Fluxblog Weekly #166: Teyana Taylor, Trippie Redd, Jay Rock, Nine Inch Nails, Jerry Paper
June 25th, 2018
Leave Him Seasick
Teyana Taylor featuring Kanye West “Hurry”
Kanye West raps on this song and co-produced it, but the Kanye-ness of this song – particularly in comparison to most other songs he’s released in the past few weeks – is fairly subtle. Kanye has rarely made music as slinky and sensual as this, and even when he’s on the mic he’s wise enough to dial down the antics and just complement the groovy before tossing it back over to Teyana Taylor. Taylor is a revelation here. She’s charismatic and bold, particularly when she’s switching up the melody and cadence. This is a singer who has clearly learned a lot of the best musical lessons from Beyoncé, but stops short of directly emulating her. But it’s there in the creative approach to melody, the commitment to interesting phrasing, and the playful sexuality. “Hurry” is too sincere in its horniness to be a joke, but it’s definitely the kind of sexy song that isn’t afraid to give you a knowing wink.
Buy it from Amazon.
June 25th, 2018
A Nobody, A Mushmouth
Trippie Redd “How You Feel”
Trippie Redd has, up until this point, mainly been associated with the more mumbly end of the SoundCloud rap cohort, so it’s something of a surprise for him to release this song, which is basically a straight-up alt-rock ballad. “How You Feel” is very minimal in terms of arrangement – there’s no percussion at all, the guitar part is pretty basic and sounds a bit like someone trying to play Eddie Money’s “Baby Hold On” from memory, and the only flourish is a droning lead guitar line. But despite this fairly static arrangement, Redd’s voice is dynamic and emotive enough to keep it compelling all the way through. He sings this with great feeling and urgency, and with the commitment of a guy who has no real incentive to do a song like this but clearly feels like he MUST. The melody is strong, the sentiment is heart-wrenching, and there hasn’t been a good power ballad in a while: This song should be a hit. People should be waving lighters to this thing.
Buy it from Amazon.
June 26th, 2018
I Could Make Moonlight
Jay Rock featuring Kendrick Lamar “Wow Freestyle”
The first two verses here are very good – it’s Kendrick on the first, Jay Rock on the second, so what would you expect? But the real draw here is the third section in which the two go back and forth on the mic while Hit-Boy’s beats subtly shift for emphasis. The track has a drowsy feeling to it, mainly due to a flute loop very similar to the one in Future and Kendrick’s “Mask Off,” but the energy level in the vocals is quite dynamic with both men approaching the groove differently every few bars. I particularly like when Jay Rock seems to lose his cool and gets aggro – “Fuck your plan, I’ma burn that castle!” – especially since it’s in strong contrast to some much more chill moments less than a minute earlier in the song.
Buy it from Amazon.
June 28th, 2018
Snouts In The Dirt
Nine Inch Nails “Ahead of Ourselves”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have composed so much music for film that the aesthetics of film pacing have carried over their work in Nine Inch Nails. “Ahead of Ourselves” strikes me a distinctly cinematic song – it sounds like a chase sequence cut between multiple perspectives, with the loudest and most abrasive moments of the chorus presented less like chord changes and more like sudden smash cuts. The drums are the focus all the way through, starting at a maniac pace but speeding up with drum fills that seem to swerve across the song like the beat’s taking a shortcut. There’s something cartoonish about those fills, and I like the way this musical element that strikes me as rather un-NIN contrasts with the rest of the composition, which is full-on NIN aesthetic.
Buy it from Amazon.
June 29th, 2018
Nothing Else For Me
Jerry Paper “Your Cocoon”
“Your Cocoon” sounds chill but not relaxed. It’s like a room that’s been meticulously designed to be conducive to peaceful relaxation but is a bit too… sterile and stiff and clean and pricey to actually relax in. Jerry Paper’s grooves are strong, but a bit uncanny – the song has some swing, but it’s just a bit too tight. But the effect of the track suits the lyrics, which come off like half of a passive-aggressive argument that will never actually be verbalized outside the confines of a song. It’s the sound of someone who is presenting themselves as cool and above-it-all, and actually is to an extent, but definitely not fully. The neuroses tighten up the slickest grooves.
Buy it from Amazon.