#i genre hop in all my mixes they're more about lyrics than genre just a warnin!!

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

Kill the Whale

April 14, 2024 | Joe's Pub | Evening | Concept Album Release | Song Cycle | 1H 40M

Long ramble, so buckle in:

I did not like Kill the Whale. Let's start this off being very clear on that. I went in knowing nothing, and I was fully prepared to love it. I love Amber Gray, I love Grace McLean, I love weird avante garde art. This was... I did not like what was presented to me. As a song cycle, a series of solo character introductory songs that don't do much to serve the plot is certainly a choice. The performers are all vocal powerhouses, that's undeniable. And with genres like rap, hip-hop, and lots of rock & roll, I understand why every song was screltched to the high heavens. But it was borderline painful to listen to as the night wore on, partially owing to the inconsistent sound mixing and inappropriate acoustics of Joe's Pub, but mostly it's the writing. The seven(?)-person band overpowered the vocalists on any lines not belted, and the belting pitched out more than once. Would it kill some of the singers to hold the microphone a little further back when going for it? And why do contemporary songwriters all want their performers to blow out their vocal chords every night? Everyone was full throttle the whole time, and it left little room for growth or breath.

The song cycle does remarkably little to evoke more than just head-bopping beats, as if the story inspiration is only really a mood setter and not integral to any plot or story trying to be told. There are almost no duets or indeed, characters singing with each other at all. The final Chase sequence (three parts) is really just like ten parts of individual solos with different genres and beats. There's little to really tie these songs together beyond a vague association with Moby Dick. The lyrics too are more about feelings and moods than about crafting a story. Should this ever become a piece of musical theatre, I don't think it would work as presented. It was also a 100-minute show and they had to cut songs for time, so that's...long. More than half is just one character intro song after another, and they're not so much as "I Want" or "I Am" songs, so much as "here's what I'm thinking about, you don't know me, or care yet, but here I am just ruminating about life," and that's tiresome after the sixth one in a row.

Also, one character is heavily influenced by rap and hip-hop and uses a lot of AAVE in his songs. The writer is a white man. I...wonder who or what he might have worked with to craft these numbers. I also wonder why this writer wanted to write a character whose songs speak so deeply about contemporary Black struggle and oppression. Because while the body emulating this on stage is Black, the words are from a white creator who is only ever imagining what that experience is.

That being said, I'm a lesbian, and Grace McLean (though even she screlted too much for me in the end) being hot and sexy and aggressive was great. Didn't save the night, but great nonetheless.

Verdict: A Long Slog to Curtains

A Note on Ratings

Had the show only been an hour-long sampling of songs, I'd have been more positive. But this was too long to listen to the same thing time after time. As an album where I can control whether or not I want my eardrums to hurt (I was at the back of Joe's Pub, so I can't imagine how the people up front fared), maybe I'd like it more? It's not my taste, at the end of the day, and I'm sure there are many people who love it. Pass.

#kill the whale #joe's pub #song cycles #theatre #welcome to the theatre: diary of a broadway baby

[waterparksdrama]

I’m begging for a Fandom track by track pls

ok ok i've been delaying it for a while so why not for you anon. i have a lot of personal opinions about this one so it's probably gonna be way more biased than other track by tracks lol

cherry red - an intro that gives off this sort of dreamy epic 80s vibe if you weren't paying attention to the lyrics much. he uses a lot of color imagery entwined with the happenings of their relationship to lament it at this point and begin this cycle between mourning the relationship and getting caught up with living with being perceived by the public eye all during this. it's a good intro and i like the instrumentals - 8/10

watch what happens next - see this is one of those songs i'd like better as a song if the message didn't age badly and didn't make cringe really hard. the first lines already Aged. a criticism of fan consumption of their music and their place in the scene as rockers. blah blah blah awsten wants money and doesn't like the need for the rock scene to undersell themselves for approval but also i think some of your expensive clothes are ugly as shit awsten so what now. not to mention the poorly aged second verse about hiphop and genre mixing (specifically with a jealous dig at old town road) considering the other factors associated with hip hop and how the soundcloud emo rap scene of the time slowly evolved into the "emo revival" we see today that bolstered parx's current relevancy tbh (they opened for my chem and are playing wwwy fest this year hello). but anyways as a song it's fine; the sassy guitars pull more punches than the lyrics end up doing and maybe i'm proving the point of the lyrics even if they're poorly aged but god shut up sometimes awsten - 5/10

dream boy - this is legitimately the only fandom song i can listen to regularly LMAOOO. i heard this in public before because they put this on radio disney it was terrifying. anyways back to the song. it's a poppy song about fan expectations and how awsten exists differently in fans' heads than in reality. i think this is one of the few songs that i think hit the mark of satirizing fans completely bc. i won't lie i do this completely whoops (i'm an rpf writer and run this blog what else do you expect of me). i don't think some fans realize the irony of using this song against each other whenever some awsten related drama comes up considering they usually have an even more warped view of him but. i digress. also justice for glitter times your pre chorus will forever live on here... - 8/10

easy to hate - another song about the breakup hence all the color imagery and apparently originally a friendly reminder song. not much to note here; it's a catchy little song that plays with some of the elements he used to write about ciara in the past to get this anti love song. i guess you could argue the chorus could also apply to parasocial relations hence the music video and everything but yeah. fine song. intro synths remind me of an old ringtone. - 7/10

high definition - i get the ode to imogen heap's hide and seek with this song and i can appreciate that but for me it's just so...eh. lyrically it's a song that follows awsten's struggles with trying to find love in a post-ciara world. there's some interesting lines here and there but nothing truly hits for me and sometimes i think about the lyric "now i'm canceled, i'm whatever" at random times and cringe.

not to mention the extreme cringe i get from what he said about the song in the rocksound track by track:

There’s a song that’s all, ‘Back then hoes didn’t want me, now I’m hot hoes all on me’ [Mike Jones’ ‘Back Then’] – but not in like a bragalicious way. It’s an, ‘I’m like really lonely, I hate all of this’, kind of way. It’s like that.

why. you do not have hoes. shut up. get ready for more of awsten's white ass making cringey rap references bc there's one later on none of us are gonna like. i think i have personal beef with this song bc i had a sign for wwdff at my show, he looked at it, and then he did this in complete and nothing else. - 4/10

telephone - a love song (about some girl he never talked to at a target). considering he has all this written about a person he made up traits in his mind, it makes sense why all the true love songs by parx are probably just about the concepts of people that aren't technically real if you think about it. musically, its piano riffs takes its cues from 60's pop before evolving into this sparkly fun chorus. tbh it's just fine to me and i used to think the obsessive love song thing about a stranger was weird but now i've written 10x more messed up fanfic about him so i can't even judge that too hard. blah blah can also tie into themes of fan perception and falling in love with a concept once again yeah i think it's just a fine song. i just like when otto says the ending at live shows. - 6/10

group chat - this isn't even a fuckin song. and according to the genius lyrics page this is what it means:

He strongly implies that the song is about fake friendships between famous figures, where people may often pose as friends purely for the sake of sharing it online. This phenomenon that has grown more rampant in the modern world as those in the public eye partake in this practice as a means of boosting popularity on social media. This also occurs within the music industry itself, when companies chose to featuring artists purely to maximize the buzz surrounding the song.

i'm just more focused on the fact that this is the first time otto's been mentioned by name in the parx discography and it wasn't even by awsten. isn't that fucked up. - n/a (not a fuckin song)

turbulent - i can distinctly remember my first time listening to this with my friend after choir class and we both came to the same conclusion: the song was stupid except for the ending when he stopped singing. this is still how i feel about the song. that opening line is so goddamn stupid and i still don't think patrick stump knows he's in this song or who waterparks is. did you know if ciara didn't like fall out boy as much he probably would've compared himself to ryan ross and brendon urie? nightmare. this is one of the songs i pit to at live shows because when you pit, you don't actually listen to the song. it has better energy live than it does recorded but i'm not rating the live version though. i think the production is much cooler than literally anything else in this stupid song with it's breakcore beats and random dogs - 5/10

never bloom again - remember when awsten teased this song for years saying this song would be the one making people cry and now years later no one talks about it that much. "all the girls in los angeles look like you from a distance", honey you date the same blonde clone with different mental illnesses every time i don't know why you're so surprised at this. i think there are some interesting lines here and there, i just feel like its strengths are staying simple in its verses because the chorus feels kinda corny with the extra stuff on top of everything because of that cervini style of big production. - 5/10

i miss having sex but at least i don't wanna die anymore - i miss when this title leaked and we thought this was fake. i hate this song and everything it stands for i'll just say it. the true beginning of awsten using annoying blunt lyrics out of fear of being misinterpreted because media literacy in most places has gone downhill and it's supposed to be honest by making fun of what fans want of him as well as airing out his relationship in a way. god he sounds so annoying in here and i get that's supposed to be the point but goddddddd. musically it's just some pop folk song but none of you care about that i know you want to know the other stuff. this song is probably the start to the end with it going viral on tiktok and beginning the divide between fans that became fans through the scene and fans that found them through tiktok. i fucking hate this song and its impact on parx today and the fact that it's their most popular song and a mainstay of the setlist will forever make me bitter because they have so many better songs and also christmas is more popular on tiktok and he still refuses to play it because he is a pussy - 0/10

war crimes - ok back to songs i can stomach. a driving song about awsten dealing with his peers in the scene and his isolation with his real friends being back home in texas while he moved to la. along with this, he still has to balance his feelings with the breakup all while being perceived by the public. it mostly deals with awsten truly having to become independent of all of these things and stand up for himself (no i still don't know who the coke thing is about there's too many people). musically, it shifts a lot of different ways from the light chorus to the more brooding verses. good song. - 7/10

[reboot] - he's white boy rapping again. this is never a good thing. it's literally just a breakup song again shocker. throws a lot of digs at ciara with wordplay that i can't really hear unless i read the lyrics because it sounds he's scatting. i just remember this song bc i remember he made a whole deal about how he was trying to avoid being misogynistic on this album bc of the subject matter (specifically calling girls a bitch) and then he used the chew toy metaphor to indirectly call her a bitch anyways. yeah. i think some parts of the production are interesting specifically the stuttering halts in the second verse but other than that. whatever. - 3/10

worst - i remember when the original demo leaked because it was around the same time of the felony steve mixtape. it was a weird time. has some of the Lyrics of All Time and i mean this in a bad way. remember when i said awsten makes some cringy rap references this is one of the ones i mean:

why. why. why. this is not a line that works when you're white. i think the chorus in the album version sounds more interesting at least production wise. does that mean it's a good song? no. this is a song that makes me hold the bridge of my nose and go "oh god why this is clearly something you wrote in the moment" - 4/10

zone out - a chiptune reprise of the dream boy chorus. awsten says that putting it at this point in the album is meant to come off sarcastic, but to me i feel like it sounds more defeated than anything. more of a "what now?" moment. i like it, sue me. - 6/10

i felt younger when we met - the beginning and ending to the cycle of his relationship with ciara and his fans watching. here, he mourns the things he misses about her and the things he did for her. it's the emotional core of the album combining the heavy electronics strung throughout the album with the big guitar led chorus leading the album back to the beginning because things just don't stop at that point. it's a great closer that does its job of being the emotional crux of the album of losing someone you end up making up and missing over and over - 8/10

i'll be honest with you i haven't listened to fandom in full since it actually leaked in 2019. i brushed off the album at the time because me and my friends had our own little drama with awsten (and his la friends who aren't even his friends anymore ironically) because he was tiring. trying to preach ideas and people that would do the same things he hated because he was away from his real friends back home. i was tired of what he was trying to come off as.

nowadays i'm still tired of him sometimes, but i think his time offline has made the idea of him more palatable; when he's not trying to quip with the sardonic teens that make up his fans today, it's easier to remember him as a person. when he's not online, he's probably buying groceries or having lunch with a friend, working and writing music in his apartment or a studio.

it begs the question on an album named fandom (that doesn't call out its fanbase nearly as much as deal with the emotional turmoil of a breakup) on how we perceive each other and how that can come crumbling down when reality hits. i can try and compartmentalize awsten the ideal and awsten the reality in my head, but do most people even realize that divide should be there?

it's probably the thing to comment on considering the existence of this blog, the way it lives in surveillance from both fans and the band + associates themselves because we say things that aren't nice but are true or just straight up fuck around for fun. the fourth wall between fans and creators grows more blurred and blurred with each day. there's something to comment on this about cycles of hypocrisy from everyone on all sides but i'll leave it at this: whatever we do on here, whether make a joke or point, becomes some fodder for spectacle in the same way awsten posts on any of his accounts. it's a cycle.

i won't lie, i still think this album sucks. most of the songs just don't hit the mark for me or are just straight up embarrassing and half the time i want to shake awsten and tell him “you are not kanye west, you are a bitch ass white boy from cypress”. however as an album, it does feel like one big piece all puzzled in together. it loops from beginning to end.

and the cycle keeps going on and on..... - iz

#i can't promise most of this makes sense but. it's here #track by track

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

what are your song rankings for the cross the line album?

I haven't actually listened to the album yet, so I'll put it on in the BG as I do some chores and then let you know what I think.

Cross A Line - LOVED this. I don't know what to call this genre - I guess a mix of hip-hop and... jazz...? Smooth hip-hop? man idk - but it's one I really enjoy and one that I think Japanese hip-hop excels at. The radio theme is really fun, and the beats/rapping are very good. Compare this to some earlier songs, and you can see major improvement from many of the voice actors. I'm going to listen to this to death.

Enishi - DUDE. I love this too! The singing style (particularly at the beginning) is really in vogue in Japan right now, and I think that, combined with the emphasis on singing as a group, makes this song sound more like a typical idol series J-pop-esque song than you normally get in Hypmic. Even with that, though, there's still the trademark Dotsu Hon brass (the Dotsu Horns, if you will), but it's much more mellow and mature sounding for them. The lyrics (from what I can hear of them; I don't have them in front of me) and the singing alike are very beautiful. This kind of feels like Re:start to me in terms of pretty, chilled out music. Again, this rocks. I love it.

Ikebukuro West Block Party - BRUH. I like this one slightly less than the first two, I think, but this fucking slaps. I never like Hypmic songs this much on the first lesson. What are they doing on this album? Absolutely killing it! Jesus. Again, this one feels more idol song-y than you normally get in Hypmic, but the beat is EXCELLENT. I'm folding laundry right now - or supposed to be folding laundry, rather, as I think I did more grooving holding a pair of shorts than any actual folding. This would make a super fun dance song. Rapping is also great, esp. for Ichirou and Jirou. Dude, keep it up, Cross a Line, you are nailing it.

Scarface - (10 seconds in) FUCK!! (After listening) Sorry, I got excited there. First off, I fucking love Latin pop/rock, and when you mix it with hip-hop? mmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMM THAT'S GOOD STUFF, BABY! I have five hands and they're all doing the pinching finger emoji. The singing on this was really smooth at the beginning. I'm not a super huge fan of the way they sung "paradise" (Samatoki low-key sounds like he's dying...) and I lost my mind at the "Say hello to my little friend" "What, these cockroaches?" "RRRR!!!" part midway through. Well... that's MTC for you! I'd never show this to someone I care about, but I'll love it and cherish it for a long time. And that's what's important.

Torima Get on the Floor - While I'm sitting through this H&M ad waiting for the video to load, I do have to say that I'm excited for this one. I know Afro Parker worked on it, and I love the fuck out of their work. Plus, if it's anything like the rest of this album, it's going to be right up my alley. (After listening) I think this is my least favorite so far, which isn't to say that I dislike it at all. It's very fun, but maybe only because I've listened to so many other things I really like first, it's not completely thrilling me. It fits in nicely with the theme of the album, and it's very catchy/fun to dance to. It sounds to me like a video game soundtrack song (like you'd hear in a shop, maybe). I can def. hear the Afro Parker sound at the end. Lyrics are fun, esp. with the call-outs (love Dice going "bullshit stories" and Gentarou going "Hm?") and the "gero-gero-get on the floor." I think this'll grow on me, esp. once I get used to Ramuda's voice in this. Gentarou sounds great in this one, for what it's worth.

Synchro City - Okay, this one's actually my least favorite on this CD for real. I think maybe because all the others have gone so hard that I'm just not feeling it. It's not bad at all, but it's not doing much of anything for me. That's kind of a shame, since I normally really like Matenrou songs - I think Doppo and Hifumi have great singing voices. (Incidentally, the kind of singing Jakurai is doing here sounds very nice. He doesn't usually straight-up sing like this.) There's been a lot of straight singing on this album, huh... Maybe that's why it feels more idol focused. These lyrics are very sweet, though. It's a nice, chill song, and I think I'll enjoy it more later. I don't know how I feel about in the midst of everything else that's more upbeat, though.

Dera Sugee Utage - (first two seconds) I see we're back to upbeat. (After listening) LOVE THIS TOO. This reminds me of RIP in a good way. SUPER catchy, and all the singing in this is on point, especially Kuukou's. I really like how his voice actor voices him and his accent in general. Super good one to dance to as well. Damn. DAMN!

In conclusion:

Wow. I don't think I've enjoyed any Hypmic album as much as this one before. Apparently the secret to me enjoying something is to make it upbeat and put a lot of horns in it. What'd you guys think? I've been seeing a lot of positive responses to it. Is everyone in agreement that it's good?

#not a translation #asks #hypmic asks

[essayofthoughts]

Tag Nine People You'd Like To Get To Know Better Tag Game

I was tagged by @chamerionwrites over Here. I will be tagging no one, for I am where tag games go to die.

FAVOURITE COLOUR(s): As mentioned in the last tag game I completed (here) it's purple! I wear other colours more frequently, but I have a lot of small purple things around.

FAVOURITE FLAVOUR(s): That's hard. I like savoury and sweet at the same time, I suppose, and I like adding some confit garlic into a toastie because it just... elevates the savoury of the cheese with some extra umami. I like a good chai or a medieval spice mix - cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves. In the UK they're so often used specifically at Christmas but they're such a good combo all year round.

FAVOURITE MUSIC: I am... bad, at genres. I like what I like and the music I like tends to be... melodic but textured? It's not just one instrument or type of instrument, I like the roughness of a more metal guitar over the smoothness of a rounded backing beat or melodic synth, and I like more melodic tunes than pure beats - this is why I don't gel with a lot of rap or hip-hop. They can be lyrically very impressive, but I listen to music for music, and I've got to be in the right mood for a spoken word poem over a beat. I also just... don't like Musicals in general. I'm not opposed to songs with stories - one of my most-listened to songs is Aviators' Godhunter which is about someone revered by a god who's waiting to be hunted by the person who's killed the rest of their "godly" kin - but I just don't like musicals in general, so musical songs are more miss than hit for me.

FAVOURITE MOVIE(s): Crimson Peak. Guillermo del Toro's films do not miss, and this is the one that dragged me into the gothic horror/romance pit and made me realise that while I don't like standard "thriller", shock-value horror, I like things that go "Hey, isn't this fucked up? Do you want to see how more fucked up it can get?". Things that are aware of the awfulness and don't revel in it but use it to show you and teach you and help you see.

FAVOURITE BOOK(s): Probably the Several on my trauma reading list, honestly, with right now A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson being tops. For all of you hyped by @theabigailthorn's "Dracula's Ex Girlfriend" announcement who wants something of that premise while they wait, it's a fantastic look at abusive relationships and is told from the perspective of one of Dracula's brides after she and the others have murdered him. Exceptionally good and crunchily fucked up.

FAVOURITE SERIES(es): I don't know, actually. I don't think I have a singular series I enjoy (Well. I did. But then the author went to shit, so it's kind of tainted now). Or- no actually. The Gotham TV Show. Started as a dull as dishwater police procedural set in Gotham and by the time it gets to multiply resurrecting definitely not the Joker you're not sure how it got there but the tonal shift makes perfect sense somehow. Fantastic style, fantastic cast, why are Nygma and Penguin so perfect as bickering, acrimonious exes.

LAST SONG: When I like I song, I listen to it on loop. It is still:

LAST SERIES: That I actually finished was probably Raven of the Inner Palace which is an extremely good anime! Magical worldbuilding and mystery, slowbuilding relationships and fun court drama. It's like Apothecary Diaries but with more magic, and has a similar style to it's worldbuilding as Mars Red - where that slowly dripfed you information on the vampires and makes a rewatch well worth one's time, this also sets stuff up and lets you start to figure it out as it slips in more lore. Highly recommend it.

LAST MOVIE: As said in the last post - it would be Barbie, last week's film night pick. Was good.

CURRENTLY READING: A book called Old Gods, about Finnish wildlife and folklore. I like folklore a lot, so seeing how folklore affects how people have historically seen the world is really cool!

CURRENTLY WATCHING: The latest dubbed episode of Apothecary Diaries (yes, I watch dub. Sadly, I am bad at paying attention when it's subbed because I like to multitask).

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Several fic projects. Currently aiming to finish up the Kash backstory fic.

#chamerionwrites #tag games #about me #Youtube

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

OTEP Covers BILLIE EILISH's 'You Should See Me In A Crown'

It's been nearly five years since the release of OTEP's last full-length album, the crushing "Kult 45", and since then the world has gone to complete…well, let's just say it's become the kind of world that desperately needs the band led by singer, poet, illustrator, author and activist Otep Shamaya. Not only is Shamaya a revered musical figure, known for her intrepid blending of metal genres and hip-hop, as exemplified on her notorious 2002 debut album "Sevas Tra", but she's also amassed an enormous following based on her fearless performances and confrontational, spiritually tinged lyrics. It's that combination of radical artistry and galvanizing message that the world desperately needs now more than ever, and OTEP is ready to answer the call.

Today marks the release of OTEP's first new recorded material since 2018, and it may come as a surprise. "You Should See Me In A Crown" was the lead single from the 2018 debut album of another controversial female figure who cut across musical and social norms to carve out an identity all her own. That artist is, of course, Billie Eilish, and OTEP's cover version is no mere homage to a young acolyte but rather a radical reimagining of the song that mines all of its dark sonic complexity as well as its bold lyrical message, transforming it into the kind of modern metal epic that nobody does better than OTEP.

As Shamaya herself puts it: "To me the song is a warning against cultural reduction, biased underestimation and the volatile anti-Newtonian reaction of judging someone before you know their true power."

Last September, Shamaya told the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire" that OTEP was putting the finishing touches on its ninth album for a tentative early 2023 release. "We've just finished mixing, and we're about to go into mastering," she said. "And then it's really up to the label to decide when they're gonna release it, what they're gonna release, which single they're gonna release. I have some say as to, you know, what I recommend, but ultimately it lies on them."

Regarding the songwriting process for OTEP's new album, Shamaya said: "This record actually was written with a couple of different songwriters, which I was really excited to work with. 'Kult 45' was my last album, which is four years old now. It's insane to believe that it's been four years, but it has. When I went back in the studio, the band had sort of dispersed at that point — everybody was trying to make a living and trying to find other jobs — and so I just went to the producer and we sat down and we found some really, really talented, creative people. And even though I've been doing this for a long time and have accomplished a lot — at least I think I have — I really work best with mentors. I like people that are, I feel, creatively better than I am so that I can have this sort of spiritual intercourse between all of us where we're sort of sharing ideas and I'm inspiring them and they're inspiring me."

Throughout the span of her career, Shamaya has been an undeniable force in bringing awareness via various acclaimed mediums to social and political injustices felt by various communities and subcultures. For years, publications such as Revolver magazine have lauded Shamaya for "following in the footsteps of outspoken musicians from folk singer Woody Guthrie to RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's Zach de la Rocha, dubbing her "one of music's catalysts for social change".

OTEP's latest album, the aforementioned "Kult 45", was released in 2018. The LP was recorded at The Lair in Los Angeles, completely utilizing the same equipment used for OTEP's first album, "Sevas Tra" (down to Shamaya's vocal microphone, a SHURE Beta 58),in order to create a sound reminiscent of their roots. "Kult 45" was produced by the band, with assistant engineering from Larry Goetz, Nicolas Schilke and Lizzy Ostro.

#otep #You Should See Me In A Crown #cover #billie eilish #metal ladies #metal music #Youtube

[eastofthesuns]

will you swear to be my friend forever and ever?

a mix for anne.

tracklist

ahead by a century the tragically hip | talking to the moon - bruno mars | hypocrates - marina | cellophane - fka twigs | postcard - troye sivan | society - alice phoebe lou | my outside - alice phoebe lou | witches - alice phoebe lou | my outside - alice phoebe lou | liability (reprise) - lorde | catch the wind - donovan |

#i genre hop in all my mixes they're more about lyrics than genre just a warnin!! #anne with an e #anne shirley #anne shirley cuthbert #mix #playlist #character mix

[kwantified]

waffles - zhong chenle

genre: highschool!chenji, fluff word count: 2.6k synopsis: a snitched secret leaves you feeling guilty, but there’s always chenle (and food). lowercase intended.

disclaimer! mild swearing (as teens do) and apologies in advance if it’s cringey. i’m new to this!

"fuck chaeri, they're going to kill me!"

"she needs to know! someone likes her!"

"but you don't know the name, though? what's the point?" at this moment, you realise it would've been better to have never told chaeri anything at all. damn it. who knew the same person who was able to keep all of your crushes since the seventh grade was now willingly announcing someone's feelings to the one person they shouldn't be announced to - at least, not yet.

"that's exactly the point. it's even more exciting to guess!" chaeri continues, "also, it's about time she gets a love life. i'm pretty sure ballet gets tiring sometimes."

you pull her shoulder, hoping to hold her back. your effort ignored, she instead approaches your friend, hong mijung, sitting on the leftmost seat in classroom 1-C. you watch in defeat as chaeri's lanky figure sways her way to the girl on the other side of the room. she tells mijung in squeals, a mix of excitement and shock. you could practically see mijung's heart drop after hearing her words.

mijung stands up, following chaeri to the hallway. her face is flushed bright red and her mouth moves fast. chaeri only reassures the shorter girl, trying to calm her down from the flustering news. it's an amusing sight; seeing mijung jump out of her calm, relaxed demeanour.

thankfully, you'd managed to stop yourself from spilling any names, and if mijung's already skipping beats at the idea of someone crushing on her, you can only imagine her usual ballerina bun undoing itself once she found out the hip-hop dancer from the studio upstairs had feelings for her.

feeling bouts of guilt and relief, you decide to head to your locker. exams are finally over; that means emptying your backpack of multiple textbooks and freeing you of weighted hell - even if that meant you would lose your only means of exercise.

"boo." you jump at the familiar voice behind you.

"halloween's so last season, zhong chenle," you turn around and get an eye-roll in response.

chenle cocks his head at the two girls heading downstairs, "what's going on with mijung?"

"why do you want to know?"

"because she doesn't usually do..." he trails off into silence. you begin to hear mijung's voice echo from two stories below, and chenle snaps his fingers, "...that."

"point taken," you try to find something in your locker to fiddle with, wanting to dismiss the conversation.

he folds his arms, leaning on the lockers in front of you. "anyways, what happened?"

you feel his gentle eyes waiting on your answer, and that's when you realise it's too late to scram.

"would you be mad if someone leaked your feelings for someone without your permission to the person you have feelings for?"

chenle thinks for a moment, "yeah."

"...don't tell me you did that," you can hear his cheery tone drop.

"to my defence, i didn't tell it was jisung," you pause, "i told chaeri, and chaeri only, that someone likes mijung." you began.

"should i tell jisung? mijung has class after this and i don't want her getting all giddy talking about crushes in front of him."

chenle tilts his head in thought, "yeah. just give him a warning. and an apology, because, you know, duh."

"fuck, i'm sorry." you sigh as you text jisung, letting a string of curses follow throughout.

"i feel like he likes her. like, like likes her. a lot." chenle nods, moving to face your back. he places his chin on your shoulder as the two of you watch jisung react with a sequence of 'oh my god's, 'shit's, and numerous variations of a keyboard smash.

chenle's hands go to your arms, rubbing it in an attempt to soothe you. "what's done is done."

still, you feel nervous. like, a queasy-weird nervous feeling from your gut or somewhere around there. somehow, it's familiar.

"yeah, i know, but-"

"have you tried the new café downtown?"

fuck. looks like the feeling isn't going away today.

"is 'not enough pocket money' a valid excuse or does that phrase just not make sense in your head?" you say sarcastically, turning your head to find him weirdly sweet-smelling. he chuckles in response, and you feel him beaming his usual ear-to-ear smile.

"i'll pay." he says nonchalantly, lifting his head from your shoulder, "plus, i don't want you to sulk over one thing you did for the next week."

"you can't buy me happiness," you retaliate, almost as if guarding your shame.

"hey, science says chocolate releases dopamine. makes you happy." he puts his arm around your shoulders. at this point, it's hard to tell whether he actually wants to get closer to you or if your shoulders are just the perfect height for an armrest. you wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter, but you're never sure about the former.

still, it feels nice.

it turns out the "café" chenle referred to was more of a "waffle and coffee stand" downtown, its tables and seats taken by groups of content faces already. chenle insists the two of you line up anyways, your and chenle's eyes targeting a certain chocolate waffle. you could practically feel the warmth radiating off of the food, and your mouth waters at the thought of fudge filling your tastebuds as an abundance of sweet and bitter scents fill your nostrils.

you see him huff cold air as he speaks, his nose turning a light shade of pink. his cheeks follow, and it's only when his eyes meet with yours that you realised two things: your face is also tinted pink, and you've been staring. panicked, you swiftly avert your eyes. you had expected an obnoxious laugh or a direct jab from his part, but to your surprise, he only smiles.

randomly, you blurt, "have you ever thought of bleaching your eyebrows?"

he laughs, and then says, "only during exam season. you know, i think it would fit on you - actually you’d look good in anything." he shrugs, earning him a confused look from you.

the worker inside the stand shouts the number on your receipt, and it takes a while for the two of you to recover from the first bites you take. it was like medicine, and the side effects were: jumping, letting out less than appropriate sounds, and annoying others around you. in other words, the waffles were stupidly good. and you watched chenle space out like he's never eaten food before.

and he gave you the stupidest smile and the stupidest laugh and did the stupidest thing: he cupped your cheeks and looked straight into your eyes and made you believe this might be about more than waffles - thankfully, he'd swallowed his bite and you laughed it off.

he calmed down a bit after that, but you still can't fathom his warm hands on your face. it just made you want to reach into your stomach with a giant net and catch all the little butterflies.

"i'll walk you home," he says, out of the blue. you knew his house was located around the block, but you didn't want to point it out. besides, he's walked you home before, and he knows his way around town by now.

"okay." you smile.

"i kind of want to get back on stage again."

"really?"

"yeah. i miss the thrill of it all, you know? just having so many peoples' eyes on me, and i honestly just love to hear everyone cheer or cry or react," he continues as the two of you wait before the crossing, "i think the most powerful thing about performing is just knowing that you're making someone feel something, whoever it is. i just- i don't know."

"no, i get it. i don't really perform at all, but i've seen how happy you get on stage."

you remember that one class trip after midterms, in the talent show. chenle and jisung signed up to perform a parody of soulja boy's "pretty boy swag" as a joke, and as stupid as the lyrics were, the crowd absolutely loved it.

you also remember surfing the internet to find videos of him singing all throughout his childhood, spamming him with links of the videos in a group chat with him. though you made fun of him, you were sure of one thing; he had a talent for it.

the light turns green, and the two of you bathe in seoul's city noises once more, different aromas of street food and soju lighting up several sections of the block.

"Y/N," he calls.

"yeah?"

"i feel like i've known you for a while," he says suddenly.

you suck in the cold air as the two of you brisk walk; you barely have any time to process what he's just said. quickly, you respond, "yeah, me too."

he catches your reaction and says again, "it's like i was meant to know you, y'know? something about you just makes me feel like i've spent lifetimes with you."

he waits for your response, but there's none. you don't know what to say. 'something about you.' something about me? what is there about me?

"how- how do you know?" it's normal for him to speak so straightforwardly, but today feels different. you can't quite put a finger on it.

"this is weird, but your voice is familiar... and comforting, now that i think about it."

how does he say that so casually?

just as you're still trying to understand his words to you, chenle gradually intertwines his hand with yours.

at first, it's okay, and you feel like the butterflies have multiplied by the hundreds. but slowly, questions start to infiltrate your mind, and you have no choice but to pull him over to talk. fortunately, you're close to your house, and where you live, the streets are much quieter than his.

you stop abruptly, turning his calm face confused.

"zhong. chenle."

"that's my name?"

"yeah," you nod, "care to explain?"

he leans in closer to you (which made two seconds seem like two years), asking for you to repeat it again. you take a deep breath.

"why do you do anything? like- with me?" all you see is a confused look.

"because i-"

"you're so casual about everything and i don't know how to feel about it because one day we're project group partners that never talk and the next you walk me the long way home!"

you start to look him up and down as you speak, your pupils going in a zig-zag pattern across the boy. you're frantic and spewing words you don't even remember wanting to say, but you're focused on him, and only him. not the sunset that's tinting his violet hair blue; not the neighbouring house gates that make him look taller than he actually his; not even the puddle he's so close to standing on it's a hair strand away from staining his jordans.

you know him, and only him and how much his hair's grown it's covering his eyes; him and how his blazer, when pulled to his elbows, makes him look a bit like a k-pop idol; him and his red, unpierced ears, which colours' still show through his hair.

"and you buy me all these treats and put your fucking arms around me and basically back hug me so many times and act like it's no big deal that i'm getting confused whether or not you want me close or if i'm just a convenient armrest?"

you genuinely feel yourself getting lightheaded. am i going crazy?

"wait, but i thought you liked that because i saw jisung do it-"

"it's different! jisung's a friend - more like a brother - and yeah, of course i like it, but with you it's different! it's like- it feels some way, like- it's just-" you trip up on your words and give up.

"i- have feelings for you." you slow down your pace.

you look up at him and realise his eyes saw you first. he smiles, again, and it's only then that you get the urge to hold his hand or snuggle into the crook of his neck.

luckily, zhong chenle's a mind reader, and he goes on to wrap his arms around you, letting your head rest on the crook of his neck as you mumble, over and over again the words i like you like you're getting used to its vowels sounding out of your throat. it's some type of warmth you don't think you'll ever get with five layers of padded jackets or stupidly good waffles - and it smells like sandalwood.

"you don't have to return my feelings, just- know that i feel this way."

"i thought it was obvious?"

you pull away from the embrace, "what was obvious?"

"i've liked you since after that trip. you know, when i injured my ankle after the talent show," he shrugs, "you just came to the nurse's area, where i was, and you just- stayed there to be with me the entire night. and from then you just always approached me and, i don't know, treated me like a person instead of a walking bank."

"and i guess it didn't seem so obvious for you because we only really got close because of jisung, who you've known for forever. but i did go out of my way a few times, though."

"wait, when?"

"for starters, i walked you home a lot, bought you lunch a few times, paid for the cake on your birthday-"

"that was you?"

he scoffs.

"oh, i see." you hit him playfully, "that's why chaeri wasn't complaining about her wallet."

"but honestly," you began, "i think i've always thought you were a great, funny guy even before the trip. i remember you on the first day of school, basically shouting through the halls with your other friends from the second and third years. and i just remember, the first time hearing you talk and thinking: you're so damn confident. and when you got hurt and nobody really came to see you, i was just like, shit - nobody's going to check on him other than jisung?"

you continue as the two of you are nearing your house, pouring out the unspoken after months and months of bottling it up.

suddenly, chenle's phone rings. it's jisung calling.

"jisung-ah! call me later-"

unable to hear jisung, you read the call through chenle's face.

"wait... HOLY SHIT SERIOUSLY?"

"DUDE-" he looks down, unintentionally meeting your eyes. his tone softens, "dude, tell me later tonight, kay? i'm... in public right now."

you raise an eyebrow at him.

"well, i'm with Y/N."

then jisung speaks again, and chenle replies with a "yeah."

"oh- okay," he puts the call on speaker. the second he does that, the first thing you hear from jisung is "Y/N! GOD BLESS YOU."

"wait- why?"

"MIJUNG JUST ASKED ME OUT!"

you look to chenle, "i-is he kidding?"

"NO I'M NOT! I ALREADY PINCHED MYSELF THRICE- THIS IS INSANE!"

chenle laughs, "when and where?"

"movies and dinner... i'm never getting over this."

"wait so... does that mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

"well, you were kind of a snitch but i guess that ended well, so... no."

"i won't snitch next time, i promise. unless-"

"Y/N, there won't be a next time! there's no way i'm gonna stop liking mijung."

"proud of you bud. call us later, yeah? we're getting on the bus right now." chenle says nonchalantly, ending the call just like that.

"why did you lie?"

he grins and takes your hand in his, "why do you think?"

"oh, shut up," you laugh, reaching up to peck his cheek goodbye.

he looks at you, shocked, making you two simultaneously burst into laughter together. 

“ya! your breath smells like waffles!”

#nct #nct dream #chenle #zhong chenle #park jisung #waffles #fluff #nct dream fluff #kpop imagines #kpop #fanfic #imagine #au #high school

[defdaily]

[TRANSLATION] Praew Magazine April 2019 issue x JUS2: time for 2

Ahgase! Right here!

Thailand's summer heat wouldn't be able to compete with hotness from the duo brothers, "JB & Yugyeom of GOT7. In the newfound unit, JUS2, they released a new single- "FoCus On Me- that makes the fans scream with interest to add this new single to their collection. In this issue, Praew took a flight to South Korea to collect photos of these 2 hotties for you before we took the chance to have a chat with them. Chatting with them in South Korea is really something. JB took the seat at the head of the table, followed by Yugyeom who greeted Praew staff around the table in Thai style with Wai and the word "Sawaddee Krub"

First of all, we would like to ask you how the leader of GOT7 and the youngest brother of the group form this new unit (a special Korean song project created by specific members), JUS2, together.

“In concerts, the two of us often sing together. So, we often talk about which kind of unit we would form next. In parties after concerts, the higher-ups would often talk about this idea as well and they thought having the two of us work together on a new song would be fun. So, the idea was developed from that point and became this duo unit today." JB replied.

"We also share similar favorite song genres, and we want to represent our characters with the music style which is totally different from GOT7. So, we took part in the production of every song in this project. We created some of the songs together, and created the others separately. For the promo song, we got help from a song writer named Cosmic Boy. We hope that everyone would love our songs." Yugyeom explained.

Can the fans expect something special from this unit?

"The first special thing that the fans can expect from us is stage performance. The second thing is the music which is going to be something that the fans have never seen from GOT7. We try to focus more on expressing emotions through the music in this unit, and we tried our best to present our characters through the MVs and the music style." JB answered.

You mentioned that you share similar favorite song genres. Which genre are they?

“I like R&B and Hip-Hop. So, I tend to go with these music styles when I write a new song. I mostly go for R&B, and mix Trap beats into the song sometimes. Do you know Trap music? It's a type of Hip-Hop which we can mix it with R&B. If you ask me who is my favorite singer, I’d say Chris Brown (R&B singer) and Travis Scott, a Hip-Hop singer" (smile). Yugyeom answered first.

“For me, I don't particularly fond of any genre. If it's a good song, then I like it. Same goes for when I sing. If I like the song and it's the song that can express my feelings with good music, then I can sing it regardless of its genre. If I have to pick my favorite singer, I'd say D'Angelo is my idol. It doesn't mean that I want to make my songs like his though (smile). I also like to listen to Toro y Moi and Kaytranada's songs lately." JB shared his thoughts.

What are the secrets or tips you use to write a song that can impress everyone?

"There's no secret in my work process. It just needs a lot of thought. I mostly find inspiration from my own experience or the stories I can find around me such as movies, songs, or books. I also have my past like everyone, my love experience or others, which I can take to present in my song. It's the same as making a movie (Scenario)." JB replied immediately

“I also get new inspiration from my surroundings as well, from my point of view on different things in my daily life. For example, when I saw a couple on the other side of the road, I would imagine what they're talking about, how happy they are. Or when I saw people living their life, I would ask myself what is their happiness, where do they find it, maybe their happiness is family or children at home."

“For me, Hmm...I don't think I do anything special. I just want to have fun with it. I may put my life experience and my imagination into the lyrics, but I mostly just create a good result if I enjoy the process and are happy with it." Yugyeom shared his thoughts.

It seems your processes are quite different.

"Actually, we share the same trait which is that we both like to work freely and have fun with it. The difference might be our standpoint. Yugyeom wouldn't think too much and tend to be easy-going, but I would focus on the point. If we have to make a decision, I make a clear decision while Yugyeom is struggled to choose" (smile). JB denied our mention.

Yugyeom gave JB a dirty look. "I’m not like that anymore! Like JB said, and as we mentioned about the way we work, you'd see that our thoughts are quite different (smile). However, this difference is what makes JB a good consultant since he can point out something I couldn't think of which is a great help to me.

"Another difference would be our preference for food. We aren't picky, but JB would prefer Korean or seafood dishes. He also likes Thai food as well. ("Tom Yum Kung is my favorite, and I also love Gaeng Keow Wan Gai" JB mentioned.) However, I would prefer western dishes and red meat. For Thai food, ld say Khao Pad is the best."

Since you've been working together for a long time, have you had any conflict?

“Never. We do have our different thoughts, but if it's my responsibility, Yugyeom would respect my decision. And if it's his responsibility, I would respect his decision as well. In terms of group decision, we mostly agree with each other. I think he has grown up. Looking at how he conducts himself nowadays, I can say that he has become more responsible. I can't tell you the detail since it's his private life though" (smile). JB said with confidence.

So, has the big brother JB done anything that makes him look like a kid?

Yugyeom looked at JB before bursting a laugh. "Sure! Everyone would say that he's like a very naughty kid when he pulls a prank."

Since you are in this industry for 7-8 years already, do you remember the goal you had on the first day you entered this industry? And how far is your progress toward it now?

"My dream is still the same, which is to be a dance singer. To this day, I still have a long way to go, for both dancing, singing, and stage performance. I think I could keep getting better if I keep practicing." Yugyeom answered clearly.

“I’ve never had a goal. I used to be a b-boy dancer and I want to have a full experience with b-boy and Hip-Hop culture, but I have never set a goal to become a famous singer. If I get famous, that's good for me. I just want to dance the way I like and write songs freely. I didn't do it to get famous. All I want is just to give my all to make good songs." JB said.

“I still think that I need to produce more quality songs. Further than that, I want to keep working on it every day. Not to repeat the same thing over and over, but to explore something new to improve myself and widen my world with the new lessons and discoveries I could find along the way."

Looks like you two have come so far. What makes you become who you are today?

"I think it's diligence. As time passes by, I grow more diligent because I often think of the past which makes me feel that I could do things better but I didn't. That makes me try my best to keep getting better at my work so that I have no regret. It's to the point that everyone sees me as a very diligent and determined person." JB replied immediately. Yugyeom agreed to JB. "Like what he said, we just try our best and keep it up every day."

Have you ever been depressed or struggled because of your work? And how do you deal with it?

"Generally, it's my physical condition like when I'm tired or lack of sleep. Sometimes, I sit alone on a sofa and ask myself, what am I doing or why do I have to do it, which I believe that everyone has moments like this no matter what kind of job they do. However, I'm quite optimistic and easy to forget. When I start asking those questions, I'd just ask them and stop thinking further (laugh). Yugyeom shares his experience.

"My problem is that I think too much. I would overthink things over and over until it sinks into my heart which makes me feel very bad to the point that I can't sleep sometimes So, I normally try to sleep it off. If I feel very down, I will go out and meet my friends so that I can forget about it. When I have something on my mind,I will not tell the others. I usually try to figure it out myself. I may tell my parents about the problem on my mind, but that's only when they ask. If they don't ask, I don't talk" JB told us seriously. “But if we talk about physical tiredness like when I’m tired from work, I will think of when we released the song Never Ever. It was very cold back then. The time we finished our work and got into a warm place was the best. This memory could help me Cure my tiredness.”

Yugyeom took this chance to conclude. "I think we just need to be positive because no matter what's the problem, we can go through it"

What about the good time? Is there any good memory you get from work?

"I love to perform on the stage. Doing concerts is the best time in my working life." Yugyeom answered first.

"I do like to do concerts like him and I like the time we release a new album as well, but I would be happier when I get good feedback from my work. When GOT7 returned from the Eyes On You World Tour and received a lot of praise from the company or when I wrote You Are and got a praise message directly from the company's president at night, I was very happy. It makes me feel like every effort I put into my work pays off the good result." JB shared his memories

May you give some advice to the people who dream to be a popular and successful singer like you please?

"First of all, you must understand yourselves the most you can. Ask yourselves if this is really the job you want. You need to think carefully because you might regret and lose your way if this job turns out different from what you expect, but if you're sure about it, then you must give it your all to make a success of your dream. Do your best every day, and don't cower before any obstacle." JB, as the group leader, gave his advice

You have visited Thailand so many times and you will pay a visit again in the near future. Is there anything in Thailand that impresses you?

“I really love Thai food, especially seafood with a lot of shrimps. For traveling, I like Phuket the most. I saw a lot of advertising about Phuket, then I travelled there and found that it's a really great place. (Yugyeom nodded and agreed with JB. "Exactly, Phuket is the best. ") Oh! There's another place I want to visit. It’s Phi Phi Islands which I heard that we need to take a boat from Phuket to go there." JB answered with a smile.

"If we talk about Thailand, I would think of Thai fans. Every time we visit Thailand, Ahgases would treat us very well. The event that impressed me the most would be during the Eyes On You World Tour in Bangkok. The fans on the 3rd floor arranged pink glow signs to form the word GOT7 Saranghae (We love GOT7)" Yugyeom answered excitedly.

"That's right. I remember that Bambam would report the number of audiences to us before the concert excitedly. He said, You know that this is Thailand, right? All the 12,000 seats are packed full, you know? (laugh) Our Thai fans treat us very warmly. If it's American or westerner fans, they would enjoy the concert with us, but Thai fans would give us their all." JB confirmed Yugyeom's opinion.

Is there anything you want to say to Thai fans? JB pleaded with the fans first. "We are JUS2, the special unit from GOT7. We hope that you would like and enjoy our new release, Focus On Me. We put our feelings into this song. And I want to thank everyone for supporting us all this time. Thailand would be really hot right now. So, please take care of your health" (smile)

"Everyone would have been waiting for us for so long. I do want to meet everyone soon as well. Please support us in unit JUS2. We made the song and created new moves for this unit ourselves and we hope that you would love it." Yugyeom pleaded the fans with cuter tone. “Rak na…“ (love you.)

Scans by ‪coconutverbena‬

For more pictures check out: https://twitter.com/coconutverbena/status/1113992114176528384

[thefreshfinds]

BROKEN KID: POP MALCOLM

Popping into the music scene with an idiosyncratic sound — independent Houston hip hop artist, writer and audio engineer Pop Malcolm prides himself in creating a sound that can be called his own. Moreso he breaks all barriers in every element of hip-hop. Aside from being less braggodious than the rest, Pop Malcolm combines a quick combo of different flows with superlative punchlines and metaphors. Most of all, Pop Malcolm isn't afraid to fluncuate between a sound for the old and new school heads. Still, he uses bits of video game effects in the mix but says "it's new wave hip hop the right way." Not only is Pop Malcolm relatable but he leaves the listener with some things to ponder on. The best way to describe Pop Malcolm is as an avid thinker and it's displayed through his bars. Take for instance "Days Passed", in the middle of the song he expresses how some things we've been taught in school are pointless because they aren't used once you start working in your field of choice. Another great thing about Pop Malcolm's music is his way of subtly giving advice to those listening. "Broken Kid" fits best in this scenario solely due to the beginning of the song where he looks at himself in the mirror and says "I believe in you, even if nobody else does. I believe in you. We gonna see it through." Here, he's saying to keep going for you and ignore all the noise.

His project, Broken Kid doesn't miss a beat. It's self-reflective. And even gives a big middle finger to those who doubted him but are now "believers", a dab to his day ones, nonstop grind and shows his immense love towards a wifey type who'd he fight for. Equally important, Broken Kid can't be hindered by just one genre. It has a heavy influence of R&B, old school rap, rock and more! It's pure hip hop but even metal fans like his music. You can digest it if you're not a rap fan and really enjoy it if you're a hip hop head. Broken Kid basically shows off Pop Malcolm's prime excellence in the game. All the while, Pop Malcolm passes along what he's learned. He stays lowkey to remain high key. And knows that anything is possible if he leaves it up to God and stays optimistic. "My theme in Broken Kid  is honesty. Rappers make songs about things they don't do and sell their fans a fake life just to let them down. I am who I am on and off the mic. Every song has its own theme but my overall intention is to deliver real music people can relate to, appreciate and still bang in the whip. I can't fail if I stay myself and stay in my own lane." he goes on to say.

The first track, "golden ticket" has a beat that can be best described as intergalactic fused with a combative base. He is less concerned with others opinions because they’re focused on things that aren’t even important. Instead, Pop Malcolm goes to say that he just wants to move the youth because they are the future after all. Apart from his dual flows, his voice is used with much force. It also includes an 808, hi-hats and an interesting piece from the xclophone.

"days passed" stresses that Pop Malcolm doesn't want snakes around him. Lyrically he comes the hardest and even goes on a run. "days passed" also speaks on homies he’s lost and addresses that he’s been through things. Yet he doesn’t go into depth about his personal issues. Instead Pop Malcolm counts his blessings and stays optimistic toward the future. Beat wise, he uses a lush 90's R&B beat that goes smoothly with his words.

Then theres "broken kid" which is more of a chillwave song with an old school hip-hop and 8-bit influence. With a woodpipe to back him up, Pop Malcolm is more relfective and speaks on a time where he was looked down upon. But through it all, he flourished! An example can be seen in this one line where he says "I use to get made fun of. Now I get the green like Mario in one up."

Afterwards, "fwm" goes off. He basically keeps his distance from most because they're fake and even goes to say that most are p***y's. The reason he's able to differentiate the real from fake because of how money hungry they get. Sonically, the beat uses 8 bits, drum rolls, pixelized flute and an organ. " It was a track that is really raw and is for the spitter fans. I would make more tracks like that but I feel I need to keep a balance in how I approach tracks to stay fresh." Pop Malcolm says.

Immediately "key" changes the vibe. On my first listen, I interpreted it as a bosa nova track but "key" really is dancehall and hip-hop in between. The beat fuses the marimba with video game like synths, slightly low guitar chords and hi-hats. Needless to say it does a great job! Here, Pop Malcolm says that hes aiming for success by investing and saving. Although he's all about his hussle, he advices others to not let money overrule their life. My favorite line can be found in the span, 2:34.

"ollie" essentially speaks on his grind. The beat sounds somewhat similar to "Hotline Bling" by Drake but it seperates itself from that stigma by using an overruling japanese driven piano, reverse sound effect again, hi-hats and base. " I think it has a lot of layers and things many people can relate to. It's sonically a masterpiece." Pop Malcolm adds.

Whereas "piano" tells people to think again because he's not about to get played. Pop Malcolm shuts it down by coming hard with a base-heavy combative beat and destructable bars towards the fools.

All he wants is respect, and "rapper name" deems it with great success. See the thing he's moved by in hip-hop is its rawness. "It's seen as rebel music" Pop Malcolm says "When people talk about music they tend to leave out hip-hop or say it's not even music. I feel there's a lot of art and stories and hip hop and it's looked over as trash because of the radio and ignorant people. I respect the art." This song is another reflective one that speaks on certain hardships he has faced. Pop Malcolm is really trying to be a better person and is actually hurt that people would ask him to change his name. Really, he's just trying to cope. Sonically, it has a more softer side. It's meshed with twinkles, flunctuating guitar riffs, hi-hats and the reverse sound effect.

Lastly, "trustworthy community" leans more toward boom-bap. He goes to say that humanity is a lie, thus why it's so hard to trust America as a whole. This song also took a lot of emotion out of Pop Malcolm but still was one of his favorites to create.

On the whole, Pop Malcolm says in his own words that anybody can relate Broken Kid. It doesn't hold gender or race to it. "I just wanted to create something that shows we are all a bit f***d up, relating to things that aren't always fun and just being honest. All I can promise is honesty and that translate into what I create."

Moving forward, Pop Malcolm hopes to collab with Le$ but most importantly, he wants to quit his day job when his music takes off. He's excited for the tours and meeting fans. However, he really wants to take care of his family.

Pop Malcolm's advice to any upcoming artist is to never sign a deal, stay true yourself, plan for the long haul and take care of BUSINESS. "The fast way isn't the best way."

Make sure to stream Broken Kid. It's available on all streaming platforms

By: Natalee Gilbert

LINK(s):

1. Instagram - @friendwthechain

2. "Broken Kid" - https://soundcloud.com/rdpent/sets/brokenkidalbum

3. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhW1ZWCTqkOUV0TUbY6Eqw

#soundcloud #freshfinds #music #musicblog #rap #listen #banger #musicians #hip hop #follow #brokenkid #popmalcolm #albumreviews #hiphopunderground #hiphopwired #hiphopblogger #hiphopreviews #xxlfreshman2019 #nojumper #power1051 #rnbsoul #medal #rock #artistreviews #musicjournalism

[darapnerd]

G33k HQ Presents: MC Front-A-Lot Interview

Interview Questions From G33K-HQ & Darealwordsound (Wordy): Nerdcore Interview Collaboration Questions

MC Front: Thank you for bearing with me! So sorry to continually drop the ball on this. Here you go.

Wordy: What was your first creative outlet? MC Front: I seem to remember kindergarten involving a lot of drawing. First and second grade had poetry exercises sometimes. But the way we played D&D between 2nd and 6th grades was how my imagination really got fired up. We didn\'t like dice and maps that much. We\'d take turns DMing and just sort of freestyle the stories to each other at recess. Wordy:  What was the first rap album you ever purchased? MC Front: It was also my first CD. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, He\'s the DJ, I\'m the Rapper. Wordy: Who are your biggest music inspirations?

  MC Front: Tom Waits, Public Enemy, Bjork

Wordy: Describe your studio to us.

  MC Front: I have an Ikea desk that\'s been out of print for 10 years so I get fussy when anyone leans on it. Creaky, cheap old thing. It\'s the only one where you can bolt the rotating side shelves at any height. Perfect for the near-field monitors and re-aiming them for any version of the stereo field. I mix there in my bedroom which isn\'t treated, but I\'ve been in there so long that I can work around most of the room effects. I have a coat closet fully treated, very dead and dry, for vocals. I keep some buttons in there to engineer myself, but everything\'s still happening on the studio computer. My pre-amp and mics and monitors are satisfactory. I could use a better ADC/DAC.

  I will record occasional hand percussion, etc, in that closet booth, but very little fits in there. For other acoustic capture, I\'ll rent time at a real studio (any time I\'m tracking my drummers) or I\'ll go field-record strings at someone\'s apartment.

  A solid two thirds of the non-vocal sound on the albums is electronic, and I can get keyboard performances or work on drum machine material in the project studio without worrying about the ambient noises of Brooklyn.

  Wordy: Describe your ideal home studio if money wasn\'t a problem.

  MC Front: A proper treatment of the mixing room would be great. I guess I\'d have twenty of these Avalon pre-amps and a little drum room, as well as a booth big enough for upright bass or cello. There is almost unlimited fanciness available in the hardware market... I guess I\'d have to make a hobby out of shopping. I\'d still use Reaper as my DAW, though -- the least expensive version of that kind of software, and also the best. I could probably spend sixty grand on plugins.

Wordy: What is your creative process for writing and or producing a song?

MC Front: Baddd Spellah, my Canadian beatsmithing partner, has been kind enough to work on grooves with me for the last fifteen years. Usually I will start with something he\'s been kicking around, or he\'ll take a pass at some live drum that I\'ve been chopping up, and we\'ll add keyboard material from Gm7 (Gaby Alter), my longtime music co-writer. When there is a verse-appropriate groove that is in pretty good shape, I\'ll leave it on loop and write. Once in a while, I\'ll write a hook over a groove that feels like a chorus, and start from there. After I\'ve got most of a lyric, I\'ll put down a scratch vocal so that Spellah and I can build a full song arrangement. Then I\'ll record too many takes of the final vocal, and spend too many months dicking around with the comp, the mix, and all the instrumental details. Finally I\'ll listen to it on as many different devices as I can, fine-tune the mix, and stay up for a week and a half making increasingly bad decisions about everything on the album, leading up to the mastering appointment I foolishly committed to several months prior.

  Wordy: What is your happiest On-Stage Moment?

  MC Front: I think a PAX crowd demanded a second encore once. That makes you feel like a superstar.

Wordy: What was your favorite song to write or record?

  MC Front: Maybe Stoop Sale? But that might be because the video came out so well. For the most part, my happiness with the process relies entirely on the result: it makes me happy to listen to a track if I don\'t just hear a barrage of fuckups that it\'s too late to go back and fix. But there aren\'t very many of those. Of all my lyrics, I\'m probably proudest of Two Dreamers from the Question Bedtime album. I feel like I worked out every bit of the story and then obscured it just enough that the listener\'s careful attention is rewarded.

Wordy: What advice do you have for aspiring artists?

  MC Front: Practice a lot, develop your talent. Get the skills you need to properly communicate with whoever your creative partners are. Take the craft seriously but give yourself a break for not having mastered it -- that is a lifelong process with no actual end goal.

Wordy: What project do you feel best describes you as an artist?

  MC Front: The Nerdcore Rising documentary probably says more about me and the band than I\'d ever be able to, and in kinder words. Of my own projects, I like the Zero Day and Solved albums as a window into whatever it is I\'m trying to say about nerdcore.

Wordy: How do you feel about the disconnect between \"Nerdcore\" and \"HipHop\"?

  MC Front: Well, hip-hop is a cultural movement with very specific origins and elements. Rap is a formal music style that emerged from hip-hop. Any \'variation\' or \'new perspective\' that someone brings to rap is fine -- if meaningless. It might matter that you came up with a new thing to say, but the fact that you chose an unusual form for your expression should be the least interesting thing about it. You can write a march for your peace movement, even if marches come from military music, because the march itself is just a formal style of composition. You\'d be smart to note the ironic relationship there, or you\'d be dumb to suggest that there isn\'t one, or that your choice to use a march as an expression of pacifism somehow reaches backward and affects the origin of the form. Anyone who thinks they\'re \'expanding\' or \'liberating\' hip-hop from its roots by rapping about things that haven\'t been rapped about traditionally is probably an idiot. 

  My idea about hip-hop was only to observe that it was cool. Like, it was the coolest thing happening in American culture when I was a kid, and it probably still is. Breakdancers were the coolest kids on the playground. Graffiti kids were the coolest outlaws in fourth grade. And rappers were the coolest possible composers of verse.

  To want to compose and perform verse in that formal style without having any direct connection to hip-hop, and without being cool, is the sort of desire nerd kids might express by themselves, away from arbiters of hipness, and share only with other uncool kids. The idea of nerdcore went no deeper than that, originally. I\'m glad that a lot of other DIY rappers have found that resonant enough to expand upon.

  Wordy: Do you feel more \"Nerdcore\" rappers should know about its roots in \"HipHop\"?

  MC Front: Definitely. I remember trying to write a Villanelle in a college poetry class. First, we had to read and dissect a sheaf of them. The professor was of the opinion that we would all flounder in the assignment, because there had been only a handful of good Villanelles ever written. I\'m sure none of us wrote one of lasting value. The point was to learn how formal composition connects works, and to appreciate the complications. You can always just do it anyway. But knowing where it comes from and how it\'s been attempted before teaches you how to try to do it well. I think anyone who wants to compose lyrics within the rap genre should know all they can about how raps have been composed so far.

  That doesn\'t even begin to address the cultural issue. Some artists misidentify nerdcore as comedy music, and worse yet, think the joke is \"it\'s rap, but white kids are doing it.\" I think that outlook leads to the weakest possible songs, and is generally disrespectful of hip-hop in a way that concerns me and offends anyone who cares about American culture. Of course, not all of the nerdcore rappers are white, but all of the schticky ones are. I wonder if a delve into hip-hop\'s history would cure them of that impulse, or at least afford them the humility to hush it up.

Wordy: Are you involved in any philanthropy in your local communities or abroad?

  MC Front: I try to do something in support of Child\'s Play every year. I\'m going to contribute to the upcoming Worldbuilders album project.

Wordy: Can you freestyle? Meaning rap off the top of the head? If so, can we see you drop a few bars next time live?

  MC Front: I never do this! I think I\'ve conditioned myself into a certain kind of vanity. Almost everything on the albums is rapped in complete sentences, with rhymes that I\'ve never used previously. Freestyling doesn\'t work that way. I\'m too ashamed to let anyone see me freestyling about the frog, on a log, in a bog, who got sog-gy.

Wordy: Do you consider yourself a “GEEK”?

  MC Front: Of course.

Wordy: In your own words, describe what the word “GEEK” means to you?

MC Front: I decided at some point a long time ago that geeks are all direct descendants of the side-show geek, whose job was biting heads off of chickens. They weren\'t special in any way, except that they were willing and able to do that thing, and it was a fairly extreme thing to do. But because nobody else at the carnival was willing to go to that extreme, the geekery came to seem like a highly specialized skill.

  That\'s why you can be a geek about anything. You just need a topic where your knowledge or expertise is so specialized that it seems distastefully extreme to non-geeks. You can geek out about fantasy novels or about robot AIs. But you can also geek out about car engines or cooking. You don\'t have to be a nerd to geek out.

  Nerds are almost always geeks, and their subjects of geekery are often recognizably nerdy. But a nerd is something else, a person who was already too weird or too smart, and felt alienated, and embraced geekery as an alternative to whatever broader pursuits the cool kids enjoyed.

  Wordy: What is your earliest geek memory?

  MC Front: I was a Star Wars geek starting at age three and a half when the first one came out. It was the only thing I wanted to do. I made adults take me to see it 11 times before Empire came out (I kept careful count). I collected the Kenner figures obsessively until they stopped making new ones a year or two after Jedi.

  Wordy: What is your \"Geek\" hobby? Do you collect comic books? Anime? Video games?

  MC Front: I do still love comics, but I own too many. Video games take up less space. I spend more time gaming than I do working on music, occasionally 70 or 80 hours in a week. It\'s as much an emotional self-medication as it is a hobby.

Wordy: Who are your Top 5 emcees dead or alive?

  MC Front: In no order: Busdriver, MF Doom, Del, Q-Tip, Chuck D

Wordy: When is your next show or tour?

  MC Front: When I get the dang old album done! Maybe spring 2017 for tour. PAX South is the soonest lone show.

Wordy: Do you have a new album coming out?

  MC Front: It\'s called INTERNET SUCKS, and it is going to have a heavy \'get off my lawn\' vibe. Everyone will be mad at me, yet secretly agree with every word on the record. Watch for it to take your feeds by storm.

  http://frontalot.com

more at darealwordsound