#she hates artists like cardi b and beyoncé

[spicymarinarasauce]

my mom isn’t speaking to me because I told her I don’t have the time to care about celebrities

#she was trying to get me angry about the grammy’s #she hates artists like cardi b and beyoncé #and im like #mom im a college student #i dont give a fuck #and she did NOT like that

[bobbystompy]

My Top 88 Songs Of 2020

Previously: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Though we couldn’t get as trim as last year’s 75, still very happy to keep this under 100 for the second year in a row. This was a very difficult year in many ways, but music helped make it more bearable.

As always, criteria and info:

This is a list of what I personally like, not ones I’m saying are the “best” from the year; more subjective than objective

No artist is featured more than once

If it comes down to choosing between two songs, I try to give more weight to a single or featured track

Each song on the list is linked in the title if you wanna check them out for yourself; there is also a Spotify playlist at the bottom that includes the majority of the songs

Usually a pump up video goes here, but 2020 had a different energy, so Michael, take us in.

88) Katy Perry - “Smile”

Even Katy Perry’s good songs are a swirling spiral of maxed out auto-tune. This one is just fine. It’s... fine.

87) All Time Low - “Trouble Is...”

Is All Time Low the Katy Perry of pop punk?

86) Tee Grizzley f/ Payroll Giovanni - “Payroll”

I have never heard of Payroll Giovanni, but I have two questions:

1) Is this his song, and he got Tee to jump on it?

2) Or, did Tee write a song called “Payroll” and think to himself “You know who would be great on this? Payroll Giovanni!”

Favorite stretch:

Listen, we is not the same, you say "door", I say "dough" You say "floor", I say "flow", you say "for sure", I say "fa'sho"

85) Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande - “Rain On Me”

Coming out in 2020 probably hurt this song, because I have no, like, out of the house memories with it. You can only have so much fun with Big Singers Singing over a pulsing beat when it’s coming from the phone in your kitchen as you’re indifferently scrambling eggs.

84) Benjamin Gibbard - “Life In Quarantine”

Now this is a song you can do nothing to; almost feels like it’s reluctant to even exist. It got released in March of 2020, so the outro (“No one is going anywhere soon”) served as a too sad reminder/mantra for what the year was about to be. Second shout out to Gibbard for the many YouTube sets he put together during the early stages of the pandemic (when so many of his peers were trying to figure out the next move).

83) Cardi B f/ Megan Thee Stallion - “WAP”

This felt less like a song and more of a “whoa, did you see the music video?!” and/or a means to relitigate the eternal question “What is the sexual line in music?” And while it was fun to watch people freak the fuck out... the quality itself really needed to be better.

(Note: YouTube video is the edited chorus; explicit version here)

82) McKayla Maroney - “Wake Up Call”

Former Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney -- of medals and memes fame -- dips her toe into the music waters. It’s inside-the-box modern pop music. One thing that’s hard to escape: it doesn’t really sound like her.

81) Chelsea Cutler - “Sad Tonight”

He vocals really remind me of Alessia Cara.

80) blink-182 - “Quarantine”

Blink doing a Bad Religion impression. Docked a few points for the very weak chorus lyrics (“Quarantine, fuck this disease”). That said, as serious as the song comes off, there are some clever punchlines to be found.

79) Dave Hause & Brian Fallon - “Long Ride Home”

This is kind of a nothing song, but it’s easy listening. Also, if your guitar leads can’t clear the “Could Bobby have written or performed this?” bar, then said leads are probably pretty weak.

78) Travis Scott & Kid Cudi - “THE SCOTTS”

Two artists who pair so well together, it’s hard to tell who exudes more influence on the track (eh, that’s not true, it’s Travis Scott, but Kid Cudi is more of a roommate than guest). They want you to be high by the time the instrumental outro hits.

77) The Strokes - “Bad Decisions”

The beginning sound feels somewhat evolved, but by the time Julian Casablancas croons “Making bad decisions”, the song feels like it could be on their debut album “Is This It?”. And it goes in and out like that from there.

76) Thundercat - “Dragonball Durag”

Thundercat is one of those artists I wish I liked more, but when the occasional track does hit, it’s a momentary glimpse into what real fans seem to always see.

75) TI f/ Lil Baby - “Pardon”

Standard fare. Lil Baby’s cameo is very meh.

74) Porches - “Do U Wanna”

For a song that repeatedly asks “Do you want to dance?”, it sure makes you feel like you’re moving in slow motion.

73) NOFX - “Thatcher Fucked The Kids” 

On the best-named album of the year (“West Coast vs. Wessex”), Frank Turner and NOFX cover each other’s material. To start us off, the legends take a song from 12 years ago about British politics from 40 years ago and, well, very easily apply it to right god damn now in America.

72) The Bombpops - “Dearly Departed”

Ahh, my year’s first cancelled concert. The listed names in V1 always make me want to skip this song -- but patience, grasshopper. Chorus is aight.

71) Ratboys - “Alien With A Sleep Mask On”

This band name will never match what the music sounds like.

70) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - “She’s There”

The vocals in this song channel, like, four completely different singers for me, ranging from Bob Dylan to Cloud Nothings.

69) NOBRO - “Don’t Die”

An anthemic chorus meant to be belted in a room with sweaty strangers.

68) Oliver Tree f/ blink-182 - “Let Me Down”

The original solo version of this song is 1:52, and though the blink cameo pushes it over the dreaded two minute mark, it adds enough diversity to justify the choice (keep an eye out for the quick Green Day lyrical nod in the back half).

67) AJJ - “Normalization Blues”

This dropped in January, and if you thought the year was bad then. Punk News:

I'll admit I do want the album to age badly because I really don't want to have to listen to it years later and still say this is the world we're living in.

Said album being titled “Good Luck Everybody” is straight cryptic.

66) Selena Gomez - “Rare”

Very chill for big pop; triplet rhythm singing in the chorus gets me erry time.

65) Kid Cudi & Eminem - “The Adventures Of Moon Man & Slim Shady”

Cudi’s second split collab yields bigger results than his Travis Scott joint (admittedly with a worse beat here). It rarely ever hurts to let Eminem do the heavy lifting.

64) Alkaline Trio - “Smokestack”

A little cheerier than the average Alk3 song, but Dan Andriano seems like he’s been in a great place for a long time now; confident and in control. For me, the whole song builds up to the “You changed my life” chorus.

63) Frank Turner - “Scavenger Type”

Here, Frank takes on the acoustic closer to NOFX’s legendary 1994 album “Punk In Drublic”. Though the energy boost is most noticeable, my favorite part is how you can hear how much Turner loves this song as his melody bursts on the verses.

62) Mike Posner - “Alone In A Mansion”

Mike Posner, an artist I have a very soft spot for, released a storytelling concept album in 2020. From the intro track:

This album was written, recorded, and produced over a period of two weeks in Detroit, Michigan in my parents' basement. It's meant to be listened to all the way through. At least on the first listen. And it's about 36 minutes long. If you can't devote 36 minutes of undivided attention to this album, I again politely ask that you turn it off and return at a later time. I love you and I thank you for taking the time to listen in the first place. Also, it's important to note that the characters and the stories in this album are completely fictional. In addition, anyone struggling with a mental illness - depression, schizophrenia - should not listen to this album. Turn it off.

So those are the stakes. Pulling this song -- the record’s closer -- feels unfair void of context, but them’s the breaks.

61) Nada Surf - “Just Wait”

Heavy hitting chorus without having to be heavy; this could really work in a movie.

60) Matt Pond PA - “Wild Heart”

This having only 805 views on YouTube is criminal.

59) Liquid Death - “Unnecessary And Unimpressive”

Liquid Death -- in this iteration -- is a punk rock supergroup with members of Rise Against, Anti-Flag, The Lawrence Arms, and The Bombpops. If that didn’t interest you enough, all lyrics in the project (which, I believe, is for charity) come from hateful comments or negative reviews. Of the four artists involved, this sounds most like a Bombpops song, with Jen on lead vocals as others chime in.

58) PUP - “Rot”

Off my silver medalist for album name of the year (“This Place Sucks Ass”), PUP doesn’t do anything new here, but it was relieving to see them still going in 2020 when so many others got roadblocked, both physically and creatively.

57) Paul Harrold and the Nuclear Bandits - “Massanutten”

This reminds me of local Chicago artist Al Scorch. So much earnestness in the vocals, but a little more prairie for Harrold compared to speakeasy for Scorch. This would be a good road trip song. And I’m not talking about singalong... more for the stretch where you want to sit in silence and look out at the sun-kissed land blazing by. The song’s greatest victory is getting me to like something that cracks 6:00.

Note to future me: Massanutten is in Virginia (saved you a Google).

56) Kesha f/ Sturgill Simpson, Brian Wilson & Wrabel - “Resentment”

Kesha has been vulnerable in the past but never this stripped down sonically; the chorus would feel right at home on a country radio station. Love a good bridge, too.

55) Megan Thee Stallion f/ Beyoncé - “Savage (Remix)”

An up-and-comer pairing with a legend rarely lets down when both sides are this locked in. Bey wins. Fav line: “If you don't jump to put jeans on, baby, you don't feel my pain”.

She matches flows with Megan but also brings melody. Her blessing takes this song from pretty damn good to undeniably great.

That beat, too.

54) Red City Radio - “Baby Of The Year”

If all you want to do right now is grab a drink in a bar, here is a video built to troll.

(Also: a Liquid Death cameo?!)

53) Nathaniel Rateliff - “And It’s Still Alright”

The last time Mr. Rateliff had our attention, he just wanted a drink. That hit had a chorus with the very-sad-when-removed-from-the-song “If I can't get clean, I'm gonna drink my life away” lyric. Well, our man got sober since. And when the party is over, the introspection comes.

52) Direct Hit! - “HAVE YOU SEEN IT?”

Listening to slowed down Direct Hit! is like watching Usain Bolt lightly jog. It kinda makes sense because the core action is there, but it also feels sort of incorrect.

51) Hayley Williams - “Dead Horse”

Solo Hayley songs have this feel like they could do anything at any time... but then don’t. This one does the same until a very fun chorus breaks it up.

50) Kid Cudi f/ Phoebe Bridgers - “Lovin’ Me”

Probably the most improbable collab on this list (if 2020 hadn’t repeatedly taught us to not be surprised by anything).

49) The Homeless Gospel Choir - “Don’t Compare”

Listening to The Homeless Gospel Choir is kind of like getting a dedicated pep talk from a good friend... while fire rains down from the sky.

48) Carly Rae Jepsen - “Let’s Sort The Whole Thing Out”

Queen vocals with one prince of a tempo; this chorus is Sour Patch Kids riding Twix logs down a soda pop waterfall -- and it’s a b-side.

47) Green Day - “Meet Me On The Roof”

I like this song because it reminds me of summer and because it doesn’t really sound like Green Day (but still totally does).

46) Broadway Calls - “Meet Me On The Moon”

Promise -- swear -- I was gonna compare this Broadway Calls song to Green Day before realizing they both had titles about meeting in an escalated location. That said, I did put them next together on purpose to more coherently make this point.

45) David Rokos - “Building Bridges”

My buddy Dave wrote this song, and I think I’ve asked him three times what “burning sugar” meant (he says it’s a reference to absinthe). This song will make you want to travel to enjoy not only the places but the people around you.

44) Charli XCX - “claws”

Charli XCX keeps it futuristic in a video that could be described as sexy, cheesy, goofy, and playful-yet-serious.

43) Brian Fallon - “Lonely For You Only”

This is too easy and should not work (and maybe doesn’t). But that chorus... that circular phrasing... it still takes me all the way out. But I’m the same cat who proposed while a Gaslight Anthem cover was playing.

42) Waxahatchee - “Fire”

This song could be in a different language and hit just as hard.

41) Harry Styles - “Adore You”

Purifying pop.

40) Local H - “Hold That Thought”

Hardest rock song thus far. Local H was one of the first artists to play “live” once the lockdown hit (on a simultaneous YouTube/Facebook stream), and watching them attack music in their Chicago practice bunker felt a little bit like taking in the end of the world. New songs, old songs, covers -- it didn’t matter; their cool, unmatched apathy fits a pandemic or peacetime.

Ironically, was able to see them live in 2020, as they played a socially distanced, outdoor drive up concert in a minor league baseball parking lot. It wasn’t the same, but it was still something.

39) Crazy & The Brains - “I Don’t Deliver Pizza Anymore”

This song is just cool*. The verses feel tense and crucial, it starts to unspool in the pre-chorus, and the chorus itself feels like a light comedown more than anything else.

(* -  though the lyric video is docked some points for spelling y’all as “ya’ll”)

38) Drake f/ Fivio Foreign & Sosa Geek - “Demons”

Menacing Drizzy can be very fun from time to time. Also more than happy to keep “Toosie Slide” very far away from this list.

37) Hey Dad!!! - “Life’s Alright”

Small band, big song; though summer feels light-years away.

36) insignificant other - “i’m so glad i feel this way about you”

This song lands a big haymaker in the first few seconds, so it was probably a good call to pull back some for the chorus and, eventually, outro.

35) BTS - “Dynamite”

Heard they made the lyrics bad on purpose for their English hit, which makes sense, because they’re bad. That said, if you listen knowing they’re supposed to be bad, it kinda makes them... good? Listen, 771 million views would have me singing nursery rhymes in Pig Latin.

34) DaBaby f/ RODDY RICCH - “ROCKSTAR”

Someone said this could be the song of the summer, but, because there wasn’t really a summer, I feel like I only heard it once all year. Also, are we really pretending Post Malone* didn’t just do a “like a rockstar” song three years ago?

(* - and N.E.R.D. before that and Cypress Hill before that... though N.E.R.D. only waiting a year after Cypress, so maybe DaBaby actually was patient)

33) The Front Bottoms - “the hard way”

Don’t take it easy on the animal / I am the animal

Not quite sure what this line means, but I fixate on the phrasing every single time. This song sounds resigned in a very self-aware way.

32) The 1975 - “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”

For a band called The 1975, they sure sound like they’re on their ‘80s shit here. Also, a real thing that happened:

Me: Is he coercing her to get naked?! I thought this band was woke.

/scans lyrics

/notices “She said” before the “Maybe I would like you better if you took off your clothes” line

Me: Ahh.

Sax solo, take us out.

31) Charly Bliss & PUP - “It’s Christmas And I Fucking Miss You”

A song that is already a forever staple on all my future Xmas playlists.

30) 2 Chainz f/ Ty Dolla $ign & Lil Duval - “Can’t Go For That”

Shorty said she love me / I said “I love me back”

This is a real genre blur; rap at its core, but also soulful, funky, and very danceable. Damn creative.

29) Billie Eilish - “Therefore I Am”

Billie's 2020 gave a few singles -- but no new album -- and a body shaming scandal where the backlash to the backlash probably caused more headlines than the tweet that started it all. Still, she stays on cruise control above the clouds; can all eyes be on you if they can’t even make you out?

Video for this is fun, too. Not sure if her running amok in an empty mall is more of a COVID necessity or commentary on the dying retail industry. As always with her, fill in your own blanks for now.

28) Future f/ Drake - ��Life Is Good”

This was my most listened to rap song in the first half of the year, and bumping again now, almost forgot how good it is. Drake just chasing one-liner Instagram captions in the first half:

- “Haven’t done my taxes, I’m too turnt up”

- “N****s caught me slipping once, OK, so what?”

- “B****, this is fame not clout, I don’t even know what that’s about”

And, of course, “Workin’ on the weekend like usual”. The man could make anything glamorous. Let’s hit that H&R Block, bro!

Future’s back half is a totally different song and feels mostly like noise, but the vibe is cool, so I don’t even totally mean that in a bad way. You can even make out a “Got Promethazine in my blood and Percocet” lyric to mark your Future bingo card and immediately move on.

27) I’m Glad It’s You - “The Silver Cord”

This song feels like cold air blowing on the back of your neck.

(Sidebar: thought this band was called The Silver Cord until literally right now)

26) The Spill Canvas - “Mercy”

A dreamy, distorted, at-home version of whatever you remember The Spill Canvas sounding like. This song is confessional and at peace, with the Grade A self-loathing we’ve come to love from this band.

25) 100 gecs f/ Charli XCX, Rico Nasty & Kero Kero Bonito - “ringtone (remix)”

100 gecs first hit my radar with the explosively obnoxious “money machine”, but that’s a 2019er, so this remix to “ringtone” will have to do. It’s catchy like a younger sibling persistently singing a song you’re sick of hearing*.

(* - /only child trying to work in sibling analogies)

24) iann dior f/ Machine Gun Kelly & Travis Barker - “Sick And Tired”

Iann Dior -- ...yeah -- channels Juice WRLD on the hook, and MGK/Travis Barker buoy a track that, honestly, doesn’t really even need the help.

23) Nick Lutsko - “Unleash Your Spirit”

Lutsko hit my radar on Twitter with some legendary political anthems (word to the RNC and Dan Bongino + his Dashboard Trump parody). “Unleash Your Spirit” is the song I most fear hearing (or even thinking of) within a few minutes of going to bed. Not because it’s Halloween theme is scary -- because it’s that god damn catchy. It permeates your brain. True story: a week ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with “Bobbing for apples with the boys” so ingrained in my head, it felt like someone was standing there yelling it through a megaphone.

22) Dogleg - “Kawasaki Backflip”

Bad 2020 robbed many concerts from us, and not getting to see this band live might take the cake. I end the year liking them but could have been *all in* with the right performance and the right venue. Also, Song Title of the Year until further notice.

21) Eminem f/ Juice WRLD - “Godzilla”

Eminem has all of the words and all of the lyrical dexterity, but sometimes it feels like there isn’t anything to ground him. Enter: one of the best beats he’s ever spit on and a Juice WRLD hook to give it pop angle. But let’s not put Slim in the corner -- when he starts accelerating at the end, it’s is a true “holy fuck” moment. It sounds faster than if you actually fast forwarded.

The video ends with a touching audio message from Juice WRLD.

20) Soccer Mommy - “circle the drain”

This song is so gloriously ‘90s; it leans in and does not care.

19) Sam Russo - “Always Lost”

The first time I met you, we were on the last bus You passed me a bottle, and I knew you were one of us

Took 25 words to hook me; I was txting friends before the first chorus even hit.

18) Sincere Engineer - “Trust Me”

Deanna Belos pushes her vocals in this one. I asked about the performance, and she said it was one of the first ones they recorded in the studio, but when they were done and listening back to everything, she re-did this track because her throat was much more used to what the song required.

“That’s why it sounds like I’m on roids lol,” she added.

17) Jay Electronica f/ JAY-Z - “Flux Capacitor”

Jay Electronica signed to Roc Nation in November of 2010. At of the start of 2020, he had still -- STILL HOW FUCKING STILL -- not released a debut album. When he announced it was finally dropping in February, it was met with skeptic eyes. He’d “announced” before. Shit, he’d even posted track lists of albums that never saw the light of day. He was a tease’s tease. It ended up getting a release date of March 12. As the pandemic got really bad in the March 11 zone, he finally had an actual reason to delay the proceedings (the plan: a studio live stream listening party*).

But no -- this is Jay Electronica. Why wouldn’t he drop as the world was ending? The same reason why his costar wouldn’t not have a watch like a Saudi prince. It had to end for it to happen. I wish I saved the memes, because they were fantastic. All I have is my own Twitter memory to prove it happened:

I love this song entirely: the “get the gat” hook (soooo New Orleans), Hov calling out the NFL/acquaintances clout chasing his potential death/rapping forever bars, Jay Elect’s ham-fisted and awkward ass Farrakhan line. Everything is exactly where it should be.

Final verdict on the full album: I don’t know, a B or B+? It had a lot more Jay-Z than expected (wooo), but -- and I rarely say this -- it could have actually been longer.

16) New Found Glory - “Greatest Of All Time”

NFG with a song referencing the Jordan-Rodman-Pippen Bulls only a few months before “The Last Dance” aired. Dare we call it marketing genius? The punk beat does not care; the punk beat is too busy taking souls.

15) Dave Hause f/ Amythyst Kiah & Kam Franklin - “Your Ghost”

“I can’t breathe”

On the heels of the George Floyd/BLM protests came Dave Hause’s somber attempt to capture the moment, desperation, and hurt. On a podcast, he said he was aware he might not ever lead the movement but still wanted to contribute something in an effort to use his platform as a white artist to change someone, anyone’s mind going forward.

14) Taylor Swift - “this me trying”

The chorus makes me feel like the crowd is parting like the Red Sea on a high school -- shit, no, middle school -- dance floor; smoke machine and all. Your crush is waiting for you on the other side. What are you going to say?

13) Phoebe Bridgers - “Kyoto”

Phoebe is one of the best lyricists out because of her specificity, but even though this song is about her dad, you can really fit it to your own narrative.

12) The Lawrence Arms - “Last, Last Words”

The Lawrence Arms wrote their new record (which singer Chris McCaughan described as “this end of the world outpost”) prior to the pandemic, but once you start to process album themes -- and research its namesake -- you do wonder. All of this, combined with some “Catcher In The Rye” references, and we’ve got ourselves a winning formula.

Dressed to kill for oblivion 

11) New Lenox - “Fairytale Of Gary, Indiana”

Your boy plays drums and is on the cover art for this one. Dave Rokos wrote the tune, which references The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York”. Good news: no slurs in the Gary version. We’ll have you in and out in 90 seconds. Also: say hello to the recording debut of Alisa Caruso (some backup vox at the end). 

10) Beach Slang - “Tommy In The 80s”

My most played song of 2020, but it really was more of a byproduct of how early in the year the album dropped. I’m still such a sucker for it, though. Other than forced nostalgia, not totally sure what the track is about. Did learn Beach Slang recruited former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson to play on their LP, which was named -- /deepest of breaths -- “The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City” (so maybe it has something to do with that).

9) Juice WRLD f/ Mashmello - “Come & Go”

The :55 mark. Wait until the :55 mark. When the guitar kicks in and tempo doubles, we have a real “oh, shit!” moment. I knew who Juice was when he passed but only “Liquid Dreams”. His 2020 album (“Legends Never Die”) showed us of what could have been; 55 minutes, loaded with cameos and creativity and experimentation. This song had me in its gravitational pull immediately. By the end of the year, they were using it on sports broadcasts, and it felt like a ubiquitous part of the culture.

One of my favorite days of 2020 was visiting the Juice mural in Chicago with my wife. We went impulsively during the day after someone posted a picture on Twitter.

I snapped one of my own and posted to IG with the Signals Midwest lyric “There is such quiet grace in private moments in public spaces”. The band responded with “RIP JUICE”; the perfect online exchange.

Shortly after, I was out with a different group of friends, and we went back at night. This time, it was protected by a fence you had to squeeze past. When we got through, there were kids in there smoking, taking pictures, just hanging out; empty liquor bottles lined the bottom of the mural. Even though it didn’t take all that long to make it there, it still felt like a journey and total ‘movie moment in real life’; a complete rarity in a year like 2020.

8) Mac Miller - “Good News”

Maybe I’ll lay down for a little...

Sadly continuing the theme of artists gone too soon, we have this reflective Mac Miller single, which feels more like self-eulogy than traditional rap. You feel it the entire time. The song crests with “There’s a whole lot more for me waitin’ on the other side”, and it conveys a readiness for whatever happens next.

7) The Dirty Nil - “Done With Drugs”

I don’t pray to Jesus or even own a suit

We lost the creators of our last two songs to substances, and, if we are to take this song at face value, The Dirty Nil don’t want to go down the same path. Drying out never sounded so cool and defiant... until the IKEA suggestion.

6) The Weeknd - “Blinding Lights”

Uptempo Abel is undefeated. My favorite pop song of 2020 has you feeling like you’re speeding through the empty streets of nighttime Las Vegas in a stolen car; indifferent to your environment, only tuned in to your personal desire.

And, on the lamer side of the spectrum, it spawned a catchy TikTok dance.

5) Spanish Love Songs - “Self-Destruction (As A Sensible Career Choice)”

It won’t be this bleak forever... yeah, right.

SLS has always been over-the-top with their lyrics spotlighting the hopelessness of the human condition -- so it was the *perfect* combo to being locked inside with nothing looking to forward to. Bonus: fun cake video.

Though the song’s core is uncut despair, a random moment I remember from 2020 was my wife telling me “I can hear you smiling as you’re singing” from another room as I belted the despondent chorus.

4) Worst Party Ever - “False Teeth”

This song sounds like The Front Bottoms; insecure yet so full.

3) Run The Jewels - “the ground below”

There were a lot of songs *about* 2020, but I’m not sure any artist soundtracked what being alive now is like more than RTJ. My favorite rap song and rap record of 2020.

Fav Killer Mike line: “Not a holy man, but I'm moral in my perversiveness / So I support the sex workers unionizing their services”

Fav El-P line: “I'll slap a dying child he don't pronounce my name correct”

2) The Menzingers - “America Pt. 2″

The Menzingers unexpectedly released an acoustic, re-done version of 2019′s “America (You’re Freaking Me Out)” single. It dropped on my birthday -- June 5th, 2020 -- as the rage in this country boiled over and protesters took to the streets. Though some of the lyrics remained the same, the new ones were changed with true purpose:

Well George Floyd was murdered by a cop The whole world saw the video and watched Now justice is long overdue Grab your pitchforks, we’re heading to Pennsylvania Avenue

I had nothing left when the first pre-chorus hit: “I hope the Devil and Donald and Mitch McConnell rot in hell for all tomorrows”. Tattoo this on my fucking soul.

All funds from the song were donated to Community Bail Funds (via Act Blue) & Campaign Zero. I purchased the track before hearing a note.

1) Machine Gun Kelly - “My Bloody Valentine”

Going into the year, I couldn’t tell you the difference between Machine Gun Kelly and Mac Miller -- now they’re both fixtures in this Top 10. All I really knew about MGK involved tattoos and a rap battle lost to Eminem (not that anyone ever beats Eminem).

In 2020, he took a punk/emo turn, with the services of GOAT drummer Travis Barker and new squeeze Megan Fox at his side. This song’s lyrics could potentially be cheesy but aren’t -- they all land. From the simulation going bad to not wanting “fake love” to all the damn second guessing and the earnestness that just won’t let you off the mat.

Every piece to the puzzle adds something: the messy hair, the Ken doll build, the forced iconic pink guitar that now feels actually iconic. It was almost like no one had any fun this year so he could have all of it on our behalf. There’s a half second shot of him sticking his tongue our during the pre-chorus, a joy 99.99% of us never got to feel.

The album itself was just as fantastic*; a 2000′s pop punk throwback with a Halsey duet, horrible skits (hi, Pete Davidson FaceTime), OpIvy lyrical nod (complete with a royalty check), a warp speed punk track that doesn’t even crack the minute mark, your token 6/8 ballad, acoustic closer (about his daughter), and some experimentation that leaves the new genre but still stays nearby; shades of Lil Peep, if he had Blink-182 as his backing band. Speaking of, please do not miss Travis’ fill at the 2:30 mark.

(* - named “Tickets To My Downfall”... woof)

MGK could get cancelled tomorrow, but we’ll always have this year in a bottle. The acoustic version of the song (sung in a lower resister), the 10 minute making of video (that I watched, uh, twice)... shit, he even turned it into a medley at the start of 2021.

It might be cliche to say “stay winning”, but when someone stacks this many W’s with no end in sight, what the fuck else do you call it? Real love.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading. Here is the Spotify playlist (includes 87 of the 88 songs).

#machine gun kelly #bts #selena gomez #hayley williams #the menzingers #rtj #run the jewels #the weeknd #the dirty nil #mac miller #mgk #juice wrld #phoebe bridgers #2020 #music #lists #taylor swift #sincere engineer #jay-z #sam russo #jay electronica #100 gecs #charli xcx #blink-182 #pup #travis barker #megan fox #billie eilish #soccer mommy #drake

[thestupidhelmet]

 What do you think the characters favorite musician/bands would be if the show was set in modern day? 

Okay, this is a tough one for me since I myself have had trouble finding new music to enjoy since Melodyne/Autotune has become standard use in the music industry. Singers sound so synthesized nowadays -- and even people with great voices who don’t need any artificial help with their singing use it. For instance, Lady Gaga and Michael Bublé  -- who himself admitted in a radio interview he hates using Melodyne but has to, or his songs won’t get airplay).

I can hear even the slightest hint of Melodyne used in singing. (I have close to perfect pitch, not singing-wise -- even though I can always tell when I’m off-key --  but in playing instruments. I hear a song, and I can play the melody on the keyboard and piano [and some other instruments] almost instantly. I can get the chords after a little while longer. I don’t [and can’t] read musical notes [long, irrelevant story]. This is just an explanation. I’m no super-star musician. 😅)

(So I’m very sensitive to Melodyne. Listening to a singer’s voice processed with it sounds like the equivalent of nails scratching on a chalkboard. It’s physically painful. It’s even worse when it’s obviously being done to good singers. Just let them hit a slightly off-pitch note once in a while. It won’t kill anyone.)

Authenticity in music is super important to me -- although even some of my (*sob*) faves have ended up using Melodyne on their newer albums. *sigh*

With that in mind, however, I don’t think Jackie would give a crap about Melodyne. She’d enjoy Lady Gaga, Adele, Ariana Grande, Halsey, Beyoncé, and whatever female pop singer was hot at the moment. She’d likely adore BTS during her Kelso-dating days and Harry Styles.

Donna would be into Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé (at least she and Jackie would have one singer in common), Courtney Barnett, Brandi Carlile. Cardi B. Alabama Shakes.

Fez would have the broadest musical taste of all. He’d like a ton of pop music, R&B, rap, and even some country. Too many songs to list, honestly.

Kelso, too, would be into rap. He’d dig Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. WAP would be playing non-stop at his house, and his folks would have no idea what the hell he’s listening to. He’d also listen to many more rap artists; again, too many to list. Rock is a tougher one. Rock is practically dead, and even the good newer bands have been wrecked by Melodyne, but he’d like Greta Van Fleet, Wolf Mother, and My Morning Jacket.

Eric and Hyde I’m grouping together. Except for Eric liking (and trying to imitate the singing of) Michael Bublé, they’d stick to late ‘60s to late ‘90s rock music. Some ‘90s rock bands are still making good music today, and they’d buy (or stream) those albums the first day they dropped. Melodyne would be a problem for both of them, more so for Hyde though. Like me, authenticity in music for Hyde is everything.

#That 70s SHow #That '70s Show #Steven Hyde #Jackie Burkhart #Michael Kelso #Ask #Anon #Music #Songs #My Meta #My Essay #Meta #Essay #Personal-ish

[sound-andcolor]

Get to know me tag

I got tagged by @aboyplaysguitar

1. Nickname: my parents used to call me “Katie Bug” when I was a kid, but I hated it lol. My friends have given me nicknames based on my full name but I don’t want to say my last name on here haha

2. Zodiac: Scorpio (I love reading about Scorpio. “You’re sexy and mysterious. Also manipulative” ummm not really but ok lol)

3. Height: 5’ 9” (I used to wish I was shorter but I just had to embrace it)

4. Last movie I watched: What We Do In the Shadows

5. Last google search: Blood Mountain (I’m hiking there tomorrow 😊)

6. Favourite artists: depends on my mood and it’s all over the place haha. For musical artists I love Beyoncé, Alabama Shakes (hence the url), Kishi Bashi, Fleet Foxes, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Aretha Franklin, Missy Elliot, Daniel Caesar, Queen (not an exhaustive list lol). Painters: Vincent van Gogh (cliché I know but his stuff is so beautiful), Caspar David Friedrich, Monet, Caravaggio. Sculptor: Bernini An artist of tumblr I really like is @henrybakerartwork his watercolor is amazing! I have to stop myself from reblogging all of his posts lol

7. Song currently stuck in my head: Just Fine by Mary J Blige (she was in The Umbrella Academy on Netflix so I decided to listen to her stuff again. Plus it’s A BANGER)

8. Other blog: I had one called @climb-isallweknow but I forgot the password so I just made this blog lol

9. Do I get asks: no hahaha I’d welcome them though!

10. Following: is this question asking how many people I’m following? If so, 100. On my other blog I followed a shit ton more blogs but I’m more picky now. I just want to see stuff I like in my dash 

11. How much do I sleep: on school nights typically 5-6 hours. When I have the next day off I get like 10 hours of sleep hahaha super healthy yeah

12. Lucky number: 2

13. What am I wearing: green plaid pjs and a maroon long sleeved t-shirt. Sexy I know

14. Dream job: Working in Rehab which I’m on my way :) I graduate from PTA school in 2020 babyyy. Not exactly sure which setting yet. I really liked working as an aide in acute care, but outpatient was also super interesting too. I might change my mind completely after I do a rotation at a SNF though. I like engaging with a variety of people though, especially the elderly ❤️

15. Dream trip: I’m just going to list some places- New Zealand (yes I want to go on a LOTR tour like a complete nerd but there are other reasons), Ireland/Scotland, Switzerland, South Korea, Peru, there are more but I’m tired of writing haha

16. Favourite food: ugh I can’t pick just one 😩 I love pasta and garlic bread, pizza, waffles, eggs and biscuits, chocolate (especially dark chocolate), quesadillas with a side of queso and guac wow I’m getting hungry I’ll stop 😛

17. Languages: I wish I was cool and could speak multiple languages, but no I’m only fluent in English. I am just horrible at learning languages. I took Spanish for four years and know the basics but I am definitely not fluent. My grandpa used to be able to speak 8 different languages! I did not inherent this trait lol

18. Random fact: I can make the noise that Pitbull/Cardi B make by vibrating my uvula. I just looked it up and it’s called a uvular trill. Most people I know can only do a “tongue-tip trill” (which I can’t do haha). I love showing new people bc they just look at me like “😯 wtf how the hell does she do that???”

19. Aesthetic: don’t have one lol this question is so vague

20. Create your own question: Oh man I’m bad at this uhhhh- What’s your favorite constellation? Orion ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alright I’ll pass this on to some people :)

@cosmic-disorder @alexisjustexisting @s-alem-saberhagens @theboredbiologist @mariechoupette

#lol i havent done one of these since 2012 hahaa #yall dont feel like you have to do this haha i was just bored #aboyplaysguitar

[tariah23]

The only reason why Childish Gambino won for “This is America” was because this Grammy’s was wack (as usual) and so many of their big BLACK artist’s didn’t even show up because they’re boycotting it and the Grammy’s doesn’t want to look like their racist anymore so why not give a few awards to the most controversial song of the year??? To be fair, Childish Gambino deserved to win so I’m both happy and shocked but it’s obvious why they gave them to him in the first place despite having a history of completely ignoring Hip-Hop/ Rap at the Grammy’s because the genres have always been political. They’re so sneaky. They really want Kendrick, Beyoncé, and Rihanna and their other bigger Black stars to show up next time for views. Also, I don’t even know the girl that won album of the year lmfaooo.... I know a lot of people hate Cardi B for obvious reasons but she was supposed to win this lmfao. I know that for sure. Then the White guy who accepted Childish Gamino’s awards for TIA didn’t even know what tf he was talking about........ like.... a song with such an INPORTANT subject wins and you’re drawing blanks? This is the time to say something important and speak about about such THINGS. Damn, it’s sad that the only person that really said anything was Drake’s wack ass. Also, Alicia Keys was definitely high lmfao. I hated how Fantasia was just shoved in between two other legends in the end though like... they could’ve let her sing by herself... the tribute was so short but it was one of the best performances of the night regardless because they can actually sing. All these country singers had me gagging... smh. Dolly was cool though but they song like 50 songs for her ass........ why??? And they were just fucking standing there too lmfao. Stiff as hell. I can undertake Dolly since she’s older though.

#rambling

[youngandhungryent]

Cardi B Puts Tomi Lahren On Notice Over Jay-Z & Beyoncé Hate

Source: Politicon 2017 – Day 1 Featuring: Tomi Lahren Where: Pasadena, California, United States When: 30 Jul 2017 Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com

If you think the money and the fame will change Cardi B think again. She is still outspoken as ever and one political pundit is about to catch some hands if she is not careful.

HipHopDX is reporting that the Bronx Bombshell was not feeling some recent criticism that Tomi Lahren had for Jay-Z and Beyoncé. At the Superbowl the superstar couple were noticeably sitting down during the performance of the National Anthem. On Monday, February 3 she came at them during her Final Thoughts show segment.

“Beyoncé and Jay-Z sit for the national anthem because apparently the United States of America has oppressed them with millions upon millions of dollars, fans, and a lifestyle most could never even dream of. It sounds rough,” she theorized. “They both choose to live in the United States of America. But for the life of me, I don’t know why” She went on to call their behavior “disrespectful and downright disgraceful.”

Lahren also blasted The Carters on social media. “You hate police, Donald Trump, and the spirit of this nation so much you can’t pick your privileged asses off the chair for 2 mins to pay some respect? Despicable.” she wrote.

You hate police, Donald Trump, and the spirit of this nation so much you can’t pick your privileged asses off the chair for 2 mins to pay some respect? Despicable.

— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 3, 2020

Naturally Becalis caught wind of her commentary and went to Twitter to disparage Fox Nation personality. She responded directly saying “Get me my leash” referring to 2019 when she threatened to walk Lahren like a dog.

Get me my leash

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) February 3, 2020

This is not the first time Tomi has clashed with an Hip-Hop artists. In 2018 she and Wale infamously had a back and forth on Twitter where the “On Chill” rapper gathered her up rather nicely.

Photo: Prince Williams

source https://hiphopwired.com/838010/cardi-tomi-lahren/

#fucu #fucul #young and hungry ent #boss of bosses #instrumental type beat free

[upshotre]

The complete list of winners at the 2019 BET Awards

Regina Hall hosted the 19th annual BET Awards ceremony, which aired live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.   Cardi B scored seven nominations, including nods for best female hip hop artist, best collaboration, video of the year, album of the year and the viewers' choice award. She was among the winners on Sunday night, taking home album of the year for 'Invasion of Privacy', and best female hip-hop artist. She also performed as the opening act.   Tyler Perry was honored with the Ultimate Icon Award and he gave a powerful speech. Mary J. Blige performed a medley of hits after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. Slain Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle was honored posthumously with the Humanitarian Award.   Below is the complete list of winners.   Best international act AKA (South Africa) Aya Nakamura (France) Burna Boy (Nigeria) *WINNER Dave (U.K.) Dosseh (France) Giggs (U.K.) Mr Eazi (Nigeria) Video of the year 21 Savage featuring J. Cole, "A Lot" Cardi B, "Money" Cardi B and Bruno Mars, "Please Me" Childish Gambino, "This Is America" *WINNER Drake, "Nice for What" The Carters, "Apeshit"   Best female R&B/pop artist Beyoncé *WINNER Ella Mai H.E.R. Solange SZA Teyana Taylor.   Best male R&B/pop artist Anderson .Paak Bruno Mars *WINNER Childish Gambino Chris Brown John Legend Khalid   Best female hip-hop artist Cardi B *WINNER Kash Doll Lizzo Megan Thee Stallion Nicki Minaj Remy Ma   Best male hip-hop artist 21 Savage Drake J. Cole Meek Mill Nipsey Hussle *WINNER Travis Scott   Best new artist Blueface City Girls Juice WRLD Lil Baby *WINNER Queen Naija   Best group Chloe x Halle City Girls Lil Baby and Gunna Migos *WINNER The Carters   Best collaboration 21 Savage featuring J. Cole, "A Lot" Cardi B and Bruno Mars, "Please Me" Cardi B featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny, "I Like It" H.E.R. featuring Bryson Tiller, "Could've Been" Travis Scott featuring Drake, "Sicko Mode" *WINNER Tyga featuring Offset, "Taste"   Album of the year Cardi B, "Invasion of Privacy" *WINNER Ella Mai, "Ella Mai" Meek Mill, "Championships" The Carters, "Everything Is Love" Travis Scott, "Astroworld"   Viewers' choice award Cardi B featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny, "I Like It" Childish Gambino, "This Is America" Drake, "In My Feelings" Ella Mai, "Trip" *WINNER J. Cole, "Middle Child" Travis Scott featuring Drake, "Sicko Mode"   Dr. Bobby Jones best gospel/inspirational award Erica Campbell featuring Warryn Campbell, "All of My Life" Fred Hammond, "Tell Me Where It Hurts" Kirk Franklin, "Love Theory" Snoop Dogg featuring Rance Allen, "Blessing Me Again" *WINNER Tori Kelly featuring Kirk Franklin, "Never Alone"   Best actress Issa Rae Regina Hall Regina King *WINNER Taraji P. Henson Tiffany Haddish Viola Davis   Best actor Anthony Anderson Chadwick Boseman Denzel Washington Mahershala Ali Michael B. Jordan *WINNER Omari Hardwick   Best movie "BlacKkKlansman" *WINNER "Creed 2″ "If Beale Street Could Talk" "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" "The Hate U Give"   Young stars award Caleb McLaughlin Lyric Ross Marsai Martin *WINNER Michael Rainey Jr. Miles Brown   Sportswoman of the year Allyson Felix Candace Parker Naomi Osaka Serena Williams *WINNER Simone Biles   Sportsman of the year Kevin Durant LeBron James Odell Beckham Jr. Stephen Curry *WINNER Tiger Woods   BET HER award Alicia Keys, "Raise a Man" Ciara, "Level Up" H.E.R., "Hard Place" *WINNER Janelle Monae, "PYNK" Queen Naija, "Mama's Hand" Teyana Taylor, "Rose in Harlem"   Video director of the year Benny Boom Colin Tilley Dave Meyers Hype Williams Karena Evans *WINNER   Best new international act Headie One (U.K.) Jok'Air (France) Nesly (France) Octavian (U.K.) Sho Madjozi (South Africa) *WINNER Teni (Nigeria) Read the full article

[morganbelarus]

Do You Agree With Our Ranking Of The Top 10 Songs Of 2018? Betches

2018 is coming to a close, and is it just me, or did this year feel like forever? Songs like “God’s Plan” and “Better Now” came out this year. THIS YEAR. I could’ve sworn they came out in like…2017. But regardless, this year was filled with killer songs. Here is a list of the top 10 best songs of 2018. Obvs, we all have our own taste in music, so like, don’t @ me. But also, if you disagree, you’re wrong and I hate you.

10. Drake: “In My Feelings“

I hold a special place in my heart for Drake. Probs because we went to the same high school (many years apart, but whatevs), so he’s my motivation to believe that I can make something of myself… even if I have yet to make something of myself. But nonetheless. Anytime an online trend starts because of a song, you know it’s going to be a hit. Dancing while the car is moving beside you and your friend is filming (while driving???) is not the safest but it’s for Drake, and we love Drake.

9. Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa: “One Kiss“

The song of summer ’18. This song, with it’s ’90s music video vibes, is fun and energetic. If you need a pick-me-up, throw this one on. One kiss listen is all it takes, to fall in love with me this song (one of the catchiest and best songs of 2018). Dua Lipa is going to be huge for years to come, I’m calling it now.

8. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper: “Shallow“

Wait never mind. Any song from A Star is Born. These songs give me the chills. If you haven’t seen the movie, at least listen to the music, because it will change you. “Shallow” is constantly stuck in my head, and I sing it as if I have a voice like Lady Gaga’s (which is sooooo far from the truth). Like the entire movie, this song has an incredible message that is applicable to so many people.

7. Maroon 5 & Cardi B: “Girls Like You“

Adam Levine has the body voice of an angel, and I love a good song that appreciates a woman #feminism. This is my go-to song when I’m jamming in the car alone, stuck in traffic. Plus, the music video is equally as amazing. It features so many strong females including comedians, athletes, actors, and models. Ellen DeGeneres, Gal Gadot, JLO, and obvs, Behati Prinsloo and their daughter Dusty are among those included in the video. That’s just precious.

6. Kendrick Lamar & SZA: “All The Stars”

Part of the Black Panther soundtrack, this song is amazing. SZA’s incredible vocals contrast perfectly with Kendrick Lamar’s verses. It was released in January, just a month before the release of the movie, but it is still frequently played on the radio or my Spotify playlist, making it one of the best songs of 2018. It also scored some major nominations at the Grammys this year, because of course.

5. Bruno Mars & Cardi B: “Finesse“

The year of Cardi, I swear. At this rate, I’m not sure what she can do in 2019 to top this year. This one came out in early January and I’m not sick of it yet. In classic Bruno fashion, it’s an incredible song, with great lyrics, that sticks in everyone’s heads. Not to mention that this video is an In Living Color tribute that got the “stamp of approval” by the Wayans family.

4. Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin: “I Like It”

Cardi had a pretty great year in terms of her career and giving birth to her daughter, Kulture, in July. But as of recently, her personal life may not be going as great. No matter what, this unapologetic song lists all the things Cardi likes and TBH what I do too. We both have expensive taste, just on different budgets. It’s catchy and upbeat. What’s not to like about it?

3. Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey: “The Middle”

When this song comes on in the bar (the few times I actually go out), I get so excited, definitely earning it a spot as one of the best songs of 2018. It is such an upbeat song and I shamelessly know every word to it. Sure, it’s not the most artistic song ever, but there’s a reason it was so popular. Also, the music video is set in a Target commercial. Lol, my happy place.

2. Beyoncé & JAY-Z: “APESHIT”

This entire album is f*cking incredible and I’m not just saying that because I am a die-hard Beyoncé fan. Their music video was filmed in the Louvre. That alone makes it amazing. But this song is more than just a catchy banger, because it speaks to some important societal issues that need more attention. Beyoncé opens by pushing for wage equality, while Jay-Z calls out the NFL and the Grammys. Ugh, mom and dad, you’re incredible.

1. Ariana Grande: “thank u, next“

2018 was the year of Ariana, or at least for her career. She said, during her acceptance speech for a Billboard Woman of the Year award, “I find it interesting that this has been one of the best years in my career and one of like the worst years in my life.” I already loved her album sweetener, and then it just got better. Not only did she grace us with this killer self-love anthem, but she also made one of the most incredible music videos ever. My favorite thing to ask people I meet now is “what four movies would you choose to recreate the ‘thank u, next’ video about your life?”

Even though 2018 was a pretty terrible year in every other way, at least we got some good bops out of it. 2019, the bar is so low for you. Please do better.

Images: Giphy (6)

Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific

=> *********************************************** See More Here: Do You Agree With Our Ranking Of The Top 10 Songs Of 2018? Betches ************************************ =>

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[narcisbolgor-blog]

The made up Cardi B-Nicki Minaj feud feeds into an insidious form of sexism

Washington (CNN)At the Grammys this weekend, an audacious breakout star from the Bronx could make history.

But if you've followed Cardi's rise, you've no doubt noticed how much the attention has focused instead on her "feud" with Nicki Minaj, another equally outspoken female rapper.

It's a fan-led, social media-fed made-up fight. And that, says Angela Yee, is a shame.

"It makes it seem like there can only be room for one woman to be an artist at a time in this hip-hop world," said Yee, the co-host of hip-hop radio show "The Breakfast Club."

Check out more from the series

Pitted against one another

When Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" went viral last summer, many tried to cast her as a one-hit wonder. She shut them down quick, nabbing two Grammy nominations and breaking Beyoncé's record by becoming the first woman with five simultaneous top 10 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hip Songs chart.

Many hip-hop fans quickly pit Cardi against Minaj, who's been topping the charts since 2011.

Every time one of their songs caught fire, fans feverishly analyzed the lyrics, hoping to find veiled shots. They passionately debated whether Minaj — who broke Aretha Franklin's record last year, becoming the woman with the most hits ever on Billboard's Hot 100 chart — has "fallen off" amid Cardi's rise.

And although both women appeared on Migos' "Motorsport," and publicly dismissed rumors of a feud, fans just wouldn't let it go.

Minaj, who has been nominated for 10 Grammy awards since 2011, lamented that success doesn't guarantee women recognition or respect in male-dominated industries and she alluded to the conversation about Cardi B to make her point.

"In any field, women must work TWICE as hard to even get HALF the respect her male counterparts get. When does this stop?" she tweeted. "Putting ppl in the same sentence as me after my 10 years of consistent winning. What are you teaching THEM? They'd never do this to a man."

Fans certainly have a right to pick a favorite and female rappers have a right to compete. But the conversation about female artists often operates under the assumption that there can only be one on top.

"You can have an endless number of mediocre and less than mediocre male rappers and they're not pitted against each other in that way," Treva Lindsey, a professor of gender studies at Ohio State University, said.

"[But] there's this pitting of women against each other that happens. And this singularity that we've come to expect that is deeply rooted in the patriarchy of society, which is manifested in hip-hop as well."

Case in point: New male artists like Migos and Lil Uzi Vert.

Migos is the hip-hop trio nominated for best rap album and best rap performance at the Grammys this year. Lil Uzi Vert is nominated for best new artist.

They've both been topping the charts. But few are suggesting that Jay Z or Kanye West or Eminem "fell off." In fact, new male artists are often urged to pay homage and respect to the OG's.

Hate the game

DonMonique, a rising rapper from Brooklyn, said the environment for women in hip-hop is more toxic because there are so few that command a commercial presence.

"I've noticed that with a lot of beef that go on online, it's rarely ever the actual people that's in the beef," she said. "It's usually the fans that initiate stuff with the comments."

Lindsey, who specializes in black popular culture and hip-hop studies, said that in the 80s and 90s, the industry was open to many female rappers on the scene. You had Lil Kim, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, and on and on.

But as hip-hop became more commercially viable in the 2000s and record execs began deciding who to promote and who not to, the field narrowed. And it became more difficult for women to break through.

"I do believe that this whole environment does make it women against women and we're kind of like insulting each other the same way that men insult us," Yee said.

"So when we're talking about different bodies, 'Oh, she slept with this person,' 'She's this,' 'She's unattractive,' 'Oh, you got surgery,' this and that — all of those stabs are stabs that men take at women ... and I always feel like women need to be more supportive of each other."

While many feuds between female rappers started out as old-fashioned rap battles, some got very personal and produced some of the fiercest diss tracks.

There's Lil Kim vs. Foxy Brown, Trina vs. Khia; Azealia Banks vs. Iggy Azalea, and most recently, Nicki MInaj vs. Remy Ma, which produced the explosive Minaj diss tracks "Shether" and "No Frauds."

The boys club

Let's pause for a minute because we can't have this conversation without bringing up Rapsody.

The soft-spoken emcee from North Carolina is nominated for best rap song and best rap album — an award that's only once gone to a woman in Grammy history: Lauryn Hill.

So, Rapsody and Cardi are both up for best rap song. And yet, the two have never been pitted in the same way.

Some argue that's because Cardi and Nicki are more similar: They put their sexuality out there; they're theatrical and bombastic. Rapsody, on the other hand, has a more laid back look, sporting hoodies and sneakers over glittery getups and bodysuits. Her music is also spiritual, reflective and even political.

In a sense, Rapsody, whose full name is Marlanna Evans, is more accepted into the boys club than Cardi has ever been. She's received co-signs from greats like Kendrick Lamar and Busta Rhymes.

But even that can be a gift and a curse.

"In that sense, it becomes a space where men still dictate and still have a certain kind of authoritative role in what makes it and what doesn't, and who is and who isn't part of this larger culture," Lindsey said.

That's long been the case, Lindsey says: Many women started out as part of a male crew and had to get the co-sign of male rappers to gain exposure.

Missy Elliot was part of Swing Mob; Lauryn Hill was part of the Fugees; and Lil Kim was part of The Notorious B.I.G.'s Junior M.A.F.I.A. Even when Minaj first gained national recognition in 2010, it was as part of Lil Wayne's Young Money crew.

Karol G, a Colombian reggaeton artist, said that she had a similar experience.

"It was very hard. No radio opportunity, no TV stations, no anything because people was not getting used to hearing women in this kind of music, especially in rap," she said.

Karol, whose full name is Carolina Giraldo Navarro, said that by teaming up with stars like Nicky Jam and Daddy Yankee, she finally gained the exposure she was looking for.

"I think it's very hard for me to need a male artist in my career to make me get more exposure," she said. "But I had to do it. I worked a lot, five to seven years alone, and nothing happened and people was not very interested to see what I was doing."

But Karol, who now has millions of followers, said the tide is now changing.

A glimmer of hope

Social media is a double-edged sword for women in hip-hop

Karen Civil, an author and entrepreneur who works in the hip-hop industry, said that while social media plays a huge role in creating a toxic environment for women, it's also powering up a female renaissance in hip-hop.

"Now, there is a way for you to go directly to finding an artist. Before, we had to wait for XXL or The Source Magazine or MTV or BET to premiere a video. I go to (an artist's) Soundcloud, you know, I find these talents on social media and that's a wonderful thing," Civil said.

And the fact that there's room for a Cardi B and a Rapsody is a sign of hope.

As a former stripper turned reality TV star, Cardi B broke barriers and inspired fans with her larger than life personality and her "regular shmegular" come up story. And without a crew or a male co-sign, Belcalis Almanzar took hip-hop by storm.

Before her first big hit "Bodak Yellow" went viral last summer, Cardi had already begun building her brand as a star on the reality show "Love and Hip Hop," where she gained a large social media following and a lot of attention for her honest and bombastic personality.

And in a world where sex sells and talent is not always rewarded, hip-hop fans are loving the fact that Rapsody, who has spent years building a loyal following as an underground artist, is finally getting the national recognition she deserves.

There are also many more women doing big things.

Rappers like Young M.A., Dej Loaf, Dreezy, Noname, Lizzo, Kamaiyah, DonMonique, Nitty Scott, Rico Nasty, Kash Doll, Asian Doll, CupcakKe are breaking new ground are giving fans a rich and versatile collection of music to explore and appreciate.

"I feel this is the conversation we should be having," Civil said," [is] not who's better Nicki or Cardi, but how exciting is it that we have all these women out here who are creating music."

For more on culture and politics, check out CNN's #GetPolitical series.

More From this publisher : HERE ; This post was curated using : TrendingTraffic

=> *********************************************** See More Here: The made up Cardi B-Nicki Minaj feud feeds into an insidious form of sexism ************************************ =>

The made up Cardi B-Nicki Minaj feud feeds into an insidious form of sexism was originally posted by 11 VA Viral News

#11 VA Viral News

[womenofcolor15]

Lana Del Rey Gets Called Out (Even By White Women) For Her Tone Deaf ‘What About Me?’ Rant Name Dropping Beyonce & Nicki Minaj

Social media has been dragging Lana Del Rey for a tone deaf Instagram post where she implied stars like Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj haven’t experienced the same level of criticism that she has for writing about sex, love, and – in her words – “glamorizing abuse.” Even white women are coming for her.

Read her original post, plus how she doubled down on her comments inside…

Your white privilege is showing Lana Del Rey!

In a very lengthy Instagram post, "Young & Beautiful" singer Lana Del Rey went on a rant about how she’s criticized for supposedly “glamorizing abuse” in her lyrics. She implied other artists like Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Kehlani and Camila Mendes are crucified for singing/rapping lyrics about “being sexy, wearing no clothes, f*cking, cheating etc.”  She named almost all women of color, except for one. People like Miley Cyrus, Madonna, and Lady Gaga - who have sold sex OFTEN - were conveniently not mentioned.

“Can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse??????,” she wrote.

Well, women in the industry have been complaining about this very thing for years, and never once have we heard you co-sign or stick up for them.  But now that it's happening to you, we should all stop and cry with you?  Interesting.

Peep the post below:

          View this post on Instagram

                      A post shared by Lana Del Rey (@lanadelrey) on May 21, 2020 at 12:26am PDT

  So Lana is comparing criticism she has received to the criticism (mostly) black women receive in the industry?

Really, girl? Just stop. Black women face racism, misogyny, classism and more on a daily basis, something she likely doesn’t experience DAILY.

For the black women she name dropped, they’ve all been criticized for far worse.  Even for literally just existing.  And this is what she’s crying about? Every woman she mentioned has experienced harsh criticism, so, sorry most of us don’t feel sympathy when you’re trying to compare your struggle to that of a black woman.

Last week, Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj and Doja Cat made Billboard 100 history when they became the first black women to nab the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the chart. No, Lana didn’t point that out in her IG rant.

"I'm just fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse when in reality I'm just a glamorous person just singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are all very prevalent emotionally-abusive relationships all over the world,” she wrote.

She accused female writers and alt singers for “setting women back hundreds of years,” yet her lyrics are just her being her glamourous self. Laughable.

Actress Megan Fox joined the group chat with a quick message that she deleted shortly after:

  UMMMM WHY DID MEGAN FOX JUMP INTO THE LANA DEL REY DRAMA ONLY TO DELETE IT 5 SECONDS LATER??!!?!?? pic.twitter.com/26O9TQpC77

— cin (@eviIwomen) May 21, 2020

  Twitter has been on her a** since the post went up:

  Lana del ray after seeing 4 black women occupying the top 2 on billboard pic.twitter.com/yz6mLyVbqL

— Grace (@grceisdone) May 21, 2020

    look at how quickly this dude GATHERED lana del ray.. LOVE TO SEE IT pic.twitter.com/5hSzKQGhWH

— iman (@imhm1771) May 21, 2020

    Beyonce deleting her scheduled "Happy Birthday Lana Del Ray" website post after reading her latest IG essay pic.twitter.com/Ew8D9mzzyS

— James Green (@jamesg_review) May 21, 2020

    beyonce: driver roll up the partition please

Lana del ray: pic.twitter.com/5GYrTum0dK

— kale (@DUASNOSTALGlA) May 21, 2020

    lana del ray could've made her point without dragging all those other women pic.twitter.com/Ay8bYWlmhN

— ً (@wasteIandbb) May 21, 2020

    I’m still dying laughing over Lana Del Ray crying asking for a safe space for white women to sing songs about cocaine.

— Curry with the shot... (@StephBMore) May 21, 2020

    i cant believe lana del ray came for WOC & their music like she didn’t have a bunch of white girls in flower crowns screaming about pepsi cola flavored pussy. ok white woman

— (@ughzoIdyck) May 21, 2020

  However, Lana Del Rey doubles down on her original rant in the comments of her post.

“I f*cking love these singers and know them,” she wrote in her comments on Instagram. “That is why I mentioned them. I would also like to have some of the same freedom of expression without judgment of hysteria.”

She said it’s “sad” that people have made this a “WOC issue” and she argued her comments had nothing to do with race.

“I don’t care anymore but don’t ever ever ever ever bro- call me racist because that is bullsh*t,” she said.

Lastly, she wrote:

“When I said people who look like me – I meant the people who don’t look strong or necessarily smart, or like they’re in control etc. it’s about advocating for a more delicate personality, not for a white woman – thanks for the Karen comments tho. V helpful."

Oh, ok.

Swipe below to see all of her comments:

          View this post on Instagram

                  #LanaDelRey has been getting dragged for name dropping #Beyonce, #NickiMinaj and #DojaCat in her "what about me" rant for backlash she has received after being accused of glorifying abuse in her music. Peep her post and her comments and tell us what you think!

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on May 21, 2020 at 4:33pm PDT

  It's interesting to note, she has a new album dropping September 5th, so this was likely a PR stunt in some way.

Is this an example of another white woman hating to see black women be great? Or greater than them?

Photo: Screenshot From Nicki Minaj's YouTube

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/05/21/folks-are-not-feeling-lana-del-ray%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98what-about-me%E2%80%99-rant-where-she-name-drops-beyonce-ni

[celebritylive]

  Cardi B is nothing less than an open book.

No matter the celebrity, Vogue‘s 73 Questions series is bound to reveal a new factoid or two, and Cardi’s installment proves to be just as eclectic and off-the-wall as the rapper herself. Fans of the 27-year-old Grammy winner should be careful with these five revelations from the interview session, which was conducted inside Cardi’s grandmother’s New York City apartment as she cradled her napping daughter Kulture Kiari.

Not included in the list is Cardi’s most shocking statement of all — she believes herself to be “boring.” Okurrr!

1. She wishes people would stop asking about her butt

Cardi can’t quite wrap her head around why so many people are fascinated by her figure.

“I hate when people ask me questions about my butt,” she said, flat out. “People are so obsessed about knowing about the enhanced butt process that it’s like, lord.”

Instead, why not ask her about current events and trending topics in the zeitgeist? “I love when people ask me trendy topics, and I love to debate about them,” she said. “That’s what I want people to ask me more.”

It’s not like Cardi isn’t going to acknowledge her ample assets anytime soon, however. When she phoned her husband Offset midway through the interview, she used her backside as a metric for quantifying the affection she holds for the father of her daughter.

“I love you bigger than my ass — and my ass is big,” she joked.

And on a more serious note, if the tables were turned and it was her that got to ask the questions, she would turn to the president for a simple answer: “If you don’t love every American citizen, why become president?”

RELATED: From Butt Injections to Cheating Admissions: Cardi B’s Wildest Confessions

2. She still gets starstruck — specifically around Beyoncé, Rihanna and Lady Gaga

Though, when it comes to legends and industry superstars, she estimates she’s “met them all” by now, Cardi still gets starstruck around a handful of music heavyweights, namely Beyoncé, Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

“Every single time, they do me like —,” she said, then simulating how she freezes up and shrinks into an awkward, shy version of herself in their presence.

Flashing all the way back to high school, Cardi has always counted herself a Little Monster, once performing the pop singer’s “Bad Romance” at a talent show.

“We love you in the ‘hood, Lady Gaga,” she said with a laugh.

RELATED: Lady Gaga Defends Cardi B After Some Suggest the Rapper Didn’t Deserve Her Win at the Grammys

3. She loves to “cook” PB&Js

Cardi doesn’t have time to prepare a four-course meal, and she’s not against whipping up a classic sandwich go-to when she’s feeling hungry. “My favorite thing to cook is peanut butter and jelly because it’s fast to make,” she laughed. Fans probably should have known of her affinity for PB&Js, too, given her NSFW lyrics to her 2016 song “Lit Thot.”

RELATED: All of Cardi B’s Candid Moments That Landed Her in Hot Water

4. She had a difficult time adjusting to fake stories about her in the news

The “Press” rapper has more than a few choice words for tabloids that cover her every move, but she said she has learned to ignore the headlines and stay true to herself.

“The funniest thing that I read about myself? I don’t even know what to tell you, there’s always something funny every goddamn week,” she said. “… It’s like you’re never in peace, even when you’re not even doing anything.”

Cardi said she feels most vulnerable when people say “so many mean things” about her, and she’s taken steps to ensure she doesn’t dwell on the bad publicity.

And entering motherhood hasn’t changed the way tabloids portray her, from her point of view: “It’s still has been the same. People still talk about me like if I don’t have a kid. But, I know I’m a different person now, so whatever.”

View this post on Instagram Celebrating my mommy

Styled by mommy.

A post shared by Iamcardib (@iamcardib) on Oct 11, 2019 at 7:08pm PDT

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

5. She has a … bizarre … guilty pleasure

When Cardi called up Offset, he identified her worst habit as being on her smartphone too frequently, but there seems to be another habit more alarming about the “Bodak Yellow” artist. “My guilty pleasure is smelling my farts,” she proclaimed near the close of the interview.

I need y'all to pray for me ,nothing wrong with me I just be smelling my own farts

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) May 10, 2017

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

I don't understand why my farts smells like beef jerky and I haven't ate beef in 4 days

How does that work broo

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) June 5, 2017

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

It may not be a new admission from Cardi (she’s tweeted about her specific flatulence odors in the past), but something about her boldly professing the statement here, daring anyone to judge her, makes it all the more notable.

from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/2XwrDnz

#Celebrity

[mondkendrick]

Meet Blithe. She’s an excellent new pop entity

Blithe Saxon’s single Mission came out this week, and jolly good it is too. The song first made its way to Popjustice alongside the rest of the tracks that will probably form her debut EP, and there’s some big stuff on its way.

What most stood out from listening to the new tracks was just how much personality seemed to be tumbling out of the songs. Blithe seemed like a new popstar worth getting to know.

So a few weeks ago we met in London for a fact finding mission disguised as lunch. An interview, is how some people would describe the whole scenario.

Here’s what was unearthed.

Blithe says she sounds contemporary and relatable and “very pop but with a dark undertone and a soulful influence” which, well, is the same as everyone else, but Blithe does do it very well. “The subject matters can be hard hitting but the music sounds quite fun,” she continues, explaining that artists she would be happy to see on the ‘Fans Also Like’ section of her Spotify profile include Billie Eilish, Troye Sivan, Khalid, Rihanna, Camila Cabello and Bebe Rexha.

Blithe’s first concert involved seeing Beyoncé, with her mum, in 2007. “The concert that changed me was Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream tour when I was 14: I elbowed my way to the front and cried my eyes out. I knew I wanted my pop career to look something like that — a spectacle, and beautiful, and amazing. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. It really changed me.”

Blithe grew up in Rugby. Her dad (“an arsehole … I don’t care if we’re related or not”) is out of the picture but Blithe’s mum brought her up on Mariah, garage, and mixtape CDs she got off her mates. “She’s super independent,” Blithe says. “She was piss-poor and moved from Coventry to Rugby with nothing, but she worked her arse off and eventually started managing cafés and restaurants. She’s the most inspiring person ever.”

Blithe’s releasing her music independently, which is what a lot of artists say when actually they’re secretly signed to a big record label, or are about to be. “It’s really independent!” is her comment on that. “I don’t think I do anything the right way, or how other people perceive I should do it,” she adds, saying that she’s using her independence to “release what I want when I want, and choose my team, and who’s involved.” So there you go. We’re saying Polydor by Feb.

Her Instagram feed 1 reveals that, yes, she’s been to LA, and, yes, she’s had a photo taken at the pink Paul Smith wall. The pink wall is strange, isn’t it? If Paul Smith had tried to create something Instagrammable it probably would have sunk without a trace, but simply painting a wall pink became something unstoppable. WHAT, ONE WONDERS, will be Blithe’s ‘pink wall’ — the thing about her persona that future fans obsess over? “I tried to manufacture things early on and I realised it’s so secondary,” she says. “Early on I really wanted that manufactured thing: I wanted to be perfect, I wanted it to be ‘oh my God she doesn’t do anything wrong’. I’ve scaled all that back and I’m trying to focus on what’s primary to what I’m doing: making music I like that hopefully other people will like. Everything else will come naturally. I’m still on an artistic journey and there’ll come a point where there’s a ‘thing’ I do, I’m sure, but I’m not there yet and I don’t have the energy to focus on that now.”

Sainsbury’s is Blithe’s supermarket of choice. She likes contactless payments. She is not collecting Lego cards, she does not have a Nectar card and no she does not want a receipt. “They do ask you a lot of questions,” she says, and she is right.

We all like an honest popstar, don’t we? But there are shades of grey here. Take Lily Allen and Jesy from Little Mix: both are straightforward people, but at the end of the day only Lily would be likely to tweet that they’d shat themselves. “There’s stuff I’m not ready to talk about,” Blithe says, mysteriously. “I’m not sure yet what it’s appropriate for people to know.” Is some of this stuff already in her songs, if we look hard enough? “Probably,” she laughs. “I’m more on the Lily Allen and Cardi B end of the spectrum than, say, Jesy from Little Mix, but I’m not totally unfiltered.”

In her first flat in London, when she was 16, she and her friends threw stuff off the balcony and accidentally hit a police officer. She didn’t get arrested, but she did have a ‘run in’ with ‘the law’ on another occasion, for WHAT SHE SAYS was being on the receiving end of a fight. “The police were nice actually,” she remembers. “They gave me a Vogue magazine and extra blankets in my cell and the police officer complimented my mugshot, but I didn’t get to keep a copy.”

Blithe’s worked in a lot of London nightclubs. She has, for example, worked on the door at atrocious venues like Mahiki. This leads to the inevitable question: how many ex-members of Blue has she encountered? The answer is: two.

If some of this is starting to sound slightly familiar, read on!!!

Blithe went to Sylvia Young’s school and was in the same year as Dua Lipa. Blithe was only a part time student at Sylvia’s — it’s not as expensive as the full-time option, and she used to catch the train down each week. “I made friends with the teachers and used to sneak into the adult classes,” she adds. “We couldn’t afford to pay for them. Sometimes you’ve just got to find other ways in haven’t you?”

A spell at Sylvia Young’s usually results in hilarious TV ads and appearances in Holby City. Blithe insists none of these exist but she did get some panto work, including Cinderella in Coventry. “It was my first paid performing job and I got fired on the spot for spending too long on my phone and bad time keeping,” she remembers. “I was young. It hurt at the time but then I was like, ‘oh fuck you’. They still paid me and I got Christmas off.”

She admits that things on the panto and theatre school scene probably weren’t helped by the fact that she would turn up “with a nose ring, highlights, tiny shorts with my bum hanging out, and biker boots”. Why did she wear that stuff for a panto? “I didn’t really care,” Blithe decides. “I felt comfortable like that. My singing teacher would make a remark every time but I was like, ‘send me home, except you can’t send me home because I’ve paid to be here’.” So why was it so important for Blithe to challenge authority? Was she wearing all that stuff because she wanted to, or because she knew teachers didn’t want her to? “I think I challenge everything I can,” she sats. “But it was an insecurity thing. I knew subconsciously that those things would bring me attention. Maybe not the most positive attention. But now it’s part of my being. If I tried to contain it I couldn’t.”

But things are better now, right‽ “I get fired a lot,” she admits, when she talks about occasional stints working in clubs. “I don’t really like authority or being told what to do or being treated ‘less than’, and I’ll tell people when that happens, which people aren’t a fan of.” An example, if you please? “Someone will say, ‘Blithe, can you do this thing?’, and I’ll say no, then I’ll go out for a cigarette for half an hour, and then I’ll get fired.” Right. “The last place I got fired from, I called my boss an arsehole. Actually it might have been cunt.” Who among us, etc etc etc.

Blithe believes we should all embrace each other for who we really are rather than some nebulous idea of of perfection. But what about the social media arseholes who ‘really are’ a load of bellends making lives miserable? And what if we think we might be psychopaths or something? “Well, don’t hurt anyone,” Blithe clarifies. “I’m a bit rough round the edges at times — I can be outspoken and trying to hold that in gave me anxiety. I hate being ‘nice’ and forgettable. I’d rather be remarkable, when it comes naturally to me. I don’t want people to walk away and go, ‘what’s her name again?’”

You can tell a lot about someone by how they respond to the question “have you ever fallen in a hole?” In this instance Blithe’s immediate response is to ask whether this relates to “k-hole or pothole?”; she has fallen in neither, she says. When asked what holes she has been in her response is: “Vaginal?”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, feels like an appropriate spot to bring this trot around the paddock of Blithe to an end. There is more to Blithe than meets the eye and there’s presumably more to Blithe than she’s letting on, but in summary:

Blithe is a good popstar.

Blithe makes good pop music.

And that’s just the ideal combo really isn’t it?

. Blithe’s Mission is out now, there’s an EP on its way and she’s all over ‘the socials’.

Note: this feed has undergone an EXTREME tidy up since we spoke, ie she basically deleted everything↩

from Popjustice https://ift.tt/2OMRiTW

[forcri]

'They just wanted to silence her': the dark side of gay stan culture

For gay men, ‘stanning’ – being a super fan of – female pop stars can be a valuable part of your identity. But too often this fandom lapses into misogyny and body shaming

Ahead of Britney Spears’ record-breaking show at Brighton Pridethis year, Aaron Hussey noticed a fellow fan wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of Spears’ nervous breakdown: the 2007 incident when, head shaved, she attacked a photographer’s car with an umbrella. “I think he thought he was being funny,” Hussey says. “He wasn’t.”

“Brightney Pride”, as it has affectionately been nicknamed, was one of the biggest events of the gay calendar – so big that 4,000 revellers were left stranded once the city’s heaving public transport system failed under the pressure. Surely only dedicated Spears “stans” – the most dedicated kind of fan, a portmanteau of “fan” and “stalker” taken from Eminem’s hit about a crazed follower – would have braved these conditions to glimpse their idol. So why the cruel taunt?

Gay male culture has always coalesced around female pop stars, from Judy Garland to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Academics and critics have puzzled over the source of this connection, their often misplaced theories ranging from the outlandish to the oedipal. But gay men and the women they worship are usually happy to bask in the mutual affection. This year, Spears was honoured with an award by the US’s Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (Glaad) for promoting equality. She responded by saying the gay community had shown her “unconditional love”.

But “unconditional” is often precisely what this love is not. Scratch lightly at the surface and what flakes off is, yes, reciprocity and genuine affection, but also callous misogyny.

One theory of the gay fan-diva link is that of shared oppression – gay men and women are both ground under the wheel of hetero-patriarchy. Perhaps in that model, the Spears T-shirt could be read as a show of solidarity, a knowing acknowledgment of her pain and our understanding? But there was nothing knowing in the way another gay fan photoshopped an umbrella into his meet and greet photo with the unwitting star and later circulated it online. These actions have a distinct edge of mockery, the air of a joke that their subject is not in on.

Dr Michael Bronski, a Harvard University professor and the author of books on queer history and gay culture says “There is a long history of gay male fan culture latching onto famous women and then turning on them. Queens would come to a Judy Garland concert and then scream at her when she was too drunk to finish it. The women have changed – it’s no longer Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland. But the dynamic remains in western culture.”

The love-hate dynamic of gay stan culture that Bronski describes is now largely mediated through social media. Heckling in smoky nightclubs has been replaced by “hate memes”, when stans circulate unflattering edited pictures or examples of a star’s least-becoming behaviour, while the cheering has morphed into a lexicon of superlatives and put-downs that may seem impenetrable to the uninitiated: “we stan” favoured female pop stars, they’re “iconic”, a “kween”, an “unproblematic fave”. “She outsold” describes both someone’s commercial successes and a general sense of their superiority. Anyone who fails to meet those standards? “Fat”, “flop”, “failure”.

This online community relies on a dense matrix of references and neologisms informed by everything from drag culture to reality TV. Sami Baker is 21 and a self-professed gay stan – his favourites are Grande, Beyoncé and Charli XCX. He explains that the culture reaches further than many beyond the community might realise, citing the example of the recent avalanche of memes of reality star Gemma Collins. “They originated from gay stan Twitter. The language used within this culture is taken from the same place that Drag Race gets its lexicon, namely the underground subculture where LGBT people compete in various drag and performance categories, documented in the film Paris is Burning, and an inspiration for Madonna and Beyoncé.

For many gay men, Baker and myself included, gay pop stan culture is the distillation of everything meaningful in life. That statement reeks of camp melodrama, but it’s true. To my teenage self, women like Lady Gaga were the only light in a world where my queerness left me feeling like an outsider. As I grew up, the process of connecting my love for them with a wider culture of fandom enhanced my realisation that I was not alone as a queer person. “As I learned more about pop culture and references, that’s when I found people with the same interest,” says Baker. “These same people became my friends, my support network.”

It is hard to overestimate how meaningful the fan-diva relationship is for gay men. What is so perplexing is why this pseudo-religious devotion has always been laced with spite. Earlier this year, pop singer Hayley Kiyoko criticised Rita Ora, Cardi B, Bebe Rexha, and Charli XCX for their single Girls, a song about bisexuality that she, as a lesbian, thought was appropriative. Within hours, stan Twitter had unearthed and circulated incriminating tweets by Kiyoko from nine years ago (when she was 18) in an attempt to “cancel” her – excluding a person entirely from online discourse, except as the target of hate memes – for daring to critique a song they liked.

For Adam Byrne, a 23-year-old gay stan, this was a prime example of gay misogyny: “They didn’t care what she had to say. They just wanted to silence her.”

For him, this behaviour typifies gay stan culture: female artists must obey the rules or suffer the consequences. “A sinister side emerges when their ‘fave’ isn’t giving them exactly what they want,” Byrne explains. “Often jokes made at their expense are said in fun but it’s grim to see the joy [the community] sometimes takes in seeing these women fail: ‘She’s over!’, ‘Flop!’ ‘This era is dead!’ Look at the smug tweets about Nadine Coyle cancelling her tour; the way Katy Perry became gay Twitter’s punching bag.”

Baker says: “I’ve seen stan Twitter make jokes about the Manchester attacks, Demi Lovato’s recent overdose, Beyoncé’s skin tone, Noah Cyrus’s appearance.”

Much has been written about the “queer art of failure” – how queer people are always viewed as failures by heteronormative society, and thus must make a success of their own non-conformity. Perhaps, in this context, it’s unsurprising that gay men seem to revel in the perceived setbacks and shortcomings of their stanned subjects. But the sympathy one might expect to accompany this identification seems absent. The behaviour is less like a playful poke in the ribs, and more like a slap in the face.

Just last week, singer Marina Diamandis – an idol of the gay community – tweeted back to a fan who is part of the gay stan community after he sent her an abusive tweet. “There is a fan culture of degrading people online that I’m really not into. I haven’t been on social media a lot the past 3 months because I suffer from depression and the negative comments really affect me,” Diamandis posted. “Marina omg please don’t take it the wrong way I’m a stan and this was just intended as a harmless joke,” the fan protested. As Diamandis herself pointed out, stan culture can fail to grant humanity to the subjects of their worship.

I think they are real fans. But there is a fan culture of degrading people online that I'm really not into. I haven't been on social media a lot the past 3 months because I suffer from depression and the negative comments really affect me.

Even when gay men aren’t raining outright abuse on these women, their praise can sometimes reveal different forms of misogyny. One recent trend is to laud women by hailing them as “skinny” or a “skinny legend” – a trope that took off with a meme about Mariah Carey. Though it is used figuratively to imply flawlessness, it is revealing that a word historically used to police female physicality has naturally evolved in the gay male vernacular. Can it be anything other than chauvinist body-shaming?

Indeed, “skinniness” is just one of many hyper-feminine traits that gay men seem to prize in our stanned women. Helen Moynihan, 23, is a self-identifying queer woman who says the stanning of Ariana Grandeexemplifies precisely what is problematic about gay male idolatry. “Often I think gay men only see beauty in hyper-feminine, not butch, women,” she says. “It made me laugh when Grande was called a queer icon because she is the least queer person to me: someone who’s always trying to escape hyper-femininity.”

Grande’s blinding highlighter, swinging ponytail and heels are ubiquitous hallmarks of the gay stan hall of fame. Buzzcuts and Doc Martens are few and far between. It’s conditional love again – do we only stan the “right” type of women? Other forms of gay culture are similarly plagued by this insidious heteronormativity – men on dating apps like Grindr use refrains like “masc4masc” to praise masculinity and shun femininity in other men.

It’s important to remember that gay male culture exists at the confluence of many social currents, including wider male misogyny and societal homophobia. It is easy to apportion blame to gay men who are merely trying to find escapism and belonging, and to scapegoat behaviour that is universal. “In our culture of binary, heterosexual dysfunction, men hate women,” says Bronski. “It just so happens that some of them are gay.”

This is an important qualifier. Stanning itself is not exclusively homosexual territory – Eminem, the originator of “stan”, is hardly a queer icon. Dr Lynn Zubernis is a professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and an expert in fandom. She says the bullying behaviours found in gay stan culture are common to all fandoms.

“Because the object of a fan’s adoration becomes very important to the fan’s happiness, when there is some sort of disappointment, that brings a strong – and sometimes problematic – response. That is the dynamic behind the ‘mood swings’ you see in fandom, where fans love something one day and turn on it the next. It’s not about misogyny. It cuts across gender, sexuality, type of fandom, even time. Sports fans sometimes turn on star players in the same way. I don��t think it’s a male-female thing or a gay-straight thing. I think it’s a human thing.”

However, not all fandoms operate with the same power dynamics. In football, the vitriol Dr Zubernis uses for comparison takes on a new dimension when it intersects with racism. In gay stan culture, gender does not just occasionally intersect with online hatred – it defines the landscape. The abuse and objectification of these women is distinctly gendered – any man, gay or straight, tweeting “fat!” at a woman is unarguably misogynistic.

Gay men and pop’s women alike benefit from the mutuality of their “special relationship”. Spears is unlikely to have noticed one nasty T-shirt through the love heaped on her that day. But with gay male misogyny being discussed more widely than ever, in terms of our nightlife, queer spaces, and social movements, what does it say when this relationship is often so heartless? What kind of permissiveness are we helping to cultivate around misogyny? Deep down, do we really know what it means to love these women?

[lawocelot26-blog]

MTV VMA 2018 Reside Stream On the internet Free of charge Television set Channel Coverage

MTV VMA 2018 Live Stream MTV VMA 2018 Reside STREAM MTV Awards Music television MTV VMA Movie Tunes Award is an award launched by the cable channel MTV to accept the ideal in the tunes movie. It has given that been known as “Super Bowl for youth,” i.e., a plan organized to draw hundreds of thousands of youth collectively each and every yr. The MTV award typically arrives up in late August or mid- September just before the conclude of summer and becoming broadcast on MTV and their sister networks. The system kicked off in 1984 at the New York City’s Radio Songs Hall. The plan has its location constantly in New York City or Los Angeles it was as soon as held in Miami and Las Vegas. MTV Awards 2018 The twelfth MTV awards ceremony is all around the corner, and it is likely again to Radio City Tunes Hall this time about. This year’s MTV awards system will just take spot on the 20th of August 2018 at 6 pm and it will be aired reside from the venue. MTV Awards 2018 venue The Radio Metropolis Audio Corridor has because been the location for the award demonstrate for some time now, and the 2018 award will be held at the identical area for this year as introduced by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Amusement Commissioner Julie Menin in a push convention on 17th of April. MTV Awards 2018 nomination listing Cardi B and the Carters best the 2018 VMA nominations, with eight and 10 nominations. Cardi B is currently being nominated for her look in Bruno Mars (“Finesse Remix”) clip (up for Online video of The Yr) and her own “Bartier Carti” (showcasing 21 Savage, also nominated with Publish Malone for “Rockstar” below Song of The 12 months). Jay-Z and Beyoncé received all 8 nominations for the “APES**T” online video. Drake also received 7 nominations for his “God’s Plan” video. Childish Gambino also acquired seven nominations for “This Is America” online video. MTV Host The celebration would be hosted by Tiffany Haddish. She is heading to be a single of the very best dressed up females of the night. The position that she is black is noticeably wonderful just simply because mostly black folks are not adored and they do not have any really worth. Nonetheless she has been validated as currently being 1 of the finest hosts of the VMA’s. Together with Tiffany there had been a handful of other presenters also at the award show which include Mila Kunis, Michael B Jordan and Seth Rogen. MTV Awards voting The MTV VMAs award is divided into distinct classes such as Video of the Year, Artist of the 12 months, Tune of the Yr, and Ideal New Artist, Style-primarily based awards in pop, hip-hop, Latin, dance. Fans can vote in eight of these classes, like Greatest Collaboration and Online video through a Information by way of Aug. 10, although voting for Ideal New Artist will stay open up till the telecast airs. Listed here is the entire list of the award nominees Video clip OF THE Year Ariana Grande – “No Tears Left to Cry” Bruno Mars – “Finesse (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B] Camila Cabello – “Havana” [ft. Younger Thug] The Carters – “APES**T” Childish Gambino – “This Is America” Drake – “God’s Plan ARTIST OF THE Calendar year Ariana Grande Bruno Mars Camila Cabello Cardi B Drake Post Malone Track OF THE Year Bruno Mars – “Finesse (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B] Camila Cabello – “Havana” [ft. Younger Thug] Drake – “God’s Plan” Dua Lipa – “New Rules” Ed Sheeran – “Perfect” Publish Malone – “rockstar” [ft. 21 Savage] Very best NEW ARTIST Bazzi Cardi B Chloe x Halle Hayley Kiyoko Lil Pump Lil Uzi Vert Ideal COLLABORATION Bebe Rexha ft. Florida Ga Line – “Meant to Be” Bruno Mars – “Finesse (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B] The Carters – “APES**T” Jennifer Lopez – “Dinero” [ft. DJ Khaled & Cardi B] Logic – “1-800-273-8255” [ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid] N.E.R.D – “Lemon” [ft. Rihanna] Best POP Video Ariana Grande – “No Tears Still left to Cry” Camila Cabello – “Havana” [ft. Young Thug] Demi Lovato – “Sorry Not Sorry” Ed Sheeran – “Perfect” P!nk – “What About Us” Shawn Mendes – “In My Blood” Best HIP HOP Online video Cardi B – “Bartier Cardi” [ft. 21 Savage] The Carters – “APES**T” Drake – “God’s Plan” Cole – “ATM” Migos – “Walk It Talk It” [ft. Drake] Nicki Minaj – “Chun-Li” Very best DANCE Online video Avicii – “Lonely Together” [ft. Rita Ora] Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa – “One Kiss” The Chainsmokers – “Everybody Hates Me” David Guetta & Sia – “Flames” Marshmello – “Silence” [ft. Khalid] Zedd & Liam Payne – “Get Minimal (Street Video)” Best LATIN Video clip Daddy Yankee – “Dura” J Balvin – “Mi Gente” [ft. Willy William] Jennifer Lopez – “Dinero” [ft. DJ Khaled & Cardi B] Luis Fonsi – “Échame La Culpa” [ft. Demi Lovato] Maluma – “Felices los 4” Shakira – “Chantaje” [ft. Maluma] Greatest ROCK Video clip Fall Out Boy – “Champion” Foo Fighters – “The Sky Is A Neighborhood” Envision Dragons – “Whatever It Takes” Linkin Park – “One Much more Light” Stress! at the Disco – “Say Amen (Saturday Night)” Thirty Seconds to Mars – “Walk On Water” Video WITH A Concept Childish Gambino – “This Is America” Dej Loaf and Leon Bridges – “Liberated” Drake – “God’s Plan” Janelle Monáe – “PYNK” Jessie Reyez – “Gatekeeper” Logic – “1-800-273-8255” [ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid] Greatest CINEMATOGRAPHY Alessia Cara – “Growing Pains” Ariana Grande – “No Tears Still left to Cry” The Carters – “APES**T” Childish Gambino – “This Is America” Eminem – “River” [ft. Ed Sheeran] Shawn Mendes – “In My Blood” Greatest Course The Carters – “APES**T” Childish Gambino – “This Is America” Drake – “God’s Plan” Ed Sheeran – “Perfect” Justin Timberlake – “Say Something” [ft. Chris Stapleton] Shawn Mendes – “In My Blood” Greatest Art Path The Carters – “APES**T” Childish Gambino – “This Is America” Cole – “ATM” Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel” SZA – “The Weekend” Taylor Swift – “Look What You Made Me Do” Very best Visual Outcomes Ariana Grande – “No Tears Remaining to Cry” Avicii ft. Rita Ora – “Lonely Together” Eminem – “Walk On Water” [ft. Beyoncé] Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “All The Stars” Maroon five – “Wait” Taylor Swift – “Look What You Manufactured Me Do” Very best CHOREOGRAPHY Bruno Mars – “Finesse (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B] Camila Cabello – “Havana” [ft. Young Thug] The Carters – “APES**T” Childish Gambino – “This Is America” Dua Lipa – “IDGAF” Justin Timberlake – “Filthy” Ideal Enhancing Bruno Mars – “Finesse (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B] The Carters – “APES**T” Childish Gambino – “This Is America” Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel” N.E.R.D – “Lemon” [ft. Rihanna] Taylor Swift – “Look What You Created Me D

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 29th July 2018

So, there a lot of new arrivals I need to talk about today, six specifically, by a whole bunch of artists – seriously, it’s all over the place this week. Let’s just get right into this.

Top 10

The top five is almost completely different this week, but that does not mean the top of the charts has shaken up at all, as Drake stays at the number-one spot for a second week with “In My Feelings”, featuring City Girls, after an incredibly impressive streaming week. I don’t know who that Shiggy guy is but I hope Drake’s writing him a big check for starting this dance challenge that has boosted this track’s popularity – because I highly doubt this cluttered, dull mess would be this popular any other way.

Oh, and “Shotgun” by George Ezra is also steady at the runner-up spot. Yeah, the number-two spot is quite ironic of a place for this song to be in, but I don’t think it’s going to gain back its chart-topping status anytime soon.

“Rise” by Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack rose three spots up to number-three.

“Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer also enters the top five after a four-space increase that lead it all the way to number-four.

The last song to have a nice gain into the top five here is “Jackie Chan” by Tiesto and Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone, which has also gained four spots to number-five.

“If You’re Over Me” by Years & Years joins the gang of songs gaining four spots within the top 10, as it has also jumped to number-six, mostly because of the collapses of two songs that were above it.

“Don’t Matter to Me” by Drake featuring Michael Jackson and Paul Anka is down two spots to number-seven.

“I Like It” by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin has suddenly rebounded up three positions to number-eight.

“Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B on the other hand, has decreased two spots to number-nine, despite continued YouTube success.

Finally, to round off the top 10, we have the collapse of “God is a woman” by Ariana Grande, which has leaped down six spaces straight to #10.

Climbers

A lot of songs that I thought were not going to re-peak or climb any higher increased this week, including “Fine Girl” by ZieZie up eight spots to #31, “Ocean” by Martin Garrix featuring Khalid up five spots to #29, “This is Me” by Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble showing a stupid amount of longevity as it increases by nine to #28 (on its 30th week!), the terrible “Nevermind” by Dennis Lloyd is up five spaces to #24, and “First Time” by M-22 featuring Medina has entered the top 20, as it zooms up six spots to #20. “Ring Ring” by Jax Jones featuring Mabel and Rich the Kid does the same, as it jumps up to #17, while “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD has gone up five spots to #12, meaning it might enter the top 10 next week... delightful.

Fallers

Wow! Due to UK chart regulations, cuts to streaming have demolished some songs’ chances of longevity. Former #1 “Solo” by Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato is down 10 to #13, “2002” by Anne-Marie is down nine to #21, and another former #1, “I’ll be There” by Jess Glynne, is down 11 spaces to #25. That’s not a bloodbath or even a massacre, because only three songs were affected and none of them dropped out, so I’d just say it’s the early stages of a premeditated mass murder.

Oh, yeah, and Drake’s “Nonstop” falls seven spots to #22, and is not falling fast enough.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Speaking of drop outs, there are more than a couple of spoonfuls this week. We have “APES**T” by Beyoncé and JAY-Z featuring Quavo and Offset out from #36, “SAD!” by XXXTENTACION finally dropping out from #22, “Summertime Magic” by Childish Gambino out off the debut from #30, “Back to You” by Selena Gomez dropping out and ending its chart run pretty abruptly from #24, similarly to “German” by EO from #28. “Familiar” by Liam Payne and J Balvin drops out from #32 – good riddance! Finally, “Man Down” by Shakka featuring AlunaGeorge is out from #33.

In terms of returning entries, the only one here is “Flames” by David Guetta and Sia coming back to #36 after dropping out last week, so let’s get straight to the new feature on this show.

The Ed Sheeran Update

How’s Ed Sheeran fared today? Well, none of his songs are in the top 40, but outside of the top 40, “Perfect” is down a space to #59 and “Shape of You” exits the top 75 once again, going down three spots to #76, right below “Despacito”, which is also still there, somehow... and that’s all he has on the charts right now, so let’s look at the new arrivals!

NEW ARRIVALS

#40 – “Eastside” – benny blanco, Halsey and Khalid

We all know who Halsey and Khalid are at this point, but benny blanco is less of a big name. benny blanco is a producer and professional songwriter (who always stylises his name in lowercase for no reason), helping produce multiple hits for Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Rihanna and... Gym Class Heroes? I’m not even kidding, he co-wrote and co-produced their song “Stereo Hearts” back in 2011. Anyway, despite more than a decade in the industry, this is his first ever lead single, where he partners with Halsey, Khalid and co-producer Cashmere Cat for a short pop tune that has gained moderate success worldwide. Well, it definitely feels more Cashmere Cat than benny blanco, with a rather minimalistic vibe, simple handclap-like percussion and a pretty guitar-based instrumental, albeit a tad bass-heavy. Khalid sounds pretty damn good, especially harmonising with Halsey on the choruses, who also gives a pretty... unique performance. I can’t say if it’s really as good as Khalid because they take a completely different angle and direction, but, yeah, it’s serviceable, although more interplay with each other would have made this more interesting, and probably longer too. This feels way too short. It breezes over entirely with very little consequence. It’s underdeveloped, sure, but for what it is, it’s okay.

#39 – “079ME” – B Young

Really? We’re letting the “Jumanji” guy have another hit? Yikes. It’s not any better either – with a twinkling synth sound that makes this faux-dancehall-grime-fusion schlock feel even cheaper and lazier. B Young is even worse than he was in the last song, because he tries – and yes, that may seem strange, but he bothers with inflections and puts some effort into his vocals here, most of which is still moaning, which makes the result even more pathetic and kinda sad. The phrase “0-7-9 me” is trite too, but I will admit – B Young’s vocals in the bridge/second verse aren’t as bad, as he sounds kind of bearable over the beat, at least better than the first verse where he tries to replicate an American trap-rap ad-lib, specifically “skrr skrr”, yet it doesn’t sound slick and relaxed as when people like MadeinTYO or Offset make that sound, mostly because what surrounds it are bland steel pans and an utterly gutter-trash performance. Hell, I may not like Yxng Bane but at least we know he never tries or at least never seems to. This is just depressing.

#37 – “High Hopes” – Panic! at the Disco

This is actually the first time I’ve talked about Panic! on this show, despite me being a big fan of them, personally. Brendan Urie, frontman and at this point, the one man, of the band, has got some pipes and they always have some fun, poppy production and instrumentation. This song was a single released before their most recent album, Pray for the Wicked, and now, after a month of the album’s release, the song’s finally debuted on the charts, and was it worth the wait?

Well, those horns I now expect from Panic! as they always include some kind of symphonic element to otherwise mindless pop rock songs, however the strings are a nice touch and Urie kills it as usual, especially with the multi-tracking in the verses and the fantastically-sung hook, however I’m not sure how I feel about the pitch-shifted vocal sample that comes in and out, but I barely notice it, especially in the hook where the borderline-trap percussion is hard-hitting and adds some punch to that great horn riff. That pre-chorus with the piano and strings performing almost a solo behind Urie is also pretty great, and the third hook where there’s no instrumentation and it’s just Brendan harmonising with either himself or a female backing vocalist, and then the drums build up and explode for a final hook, ending as excitingly as it started. This is an absolute explosion of bombast, and is a pump-up jam that even when this whole pop-trap trend dies down, will stand the test of time as a fantastic example of a band never running out of steam. Still impressed, Brendan, very much so. So, what’s the next song?

#35 – “FEFE” – 6ix9ine, Nicki Minaj and Murda Beatz

Oh. Oh, Lord, no.

Okay, so, I hate this song’s concept alone. Tekashi69 or just 6ix9ine, 3 times-certified scumbag who plead guilty to sexual contact with a minor, has now collaborated with one of my personal favourite rappers, Nicki Minaj. Delightful. Listen, Nicki, if you’re going to buddy up with this freaky deformed Skittle, at least try and deflect backlash with any sort of reason. “All you’re hearing is #Nic9ine this, #Nic9ine that”, you say. Is that your defense, Nicki, moaning about the amount of attention you’re getting from collaborating with a paedophile? You knew you were going to get it, and all this is a PR move that you knew would help you from flopping hard with “Barbie Tingz”, “Chun-Li”, “Rich Sex” and “Bed”, all four singles from your upcoming album Queen, that have had little success compared to your older songs, and you’re just trying to stir up controversy so you can feel relevant again. This is a pathetic attempt at trying to upstage Cardi, when, really, that youthful exuberance is missing from Nicki’s work nowadays, and it shows on songs like “Bed”, where it’s clear she’s not really trying. This is 6ix9ine’s highest-charting song in the UK, and it’s expected to debut in the top five on the Hot 100 next week, and the only people to blame for this are mindless Nicki Minaj fans streaming an awful person... but I’m not particularly mad at 6ix9ine’s success, I’m just making sure it’s known that the only reason this is so high is because the added feature of Nicki Minaj, and her large, loyal fanbase. The people complaining about this should definitely keep that in mind... yeah, except, it’s still Nicki and 6ix9ine’s fault, but who cares? They’re getting their money and their attention... as is Murda Beatz for some reason... why is he in the title again? In fact, there’s another producing duo here, why are they not credited? It’s not like Murda has a verse or anything.

#35 – “FEFE” – 6ix9ine, Nicki Minaj, Murda Beatz and Cubeatz

Yeah, give them the credit they deserve. It just seems odd and unfair. It’s like there’s no rhyme or reason to who gets credited on this song. It’s also not from an album, so why is it 6ix9ine featuring Nicki and Murda on Spotify? It should just be all four acts, ideally. There’s no reason... except Azealia Banks. Yes, Azealia Banks of all people is the person who isn’t taking this lightly and is the voice of reason amongst the hellfire. Justin Credible of the Power 106 radio station gets even more credible when you realise he just plays Nicki’s verse and no-one else’s. Thank you, Lord Credible.

See, I didn’t complain and go on a whole spiel when XXXTENTACION charted, because he was making something, you know, good? Same with Tyga, who’s in the same boat as 6ix9ine, he hasn’t shown remorse, but at least he’s making something quality out of it. Chris Brown and 6ix9ine aren’t in the same boat as X and Tyga though. They are purposefully making trash music to gain the masses’ attention, without showing any remorse or regret for what they’ve done in the past. 6ix9ine denied some of the details he earlier plead guilty to in an interview, while Chris Brown is buddying up with Lil Dicky of all people to mock his controversial past. The song? I haven’t listened to it, and it won’t get a title in the conclusion because of that, because, frankly, I don’t want to give these dudes any money. Sorry, Murda Beatz and Cubeatz, you’re not getting the five cents you’ll get from my singular stream, if anything, because producers and songwriters are not getting the credit and money they deserve, especially when working with hip-hop artists.

I’ll end off this little rant with a quote from Nicki Minaj herself.

“People who abuse children should be stoned to death in public.”

At least the cover art looks kind of nice.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2018/07/25/nicki-minaj-queen-album-rollout/#57f929732ddb

#33 – “Love it if We Made It” – The 1975

Oh, come on! I can’t catch a break. First 6ix9ine, then these douchebags again. Well, okay, at least I don’t need to get into too much detail here considering this is a pretty simple song. There’s a few synth melodies in the start, with a more ambient/alarm one behind a pulsating heartbeat, before the drums quickly come in and Matthew Healy shamelessly shouts “we’re f***ing in a car!” Yeah, that part’s pretty funny, but otherwise, this is a pretty decent composition, with a twinkling synth and a nice steady beat, smooth backing vocals but borderline unintelligible guitar parts until a brief bridge section which is actually pretty cool, but not as cool as the static-y second bridge that follows it, and the final chorus with some choir vocals. Overall, this is a pretty good instrumental...

Matthew Healy is not my favourite frontman. He’s way too shouty on this song, and he just yells all over the track, making it pretty unlistenable at times. The lyrics aren’t too bad here, I like how he mentions Lil Peep and how “the poetry is in the streets” (seemingly respecting hip-hop culture and how it has grown, which is nice), as well as making a pretty funny reference to Trump’s now iconic tweet “Thank you, Kanye, very cool!” Yet he also says “poison me, daddy”, so I’m not taking any of what this dude says seriously.

#26 – “Body” – Loud Luxury and brando

So, this is pretty cool – two artists I know absolutely nothing about, so I can get digging and I still don’t know who brando is.

Loud Luxury are a deep house DJ duo, and I heard their “Scared to be Lonely” remix and it was okay, so I decided to see who brando was, and he was a British trap-rapper with his most-streamed single raking up only 5,000 streams on Spotify. Okay, well, that’s less than impressive, and he still has very little info on his Spotify bio, but that’s not to discredit the underground; a lot of lesser-known artists are damn talented.

brando’s not, for the record. He’s pretty boring and he can’t sing, like at all. However, like Post Malone and Preme got assisted by Tiesto and Dzeko to make a decent, danceable song out of their reverb-drowned crooning, brando got a funky bass-line, nice wobbly synths and some pretty piano melodies, as well as a couple edits that chop up his pretty fast vocals that somehow make them even catchier, albeit a bit sloppily-put together. All the elements put together and this is actually a pretty cool, fun song. Check it out.

Conclusion

No, “FEFE” won’t get anything. That’d be unfair. Instead, Worst of the Week goes to B Young for “079ME”, with no Dishonourable Mentions. Instead, we have a tied Honourable Mention, going to Loud Luxury and brando for “Body”, as well as the 1975 for “Love it if We Made It”. It’s not perfect, but it’s alright enough, and at least more interesting than “Eastside”. Best of the Week should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway, as it’s going to Panic! at the Disco for “High Hopes”, definitely one of my favourite songs I’ve ever reviewed on this show so far. See you guys next time.

"As Queen of rap, you are responsible for protecting the rights, safety and well-beings of young women of colour, and as such, thou shall not associate with or lend your voice to known paedophiles – as you send the message that it’s okay for 18-year-old boys to fondle with 13-year-old girls and get away with it. Thou shall not ever be that desperate for chart success that you basically slap all of your 8-15-year-old fans and their moms in the face for allowing their daughters to listen. [...] Hip-hop is the only genre in modern times that normalises sexual assault and physical abuse against women. It’s f***ing sad.” – Azealia Banks

[wopcalmetacritic]

Rolling Stone Review: The Bronx Project by Cardi B

56/100

Cardi B is one of the main girls changing the rap scene in the last few months, and now she released her first album, "The Bronx Project". Filled with - allegedly - personal tracks, the singer wanted to reach her fanbase by making them feel closer than they were beforem after hitting the top of the charts with the bouncing "Bodak Yellow". But did she?

The album opens up with a trap urban song, "Bronx Season", a short (less than 3 min) song, but with countless words and rhymes that gives it a really nice flow. The composition talks about her journey, her reputation, her independence and stardom - which is really nice, but kind of weird when it's about a newbie artist that just hit success with one song.

"Spent A Little Doe", the second song, brings up an incredible 90's vibe, reminding us some classic Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott and even Salt-N-Pepa. Completely dated, but in some kind of good way, the song has incredible and uncredited vocals to legendary Mary J. Blige - give her the goddamn credits, Cardi.

The same 90's feeling comes up with "That Thing", featuring Beyoncé (yes, she got her credits). A extremely catchy song with woops and turns and a jamming groovy feeling, that gets tiring after three times singing it in your head. Beyoncé did great but Cardi verses are the best on the song ("Money taking and heart breaking, now you wonder why women hate men / The sneaky, silent men / The punk, domestic violence men / Quick to shoot the semen, stop acting like boys and be men").

"Whatta Man" is another dated song, straight outta 90's, but not in a good way this time. Even though Ariana really tried to save this, it's a bubblegum flash rap song that loses its fun at after 1 min and a half - it gets boring and tacky.

And we thought we'd might get some freshing new song, Cardi serves us "Queen Bitch", another song to praise her independence, her journey, her independence and fame... At another 90's dated song. The verses are great, her flow is fantastic, but the lyrical content doesn't goes far much than caressing her own ego. We got it, Cardi, you like to talk about fame while being a new girl in the stardom - who are we to judge? We'll just have to wait for the future Cardi to feel embarrassed for speaking with no property.

"Bodak Yellow", her #1 single, is the sixth single. Gangster style, in a looping hyponitc instrumental that makes you feeling yourself; it's impossible not to enjoy this, even if you're not into rap: the beat is incredible, the chorus' melody gets stuck in your head and makes you want to be just a little bit swagger like Cardi. The best song off the album so far, although it's lyrics doesn't goes that far as the subjects she talked in the previous songs.

The seventh track, "Red Barz", finally brings up the modern fresh style we've been waiting. After the smashing hit, "Bodak Yellow", we wonder why Cardi haven't released this yet - an upbeat catchy song with mid-east influences at its instrumental, and a terrific flow as Cardi speaks and curses, but, again, in a too short song - 2 minutes and 7 seconds, really? This could be a highlight but when you're getting into the song, it's over.

"Pop Off", featuring Casanova, is the eighth track, bringing up a messy instrumental as Cardi raps along with it in a fast rhyming game, in a song a bit different from the others, but still talking about how fierce she is, how big she is and that she won't take no offense home, "b****". Casanova verses lights up the song, even though the song gets annoyingly unhearable after 50% of it, due to it's extremely messy and noisy instrumental. Sounds unfinished and amateur, with a great potential lost.

Time to get some Pharrell production with "Icy Girl", the ninth track off the album. Serving Snoop Dogg realness, the song could be a pair to his classic "Beautiful" or Missy Elliott's bastard daughter. It's a great jamming song that goes along with an easy listening (and mimicking) and a nice flow - "Cash money mama that be dining in Bahamas / Eating Fettucini pasta with the scallops and the lobsters" is what you're going to get from the 1 minute song. For real, not even 2 minutes. Oh, and a classic line: "Huh, I don’t got no time for these hoes". Absolutely non-Cardi. But in the opposite way.

"Pull Up" takes the number 10 track place, in a similar song to "Bodak Yellow", but in a mediocre production and a composition that should've stayed at the demo drawers. "So much people think they know my pussy / But no one can say they fucked" is one of the verses. Just to mention. One more? "You try to play me, that's confirmation / But it's all good 'cause when you see my face / Shit don't come out like it's constipation". Let's pretend this never happened.

Pharrell is back at "The Jump Off", along with Timbaland (yes, he's alive!), in a boucing song that makes us remember from classic Missy Elliott - "Work It" - which is great, and it lifts us up after a great stumble from the previous track. A trap hip-hop track that samples "Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz", uncredited as well, that doesn't gets tiring, doesn't lose it's groove and makes you entertained in a catchy chorus and a smooth verse flow. Along with "Bodak Yellow" and "That Thing", the song is one of the best off the album, no doubt about it.

Spending her pennies in a electro-influenced song, Cardi sounds unrecognizable at the chorus of "Rolling", the twelfth song from the tracklist. Unpretentious as in 90% of the songs so far, the track doesn't change much of what we've heard so far when it's about its melody and composition; it starts as a great jamming song, smooth, but it turns into flat quickly, and gets boring after the second chorus. T-Pain would be proud of this song, specially at it's vocoder-ed vocals, we must observe.

The standard version of the album closes with "Never Give Up", a duet with Josh X, a Bronx fellow to Cardi; it sounds like something Rihanna would release in 2009, probably featuring Ne-Yo or someone like it, but hey, this isn't a bad thing. Its lyrics are inspirational, almost cliché "Never give up / We're almost at the top of the hill now", and it might not the best song, not even fantastic, but it can be memorable. It's a great song to close the album, it gives you the feeling of wanting more - 'cause after all, we didn't get much highlights from this tracklist so far.

The first from the three tracks from deluxe version & Apple Music exclusive, "Hectic", is the perfect definition of a filler bonus track. Life could've go on without it, but it's not that bad; not a fan favorite, but it can be the track that a few like and enjoy when she sings it, by surprise, at a conert. The bass beat reminds us from a few previous songs of the album, keeping up the coesion of the songlist, and that's good. A point to Cardi for that!

"Leave That Bitch Alone", the second bonus track, is a apparent powerful song at first, but we get it why it wasn't picked for the standard selection of tracks when you keep listening to it: it starts like an extremely good song, but it loses its power before it reaches the chorus after the first verse. No surprises on it, it's enjoyable and probably will be a fan favorite due to its "i'm the right girl for you" vibe, which we've seen before on the album.

The last track off the record, the last bonus, "Focus", should be at the tracklist, being a hightlight on the tracklist. It plays with an insane bass beat that could easily be played out loud in cars and parties. The fierce composition makes it even better and it might serve as an empowerment song, specially to girls - "Any n**** play or disrespect me, he regret me, wish he kept me / People question how they lost me, make it hard, they can't forget me", and obviously: "Can't no n**** disrespect you, keep these h*** up in they place", to keep the Cardi style.

In an overview, Cardi B might have released a fierce strong album to show off how she won't take no trash and no negative talking, and even though she might be a new in the music game, she's not a newbie in life. And life's hard. Growing up as a black girl, in the Bronx, takes guts to fill the cup. Confidence at its best, in a ego that sounds bigger than her humility, it doesn't take much to notice that Cardi B is here to play the fame game: if you know how to spell the words fast, and make yourself as the best on it, you're gonna be praised - but what is she saying though? As the songs have a few parts about her lifestory, they lose its power by mixing up to superficial self-praising lines. Some have a really nice rhythm and you get the flow wishing you could be good at rap like her - we can't deny her amazing skills on rap and at a few writing - but the content of the songs, in its total, are most all the same: the "i'm the motherf***** fiercest b**** and you're all h***, haters" type of thing that we're tired and that should've kept with Nicki Minaj way back in 2013. She's been through "Love & Hip Hop", she got herself in a gang, she made her ways to escape poverty and violence, and we admire her for that, but if Cardi wants to show that you want to get close to the people and mostly your fans, you have to disarm yourself - i guess you wouldn't want to hurt the ones that love you, right? You don't have that much haters, Cardi, trust us when we say that. Maybe getting off the narcissism and the armed position ready for the attack would match the humble personality hardly noticed in the show-off Bronx girl songs that fought hard to be where she is now.