Flu the Coop
a rest and a reset
This past week, I was going to do another Disney article. I had some time off from my day job and was going to really drill down and do some in-depth work. Then I had to go and get the flu, meaning that I spent the majority of a week in bed barely able to pick my head up, much less write anything of any quality. Normally in such situations I would lean upon my partner in crime (and life) Thea to do some heavy lifting. Unfortunately, she was right there with me, suffering from the same flu (although thankfully hers was a milder case).
As a result, the Disney article is pushed back, and my previous plans for that subsequent week’s article are now pushed back indefinitely. Originally, I was going to celebrate the birth of Giorgio Moroder and do an overview of the best of electro-disco. (That’s me, always chasing trends.) If there’s sufficient interest, I will find a more suitable time to publish that one. Thea will still pitch in on the Disney article once more, since people seem to like her writing a lot. (I know I do.)
I constantly struggle with the idea of “following my muse” versus trying to appeal to my readers. There are topics I like and would write tens of thousands of words about that don’t seem to resonate with my audience. Then again, when I “chase” a hot topic I don’t entirely believe in, it shows in the response from subscribers.
It should come as no surprise that this newsletter exists only because it is free to host; with any kind of hosting fee or distribution cost I would lose money immediately. I also know that my writing is niche to the nth degree and asking for money would ring falsely for all involved, especially for me. (If there’s a topic you desperately want to see me tackle, though, I can do work-for-hire. Reach out in the usual manners and we can negotiate.)
Ultimately I write things because it entertains me and stretches my writing muscles that laid dormant for too long. I’ve lost subscribers and lord willing I’ll gain more. As a result of all this, I think I’m moving to a looser and freer publishing schedule rather than a strict regimen of every other week. We’ll see. Enough bloviating from me, though.
This week, I’ll now do a two-part article where I go over ten seemingly random songs I plucked from a Spotify “This is Frequency” playlist a few months back. But before we do that, I’m going to highlight some pieces from the past several months that either need more love from the audience or are particularly prideworthy in my heavily critical eyes.
First, here’s last week’s longform piece on Beyoncé and her history with Destiny’s Child. It’s a doorstopper of an article, but it’s well worth your time in my estimation:
Second, there’s my Nirvana: Unplugged in New York article from last month. It’s one of my more popular pieces, and for good reason:
Third, I’m reaching back a bit further and highlighting my Tony Hawk Pro Skater piece that features arguably the best soundtracks in video game history:
Now we’ll make our way to the seemingly pattern-less selection from Spotify, beginning with number one…
1. Alright - Victoria Monét
Victoria Monét is probably best known as the perennial collaborator of Ariana Grande, having written or co-written a number of tracks for her over the past decade. She earned a spot in the music industry by attracting the attention of Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who was also instrumental in crafting the Beyoncé sound I spoke about at length in my last piece. “Alright” is an album track off of her 2023 release Jaguar II, which was her first full-length work in a career filled with EPs and one-off singles. The album won two Grammys, one for Best R&B Album and one for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Personally, I don’t hear it. It’s a generic modern R&B track, an unspectacularly average one at that. I can see why this isn’t a single.
2. Notes From a Wrist - d4vd
David “d4vd” Burke is a true-blue Gen Z product, beginning his musical career by composing his own music for Fortnite highlight videos so as not to incur copyright strikes on his YouTube account. He became a sensation when his songs “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me” became popular on TikTok, leading to his inclusion on Interscope Records’ sub-label Darkroom Records. His first EP Petals to Thorns came out in May 2023, cracking the Billboard 200 soon after. Following its success a companion album The Lost Petals emerged, including this song. The majority of the tracks for both releases were recorded in his sister’s closet with BandLab, a free digital audio workstation designed for beginning producers to make beats. Musically, this is what used to be called “Soundcloud R&B” or “codeine rap”, with emphasis on emo-styled lyrics and reverb-drenched backing music. It’s fine for what it is.
3. Peacock Revisit - Uncle Waffles feat. Ice Beats Slide and Sbuda Maleather
Uncle Waffles (born Lungelihle Zwane) is a musician and producer from Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) who is based in South Africa. She is a purveyor of a uniquely South African style of hip-hop called amapiano that fuses international hip-hop, European house music, and American jazz and lounge music to make a tasty mélange of synth-laden percussion. Uncle Waffles began DJ’ing in 2020 while under COVID-19 lockdown, subsequently using her connections as a television host in Eswatini to make inroads in the music business. Her most successful single to date was 2022’s “Tanzania”, notable to American audiences for being featured on the Beyoncé Renaissance tour as a dance break. “Peacock Revisit” is off of her latest EP Solace, and is well worth your time. Imagine Sade taking a trip to Soweto and you’re halfway there.
4. Boyfriend - Usher
I have hesitated to write a full feature on Usher because I try not to give a platform to “cancelled” artists. (I’ve been burned before. Damn you, Brian McKnight.) You may ask yourself “but Usher hasn’t been cancelled, has he?”, which is a perfectly valid question. Given the nature of certain legal developments involving prominent hip-hop and R&B artists of the Nineties and Oughts, I’d like you to draw your own conclusions. Streets are talking, Ush. Tick tock.
I will take the opportunity to talk about this video, though, as it touches on the Keke Palmer / Darius Jackson controversy. Briefly, Palmer went to an Usher concert at his residency in Las Vegas, dressed in a sheer dress over a bodysuit. Jackson, the father of her child, called her out for dressing “inappropriately” given that she is a mother. Palmer “clapped back” in the best of ways by selling t-shirts with “I’m a motha” printed on them. Good for her. She looked great at the time and she looks great in the video. Song’s mid, though.
5. Number 9 - Miguel feat. Lil Yachty
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was said to make “teenage symphonies” that used classical composition techniques applied to popular music. Am I saying that Miguel is in any way comparable to Brian Wilson as a musician? Absolutely not. What I am saying is that the layered and heavily filtered soundscapes in this song try their best to create a Spector-esque “wall of sound” that stands out as different in modern R&B. Neither this song nor “Give It to Me” from his yet-to-be-released album Viscera have made much of an impact on the charts, so perhaps it’s too far gone from the mainstream to resonate.
6. Moment of Your Life - Brent Faiyaz feat. Coco Jones
Brent Faiyaz somehow produced the best R&B album of 1998 in 2023. His choices as collaborators and sample sources on the mixtape Larger than Life reflect his influences, with Missy Elliott, Rome, Adina Howard, and even TLC making appearances. Everything about this song drips K-Ci & Jojo, Jagged Edge, or Joe, from the forthright percussion to the slow stuttered bassline. Coco Jones (late of both the Disney Channel Original Movie Let it Shine and the opening to Wrestlemania XL this past Saturday) provides a lovely soprano counterpoint to Faiyaz’s confident baritone-tenor. So far, this is the best song on this list by a good bit.
7. Angel - Halle
Getting back to the Disney articles Thea and I have been writing, it is inconceivable to us that the response to Disney casting Halle Bailey as Ariel in the new Little Mermaid has been so vicious and vile. Her talent is undeniable, whether as part of the singing duo Chloe x Halle with her sister or her early acting appearances in (oddly enough) the Disney Channel Original Movie Let it Shine. (It’s a small strange world.) Besides, what ethnicity are mermaids anyway? “Angel” off of Halle’s forthcoming album is a dramatic debut, and in many ways outshines Chloe’s 2021 album In Pieces. It’s unfortunate that Halle’s personal life (and specifically her tumultuous relationship with rapper DDG) has overshadowed her immense talents.
8. Sneak - Leon Thomas III
Continuing the unintended trend of former child stars on this supposedly randomized list, we see Leon Thomas (Andre from Victorious) perform some decidedly family un-friendly R&B. From the opening lines of the track “Sneak”, we know this is a more explicit jam than anticipated. Thomas began his production and co-writing career with castmate Ariana Grande alongside his musical partner Khristopher Riddick-Tynes as “the Rascals”. From there, the duo worked with such luminaries as Ty Dolla $ign, Zendaya, Post Malone, Meghan Trainor, and Bhad Bhabie (“luminaries” is pushing it here, I know). They graduated to more mature work with Toni Braxton, Babyface, and Deborah Cox before hitting the big time with Drake, Lil Wayne, and even Kanye West. Any doubt people had that he was either a floundering child star or riding on the coattails of Grande should be thoroughly dismissed by now.
9. Fruit Loop - Flo Milli
Flo Milli might have the three best album titles to begin a career in history. She made her full-length debut in 2020 with Ho, Why is You Here?, a mixtape released independently that compiled several of her singles that had gone viral on TikTok over the previous two years. Her follow-up in 2022 was You Still Here, Ho?, which was not as well-received or as successful in terms of sales. Flo Milli bounced back with her latest release Fine Ho, Stay, buoyed by the smash hit “Never Lose Me”. Her song “Fruit Loop” came out right before the Fine Ho, Stay push, one of several non-album singles released over her discography. The way it uses a minimalist trap beat highlights her vocals and her lyrical dexterity, following in the grand tradition of Trina or Lil Kim in presenting a confident sex-positive image to the audience. It’s pretty good.
10. Booty Drop - Doechii
Doechii is a profoundly mystifying artist, in the best way. Her music is deliberately provocative and courts controversy, but her image also goes out of its way to subvert the male gaze and uses her sexual appeal to challenge notions about propriety and decorum. Musically, she comes from the Miami school of bass music, owing a great debt to 2 Live Crew and Uncle Luke. That isn’t to say she’s hidebound by tradition (such as it is when talking about “booty music”), as she incorporates more modern trends into her performances as well. Her management Top Dawg Entertainment acts as a packager to larger labels, in her case Capitol Records, allowing her both the artistic freedom that comes with smaller more tailored guidance and the marketing support that comes from a large international corporation. See also her TDE cohorts Schoolboy Q, SZA, and Jay Rock for examples of how that hybrid approach can work. Specific to “Booty Drop”, it’s a intentionally lighter subject matter perfect for a day on Miami Beach during Spring Break. I know I would have preferred that to being in bed all week with the flu.
Thank you for joining me once more for a scattershot article like this one. I anticipate the next post will be about Disney villains, but a lot of things can happen between now and then. We’ll see what the time frame looks like then as well; my policy moving forward is to put articles out when I think they’re done rather than on a set schedule.
If you liked what you read today (either in this brief review or in the linked articles from earlier), let me know in the comments or via social media. My Linktree is active and ready to receive both hate and praise. See you next time, space cowboys.
Hope you're doing well. I'm just occasionally poking my head out but at this point have completely lost the desire to share anything really with any sort of audience.