Tag Archives: music journalism

BREAKING: 80/35 Festival Proves the Midwest to be, in fact, Best

DES MOINES IS NOT HERE TO PLAY GAMES!

Okay, now that we have that out our systems, let’s talk about Des Moines disrespect, before we attack this absolutely incredible festival lineup.

There will be no Des Moines slander up in here. It is a magical city with charm and kind, warm folks. And they have really cool stuff, i.e. the 80/35 non-profit Festival.

This is a festival that knows who it is and what it is bringing to music fans in the Midwest and nationwide.

From headliners Father John Misty’s prophetic and lamenting beautiful prose to Charli XCX’s syrupy sweet hyperpop, filled with iconic earworms from the not-forgotten eras of dance and fun!

Jamila Woods is one of the greatest poets of our day and Japanese Breakfast is putting on the best show in music right now. Check out M. Zauner aka J Brekkie, aka THE GOAT before she wins her Oscar. đź‘€

Not to mention that this festival supports countless of human beings, families, pets, businesses, and the world around us and the air we breathe. So you’ll literally be saving the world by going.

BUY TICKETS AT: https://www.80-35.com/

Billie Eilish returns strong with new song, “my future” 

Bedroom-pop teenage wunderkind Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell just released her latest single “my future.”

“we wrote this at the very beginning of quarantine. it’s a song that’s really really personal and special to me. when we wrote this song, it was exactly where my head was at – hopeful, excited and a craaaazy amount of self reflection and self growth. but recently it has also taken on a lot of new meaning in the context of what’s happening in the world now. i hope you can all find meaning in it for yourselves,” Eilish said,

The song marks her latest since soundtracking the upcoming James Bond film, “No Time To Die.”

The Chainsmokers’ Throw a Deadly Party

The New York Health Commissioner said that the Chainsmoker’s Hampton’s party “Mocks New Yorkers’ attempt to flatten the curve.” 

On Saturday, The Chainsmokers threw a $25,000 per ticket, promotional party to support FuckJerry’s tequila release. The CEO of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, performed as a DJ, opening the show.

How, you may ask, did we get here? Why would so many people think that partying during a pandemic, as a deadly infection virus sweeps the nation, is a good idea? How could nobody have stopped this?

It’s beacause everything is terrible.

But we’re not the only ones who are pissed about the party. New York’s Health Commissioner, Howard A. Zucker, who has worked tirelessly for almost 6 months to flatten the curve of infections in New York, and did so to an impressive extent, expressed his anger in a letter he released.

“This is not just a lack of common sense, but an illegal and reckless endangerment of public health…

I think what struck our collective nerve was seeing so many with so much to their advantage — concert attendees were generally young, healthy, and, as indicated by the $850 ticket prices, able to afford health care if they should need it — be so cavalier about taking a risk that could have dire consequences for many.

You don’t have to be the commissioner of health to realize that when it comes to contracting and transmitting a contagious and dangerous disease, every one of us is a card-carrying member of the rank-and-file. COVID-19 is an equal-opportunity infector: It doesn’t recognize skin color or the thickness of stock portfolios.”

Look, we love a party. We all want to party. But we’re not partying because it could possibly harm people. Nobody likes a party that hurts people.

But it’s one thing to throw a bad party, it’s another if your party could potentially murder people.

Rap Battles in the Age of Covid

Imagine, if you will, you’re inside of a dank basement or an underground warehouse full of sparks and sweat, so humid you can see the moisture and fear in the air. Two men stand toe-to-toe, locked at the eyes, with nothing but fire and tension between them. The moment builds, the crowd of anxious hyenas wait silently, patiently. One man grabs the mic:

“2 CHAAAINZ”  

He declares proudly as the room explodes with deafening cheers.

M-M-M-Maybach Music”

The tension hangs so thick in the air, you can taste it on your tongue. It tastes of pride, aggression, and the will to survive. Who wants it more?

Welcome to the World of Battle Rapping, and during the times of Covid and social distancing, they don’t happen in fiery warehouses, there are no musty basements. It’s happening right inside your house. 

On Thursday, August 6 at 8 p.m. EST, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz will go head to head in a Verzuz virtual rap battle. Hosted by Ciroc and Apple Music, the two rap giants will compete in the most primal of rap activities, a battle.

Verzuz pairs up rappers for a virtual rap battle, because that is what happens when there are no concerts or music festivals. We need new content, and it has to be virtual.

To watch the battle, head to Verzuz’s Instagram, or watch on Apple Music.

Phoebe Bridgers Invites the Apocalypse in Her Epic “I Know The End” Video

One of the joys in music is how brutally it can strip away all ego. I’ve seen grown men cry at Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” I’ve seen a band of young Japanese girls play the hardest metal you’ll ever hear. 

When it comes to music, the feeling you get when that song starts, or how you lose yourself in the lyrics, is all that matters. 

Phoebe Bridgers makes impossibly pretty, yet emotionally carving indie rock. Her music has this ability to cut you to the core, yet keep you coming back for more. 

This is her gift as a songwriter, to craft something so approachable, and making it deadly. She’s the human embodiment of a butterfly knife- floating delicately along, until it cuts you.

On her latest album, Punisher, she cuts deeper than ever before. “I Know the End,” the climatic album-closer, is one of the best songs of the year. 

What starts as a strumming guitar grows into an erupting volcano. Bridgers’ voice is light as a feather, almost like a whisper in the breeze, until it comes crashing down around us. The song builds and builds into an all out apocalypse of guitars, drums, and shouts to anyone who’ll listen.

The result is nothing short of stunning, and the video is no different. Director Alissa Torvinen finds Bridgers in a bleak, world, gone past the brink of extinction. As the song builds to its crescendo, the fire and flames do too.  

It’s a victory lap for an artist at the top of her game, and exactly what a world currently in shambles needs to see right now. 

Two Unknown Artists Collaborate

Two young, up and coming musicians, still pretty new to the game, but with kind of unique and somewhat interesting sounds and styles are collaborating together this week.

They’re called DrakĂ© and Dee Jay Khalid.

Never heard of ’em.

Just kidding, they’re the masters of rap and pop music who have come together to create the house party essential bangers including, but not limited to: “I’m On One,” “To the Max,” “No New Friends,” and more.

Now, it’s been announced via Khaled’s very loud Instagram that he and Drake some two fire tracks that are almost ready to be brought out of the oven.

They will be dropping 2 new tracks this week, and if I was a betting man, I’d say they will be catchy, poppy, and make a trillion dollars.

UGH.

UGH.

UGH UGH UGH.

Kanye, please don’t fuck this up for us. I’ve been a fan for a really long time. It hasn’t always been easy. But if you somehow get Biden in the White House instead of the Racist Tangerine we have now, I will never stop listening to your albums.

Kanye announced on Twitter last week that he wants to run for President in 2020. #2020Vision. Clever!

The only problem with this is:

  • He’s unqualified
  • He’s nuts
  • We have a very bad man in the office right now
  • We have a better man who is trying to get him out
  • Kanye is not either of those people, so he shouldn’t be involved
  • He involved himself
  • And finally
  • If Kanye is a candidate that people vote for, either out of fandom or thinking they’re funny, or just because they hate both choices, Kanye will still not recieve close to enough votes to win. Howver, he may steal valuable votes away from Joe Biden, who, as earlier noted, is trying to kick the racist bad man out of the office that he uses to do bad things to good people.

Kanye’s currently polling at 2%. The data shows that he isn’t affecting Biden’s numbers, but he is taking a point away from Trumpito.

So with any hope, Biden/Kanye is the winning ticket, and we can experience joy and relief again.

But we’ll just have to see what happens in 112 DAYS.

Can’t Wait for LamaPalooza

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, has been a symbol for peace, patience, respect, and harmony for many years. He’s been a beacon for so many people for so long. And after enough time, creativity strikes and you just have to make an album. These things just happen.

The Dalai Lama released his debut album last Friday, and what do you know, the thing is a cover-to-cover bangers. For this reason, it has propelled to the top of the charts, claiming the #1 spot on Billboard’s New Age album chart.

The album is composed of melodic and peaceful tones, perfect for a meditation sesh, or some nice ambient studying music. Maybe you’re studying Buddhism to become a more well rounded global citizen. In that case, I would definitely recommend the Dalai Lama’s new album for you.

It’s kind of nice to see another name that’s not Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, or Pope Francis at the top of the charts.

Much love to the Dalai Lama!

Trump is Not Tik Tok Famous

Trump’s never-ending beef with China has a new target in the crosshairs- social media platform Tik Tok.

The incredibly popular app, featuring teens doing silly dances and countless celebrities being obliviously too old to look cool, has now come under scrutiny by the Trump administration?

Why would Trump hate something that brings so many so much joy? Because he believes the Chinese-based app is spying on citizens who have signed up for the app.

Which leads us to wonder, is it worth letting an Authoritarian power spy on your most personal content, just to do the Renegade dance, or whatever is popular nowadays.

Kanye Is Gonna Kanye

What can Kanye possibly do that will shock us? The man has seemingly done and said it all! The man literally said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on live TV. While he was 100% right with that statement, still; shocking.

However, it seems Kanye still has some tricks up his Yeezy-branded sleeves. The prolific and controversial rapper and artist announced late on July 4th that he intends to run for President of the United States.

While this is an incredibly interesting idea in theory, in actuality, this is a beautiful, dark, twisted, bad idea. The world need an actual stable genius now.

Apparently, Kanye’s late night tweet wasn’t just lip service, he actually has a platform loosely put together, and it is terrible.

In an interview this morning with Forbes, Kanye flaunted his anti-vaxx views, saying:

“It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed… So when they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I’m sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them.”

He also said that ““Planned Parenthoods have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work.” He doesn’t believe in the death penalty. He thinks there should be prayer in schools. One of his main priorities is chemicals: “In our deodorant, in our toothpaste, there are chemicals that affect our ability to be of service to God.”

As troubling as all of these statements are, we can at least take solace in the face that Kanye appears to be over his commitment to Trump. “I’m taking the red hat off with this interview… It looks like one big mess to me. I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker.”

The whole interview is incredibly wild, just as the Kanye West fan journey has been. Read the rest of the interview here