(Source: Spotify)
(Source: Spotify)
A bit of a teaser off of an upcoming album. Sufjan Stevens gets even more vulnerable. It takes courage and artistry to share so beautifully his yearnings, hardships, and desires.
If “Teenage Dream” is sitting in the passenger seat of the car staring at his jawline with a quiet smile, “Super Bass” is zooming down the highway in your pink Aventador, driving and cackling as your man looks at you. There are love songs about the quiet and casual moments. There are love songs about the explosive and heartwrenching moments. And there are love songs like “Super Bass.” It is anything but quiet, but too light to be that punch to a gut. It’s about flying rather than floating, about a heartbeat that skips rather than pounds. Your heartbeat is running away because he is charmed by your laugh, your confidence, your attitude, your everything. “Super Bass” is about leaping off a cliff but making that decision to leap yourself. “Super Bass” is about losing control after making the decision to fall deeply.
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Compared to “Monster,” few words have been written about “Super Bass.” It’s silly: “Super Bass” is the most Nicki Minaj track that I can think of on a lot of levels. Popularity wise, “Anaconda” may have charted higher, but “Super Bass” went 8x platinum. (If you’re wondering what that means, by comparison, “Call Me Maybe” also went 8x platinum and “Fancy” has gone 4x platinum so far.) It had longevity, mass and international appeal, and a slew of memes involving cute kids rapping on Ellen. “Super Bass” is the promise of Nicki Minaj as a global pop star fulfilled.
Certifications, popularity, and sales aside, it’s also the quintessential Nicki Minaj track because literally no one else could sound like this. “Super Bass” may not be your favorite Nicki Minaj song or your favorite version of Nicki Minaj, but it’s a perfect pop song and it’s a pop song that only Nicki Minaj could make. Sure, she raps and she sings, but this is so full of Nicki Minaj because of the details. The way that her voice drops when she says “excuse me, you’re a hell of a guy!” The sighing relatability of “You know I really got a thing for American guys!” The utter swagger of “Somebody please tell him who the eff I is!” And that way that final “bass” in the bridge zooms off for the very last time! “Super Bass” is so fucking Nicki.
When Roman Reloaded came out, I complained that the record didn’t fulfill the promise of “Super Bass.” What I meant is that “Super Bass” is so tough, so hard, and so unapologetically feminine. If we talk about how Nicki Minaj actively pushes outward on the boundaries of hip-hop, we can’t not talk about “Super Bass,” which is still, the perfect blend of tough raps and the girliest girl. Nicki Minaj wants you to know that you can be tough and smart and strong and liking pink does not negate any of that. Whereas Roman Reloaded is, on surface level, split into almost distinct halves of rap and pop, masculine and feminine, “Super Bass” is a perfect three and a half minute blend of both.
Anyone who doesn’t put it in their top 5 Nicki Minaj songs is either lying to you or to themselves.
I have been writing the Nicki Minaj OWOB this week. Check it out. — Crystal
I still am having trouble figuring out which song off of RTJ2 I should feature. There are eleven tracks on the (free!) album and every single one achieves its own individual flavor of mind-blowing. The album runs a solid 39 minutes, shorter than an episode of How To Get Away With Murder. If you haven’t had the pleasure yet, postpone your usual consumption routine, download the album, and try and figure out what would be a better song to feature here than “Early.”
It’s riot grrrl rock night at The Empty Bottle in Chicago tonight, with Ex Hex, Speedy Ortiz, and Split Feet taking the stage.
Ex Hex has been getting a lot of press lately for their killer debut album, Rips. Bandleader Mary Timony was a member of Wild Flag with Carrie Brownstein, who is having her own reunion with Sleater-Kinney in 2015 – that influence is hard to miss here. The band name actually comes from an earlier solo album by bandleader Mary Timony that is equally as rocking, while the songs sound like in-your-face reinventions of 70s/80s pop rock and garage rock tunes from Nuggets. The album is all about taking what has come before, tearing it apart and setting it on fire, and building something new and better in its ashes.
Miracle Fortress - Let Me Be the 1
Some feel-good music to help wrap up a surprisingly feel-good summer.
TOKiMONSTA - “Steal My Attention”
"Steal My Attention" stomps and lurches and glides. Not sure if I am ready to lie in bed and drift off or put on my new shoes and go dancing, but I like it.
The New Pornographers - “War On The East Coast”
Let us celebrate of the release of Brill Bruisers, the new record from The New Pornographers (touring again with Neko Case and Dan Bejar!?). A.C. Newman and co. have really outdone themselves this time – the New Pornos vibe and top-notch songwriting have not changed one bit, but rather, have evolved slightly. For this track in particular, it’s refreshing to hear both the classic sprightly rock from the New Pornos and the unmistakeable Dan Bejar/Destroyer lyricism together once again, following in the tradition of “Testament to Youth in Verse” and “Myriad Harbour.” The only difference is flourishing synth, adding yet another musically fascinating element to the polished pop that this group has been putting out for more than a decade.
M.O - “Dance On My Own”
DJs have been making remixes forever, but M.O have combined R&B girl group vocals with a UK garage beat. The result is something that sounds like the last breath of both summer and that summer fling.
I love the way that Netta Brielle starts this track with a “Naw, but I’m from here from here,” said with the same playful contempt that city folks have for suburbanites. It’s definitely trying to make a statement about RnBass music, which has grown in popularity with the Chris Browns and Jeremih’s of hip hop radio capitalizing a sound that was largely developed in California. Luckily for Netta Brielle, she can back it up. “3xKrazy” is a great entry into the genre, and Netta Brielle should be filed right next to Tinashe and Molia as ladies who can fill this icy minimalist croaking with warmth.