending, as “Famous Last Words” details a suffocating relationship that seems to pervade every facet of his life. This track highlights Blake’s songwriting, where within the hopeless lyrics lies the understanding that he has to cut this person off. “Life is Not the Same” portrays the loss felt with their absence and sees Blake perfectly illustrating the emotional hypocrisy that comes with the end of a toxic relationship. He uses tense harmonies to project a desperate need for resolve and pitched vocal effects to simulate a pained cry. These two tracks paint Blake’s dependencies and insecurities, and as the album carries on, the true themes grow more apparent.

The tracklist exemplifies an unstable journey, with “Coming Back” and “Foot Forward” narrating growth and progression, while “Say What You Will” and “Frozen” relapse back to a stagnant hopelessness. Blake complements these emotions with versatile instrumentals, from slow piano ballads to an electro-trap hip-hop beat. Even the more bland instrumentals on tracks, such as “I’m so Blessed You’re Mine,” implement unique intricacies to hold attention throughout. These intricacies successfully combat the traditional song format, developing in a more linear fashion. Many of the instrumentals solidify Blake’s virtuosity in developing a beat relying solely on plucky synths and minimal drums, over which his striking vocal performances accompany the sounds perfectly, invoking the emotions in the listener.

“If I’m Insecure,” the last song on the album, yet again showcases Blake’s songwriting ability. In this track, he comes to terms with his insecurities, not shying away from his dependency on a loved one, but rather embracing it. The contrast between the dark synths and the bright organ in the chorus hint that this person has helped Blake rise above these insecurities. As the track

builds, Blake brings all of these contrasting sounds together, as his voice, drowned in reverb, screams emptiness, and suddenly the strings along with the ascending pluck arpeggio lift him out of this darkness. This intricate culmination of elements brings the album to a beautiful conclusion.

Friends That Break Your Heart is Blake’s step away from the mold of the average heartbreak album, extending beyond romanticism and into the inhibitions that are present in many relationships formed on an ingenuine foundation. He embraces the all-too-common tendency to construct a personality based on the social norm, an idea rarely mentioned in the mainstream, cleverly presenting it in the style of a heartbreak. Instead of exploring the betrayals he faced, Blake explores the growth that came from it, bringing in his own introspective views on society in an attempt to heal those who may also feel lost. The journey to self-acceptance is shown to be a back-and-forth between growth and stagnation, but Blake shows that it takes the right people and the right mindset to reach it. With this album, Blake takes a step towards a brighter path, and he couldn’t have done a better job portraying it.

John Buergler (Data Science and Mathematics)

Don Toliver

The Life of a DON

Released October 8, 2021

Label Atlantic Records and Cactus Jack Records

Genre Hip-Hop/Rap

Tasty Tracks “5X,” Company Pt. 2,” “BOGUS”

The long-awaited second studio album from Houston’s own melodic gem, Don Toliver, is finally here. Life of a DON the follow up to Toliver’s studio debut, Heaven or Hell, is a shockingly unique, yet simultaneously predictable project. Following his first mainstream appearance on Travis Scott’s “Can’t Say” back in 2018, Calebl Zackery Toliver, better known as Don Toliver, gained almost immediate recognition and notoriety from the rap game thanks to his uniquely nasally and high-pitched voice, which is most often drenched in autotune, reverb, and delay.

Having found his apparent place in the industry, Don Toliver seems unsubject to change. Although the 16 song album houses nothing but bangers and soundtracks for a nighttime drive, a start-to-finish listen leaves fans questioning whether they just heard an album, or a 51-minute song. The project opens with the atmospheric, “XSCAPE,” which kicks off with a panned out, spacious intro, followed by two choruses, two verses, and a synth outro played by the legendary Mike Dean. While a good song, relative to Toliver’s discography and style, the track houses no significant lyricism, no progressive production, and features a very typical vocal performance from Toliver, including ad libs, hums, and strong inflections. What is significant about the track, however, is the structure, which is mimicked, re-used, and recycled throughout the entirety of the album.

As the album carries on, even the production begins to morph into one blur of synths, keys, 808s, and hi-hats. All starting with similar bass-heavy, lo-fi intros and ending on a grand synth riff, it’s hard to distinguish which song is which. Past the sonic shortcomings of the album, Toliver’s lyricism across the tracklist, similarly, remains static. From start to finish, we hear Don Toliver rap about revving foreign cars, lustful encounters with women at parties, and counting blue bills. While this often works well for Don, especially on songs like, “What You Need”, and “Company Pt. 2,” there are only so many lines like, “New girl for the month, picked right out the bunch” that he can sing over the same beat before the audience feels fatigued. Luckily, Don Toliver recruited many eye-catching artists

to contribute to the album, which thankfully, made the project a little less stale. Complementing yet contrasting Toliver’s muddy, inflecting crooning, is Baby Keem, who on the song “Outerspace,” showcases his bright and animated vocals, along with his sense of humor and uniquely diverse flow. Considering Don Toliver’s versatility and his high placement in the current-day hierarchy of rap, his lack of varied lyrics, production, and especially vocals, makes The Life of a DON incredibly underwhelming and unsatisfying. Don Toliver needs to explore new concepts, deliver fresh and diverse production, and use his voice more like a tool rather than a crutch.

Cyrus Alamzad (Music Industry and Communications)

Local Talent Chance Emerson

Tastemakers Magazine caught up with local artist Chance Emerson ahead of a lively concert to discuss his process, inspirations, and what it’s like to be an indie artist in New England.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): You have three successful projects released over the range of several years. How would you describe your body of work as a whole to someone who isn’t familiar with it?

Chance Emerson (CE): Each album or project that I put out is a reflection or microcosm of my experiences up to that moment. I listened for the first time in three years to the EP I put out when I was 17, and it was crazy because I felt like I was having a conversation with myself at that time. It’s kind of like just having a journal that’s extremely public.

TMM: Is it difficult to share your innermost thoughts in such a public way, where literally anyone can listen?

CE: I’ve always gone to music for comfort and support, and there’s a lot of universal truths out there that music is able to express; it makes people feel less alone. When I’m sad and listening to a sad song where someone can relate to what I’m going through, I can say that yeah, it’s a universal experience. I almost feel like I’m paying it back to the songs that supported me in happy times, sad times, confused times, and existential moments, you know what I mean?

TMM: That ties into another question! You charted for your first EP and have had songs on official Spotify playlists, showing a great deal of success. You said you’ve been affected by music in your life and process, but how do you want to affect music? What do you want to give back to it in a larger sense?

CE: Everything I can offer! All I can speak for is myself, but at the same time I do feel like I’m part of something bigger and important. Growing up, there weren’t many musicians that looked like me, especially in the folk and alt traditions. I feel like there’s never been a lot of representation of Asians in those genres or in music generally. Now it’s better with K-Pop, but that’s still very specific. I’m really happy that I have this platform where I can share this work, and I hope that if there’s a six year old version of myself out there trying to figure out if they can do this, they’ll hear my tunes and think they can.

TMM: That’s a very noble pursuit. Do you have any goals in mind now?

CE: As far as goals, in music things can get very entrepreneurial and businesslike if you don’t try to be very clear what your goals are. I thought about that a lot over the pandemic, and I think my goal with music is to have a positive or supportive impact on as many peoples’ lives as I can. If I’ve touched one person I’ve already done my job, and some people actually reached out to me since I released work and said it helped get them through a tough time. I feel like I’ve succeeded in what I’ve set out to do, and building this project and songs from it out more will only help me have a larger impact. I’m feeling stoked that I’ve already had any impact!

TMM: The fact that you’re here playing a concert shows you’ve definitely had an impact! You mentioned that you’re beginning a tour now, what can you say about that?

CE: It’s a tour of sorts – it’s pretty much classes during the week and then as many shows as we can during the weekend! We’ve done shows at Yale, Harvard, MIT, a school in New Hampshire, and some big shows in Providence. We’re planning to play more shows in New York City, Providence, and are trying to head to LA in January for eight out there.

TMM: With the release of several projects at this point, would you say that your inspirations, references, or processes for songwriting and making music in general have changed? If so, how have they changed or what prompted it?

CE: Totally! I started out playing songs completely acoustic and was very much into the coffeehouse folk scene in high school. When I got to college, I started transitioning into rock because I wanted to play a few rowdier parties. Shockingly, I kind of liked it so my influences have definitely gotten a bit grungier. Back in 2016, you couldn’t have paid me to touch a distortion pedal but now I’m willing to explore the possibilities a little more, you know? As far as processes for songwriting, I’ve recently started writing a lot more with other people. It’s been really rewarding to collaborate with talented musicians of many different backgrounds.

• Terrance Dumoulin (Civil Engineering & Architectural Studies)

Designer: Megan Lam ( Architectural Studies and Design )

Pouya, Paradise Rock Club

Photo by Coby Sugars (International Business)

Alexander 23, Royale

Photo by Emily Kobren (Graphic Design and Communications)

Tennis, Royale

Photo by Emily Gringerton (Computer Science and Business Administration)

CROSSWORD (Taylor’s Version)

ACROSS

3. What was the name of the parody song and skit Taylor Swift was featured on alongside Pete Davidson, during her recent appearance on Saturday Night Live?

5. In “All Too Well,” what did the scarf remind her ex of?

6. Red (Taylor’s Version) broke the record for moststreamed album in a day by a female, which Taylor broke just last year with the surprise announcement of her 8th studio album, ________.

8. How old was Taylor Swift turning when her boyfriend at the time, Jake Gyllenhaal, chose not to attend her birthday, leading to their subsequent breakup and inspiring lyrics in two different songs, “The Moment I Knew” and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”?

DOWN

3. What was the name of the parody song and skit Taylor Swift was featured on alongside Pete Davidson, during her recent appearance on Saturday Night Live?

ZOOMED

5. In “All Too Well,” what did the scarf remind her ex of?

6. Red (Taylor’s Version) broke the record for moststreamed album in a day by a female, which Taylor broke just last year with the surprise announcement of her 8th studio album, ________.

8. How old was Taylor Swift turning when her boyfriend at the time, Jake Gyllenhaal, chose not to attend her birthday, leading to their subsequent breakup and inspiring lyrics in two different songs, “The Moment I Knew” and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”?

1. Which famous indie artist was featured on the recently released version of “Nothing New,” an unreleased song she wrote almost a decade ago about the pressures of being a young artist in the public eye?

2. Which famous actress and friend of Taylor Swift directed the music video for “I Bet You Think About Me,” one of Swift’s previously unreleased “vault” songs included on her re-recorded version of Red?

4. Who played Taylor Swift’s love interest in the music video for “I Bet You Think About Me,” one of her previously unreleased “vault” songs included on her re-recorded version of Red?

7. Which unreleased “vault” song from Red (Taylor’s Version) was originally recorded and released by the musical duo Sugarland?

1. Which famous indie artist was featured on the recently released version of “Nothing New,” an unreleased song she wrote almost a decade ago about the pressures of being a young artist in the public eye?

2. Which famous actress and friend of Taylor Swift directed the music video for “I Bet You Think About Me,” one of Swift’s previously unreleased “vault” songs included on her re-recorded version of Red?

4. Who played Taylor Swift’s love interest in the music video for “I Bet You Think About Me,” one of her previously unreleased “vault” songs included on her re-recorded version of Red?

7. Which unreleased “vault” song from Red (Taylor’s Version) was originally recorded and released by the musical duo Sugarland?

Can you tell which six album covers

we’ve zoomed in on?

LOCAL PHOTO

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

We’ve put together some of our favorite Sparks songs!

Find the playlist on our Spotify page @tastemakersmagazine!

• Sofia Maricevic (Finance and Accounting)

FIND TAYLOR

1. “Wonder Girl”

2. “Fletcher Honorama”

3. “Girl from Germany”

4. “Here In Heaven”

5. “Talent Is An Asset”

6. “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us”

7. “Amateur Hour”

8. “Tryouts For The Human Race”

9. “Beat the Clock”

10. “The Number One Song In Heaven”

11. “Funny Face”

12. “Upstairs”

13. “The Willys”

14. “When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way’”

15. “Let’s Go Surfing”

16. “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil”

We’ve hidden Taylor somewhere in this issue. Find him and maybe something cool will happen...

FOLLOW US

17. “The Rhythm Thief

18. “My Baby’s Taking Me Home”

19. “Suburban Homeboy”

20. “I Married Myself”

21. “Your Call’s Very Important to Us. Please Hold.”

22. “The Existential Threat”

23. “Nothing Travels Faster Than the Speed of Light”

24. “Please Don’t Fuck Up My World”

25. “Onomato Pia”

26. “Lawnmower”

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tastemakersmag.com

@tastemakersmag

Long Autumn, Middle East

Photo by Emily Zakrzewski (Civil Engineering)