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dans-den · 1 year

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Cocaine Bear Review

What's going on everyone?! Dan here and I'll be giving a review on the Cocaine Bear movie!

Believe it or not, I was looking forward to this movie because A. its about a bear on cocaine and B it's Ray Liotta's last work of film before his unfortunate passing. The film looked like a fun watch so I went with my friends to the Harkin's theater and it was a fun time. The movie is based on a real story and it ranges from funny to so bad its funny moments which I will talk about now.

As I said, this was based off a real story from 1985 where a drug smuggler had loads of cocaine and dropped it all in the mountains while he jumped out but his parachute didn't deploy so he fell to his death. An American black bear stumbled upon the cocaine and got into some of it but it died due to an overdose. The coke was recovered and the so was the bear. The bear ended up getting stuffed and set for display under the name "Pablo Escobear". That's pretty messed up but also a bit funny, no wonder Elizabeth Banks wanted to do a movie on this.

The plot itself is basically a what if scenario, what would happen if the bear did not OD? How would an American black bear react to ingesting that much coke? This is definitely one of those crazy science experiments you'd hear about on a Vsauce video. There isn't a lot to talk about, a crazy cast of characters come into the woods whether it be family issues, drug dealers finding their coke supply while a detective is on their trail, or some park rangers trying to get lucky while a local gang is just being stupid. It tries to interweave the stories together and it does it alright.

The cast did a good job, like I said this was Ray Liotta's last film before his passing and he played a pretty good villain in this story. I liked O'Shea Jackson (Ice Cubes son) he was the literal straight man of this wacky cast of characters which was hilarious. Scott Seiss, I've seen his retail worker skits online and it was funny to see him as the paramedic guy in the movie running for his life and getting wrecked, Isiah Whitlock Jr as the detective made me laugh, I liked his skits on the Chappelle show and he looked like he had fun with this movie too, Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family made an appearance as this nature ranger type guy and it was a blast to watch him trip balls on coke. They should have honestly done away with the plot about the mom and her daughter plus friend (although Christian Convery made me laugh a couple times despite his lines being on the weak side). No disrespect to the actresses and actor but they should have focused more on the drug dealers story more.

Now Elizabeth Banks has said she wants to do more movies like this. I think I heard she wanted to do a movie about a crocodile on cocaine or Heroin? I'm not 100% sure. I mean I'm down for more movies like this for a good laugh, it can be like the Sharknado franchise, get a crazy cast, go hog wild with the kills, do it up! I have a few suggestions to make the movies going forward better. The writing needs work, some of the writing in cocaine bear was a bit over the top like they were reading of the script directly or acting like a high school theater group at times. Another suggestion is focus one one main story, maybe have a side plot but only one side plot if it relates a bit to the main plot where it all connects. Drop the family drama and focus on the drug dealers. Keep up the hacking and slashing in the wildest ways imaginable.

Overall, the movie wasn't too bad. Its a good laugh to have with friends or family, it ranges from good funny to so bad it's funny at times, the CGI with the bear was decent and the writing was okay but definitely needs work. The cast was wacky and fun but in regards to stories, stick to one main story relating to drug dealing rather than family drama that doesn't serve much purpose.

rating this movie I'll give it:

7/10

It's a fun movie, nothing serious just a fun laugh so I recommend giving it a watch you'll have a fun time. That's all I have to say, I got more reviews coming for the next week and I'll get to them soon.

See Ya!

#dans den #cocaine bear #elizabeth banks #american black bear #movie review #universal pictures #ray liotta #o'shea jackson jr #jesse tyler ferguson #scott seiss #isiah whitlock jr.

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oldpunkfromda90s-blog · 2 years

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Lineages of Protest: A Brief Review Of, Reflection On, and Postscript to Season 1 of the podcast Mother Country Radicals By Chris White

Lineages of Protest:

A Brief Review Of, Reflection On, and Postscript to Season 1 of the podcast Mother Country Radicals

By Chris White

The first season of Zayd Dohrn’s podcast, Mother Country Radicals, is exceptional. First, in an era where everyone releases recordings of tired conversations into the world for 15 minutes of fame, it is well written, well produced, and well paced. My friend who told me about it said something to the effect of, “Have you heard that Serial podcast about the Weather Underground?” Zayd has such a unique intimate connection to the material and an access to people about a part of their lives that is closely guarded. And also, he discovers things in the reporting that he did not know or realize before. But also, I like it especially because it fills in a lot of context of both my family’s life and my own journey.

Zayd Dohrn is the oldest son of Bernadine Dohrn and William Ayers who were part of an underground, sometimes violent, direct action movement against U.S. Imperialism and racism beginning in the 60s.. He was born while his parents were still in hiding and grew up as they emerged from it.

William Ayers, once served on a foundation board with Barack Obama, and was therefore a central figure in the opposition research about Obama the candidate. My favorite tv moment during the 2008 election was the Saturday Night Live skit in which they portray William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright performing the Gnarls Barkley song Crazy.

One of the episodes, the fourth one I believe, describes the death of Diana Oughton in a Greenwich Village townhouse due to a bomb that exploded during manufacture. I first heard about Diana Oughton when I was in high school. I lived in my mother’s basement where one of her bookshelves was. There was a sensational biography of Diana Oughton next to an anthology of underground newspapers. My mom told me about almost getting kicked out of high school for distributing the newspaper and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for protests that Oughton was a part of.

Someone in the podcast says something to the effect of, “Those who do don’t tell and those who tell can’t do.” I assume that if Mother Country Radicals was a movie, my parents and some of my other relatives would be composite characters and extras. I imagine them in the closing credits with role names like Hippy Making Sandwiches #2 and Woman Living In Commune. But what do I know? None of them would want to have burdened me with any information nor would they have shared specifics about themselves or their friends.

When I was growing up in the 80s I remember the feeling that my parents were from the 60s. My mom has so many stories, but the accuracy of them is unclear. My dad mostly just says that it was a very difficult time and that it’s hard for him to think about.

In the 80s, there were a lot of cultural tropes about the 60s. There were reruns of Laugh In and The Monkees. I went through a period of being obsessed with The Beatles.

During my childhood, there were many pop culture references to groups like the Weather Underground and also to the Symbionese Liberation Army or SLA who were known for allegedly kidnapping and possibly recruiting the heiress Patty Hearst. The one I remember most vividly was a two part Laverne & Shirley episode. I saw the films Flashback and Rude Awakening in the theater which were both screwball comedies about radicals emerging from the underground into a world they struggle to understand. I wonder if the Dohrn Ayers family has ever seen either of these films, because I can almost hear their eyes rolling.

My parents met at a concert in Gallup Park in Ann Arbor organized by the 60s activist John Sinclair. It was the MC5 opening for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Do you remember the end of Back To The Future where Michael J Fox has to play Johnny B Goode so his parents will kiss or else he will cease to exist? That’s how I feel about these two bands.

In particular, the stoner country stylings of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen are particularly bizarre cultural artifacts. I have a live album in which they do an epic cover of the long form narrative country classic “Hot Rod Lincoln.” In this version, the singer has to convince the police officer that pulls him over that he is not some “long haired hippie S-L-A commie weirdo.” “I had to show him my house.”.

My parents have such very hippy wedding photos.They were two hippies that loved to cook and planned to get married and open a little hippy restaurant. And then they have the most awkward photo of my dad with a haircut and a shirt and tie with my mom in a sprawling apartment complex . At this point my dad has stopped being counter cultural and is being mentored in food service management by a man named Michael from whom I got my middle name. By the time I was born, my dad was an assistant manager at the Stouffer’s Restaurant at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

In between, there are stories. There is the honeymoon where they attempt to hitchhike to California. My mom says that the Bay Area was exhausting, because my dad was constantly wandering off and she had to rescue him from being taken by cults. She says he would come up to her and say something like, “These guys in the van have these really good free burritos and they just want us to go with them so they can show us this really cool place.”

And after I was born, we eventually moved back to the Midwest, and my mom’s stories continue. They are of a different era. My dad took a job in Flint, Michigan, as the assistant food service manager of Hurley Hospital where part of his brand was that he went along to get along with his employees’ union. While the Fair Housing Act passed in 1969, our historically white Flint neighborhood was only just beginning to integrate in the 80s. And for my mom, what we would say in today’s anti-racist parlance is that she was recruited by black leaders to do the organizing and emotional labor with the parents who supported integration.

I did get taken to protests growing up. I remember seeing Jesse Jackson get in a heated exchange with police in Washington D.C at an Anti-Apartheid protest. during a family road trip. But more often, I was at community meetings and canvasses. Slow careful populist organizing was what I witnessed, not the frantic disruption of “Days of Rage.”

Meanwhile, the generation between us, perhaps the youngest siblings or older niblings of the Weather Underground, were supporting Latin American uprisings like the Sandinistas and attempting to infiltrate factories. One epicenter of this was the factories around me in Southeastern Michigan, and another was the textile factories in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Also, in Flint, you could see the traces of the old left. Every year, my cub scout troop would march in a parade with the surviving sitdown strikers who in 1936 occupied Chevy In The Hole, over by my house, and won recognition for the UAW.

About first grade, I had a friend Juanita, a white kid with a Latin name, who started coming over after school so her hippy mom could stay at work. And then in return, I would sometimes go over there or join them on camping trips. I only met her dad a couple times, but he was one of those leftists who had long hair, worked in the factory, and sold radical newspapers on street corners. Juanita and I got enrolled in a weekly Alvin Ailey style dance class at the arts center on the historically African-American side of Flint. We were the only white kids and I was the only boy in the class. I felt insecure about having to wear tights. I remember my Republican grandparents coming from Ann Arbor for the recital.

But the initial attempts to build left wing factions inside the UAW and in nonunion factories sputtered due partly to a lack of rank and file interest in leftist theory and also the intense wave of deindustrialization.The big auto companies slashed the Michigan workforce through automation, outsourcing parts and processes to nonunion suppliers, and also exporting jobs to Texas and Mexico I remember when the Detroit Tigers played a Texas Rangers home game and half the stadium was wearing Tiger hats. Michael Moore’s Roger & Me came out when I was in middle school and talked about how this process led to Flint falling apart and having more rats than people. These days, people who hear my wife and I spent part of our childhoods in Flint ask us about the water crisis, but that happened long after we had lived there. And also, the block I grew up on was devastated by disinvestment and abandonment years before the water crisis.

The water crisis in Flint is better understood when you look at what happened years earlier when Coleman Young was Mayor of Detroit. So many white families refused to live in a city with black leadership that Southeastern Michigan became a ring of suburbs who used and extracted resources from Detroit but fought viciously against any resources going into Detroit. It was a similar pattern of racism and neglect that lead to the takeover and mismanagement of Flint’s government and failed to continue the water treatment that had previously prevented lead from leaching into the taps.

There were some activists who got their coworkers involved in a stronger more authentic space in the labor movement, but it was from talking about occupational health and safety more than Marx and Lenin. There was also an organizing wave of “pink collar” office jobs that was informed by feminism and lead by the organization “9 to 5” which inspired Jane Fonda to help make the film 9 to 5 that I saw in the theaters.

Also, in 1979, a group of Greensboro counter protesters were shot and killed at a Klan rally, and the movement there scattered. Many of them would eventually be in the staff and/or leadership of unions and nonprofits I would later work with.

My parents split up, my mom got sick, and the late 80s found me in high school and living with her in affordable housing on the edge of the increasingly fluent Ann Arbor. My mom bought me an army surplus jacket like she used to wear as an SDS militant and I covered it in art and buttons. I started going to punk shows in a basement on Hill Street where bands like Green Day played a couple years before they became big names playing stadiums.

The first Gulf War led to a resurgence of radical youth organizing. A group of students at my high school threatened a walk out and then negotiated with the principal to have a “teach in” forum about the war instead. A member of the Bush Sr. cabinet flew in to speak in between our parents’ generation of anti war activists. The war, along with the collapse of Soviet Communism, led to a revival of interest in Anarchism.

But also, the collapse of the leftist movement in the factories devolved into what felt like fifty mostly white middle class students in sixty different partisan leftist organizations that constantly fought over a shrinking amount of attention. If you’ve ever seen the heated argument between the Judean People’s Front and the People’s Front of Judea in the Monty Python movie LIfe of Brian, then you know exactly what it was to sit in a cafe near the University of Michigan in the 80s and 90s watching stacks of rival leftist newspapers fall over each other while people argue about interpretations of Marxism while drinking expensive coffees..

Some of my friends went to the selective enrollment Community High School, Commie High, as it was affectionately called, was where there was an open campus, rampant alternative chic, students calling teachers by their first names, and other values and practices that seemed to come out of the 60s cultural space. However, most kids did not get into Community. There were so few spots and so much demand that at one point parents were literally camping out to be in line for enrollment. The kids in my mostly POC neighborhood disproportionately ended up in the mainstream high school which felt less pressure to reform because families with resources who wanted something different should just go to the alternative school. While Community High students could leave campus for any reason without penalty, an Ann Arbor police officer at my high school would literally hide in the bushes to bust you for doing the same.

That was a strange part of my upbringing. The values of intervention and attention to the disparities in the world that the Weather Underground wanted to address in solidarity with the Black Panthers and Black Liberation Army turned into a lot of spaces that were supposed to create a container for those values but became exclusive spaces for people who were mostly wealthy and white. One of the reasons that I got into punk was that between Grateful Dead tickets, organic cotton clothing, and high grade marijuana, I couldn’t really afford to be a hippy. Parents in Ann Arbor were very interested to read about neighborhoods like mine, but lost their freaking minds if the African American kid next door to me got in one little fight at their kid’s school. Being a white articulate poor person helped me get a lot of financial aid that allowed me to attend a small, high tuition “progressive” liberal arts college. We boycotted Pepsi over their involvement in Burma and took classes about Saul Alinsky, but we had very few African American students if any.

Meanwhile after the end of the Vietnam War, another wave of anti war activists calling themselves Movement For A New Society or MNS moved en masse to a working class neighborhood in West Philadelphia. The ones with means would buy some of the large houses that were dropping in price so that people could have an inexpensive room and the free time to be part of organizing. Many found jobs and leadership positions in the American Friends Service Committee, the social justice ministry of the Quaker Church. MNS and allied activists created a training institute, a book publisher, a food coop, a land trust, and other social and economic infrastructure that supported an activist lifestyle.

Meanwhile or a little later, a number of activists began taking over and squatting large tenement buildings on the Lower East Side of New York that had either been abandoned or kept vacant by speculators. Many were part of the punk rock or new wave art scenes. Some that left New York bought or squatted in Philadelphia and enjoyed the immense infrastructure that Movement For a New Society had built. One house I lived in off and on for 8 years, was a former squat that the residents had managed to purchase at a tax sale.

The new wave of anarchists that came out of opposition to the first gulf war during my high school years turned into, during my college years, what I jokingly refer back to as the golden age of anarchist franchise organizing. On weekends, I would hitch hike from my isolated college campus into town and end up sleeping on the floor of an activist household. This group of people had met at protests and conferences and moved there together. They bottomlined the regional or local chapters of Earth First, Food Not Bombs, Anti Racist Action, Radical Cheerleaders, radical library, 60’s poltical prisoner support group, books to prisoners project, etc. I started showing up and eventually traveled and visited projects across the country, especially in California’s Bay Area.

On New Years Day 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation or EZLN rose up in arms to seize the land from the handful of wealthy families that owned most of the state of Chiapas in Mexico It was the first post Soviet revolution. This indigenous army, many of which had survived Reagan’s bloody intervention in the political tumult in neighboring Guatemala, immediately declared a ceasefire and attempted negotiations. People from across Mexico and the world organized support caravans and delegations of human rights observers. I would eventually spend time there in the late 90s. While the Mexican Government has mostly failed to honor its promises and conducted a low intensity war, the EZLN has mostly held on to the land and created a development model on its own terms lead by its own people.

After graduation and before and after my trips to Chapas, I ended up in West Philly. A Zagat review of my favorite neighborhood Eritrean restaurant described it as being in the “Anarchist Section of Philadelphia.” I was enticed to get the “West Philly Deal” which was the idea that if you moved to West Philly and joined the activist community you would get a cheap room, six romantic dates (or dried figs), a bicycle made out of spare parts, and a role in a band. Also, West Philly was where the Food Not Bombs (a movement of radical food distribution collectives) and ACT-UP chapters were becoming more diverse and having more traction with and ownership by affected communities of color, though progress was slow and not without problems. .

During my second trip to Chiapas, I missed the 1999 World Trade Organization Protest in Seattle. I had been traveling around the country going to different protests with what felt like the same 200 people and therefore had planned to go to Mexico instead. But then just about every other activist in North America was there as well as the activists who were about to take over SEIU, HERE, and the AFL-CIO. It was the zenith of the movements that had started organizing in reaction to the first Gulf War. I was then part of a number of follow up mega-protests though they seemed to dwindle in size and effectiveness.

The September 11th attacks seemed to change the political space in which movements operated. Also, the legal fallout from the protests at the 2000 Republican National Convention had taken years to clear up.

About that time, I’d heard that the janitors union needed someone bilingual in English and Spanish to help. I showed up and was shocked to learn that I was getting paid for a 9 week internship normally reserved for members. I had been surviving off of odd jobs and medical studies for five years and never been paid to be part of a movement (although protest movements had allowed me access to a lot of resources.) I stayed at the union for six years and then followed the man who hired me back into community organizing. Now twenty years have passed and I have bounced between paid labor organizing, community organizing, and fair housing enforcement ever since .

And now my stepkids think I’m a strange old guy from the 90s. They think of me in a foggy photo of a sea of black denim of filthy white kids screaming along at a Los Crudos show in a Losaida Squat.(not that this happened all at once as far as I can remember). There’s a goofy clip of me on the news in Eugene Oregon in 1996 and a picture of me in a boxcar a few days later wearing a shirt with a Propagandhi patch.These look so retro now, but to me that was almost yesterday.

I’m hoping there will be more seasons of Mother Country Radicals. I would love for Season 2 to cover the era when middle class, mostly white, leftists coming of age in the 80s who supported left wing uprisings in Latin America tried to become factory workers. Maybe there could be prequel seasons about Alinsky and the Civil Rights Movement and the characters in Reds. Maybe I would be a background character in the season about the 90s.

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rustbeltadventure · 2 years

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Lineages of Protest: A Brief Review Of, Reflection On, and Postscript to Season 1 of the podcast Mother Country Radicals By Chris White

Lineages of Protest

A Brief Review Of, Reflection On, and Postscript to Season 1 of the podcast Mother Country Radicals

By Chris White

In the 80s, there were a lot of cultural tropes about the 60s. There were reruns of Laugh In and The Monkees. I went through a period of being obsessed with The Beatles.

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wormmomma · 4 years

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tyler, the creator: the very queer discography review!!!

Im bored of writing overly long threads on twitter so i wrote a look at tyler the creators discography and why hes gay and im gay and deserved to have his dick immortalized in gold when he dies. So tyler gregory okanma is a black man born in ladera heights california. He’s also my third favorite rapper and since he discovered my favorite rapper earl sweatshirt I guess he deserves goat status for that shit too. Tyler started his career around 17 years old as the ace the creator. He did features at the time with casey veggies and the inspirations in his flow to mf doom where already apparent even back then. From ace the creator mixtape you can already hear the very digital and jazz inspired pharrell production. Funny story if you look up any of his ace stuff now you'll mostly find some really old production that in the age of tyler the creator type beats doesn't really hold u all that great. From there Tyler went on to create odd futures and his first album bastard. He quite quickly followed up bastard with godlin. Goblin, bastard, and the OF tape vol.1 all feel pretty interconnected so im gonna speed round from worst to best. So odd future tape volume one is fun and punk and really crass, it's also completely eclipsed by odd futures other releases. I love odd future and the collective's ability too be both edgy teen skate rap garbage, and a risky artistic rap collective all at the same time. In odd future's first tape it seems pretty clear that tylers description of the groups early work as a bunch of niggas joking around in a studio is very apparent for better or worse. If you wanna get high with some friends can listen to some funny edgy and downright grimey tracks over left brains booking production skip this and listen to odd future's next mixtape but come back here to listen to some funny skits and a few proto mellowhype track with domo genesis. Goblin is Tyler's attempt to do a bigger darker more sprawling version of bastard but misses the mark. I like the album and I love singles on the album. Goblin the opening track is amazing and is a great look at tylers mental state attempting to live up to his newfound fame and anxiety about his infamy. I love yonkers and tron cat. Tyler says alot at this time that he doesn't make horrorcore and he's correct but the lack of emotional honesty and his immature deflections is really going off on all cylinders. If you dont wanna hear skits like “my bitch suck dick” and lines like “im not homophobic faggot” i would probably call it his worst album. Before i talk about bastard id like to go over his use of slurs and rape in his work. Tylers consistent lyrics about violence towards women and use of the lgbtq community really don't insult me. I feel like his lyrical content is filled with a clear look of how angry and insecure tyler was about not having a father or any way of processing his angst. Did he have to sound like a incel threatening to stalk and murder women who refuse to love him for over 3 albums? No, but i really enjoy looking at his early music. He doesn't shy away from how angry, sad and desperate he was at the time. That synthesis of need for fatherly love, anger from a lack of it and deteriorating mental state honestly makes the content more palatable. Also as a black trans women id rather hear tranny an faggot bars from a male rapper making intreeating music. Tyler at the time was being honest, angry and vulnerable not like eminem and action bronson who spit these bars with all the same rap bravado and violent anger toward women with zero pathos. Bastard is amazing, it's an intimate dark album. At the time it felt like it was tapping right into where I was at the time. The amount of mental anguish on bastards opening track really hit me. I was an angry kid with a lot of angst and bipolar disease so hearing a rapper yell about that same dysfunction really meant alot to me. The flows are amazing and it was a really good look at tylers ability to build a narrative. Wolf was tyler's next album. For a while wolf was my favorite album by tyler. His look at relationships and breakups on bimmer and ifhy are amazing and are expanded on his future releases. Find your wings and treehome are also a good look at his more melodic influence. It was such a good album I actually bought the mrech for and went to see Tyler at afropunk. Also hearing an entire song about the death of his grandma really hit me, my grandfather died around the same time. Cherry bomb was bad, now moving one. Ok im joking i've listened to it two or three times but its really not worth going back to even though tyler put his all into it. The soul features and amazing production is worth listening to but even Tyler admits he rushed the album a little and that he needed to blow people away next time. Flower boy, is one of the most important albums in hip hop. That's it. Bar none. It was my favorite release of 2018. Flower boy is about tylers newfound isolation with his fame, and how he drives cars by himself in beautiful la vistas. Its also about how he’s gay (or bisexual). There are ALOT of stupid takes on this album. There is a contingency of tyler stans that think tyler has been “playing a character” since bastard. Now I'll admit that wolf haley and dr.teecee are clearly characters; they are also artists' representations of tyler's mental state. If wolf haley has adhd and no father that means tyler also has those issues. So whether or not Tyler is playing a character he has in fact “been kissing white boys since 2004”. I also have seen an insipid article that asks if “tyler the creator should be accepted into the lgbtq community” due to his homophobia? Much more controversial and actually homophobic and transphobic people are in this community hes tyler the creator, not milo yinnaoplous. I also dont think that it occurs to the reviewer that alot of gay men are very hmophobic before they come out and that self hate is very common. Lyrics like “im not gay i just wanna dance to some marvin” also has a much deeper context now. Listening to older releases you can see how in your face tyler was about his queerness. He even said he filmed himself kissing his friend Lucas to prove he wasn't a homophobe. I'm happy Tyler grew enough to make an album not only about being attracted to men but how lonely he felt in and out of the closet. As someone who came out as bisexual at the time it came at a perfect time. Being gay is isolating and confusing and when you do you lose alot of friends and family. Garden shed, who dat boy, and 911 are real standouts. His collaboration with kali uchis was also so fucking smooth and she a born r&b star. Tyler gained a grammy nomination off the album and said he loved the feeling of finally making popular catchy music people wanna sing the lyrics too, so he followed it with igor. Igor opens with this addendum on the back of the physical album:

This might be fiction, this might be about igor but it is fully about tyler okanga. The album is very hard to parse and barely has any rapping. It's more of a pop experimental album with a lot of lofi synth production. Tylers production chops are full force here. Igor is melodic, sad and full of the same anger and obsession from his previous albums. Its just more mature and really gay, and i fucking love it. Tyler was dealing with a tumultuous relationship with a guy and his refusal to be with tyler exclusively. Its about a breakup. A love tragedy that only becomes more depressing after the argument on a boy is a gun, the breakup in my love is gone, and the sad slump back into needing closure in can we be friends. The album is fun to sing to, and fucking devestating. I've dealt with a lot of similar issues with love and obsession so to hear it so clearly illustrated on igor really hit me. I think the album becomes even more depressing with the unreleased track best interest, about tyler being a side nigga. This is the kind of music that's sometimes made in r&b and pop but never in rap. There was an interview where Tyler says he hated his voice which is why he edits it so evident on igor. Tyler also said he wanted to send these songs to rihanna and Justin Beiber but they didn't want them, as cool as it sounds. I'm happy tyler was able to tell his own story. I would also recommend magic wand since it's my favorite track on the album and kicks you in the face with how angry and heartbroken Tyler was at the time.

Tyler is an artist that talks and speaks about how he feels all the time, he's also a person who feels enigmatic and mysterious somehow. I think it has to do with how constantly he's put to the side of his other hip hop contemporaries. He always seems to be making music Tom weird, controversial and experimental to be treated like asap rocky, vince staples, or the late mac miller. A fact that feels ironic since he worked with all of those artists, lil wayne, and even kanye west. I'm as big a stan for tyler as he is for Pharrell, if it wherent forever I'd never take rap seriously and would never have chosen to make my own music. As a black trans woman I find a lot of tylers work really relatable. I've been in alot of the angry hopeless situations Tyler talks about in his music. I think he's the artist who hits me the most on a personal level and yeah when i was depressed i sat in my bedroom and listened to bastard in my low moments. I like riding in the car and listening to all of flowerboy. Igor is amazing as well for almost half a decade it's been amazing growing up and hitting the same emotional beats Tyler went through5 in his work. Hearing about him coming out as gay ajd dealing with very similar backlash mad me feel less alone if im being honest. Tyler has said he wants to take a more production heavy role in the industry moving forward but he says that a lot, i think as long as he has a story to tell he's always going to make music. His music feels like a diary and I'm happy to read it and sonnet to it in all its beauty and ugliness.

Hi my name is lua o'reilly i make music on soundcloud.com/wormmother

If you liked this review let me know and I'll do a look into earl sweatshirt.

#Tyler The Creator #wolf #bastard #rap #music #punk #reveiw #discography #queer art #queer #black art

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youngboy-oldmind · 4 years

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Lost Boy

“Try to take a walk up in my shoes/A n**** rapping like I really got something to prove, Cause motherf****er, I do/I climb hills, n***** was sleeping, on Nyquil/ Paint a picture vivid, dawg, on everything, my life's real”

Overall Thoughts

Maryland rapper YBN Cordae plants a solid footprint in the rap game on his debut album The Lost Boy: a 45 minute masterpiece filled with excellent storytelling and production combined with a unique style that proves he’s definitely an up and comer to look out for in years to come.

The Lost Boy was my favorite rap/hip-hop release of 2019. Cordae’s first studio album is contender for one of my favorite debut albums ever. In my opinion, related artists’ (Chance the Rapper, Logic, Bas, J Cole, Kendrick, Amine) debut album’s fall to The Lost Boy. And at 21, his debut releases at an age younger than everyone in that group. To have an excellent project at such a young age is another feat on its own.

One commonality I notice with debut albums is that new artists tend to sound like their biggest influencers; the biggest culprit being Logic. But Cordae stands out with his own style that doesn’t sound too similar to any of his numerous influences. His delivery, word choice, and flow (while not always mind blowing), is not a carbon copy of a rapper from the 90s-00s. Here, Cordae’s sound is his own.

His pen game on this project is consistently above average, but rarely mind blowing. Tracks like “We Gone Make It” and “Thousand Words” exhibit his strongest lyricism. However, Cordae’s story telling abilities are consistently powerful. Tracks like “Bad Idea”, “Thanksgiving”, “Nightmares Are Real”, “Family Matters” all have Cordae illustrating his experiences. He emphasizes his perspective as a young man who’s finding himself through all these experiences. Even his most bragging and banger tracks still feature great humility and storytelling elements, the stand out being “Broke as F***”.

The features on The Lost Boy are all top notch. Cordae includes Chance the Rapper, Ty Dollar $ign, Pusha-T, Anderson .Paak, and Meek Mill, all of whom bring elite verses to their features. It’s even better that the guests don’t completely outshine Cordae. Cordae brings enough weight to each song that its not completely engulfed by the feature. Songs like French Montana’s “No Shopping”, Logic’s “Homicide”, Chance’s “Handsome” all suffer from a feature that outclasses the main artist. But Cordae goes toe to toe with each feature.

I should also mention the two skits, “Sweet Lawd” and “Grandma’s House”. Both are pretty good as far as skits go. I can’t help but assume they were influenced by Kanye West’s “I’ll Fly Away” from The College Dropout, both of which sound very reminiscent to. They display Cordae’s singing abilities and soulful sound. And its touching to hear Cordae’s grandmother on the latter track.

Overall, I can’t really find a weak spot on this project. The runtime, theme/tone, uniqueness, production, and lyricism are all excellent. As far as debut albums go, Cordae made has created one of the best I’ve ever heard.

Album Breakdown

The common theme throughout this project is Cordae’s experiences being young and lost in a chaotic world. I love this theme because it doesn’t limit the scope about his topics. He can make fun tracks, political commentary, and emotional deep cuts while staying tonally consistent.

1. Wintertime

"Wintertime” features a smooth, mellow, jazzy beat; The vibe feels like a instrumental off of J Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only. Cordae introduces himself, compares where he started to where he’s at now, and discusses some everyday plagues that stress him (anxiety, maintaining success, pressure to appear problem-free) while also aiming for the top and hoping nothing he creates fades away. Great intro.

2. Have Mercy

This next track is lyrically nothing deep or profound, just a banger track with a dope instrumental. The echoy, bassy sound that develops on the last leg of the song is especially great. I also found Cordae’s music video technique interesting. He released two videos, Path A and Path B, that illustrate opposite tones. Path A brings more zainy, flamboyant visuals while Path B is much more dark and eerie. I personally think Path A is the more appropriate for the track. Overall, not a bad banger.

3. Sweet Lawd- Skit

This skit features Cordae singing the hook off “Have Mercy” over a church-like piano. As I mentioned early, strongly reminds me of “I’ll Fly Away” off Kanye West’s The College Dropout. Cordae’s voice is soulful and pleasant to listen to as well. The first gospel-esque track.

4. Bad Idea

Chance the Rapper and Cordae team up to create one of the best songs on the album. They both deliver great verses, Chance’s middle verse being the best. Here they talk about the downsides of Home and the impact those experiences had on them. They borrow the beginning chorus lines “It might not be such a bad idea if I never went home again” from Gil Scott-Herman’s “Home is Where the Hatred Is” and heavily styled like Kanye West’s “My Way Home”. Although Cordae is the main singer on the chorus, he layers his voice to make it sound like an ensemble of singers. A great stylistic choice. And the heavy piano X light strings perfectly end the track. Between the strings at the end, the Kanye West sample, and Chance’s (a huge fan, supporter, and protege of Kanye) involvement, I definitely smell influence from West’s sophomore album Late Registration.

5. Thanksgiving

“Thanksgiving”, the first deep cut on the album, has Cordae introducing a girl to his family during Thanksgiving. However, she’s fake and never stays around, making him question their relationship while remaining hopeful they can maintain it. Cordae demonstrates his powerful storytelling abilities. The overall mellow tone in the production allows his lyrics to fit perfectly in the instrumental; it doesn’t outshine but it doesn’t get over shadowed either.

6. RNP

Anderson .Paak has collaborated with Andre 3000, J. Cole, Rhapsody, Kendrick Lamar, BJ The Chicago Kid, Pusha-T, and Q-Tip, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw Cordae would be collaborating with the talented singer. However, I couldn’t prepare for the amazing back-and-forth chemistry between them. You wouldn’t think when listening to them trade bars that they have a 12 year age difference between them. Also fun fact: J. Cole produced the track.

Both these artists are just having fun over a bouncy beat, talking about the “problems” they’ve experienced being rich. Definitely be favorite fun track so far.

7. Broke As F***

This is tied for my favorite track on the album. Cordae’s lyrics aren’t necessarily the most complex and deep, but he brings such a indescribable energy to his storytelling. He basically tells the story from him being a baby, being in high school appreciating hip hop, where he came from, and where he’s going to go. The great thing here is that its not solely bragging about his possessions. Its a commentary on what he’s GAINED. This adds a touch of humility. And at the end, he comments on how he’s lost, still searching, and doesn’t “really have a lot of answers”, tying into the theme of the album. Perfect.

The spacey instrumental on the chorus, the beat drop after the first line of the first verse, and the beat change midway through makes this one of the best instrumentals on the album. And the ending drums transition to the next song perfectly.

8. Thousand Words

“Thousand Words” has some best verses on the album. Here Cordae talks about the toxicity of social media and how people create false perceptions to hide true pain. While already an intriguing topic, Cordae goes a step further by admitting he’s not holier than thou. He admits everyone lowkey wants to be a little famous, and nobody wants to be “nameless”. I love that. It’s easier to say Instagram and Twitter are toxic (Logic on Confessions of a Dangerous Mind). But to admit there is some validity and positivity to social media...very profound for someone so young. My favorite lines are:

“Living in this false reality that's in this picture gallery/ Based on a n***** profile, we guessin' salary/ The lifestyle you advertise was quite strategized/ Make a minimal amount and then we maximize/ These n***** cappin' with lies how they capitalize/ Creating they own perceptions, what a massive facade/ Digital marketing schemes even broader regime/ Live how you want on the internet, who thought of this thing?”

9. Way Back Home

Ty Dollar $ign stands out on the feature, talking about not letting fame and success pull him from reality. Cordae sings the chorus and most of his verse. Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of Cordae’s parts; It felt underwhelming. But the instrumental and Ty’s verse carry a significant part of the song. I especially loved the high pitched melodic voice that pops in the beat throughout the song. I also love the sci-fi, techy “WORP” effect throughout the instrumental. But ultimately, this felt more like Ty’s song than Cordae’s.

10. Grandma’s House- Skit

Between “Grandma’s House” and “Sweet Lawd”, I prefer this skit. The harmonious vocals that echo Cordae’s grandma’s vocals give off an amazing gospel vibe. The simplistic yet soulful and intimate aura of this skit makes it one of my favorite interlude-skits off any rap album.

11. Been Around

Another mellow song on the project, “Been Around” has Cordae talking about the development of his career and how he’s going to keep moving forward and not let doubters or bad situations slow him down. I like the chorus more than the verses, but overall its not a bad track. It maintains the tone of the album and flexes Cordae’s pen game a little.

12. Nightmares Are Real

This was the most intriguing collaboration on the album. Pusha-T and Cordae have very different sounds and styles; Pusha-T brings much more aggressiveness whereas Cordae is softer. Cordae’s hardest verses don’t compare to Pusha-T’s baseline intensity. Although they don’t demonstrate strong chemistry, they both bring solid verses. Both tell stories of how they started in the rap game, however, Pusha-T’s wordplay and lyricism is a step above Cordae’s. He talks about dealing with selling crack while developing his skills in rapping. Particular set of lines had me shook.

“Asterisk, skipped school, recorded with The Neptunes/ We was makin' high school classics/ Before I took a kilo and I wrapped it, I rapped it/ Around the funeral with the casket/ Coke avalanche, like a landslide/ Only grew my hair this long because my man died/”

I don’t wanna go too far into explaining these lyrics cus genius will do better job. But Pusha-T brings fire to this track. The tone of the instrumental matches Pusha-T’s intensity as well. As solid of a collaboration this is, its not in my top 3 collabs. That goes to show how amazing this project is.

13. Family Matters

"Family Matters” is tied with “Broke as F***” for my favorite song on The Lost Boy. Cordae talks about the stress of witnessing family traumas and difficulties while experiencing his own success. He expresses feelings of guilt and selfishness when his family hides things from him so he can focus on achieving his goals. He talks about abandonment from baby daddies, aunt’s raising kids that aren’t theirs, a cousin in an abusive relationship, a cousin addicted to xanax, and another aunt who’s a prostitute. All of this is happening while he’s worried about “plays and streams”. It’s an interesting sentiment. Is it selfish to focus on yourself when your family has a load of obstacles and difficulties? Every time he succeeds he has to look back at where he came from and be reminded his family does not share his accomplishments. Nearly brought me to tears when I first heard it.

As I already stated, lyrically this is one of Cordae’s top songs. Arin Ray brings a choir on the chorus that sounds amazing, adding to the gospel sound sprinkled throughout the album. And the light violin strings at the end encapsulate the emotional turmoil Cordae expresses.

14. We Gone Make It

Another top track, “We Gone Make It”, features a collab with Meek Mill to make political/social commentary on todays world and encourage others to keep pushing to succeed. Unlike the other three collaborations “Bad Idea”, “Way Back Home”, and “Nightmares are Real”, Meek Mill’s verses are actually equal with Cordae. Although I’m not a huge fan of Mill, he brings in a succinct, powerful 12 bars and a hook so dope he, as Cordae puts it, had to “sing it twice”. Also fun fact: Cordae used a modified version of the first verse on H.E.R’s “Lord is Coming (Remix)”.

Instrumentally, the beat accompanies the message without overshadowing it. The piano melody and vocal chops throughout mix well with the verses. I personally love the piano keys in the final minute. It adds an aura of delicacy to a song with such an intense message.

15. Lost & Found

In the perfect closing track “Lost & Found”, Cordae displays pride, stating “I was lost boy, now I’m found”. Over a bumpy, bassy beat with epic trumpet harmonies, he comments on everything throughout the project. However, now he has assurance he’s not lost nor insecure from his experiences. And he knows things are going up from here. Like the rest of the album, he’s lyrically above average, reflecting on his life while introducing a fun, braggadocios vibe. Kinda like a “the balls in your court” to the rest of the rap game. Loved it.

Final Thoughts

I look forward to Cordae’s next album. This was a near perfect debut solo album. At 21 years old, Cordae displays strong lyricism and production skills. His ability to story-tell and introspect indicate incredible feats in career. The lowest parts of this project are still amazing, and the high points put this project as my favorite of the year. I don’t know how else to say it. The rap game better watch out for this Maryland born “Lost Boy”. If The Lost Boy indicates the trajectory of his future, Cordae will have the crown in no time.

Top 3 Tracks:

1) Family Matters

2) Broke As F***

3) Bad Idea

Overall Grade: A+

#music review #album review #hip hop review #hip hop #cordae

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monkey-network · 4 years

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SMG4 Review Ultima 2020 Pt. I

*Slam* The First Half of the year is officially over and by god, how much of a year it was. Needless to say, Fuck. But I wanted to celebrate making it this far by looking over one creator that has helped me keep going and that’s SMG4. His vids are still something else and today we’re doing a lightning round, no holds barred! Let’s do this...

Mario Gets His Pingas Stuck in the Door

Pretty great starter episode as last year. How they’re able to escalate things is pretty hilarious and like a door to the dingdong, it sticks the landing. (Grade: A)

Mario School Club

Ah, an episode where it’s about a group and they each get good segments. Shroomy’s club was my favorite and I enjoyed Mr. Monitor’s debut. It gets the same score. (Grade: A)

Bowser Loses Custody of his Children

This episode’s pretty straightforward. It has its jokes but it’s admittedly not a standout. Honestly, I was kinda believing we’d get an arc for this cuz I feel like this would’ve worked if Bowser didn’t get his kids back and we’d save getting them back at a later date. (Grade: B-)

If Mario Was in the Sonic Movie

Eggman really stole the show with this and it was definitely better than the actual Sonic movie because I actually had more than a couple chuckles. Plus no shitty product placement. The romance element was especially a poignant turn because it made me love Swagmaster a lot more. Overall great to go back to when I want a good time. (Grade: A)

Mario’s Magical TV

Has its moments but they might as well have been one off shitposts on Twitter. Looking back, it’s an inferior episode to one later down the line and ends up being pretty meh. Also reminds me of Rick and Morty which did it better 3 times now. (Grade: C-)

Lord of the Memes

Ah, a Lord of the Rings parody. It’s a fun adventure that has some clever references, some pretty cinematic moments, and a great climax. Especially loved how they recreated smeagle’s arc and is great spin on their D&D episodes. (Grade: A)

Meggy’s Destiny

Still a good movie that works better emotionally than logically. Couple annoying moments but there are indeed great moments, especially in the 3rd act, that balances things out. Overall, it’s not as great as the anime arc, but it’s a fun bout that caps off that arc in a heartfelt way. (Grade: B+)

Mario Commits Tax Fraud

This was exceedingly one note. Barely got a laugh out of me beyond the climax and nothing’s really compelling me to enjoy thinking about this again. Might as well have played Yoshi in GTA 5 to get the same experience but better. (Grade: D+)

If Mario was in Animal Crossing

The ending is all that really mattered and it unfortunately shows how little Animal Crossing had in terms of worthwhile memes to utilize and even then, they really faceplanted with how forgettable this kinda was. Seriously, even the froggy chair gag was pitiful and predictable. (Grade: C-)

Mario Runs Out of Toilet Paper

Unexpected is what I’d call this. The second half raises the memes to a pretty great logical extreme and it’s surprising that this came from a real world annoyance. Really turned lemons into lemonade because fuck the hoarders. Those people made me side with Thanos for a while. (Grade: B+)

Mario’s Inside Story

Pretty fun adventure, but it kinda stinks that Saiko has little to really do anymore. Her chemistry with Luigi is good, but it would’ve made little difference to replace her with someone else. The story itself works well even with a predictable ending, but I just wish Saiko could do more. (Grade: B)

The E G G

This episode basically reused one of my most hated story tropes ever. “Oh no, they’re taking care of a baby but the baby won’t stay still and hijinks ensues.” This wasn’t good when Tom & Jerry did it, I certainly don’t like it here. And JubJub doesn’t make it better by being a blathering Boopkins echo fighter. That’s all he is and I’m with Mario where I wish he wasn’t around. Fuck this episode. (Grade: F)

Wario Tries to Stop Himself From Dying

A pretty great take on the ‘Wario Dies.mp3′ meme that reminds me so much of Happy Death Day. Huge step up from the previous entry and it’s a solid episode revolved around one of my favorite fat man. (Grade: B+)

Meggy Moves In

This is honestly an episode that just turns into a mess. There’s really only one good joke but other than that, it’s not charming or a laugh riot. It’s fine, just really bland. (Grade: C-)

Mario is Cancelled

I’d say it exhibits the basics of cancel culture well, but this is the most boring episode imaginable. Too much attempts at commentary not enough jokes. This almost felt like what a Karen would think SMG4 episodes are like. (Grade: D-)

The Totally Legit Learning Show with SMG4

This is Mario’s Magical TV but better. Every segment is either funny or charming as hell and it all just sticks to a more captivating lookback. (Grade: A)

🌽🌽🌽🌽𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓷🌽🌽🌽🌽

Pretty casual and charming episode. Not a major laugh machine but I was consistently enjoying every moment. Bonus points for not giving JubJub a lot of screen time and making Rob the scarecrow a lovely character from start to finish. Kinda weird that they went with corn but it’s not a dealbreaker. (Grade: B+)

Mario the Supreme Leader

A legit laugh riot from start to finish. Feels like a sequel to Smart Mario but taken to an equally great extreme. It’s great (Grade: A)

War on Beeg SMG4

Again, an episode where Saiko is apart of the ride but is mostly sidelined in terms of what to do. Otherwise, this is like the Toilet Paper episode where it’s unexpected and I really didn’t know where it was gonna go. Though this is a little better because a few moments stuck out to me more. (Grade: A-)

Officer Meggy

Meggy is cute as a cop and Mr. Monitor is utilized better here than his other appearances. The story’s alright and is a pretty charming next step for Meggy after the Splatfest adventure. (Grade: B+)

Mario vs. Siren Head

A delightfully devilish take on the horror figure. It’s kind of a copy from the Sonic Movie episode but still a nice episode centered around Siren Head, with a pretty great ending to cap. (Grade: B+)

The Demon Among Us

Pretty mid in terms of story and comedy. I figured they would make an episode about Shroomy’s carnage side and I wonder if this’ll become an eventual arc but I doubt it. Found it pretty meh more than anything. (Grade: C)

Mario's Spicy Day 🔥

Not a major fan of SMG3′s voice, but I didn’t mind this episode. Heck, it hardly involves Mario so the title’s a little misleading. Not a lot to say with it, though, has its jokes and a nice emotional moment but other than that, it’s pretty mid. (Grade: B-)

SSENMODNAR Reddit Special

Hit and miss, but mostly hit. The JOJO and Teletubbie skits were the greatest, but I feel some just felt like lazy answers. Overall, some good fun but I’d be fine if it was fanwork specials like the previous ones. (Grade: B-)

【ＡＮＤ　ＴＨＡＴ＇Ｓ　ＴＩＭＥ！】

Well, quite above average all around. If you want my top 5 favorite, that’s not happening. Let’s see where the 2nd Half provides as the memes roll on.

Stay safe out there, and see you at year’s end.

#SMG4 #long post #reviews

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daily-monsta-x · 5 years

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Daily Monsta X’s 1st survey

These are the official results for the survey conducted from Daily Monsta X. The survey form was open from November 2018 to February 2019, and a total 539 individual responses were collected.

Response data from all questions will be given here. At the end of the post, we will list all the questions in the extensive survey, as well as a link to the results spreadsheet.

Disclaimer: Results are not representative of the fandom, and should not be taken as such. This survey was conducted purely for fun.

Please note the survey was conducted before the release of Take. 2 We Are Here (and thus before Alligator) so it does not feature as a response on any of the questions. Jooheon is also used throughout, as he had not yet taken the stage name Joohoney at the time.

Results are under the cut.

Responses shown in bar graphs/charts allowed multiple options to be chosen; those in pie charts allowed only one answer.

Favourite overall comeback

Shoot Out was the winner for favourite overall comeback, with Beautiful a close second and Dramarama third. I tracked the results for this answer, and Shoot Out and Beautiful were in close competition throughout, but in the end, Shoot Out took the win.

Favourite comeback song

Beautiful won this question, with Dramarama getting second and Jealousy and Shoot Out winning joint third. All In missed out on top 3 by 6 votes. Some songs, like Jealousy, Hero, and Stuck, won more votes for favourite song than they did for favourite comeback. Overall, competition was tougher in this category.

Favourite MV

Dramarama placed first, followed by All In, then Beautiful. Story-line MVs were comparatively more popular, although Fighter got fewer votes than expected.

Bias

I.M won most votes for bias (favourite member), followed by Wonho and then Jooheon. Don’t have a bias/all seven was also a very popular option, coming in 4th.

Bias wrecker

No bias wrecker/all seven was the most popular response, followed by I.M and then Kihyun. Wonho, who placed 2nd for bias, came 3rd for bias wrecker. I.M was most popular bias and bias wrecker.

Favourite ship

(Due to the large number of options, I had to compile these results in MS Excel)

Most popular response was I don’t ship/no ship. Most popular ship was HyungWonHo (Wonho and Hyungwon), followed by JooKyun (Joohoney and I.M). JooHyuk (Minhyuk and Joohoney) was third most popular ship. Nearly every ship was entered in others, but KiHyuk (Minhyuk and Kihyun) were the most popular among these.

Favourite concert unit

From Zero (Wonho and Hyungwon) got first for favourite concert performance unit, with Versace on the Floor (Shownu and Jooheon) getting second and How Long (Hyungwon and I.M) getting third.

Favourite release (album, mini album)

The Connect was voted most popular release, followed closely by Are You There?. The Clan pt 2.5 came in third, a fair number of votes behind.

Favourite promoted B track

Criteria for the options was being performed on music shows, but not as a title track. From Zero easily took first place. Second was Be Quiet, followed by Myself. This was one of the few categories Monsta X’s earlier work (Hero (album version)) got a fair amount of votes, coming fourth.

Favourite Japanese song

Livin’ It Up took first place, Spotlight second. Combined, these two options took almost 90% of the votes.

Favourite Jooheon song

Songs composed by Joohoney, not including his solo work. This was one of the most even distributions of votes, with the highest votes not exceeding 19%. First place was In Time, second White Love, narrowly beating Special. This is another category where earlier works (Blue Moon, Gone Bad) got comparatively more votes.

Favourite Wonho song

The least even distribution of votes. From Zero won almost half the votes. Second place, Oi, got roughly half. Third was If Only.

Favourite mixtape track

Options included both Joohoney and I.M’s mixtapes. Only solo-released tracks and those with MVs were counted. I.M’s Fly With Me got most votes, narrowly beating Joohoney’s Red Carpet. Combined, these two songs got nearly 70% of the votes. Third ranked I.M’s Who Am I.

Favourite OST

All songs released by members, either all seven or as solos, used in original soundtracks of dramas or games. First ranked Love Virus, narrowly edging The Tiger Moth. Can’t Breathe came third, winning around half the votes of each of the first two.

Favourite special clip

Hero (rooftop version) won most votes, followed by Stuck and then Beautiful (acoustic version). Earlier releases got most votes in this category, with the top two coming from the first three releases.

Favourite self-cam

First place for self-cam (or self-filmed) MV was Tropical Night, second Perfect Girl and third Rollercoaster. Vote distribution was relatively even in this category.

Favourite story line MV

First place with near 40% of the vote was All In, followed by Dramarama and then Destroyer. The other options got a combined 8% of the vote, a very small percentage.

Favourite variety

Monsta X-Ray is easily the most favourite voted variety, with first season getting first, second season getting second and third season with third.

Favourite female character

Dodo (Hyungwon) was first place voted female character, followed by Dior (Minhyuk) and then Wonhee (Wonho). Female characters from the rural village episode were comparatively less popular, with the exception of Wonhee.

Favourite skit couple

Another near landslide victory, with Namjoo x Yeojoo (Shownu and Kihyun) winning first, followed by Sandong x Minji (Kihyun and Jooheon), and then Hangyeol x Dior (Shownu and Minhyuk).

Following survey questions focused on the respondents.

Age

Majority of respondents, more than 40%, ranged from 18 to 22 years. Next most common age range was 13 - 18, and then 22 - 26. Very few respondents were outside the age range 13 - 40.

Location

Over half the respondents live in North America. Next most common region is Europe, followed by South East Asia. Together, these regions counted almost 90% of the total responses.

Language

Most of the respondents spoke English as their first language, taking final count as roughly 60% to 40%.

Source of updates

Majority of respondents got their Monsta X updates from tumblr, and second-most from Twitter. Together these were more than 400 out of the 539 responses. Instagram came third. As the survey was conducted on tumblr, results might have been skewed towards the site.

Introduced: how

Majority of respondents were introduced to Monsta X through their MV on YouTube. The second most common way was by a friend, followed by through a meme or funny video. There were a varied number of responses entered under others, including through live performances, YouTube reviews, etc.

Introduced: when

Most respondents became fans in the Dramarama and Jealousy eras, followed by Beautiful era, and then Rush and Hero era. No.Mercy and debut (Trespass) era converted relatively fewer fans.

Fan content

Most respondents, over 60%, are do not create content. The most common created content is fanfiction, which has around a third of the votes of non-creators, followed by graphics/photo edits/memes, and then gifs.

One word descriptions

Shownu: Most common response was Bear. Others like Dad (or variations thereof, like father, fatherly) and Leader were also very popular, as were attributes of him such as shy, humble, etc.

Wonho: Most common response was Soft. Most responses were on the more innocent side. Bunny (and squishy) were common as well, as was Sweetheart and Angel.

Minhyuk: Most common response was Sunshine, by a large margin. Other common responses included Extra (and similar), Adorable (surprisingly, very few instances of cute), as well as energetic, moodmaker, etc.

Kihyun: Most common response was Mom. Most responses were like this, with traits associated with mothers (fussy, gentle, etc.). Accordingly, Caring was a very popular response. Another very popular response was Talented (or vocals, vocal king, similar words).

Hyungwon: Most common response was Meme. Handsome was popular as well (along with ethereal and beautiful). Another common response was Prince.

Joohoney: Most common response was Cute. Similarly, adorable was also very popular, as was Honey. Another very common response was Talented, as well as Charismatic (and similarly, powerful).

I.M: Most common response was Baby. A large number of responses also stressed on how he was Eccentric (unusual, unpredictable, weird, etc.). Deep (and introverted) also featured a number of times.

Monsta X: Most common response was Family. There were a lot of responses in this vein (connected, brothers, united, etc.). Perfect/Flawless was also a common answer, as was Talented and Extra (and synonyms of such).

Favourite song

Many, many different responses were received. The most common answer was Beautiful. Second most popular song was easily Lost In The Dream. Other popular answers included From Zero, Underwater, and Destroyer.

Discussion

Overall, older comebacks tended to garner fewer votes, with some exceptions. Trespass and Rush were comparatively unpopular overall, but certain individual tracks from those eras were popular.

Although efforts were made to have the results as unbiased as possible, there were many sources of error. Firstly, most of the respondents found the survey through tumblr, which explains its high rank as a source of updates. Secondly, most of the admin’s fandom circle are writers, which could be why fanfiction is found as the most popular produced fancontent. Most importantly, the sample size is very small compared to Monsta X’s fanbase, so results are obviously not indicative of the fandom as a whole.

Survey questions

Favourite comeback overall?

Favourite comeback song?

Favourite music video?

Bias (favourite member)?

Bias wrecker (second favourite member)?

Favourite ship (pair)?

Favourite concert performance unit?

Favourite release?

Favourite promoted B track?

Favourite Japanese release?

Favourite song composed by Jooheon?

Favourite song composed by Wonho?

Favourite mixtape track?

Favourite OST?

Favourite special clip MV?

Favourite self-cam MV?

Favourite story line MV?

Favourite variety show?

Favourite female character?

Favourite skit couple?

How old are you?

Where do you live?

Is English your first language?

What is your main source of Monsta X updates?

How did you become a fan of Monsta X?

When did you become a fan of Monsta X?

Do you create any fan content for Monsta X?

Full spreadsheet of results are here.

Thank you to all participants of the survey! Do to all of you, we were able to conduct a successful survey. Please don’t hesitate if you have any questions or suggestions for any future surveys ^^

#monsta x #text #survey

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purplelizardman · 6 years

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Tales of Vesperia [Spoiler Free] Review

XXXX: “So… who’s gonna be my second?” [pause] Yuri: “…It would be my honor.” XXXX: “Guess yer stuck doin’ a job nobody much wants.” Yuri: “You too.” XXXX: “Heh. No kidding. Yuri. I was lookin’ forward to watchin’ ya go places. I’ll make sure to save you a spot in hell.” Yuri: “I don’t think they’d let me into the hell you’re going to.” XXXX: “Hah. I won’t forget that attitude, boy.”

-Yuri, the main protagonist of Tales of Vesperia (other name censored to avoid spoilers).

If you’re a fan of RPGs you should play Tales of Vesperia and with the Definitive Edition now available for order on Switch, XBone, PC, and PS4 (with remastered graphics and ALL the bonus content) there’s never been a better time to play than now.

The unique thing about this RPG is the exceptional quality. Aside from being one of the best titles of the titular “Tales of” series and therefore one of the best titles of the one of the most popular RPG series in Japan, it manages to break from a large number of entrenched RPG stereotypes with characters and a story that are still refreshing today, 10 years after its initial release.

People like RPGs for various reasons, but if you like RPGs for ANY reason, this game is for you. If you enjoy the:

Characters

A badass with a good heart.

Tales of Vesperia sports an unusual cast. The main protagonist is a disillusioned thief who’s savage burns cut as sharp as his sword.

But there’s so much more to the character!

This dog has seen some things.

Right from the get-go, we see him paired up with his faithful, knife-wielding dog companion. It’s hot in the slums where they live and the water has gone out.

You instantly build up a love for the character’s relationship with his dog and the people of the slum as he ventures into the unfriendly upper areas of the city to retrieve (steal back) the missing part they need to restore running water to the slum.

What sets him truly apart from most RPG protagonists is that he fundamentally wants to be a good guy and do the right thing. No matter how jaded he becomes, his better nature shines through. This conflict between the reality of his world and his desire to do good leads him to make some tough decisions and makes the character memorable and believable.

At times you want to root for him, at times you want him to see a little bit of light, for something good to happen to him and for everything to turn out alright.

Throughout the course of the game, you’ll discover his backstory, how he came to be so jaded, and you’ll watch his character grow as he witnesses the consequences of his own choices.

Pink and innocent.

Keeping him in check along the way is Estelle, a naive and good-hearted princess. Their dialog is magnificently written with Yuri’s palpable jade countered by Estelle’s undefeatable optimism.

She gets a lot of jokes played on her throughout by various members of the cast, but it’s all in good fun and you get to see her really grow and develop from a two-dimensional rich, naive princess into a true world-traveler with a more enlightened perspective.

You’ll meet an intriguing cast of characters, each with their own goals and perspective and you’ll watch each of them grow on their journey to save the world. Even some of the villains are incredibly well-written.

Dialog

If you like humorous dialog, or dialog that is just well written, then this game is for you. Here are just a few out-takes from the game:

Skit (Estelle and Repeede)

Estelle: Hey, why is he letting Judith pet him?

Raven: Maybe the little pup’s a fan of pretty girls.

Estelle: B-But I’m a pretty girl too! [Repede moves away from Estelle as she moves towards him.]

Judith: My, my.

Estelle: Why doesn’t he like me?

Skit (Yuri can cook)

Karol: Yuri’s croquettes are the BEST!

Rita: How strange…They’re just balls of mashed potatoes, but..

Judith: There must be a secret ingredient

Raven: Oh yeah? What’d you put in it Yuri?

Yuri; Love

Rita; Agh..*Hack* *hack* Ick, blech!

Karol: Wh-who are you and what did you do with yuri…?

Raven: My hearin isn’t what it used to be. What’d you say was the secret ingredient?

Yuri: Love! The lady who ran the inn I lived at always said cooking was all about love. I put as much love in them as I could. So eat them with care, okay?

Karol: Yuri’s loved filled croquettes….

Rita: Ugh

Raven: I wish they weren’t so good.

Judith: A secret ingredient is a cook’s greatest treasure. You did not want to tell them did you?

Yuri: Actually I didn’t put anything special in there at all.

Skit (We know what Raven likes)

Estelle: This figurine is lovely!Yuri: A figurine? Id say its more of a toy, really.

Karol: You must not of seen many things like this in the castle , Estelle.

Estelle: Id like to see more of these figurines.

Yuri: and thus a figurine collector is born.

Judith: Oh some people are just more interested in aesthetics than others Yuri. Its not all that unusual.

Rita: Yeah, I really don’t have any other inrests outside of blastiea.

Karol: ive always been a fan of cool guild emblems myself.

Estelle: What about you Yuri.

Yuri: Huh? Ive never really given much thought to artistic sorts of things. I never really looked at anything in art.

Raven: ask me, ask me! Ask me what I like

All: girls

Raven:…Th…that’s right….

Rita: We know that’s right.

All of this optional dialog that brings out the personality of the characters, reveals their self-conscious tendencies, their likes, and even surprises you wouldn’t have known.

I’ve chosen this dialog to avoid spoilers for anyone who has not played game, but it goes without saying that the best moments of the game are tied closely with developments in the plot. Even as they face down a great threat to their world, the characters are always growing and learning about each other.

By the end of the game, you really feel like you know all the characters and the dynamics of relationships well. It feels like playing a game where your friends are the main characters.

Gameplay

The gameplay is on-point for Tales of Vesperia. The controls are easy to learn and the party dynamics are easy to change.

What I like about the Tales Of series is that their combat is always energetic and involved: you control a character and move them around the battle while using special moves, attacking, or casting spells. You can even switch between characters if there’s one you really like playing or you need to control directly.

Trying out different party combinations is rewarding for the in-combat dialog alone, but your characters will also deepen their bond as they fight alongside each other, potentially unlocking more side quests and dialog options so can really get to know your favorite characters.

Inventory management is also pretty trivial. I recognize that a LOT of modern RPGs make this aspect kind of a pain, especially with resource gathering and item forging mechanics, but (fortunately) Tales of Vesperia ins’t bad about it! The only place where it gets kind of hairy is with weapons: always keep at least one of each weapon, you never know when you’ll need it again.

You can quest for better items or get them from enemies, but it never feels like a grind and you’re never waiting for that one drop with a 1/50 chance that hasn’t dropped in the 150 times you’re been farming this one monster. Instead the emphasis is always on the developing the story, the characters, and the world and even the item side-quests reflect that.

Summary

Each quest will deepen your experience of the world, characters, or the story while enough humor is seamlessly blended in to make it feel light-hearted between touching moments of deep emotion and characterization.

The characters are well-written, their development and interaction makes each of the main cast, and some of the villains, feel real and alive. Throughout the game it’s a true joy to feel their relationships change and develop as the characters learn about each other and overcome their own pasts.

The world is interesting and unique and you really get a feel for each region and city with it’s own ‘personality’.

The gameplay is fluid, easy, and energetic with very little inventory-management non-sense to bog down the game.

This game deserves a 5 out of 5.

If you like RPGs at all, for any reason, you owe it to yourself to give Tales of Vesperia a try. With the updated graphics and content of the Definitive Edition, there’s never been a better time to play.

If you enjoyed this article you may also like Roleplaying Exercises to Get Into Character and The GM’s Easy world Creation Kit.

Tales of Vesperia [Spoiler Free] Review was originally published on Friendly Neighborhood Lizard Man

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 28/11/2020

Huh... I expected a busier week this week but I probably got what was ahead of me just a bit earlier this week instead of anything that feels contemporary or currently relevant. I mean, yes, we do have three top 10 debuts but that’s as far as our stories go in terms of the big singles and albums I expected to have some kind of less muted impact on the chart. The big issue here is that I didn’t consider how much of a chaotic mess 2020 has been, so people really want to get straight to the festivities, if you catch my drift. Hence, with four weeks until Christmas, and a Christmas that for a lot of people will be a lot different thanks to you-know-what, we have a lot more of the holiday stuff crashing in earlier and harder than I or anyone expected. It’s still November, guys, calm down. Anyway, Ariana Grande’s “positions” spends a fifth week at #1 and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

As always, here’s a brief rundown of what’s going on. Most of this rundown for the UK Top 75 will be holiday music, so I might as well run through the returning entries and climbers first. We have “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis at #72, “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade at #69, “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday” by WIzzard at #61, “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea at #55, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee at #52, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John at #49, “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson at #46, “HOLIDAY” by Lil Nas X up to #42 off of the debut, the horribly racist and despicably awful “Do they Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid at #38, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #35, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens at #33 and then some big gains for the Christmas songs that were already here, like “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring the late Kirsty MacColl at #26 having the biggest rise of the week (there’s always controversy surrounding that song each year so it tends to surge high – also it’s an incredible song), “Last Christmas” by WHAM! at #20 and “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey already up to #14. That doesn’t mean there weren’t other gains and returning entries of course, in fact, we have some big ones, those being “Plugged in Freestyle” by Fumez the Engineer and A92 inexplicably making its way up to #39 because Irish drill is always good for the holidays I suppose. Speaking of drill, “Whoopty” by CJ is at #12 and “Loading” by Central Cee is at #34. “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd also enjoyed continued gains up to #24. Thanks to BTS releasing their umpteenth album Be, the lead single “Dynamite” is back at #37 – more on them later. Oddly, thanks to the PlayStation 5 of all things, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” by Post Malone and Swae Lee returns to #30. I mean, okay, sure, it could be a worse song at that spot. Naturally, however, we have some big fallers and drop-outs because of this, so I’ll list them off starting with the fallers. Nothing survives Christmas music, and especially with UK chart rules, streaming cuts and a BTS album, everyone suffers, but especially hip-hop and R&B. In no particular categories, here’s our mish-mash of fallers: “Lemonade” by Internet Money featuring Don Toliver, Gunna and NAV at #22, “Giants” by Dermot Kennedy at #28, “What You Know Bout Love” by Pop Smoke at #29, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra at #31, “UFO” by D-Block Europe featuring Aitch at #32. “Holy” by Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper at #40, “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion at #41, “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey at #43, “Looking for Me” by Paul Woodford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax at #45, “Lasting Lover” by Sigala and James Arthur at #47, “Come Over” by Rudimental featuring Anne-Marie and Tion Wayne at #50, “Ain’t it Different” by Headie One featuring AJ Tracey and Stormzy at #51, “Holiday” by Little Mix at #53 (Wrong type of holiday), “Chingy (It’s Whatever)” by Digga D at #54, “Come Over” by Jorja Smith featuring Popcaan at #56, “Tick Tock” by Clean Bandit featuring Mabel and 24kGoldn at #57, “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI at #58, “One Too Many” by Keith Urban and P!nk at #59, Jason Derulo’s “Take You Dancing” and “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” with Jawsh 685 at #60 and #62 respectively, “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles at #64, “Mood Swings” by the late Pop Smoke featuring Lil Tjay at #67, “Deluded” by Tion Wayne and MIST at #68, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi at #70, “Lighter” by Nathan Dawe and KSI at #71, “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals at #73, “Papi Chulo” by Octavian and Skepta at #74, and “Confetti” by Little Mix at #75. Honestly, I can’t find much to complain about here, other than maybe “Lemonade” or “Princess Cuts”, but a lot of these were either some of the biggest hits of the year or just songs hurt prematurely by the festive season. Oh, and there’s also drop-outs from the UK Top 75 ranging in degrees of importance. Here’s just the notable ones: “Straight Murder (Giggs & David)” by Giggs featuring Dave, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, “Stop Crying Your Heart Out” by BBC Children in Need off the top 10 debut last week and some over major hits from the Autumn-Winter season in 2020, like “Put Your Records On” by Ritt Momney, “Daisy” by Ashnikko, “For the Night” by the late Pop Smoke featuring Lil Baby and DaBaby, “Laugh Now Cry Later” by Drake featuring Lil Durk and three genuinely massive #1 hits and songs that will represent 2020 on a wider historical scale: “ROCKSTAR” by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch after 31 weeks, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi after 52 weeks and finally, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I after 67 weeks. Okay, so “ROCKSTAR” is the only good song there but I’ll talk about these tracks in my end-of-year lists, if those happen. Now we’ve gotten through all of that, let’s discuss our new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#66 – “Blue & Grey” – BTS

Produced by Ji Soo Park, Levi, V and Hiss Noise

No, I haven’t listened to that new BTS record, even if it’s just six new songs, “Dynamite” and a skit. I don’t mind BTS or K-pop as a whole but I do like my pop music with a bit of personality that I find a lot of these idol groups kind of lack. That doesn’t mean they can’t have infectious and good songs, however, and that also doesn’t mean that they can’t display actual emotion because this song is directly about anxiety, depression and especially artist burn-out, which is a topic of all bands BTS should know well. Reading the English-translated lyrics, despite a clear language barrier, some of these lyrics are pretty poetic and I do like the use of colour imagery. Some of the lyrics seem odd, probably because if I were a Korean speaker I’d pick it up more naturally, but SUGA’s first verse is pretty concise and effective, using this metaphor of a blue question mark over his head, and J-Hope gets into some unexpected biblical territory and goes on this admittedly emo-pop trajectory that I kind of vibe with. The song itself is actually less sonically interesting than I expected, being a mostly melancholic acoustic guitar-based ballad that sure, has some pretty nice acoustic pick-ups, but doesn’t really lay an interesting enough foundation in the verses for them to flow over, especially with the awkward 808 bass and strings that are honestly a lot prettier than any of the instruments further to the front of mix. The boys sound mostly fine, and the chorus is really nicely sung, but J-Hope’s aggressive delivery and charismatic inflections, as well as some clever mixing, make his verse the clear stand-out here, at least in my opinion. For what it is, this is a damn good attempt at tackling these subjects to a young audience and I respect it, even if its meaning gets lost in imagery and could be a bit skewed thanks to how the song’s written. Otherwise, yeah, this is nice.

#65 – “Move On” – Lil Tjay

Produced by Avery on the Beat

You know, it’s odd that we have such scattered new arrivals this week and they all seem to be concentrated in little bubbles at opposite extremes of the chart. These first three are damn near consecutive and in the top 10... Well, you’ll see. For now, we have Lil Tjay of all people debuting on the chart with what seems to be the biggest single from that upcoming second record. I’m not a big fan of the guy, in fact I think he kind of ruined Polo G’s “Pop Out”, but the lead single, “Losses” was pretty okay, and I haven’t looked far enough into his work to really make a judgement. Also, despite being a typical New York Auto-Tune crooner kind of on the same level as A Boogie wit da Hoodie, he has a connection with the drill side of New York, and has collaborations with people like Fivio Foreign and the late Pop Smoke. This doesn’t really show any of that, however, rather going for a break-up track where Tjay feels like he’s going against his deeper instinct to move on from his ex-partner, even if he admits the relationship was toxic. It doesn’t help Tjay’s narrative that the song is borderline unlistenable, though. He decides to sing the ad-libs and some parts of the chorus in this tedious and nasal cadence even worse than his usual whiny voice, which is mixed way too high and he’s still somehow completely unintelligible under the layers of ugly Auto-Tune and reverb on the echoed background vocals. Also, this beat is based on a cheap acoustic guitar loop with a stiff trap skitter planted on top and bass mastering so terrible Lil Baby would be jealous of it. By the time the beat brings in some interesting electric guitar riffs, it’s fading out, and it is absolutely a sensory overload in the verses. I don’t mind the content here at all, but yeah, this sounds awful in almost every regard. Also, since this is our only “rap” song here, where’s Megan Thee Stallion’s album on the chart? Not even “Body”? Huh, I guess that’s why you shouldn’t release in the holiday season.

#63 – “This Christmas” – Jess Glynne

Produced by ???

Jess Glynne produced a cover of the Donny Hathaway classic and uploaded it as an exclusive to Amazon Music for no reason other than potentially driving up sales for that Christmas #1. It worked with Ellie Goulding’s “River” last year (which wasn’t even a Christmas song, just a Joni Mitchell cover), so let’s hope she doesn’t succeed this time. It is on YouTube, so I won’t protest that much, but honestly, why would you want to hear Jess Glynne’s cover over the Hathaway classic, with his smooth, buttery voice, soaring strings and lest we forget the pianos, bongos and that gorgeous horn section that make the relaxed single an absolute classic and one of the best options for Christmas pop, especially in the more R&B sector. With her recognisable but generic smoky-indie-girl voice, plastic-ass production on the horns, strings and especially the digital production, Jess Glynne’s cover isn’t modernised or revived, it just feels gentrified. It tries to go for a guitar solo but it’s in the back of the mix and lasts for like five seconds so what’s even the point? Lil Tjay’s song may have been terrible but this offends me more on a personal level for whatever reason, probably because I am opposed to how commercialised and cultural Christmas is nowadays, which makes the best, more grounded and down-to-Earth Christmas songs the best written and those with the most longevity... at least I think so. This won’t last, though, it’s “I Love Sausage Rolls”-tier Christmas track, and I hope it fades away soon enough.

#48 – “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Justin Bieber

Produced by honestly, who cares?

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and (censored)ing end me. At least Jess Glynne can convincingly sell a Christmas track with her smoky, warm and powerful voice, and, you know, at least the woman can SING! Justin Bieber making a Christmas song is completely expected after his born-again-Christian ass got married and settled down with his new family, and this is pretty obvious in his songs. I mean, “Holy” is practically already a Christmas song, and even with that, it takes a more interesting Christian angle and is mostly about marriage and relationships. Bieber has made Christmas music before, yes, but as a Disney-like child star just to sell records for his big conglomerate... and wow, how Bieber hasn’t changed, since THIS is a soulless cover of the Brenda Lee classic exclusive to Amazon bloody Music. It’s not even on YouTube in full so what’s the point of listening to this all? What is the use of this? It’s not going to charity, it’s less widely-available than the original and as far as we know, it’s not connected to a wider Bieber Christmas release. When Katy Perry pulled this schtick last year, at least she had an original song – and a good one at that – to back it up. If you’re going to sell your soul to the industry devil to attempt to get a sappy Christmas song out to the public so your name creeps back into the household, at least be upfront about it, and not hiding behind your Amazon Music subscriptions. The worst part is how this is actually charting higher than Brenda Lee’s rendition. Bieber, you soulless industry puppet, put your Goddamned song on Spotify or Apple, or just don’t make it at all. You already have a Christmas standard in the form of “Mistletoe”, and that one actually kind of bumps in the sleigh, so why are you doing this? God, I’m praying for an actually good song on this chart any moment now.

#10 – “Life Goes On” – BTS

Produced by Pdogg

You could describe BTS in a lot of ways, but “alternative hip hop” isn’t what I would have expected. Thanks for that, Rolling Stone India. Anyway, this is the big album-release single from the record, and it’s about you-know-what, but more specifically finding comfort, safety and happiness during chaotic world events. They made a speech at the 75th United Nations General Assembly, because of course they did, and this was their main message: “Life goes on, let’s live on”. Honestly, it’s not a bad message and something that people do need to hear right now, even if it is more of a blanket statement than anything too specific or meaningful, and, you know what, that will definitely help this song’s longevity. I mean, that vaccine’s on its way... right? Either way, this song is pretty good. I do like that chipmunk vocal sample playing against the slick acoustic strumming – I understand this sound is all over the album – and both the falsettos from members like Jungkook and RM’s deep rap cadences work pretty well over a beat that, whilst lacking the punch you’d want for a song like this, does a good job at expressing that wish to find serenity and be calm when... you know, 2020 is happening. SUGA’s verse is short, pointless and kind of just there to get all the boys on one track, especially since he’s not really flowing that well here. It reminds me kind of how they want all of the Backstreet Boys to get on the big single to appeal to each and every fan, even if the clear stand-outs of personality will have the most success. For BTS though, I don’t see that, and I think they pretty clearly work best together when they compile all of their ideas into a mellow albeit pretty motivational track like this. I absolutely love those harmonies from Jimin and V in the outro, and whilst I don’t see this sticking around on the charts, I’ll stick around in my playlist, which is more than I can usually say for whenever the Korean lads pop up on the chart. This is our first of three consecutive top 10 entries this week though, so let’s keep going.

#9 – “Monster” – Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber

Produced by Frank Dukes, Kaan Gunesberk and Matthew Tavares

Oh... he’s back. Well, okay, Shawn Mendes sounds pretty nice over this trip-hop-adjacent steady drum beat and the really pretty, cloudy guitars, as well as some of the harmonies they end up having and the distorted guitar by the end and... man, I know “Wonder” flopped but I don’t see this sticking around either. It’s just a nothingness track and while I do like the more specific content about the uncertainties of fame and the music industry, even from the Biebs, Sure, this is pleasant but it’s clearly just radio filler and since radio doesn’t factor into the UK’s charts, I see this as a pretty profound refusal of wanting an actual hit from both Shawn and whoever that guy is next to him on the cover art. I was wondering on how to actually write this segment since I really have nothing to say about this song at all other than that. I was thinking of ignoring Bieber’s presence but that would actually give me less to talk about, so... “Monster” by Kanye West is one of his most hard-hitting tracks and definitely one of his best brag-rap bangers, with an iconic verse from Nicki Minaj and admittedly middling input from JAY-Z and Rick Ross, all stuck together by the minimal, tribal percussion that lets everyone go off and be a bit more unorthodox, as well as Bon Iver’s eerie voice caressing this beat in the intro and outro. Let’s get even newer for a song from this year, like King Princess’ beautiful piano ballad “Monster” that does a damn great job at representing the characters it was made for, those being Marceline and Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time. I’ve yet to watch Distant Lands because I want to re-watch at least the essential episodes from the original series before, but I am excited to see these characters again and in a different light. 21 Savage’s “monster” featuring Childish Gambino is a pretty damn good trap track, with an unexpected rap verse from Gambino, Paramore making a song called “Monster” for the Transformers soundtrack is the most late-2000s thing that has ever occurred – in 2011, no less, uh, I like the “Monster Mash”. I think there’s an Eminem song in there somewhere, I don’t know. Look, you get the point, I hope that’s enough stalling. Let’s get to that final song.

#8 – “Prisoner” – Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa

Produced by the Monsters & Strangerz and watt

So, Miley Cyrus was a Disney teen pop star and has since been trying to carve out her musical identity to varying degrees of success, but most transitions to styles have been largely unsuccessful in terms of creating a long-term sound. You have the dance-pop, club and hip-hop-adjacent party tracks on Bangerz, the psychedelic “avant-garde” era of Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz, the soft country-pop ballads on Younger Now, the ugly alternative R&B-trap-RuPaul-featuring garbage on She is Coming and finally her new, new wave sound, which can be seen in his most polished form on Plastic Hearts and its two singles, “Midnight Sky” and “Prisoner”. Miley is getting a whole bunch of sounds from a lot of different genres and styles going around in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as the hard rock, pop rock and even punk rock styles all gaining a lot of popularity at the time, and has fused them with disco and modern production to make what is basically a Blondie album if they still had their stuff together in 2020. She has got legends on this album though, like Joan Jett, Billy Idol and even Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, and honestly I really like how she’s making a female-fronted rock album that is written and performed really well and honestly should probably be her style going forward if she wants to stick with the longevity. I mean, look at “Midnight Sky”, it’s literally still at #7 staring in the face of its successor, “Prisoner”. Much like Lipa’s own “Physical”, this track interpolates Olivia Newton-John’s classic of the same name (that kind of sucks in retrospect), and does a better job than “Physical”, where Dua Lipa has much more of a presence over the drum machines and that minimal bassline that runs through the chorus really well alongside the strings and swells of guitar. This is dance-able, sure, but it’s more of a showcase of Lipa’s swagger and Cyrus’ raspy tone that really works on this album. That pre-chorus is great, especially the second time where Lipa goes solo for that last line. Honestly, my only complaint is the bridge / outro, which feels pretty under-cooked, and that there should be more inter-play between the characters on display here. Other than that, yeah, this kicks ass, and I’m just grateful this song is here and as high as it is, especially on a week like this.

Conclusion

Now, is it completely fair to give Worst of the Week to a song I can only legally listen to 15 seconds of? Yes. Absolutely. It’s going to Justin Bieber’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” on pure cynicism alone. Dishonourable Mention goes to Lil Tjay for “Move On” being an earache, with the Honourable Mention going to “Life Goes On” by BTS for just being solid all around. It’s pretty obvious where Best of the Week lies, though, so yes, it is going to “Prisoner” by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa, and it really wasn’t even close. Here’s our top 10 for this week:

Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank if you want to give me more undeserved clout and I’ll see you next week.

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mst3kproject · 7 years

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816: Prince of Space

In a lot of ways this is one of the more daunting reviews I've taken on. There are various reasons why I might not want to review a particular movie. Maybe, as in Last of the Wild Horses, the movie just doesn't interest me. Maybe, as in Hobgoblins, I just hate the movie that much. Maybe, as in Swamp Diamonds, I have a hard time coming up with anything to say about it. Prince of Space falls into none of those categories. Instead, like Pod People or Manos: the Hands of Fate, this is one of the classic episodes, the ones that have been so thoroughly watched, discussed, and destroyed by the fandom at large that I'm not sure I can really contribute anything.

The goal of this blog is completeness, though, so here I go. Phantom, Dictator of Krankor, has come to Earth to steal the secret of Professor Maki's advanced rocket fuel (or Professor Macken, or Professor Marken... the dub actors cannot seem to agree). Fortunately, Earth has a secret weapon – the invulnerable Prince of Space! Prince of Space steals the formula back from Phantom and chases him away, so Phantom falls back on Plan B. He kidnaps the world's leading scientists and takes them to Planet Krankor so they can see just what a mighty empire they are up against. Once again it's up to Prince of Space to save the day!

Prince of Space was originally a TV show, Yūsei Ōji (Planet Prince), which was made to capitalize on the popular Super Giants film series – yeah, you read that right, Prince of Space is a ripoff of Star-Man! The series proved popular enough in itself that two movies were made based on it, and it was these that were edited together into the Prince of Space we all know and love. They did a surprisingly good job, actually. The resulting film feels only slightly bifurcated, mostly because the three children pretty much vanish for the second half, and I'm guessing the original Prince of Space movies were intended as 'part one' and 'part two' of the same story. It's also the rare MST3K movie that remains entertaining even without Mike and the Bots at the bottom.

This is kind of surprising, because Prince of Space has basically the exact same plot as Invasion of the Neptune Men: a z-list superhero and a bunch of little kids try to stop an alien invasion too incompetent for even Godzilla to take notice. But while Invasion of the Neptune Men was an unmitigated pain parade, Prince of Space is silly, over-the-top fun. Why the difference? Prince of Space still isn't what anybody would call a 'good' movie, but it gets right a great many of the things Invasion of the Neptune Men got wrong.

For starters, Prince of Space has characters in it. There are the three kids: scientist's son Johnny Maki, and Wally the Bootblack's two wards, Kimmy and Mickey. They have names, lives, and interests – these are minimal, but they exist. Johnny likes to watch boxing on TV and worries about getting in trouble. Kimmy and Mickey are proud of their jobs as Wally's assistants. They talk about the problems presented to them, instead of just pointing and running around like the kids in Invasion of the Neptune Men. Their familial connections to Dr. Maki and Wally mean there is an actual reason why they keep getting involved in these events.

Similarly, Wally/Prince of Space is himself a character. I'm not sure how a guy who makes his living shining shoes finds the time or money to be a superhero on the side, but his secret identity is actually relevant and in danger of discovery. He, too, also has a bit of personality – he's the type of person who is kind to a fault, often to his own detriment. He takes in the two orphans even though he really can't afford to. He returns forgotten items to his customers even though it takes him away from his work. Tips the kids earn shining shoes are explicitly stated to be theirs, not his, even though he could use the money.

The Neptune Men were nothing but singing humanoid buttplugs – faceless, nameless, and devoid of personality. The Chicken-Men of Krankor have faces, which allows them to react to things, and Phantom at least has a distinctive look and personality, with his arrogant attitude and obnoxious laugh. What's more, the aliens of Prince of Space have a goal. While the Neptune Men seemed to just be throwing stuff at the Earth at random, Krankor is specifically after Professor Maki's rocket fuel and at first his attempt to conquer the world is focused on that. Later, after Prince of Space thwarts him over and over, he becomes increasingly obsessed with destroying the hero by any means possible, whether it benefits his invasion plans or not.

There is one kind of cool idea in this, actually. In one scene a reporter asks Dr. Maki why Phantom would be after his formula, when the technology of Krankor is so far advanced over Earth's. Dr. Maki replies that Krankor is advanced in some ways but not in others, and they happen to be lagging behind Earth in the development of rocket fuel. This is a neat concept. We don't know, after all, what constitutes a 'level' of technological development because we have only one example of a technological civilization, and that's our own. Maybe somewhere out there are aliens who have made enormous strides in mathematics but still believe the body is composed of humours that must be balanced. If that sounds unlikely, think again: it was the actual state of things in Europe when Newton and Liebniz invented calculus. Or maybe the inverse is true: maybe the aliens are skilled doctors who can perform life-saving operations we wouldn't dare attempt, but they don't understand things like logarithms at all.

If this were a good movie, the stuff humans are good at and Chicken-Men not would be a key to their final defeat. But this is Prince of Space.

The entertainment factor here is also upped by the fact that Prince of Space is not afraid to be ridiculous. Invasion of the Neptune Men was often rather restrained. Prince of Space has a big-eared, matronly giant who destroys Phantom's enemies with weaponized halitosis. The Chicken-Men themselves are delightfully ridiculous, with their pointed noses and hoods that suggest their heads and chins are pointed too, and their spaceship looks like a roast turkey. Prince of Space's own ship looks like a modified bumper car and he has a magic wand that deflects death rays. It makes the movie enjoyable in a way Invasion of the Neptune Men never even approached.

Finally, it's always possible to tell what's going on in Prince of Space. While there are endless shootout scenes, those are always connected with something in the story. Wally flees Chicken-Men through a graveyard after they discover his secret identity – will he be able to transform into Prince of Space before they catch him? Laser fire is exchanged as Prince of Space leads the captive scientists through Phantom's fortress. Will they make it to the ship to return to Earth? Invasion of the Neptune Men had none of this, just spaceship models shooting at each other without even anything to tell us how far apart they were. An action scene in which we really can't tell what's happening is dull. The director and editors of Prince of Space had at least some idea how to do it right.

I actually really wish this movie were in colour. According to the posters, Prince of Space's costume was red, green, and white, while the Chicken-Men of Krankor wore pink and purple. I'd love to see what colours were on the walls of the Great Hall, or that the giant was dressed in. It must have looked gloriously ridiculous.

Remember Invaders from Space, in which the bad guys were Kappa-People? Well, Prince of Space is less explicit about it, but I think the Chicken-Men are supposed to be Tengu-People. The Tengu is a birdlike demon in Japanese folklore who is supposed to be a harbinger of war. They are often depicted with unnaturally long, sometimes beaklike noses. Such noses are also featured in Japanese caricatures of white people. Hmm... they come promising peace and prosperity and then they blow your shit up. Sounds about right.

Wikipedia doesn't have an antique woodcut of anybody farting on a Tengu, but this watercolour of one getting yelled at by a monk is kind of fun.

This is another movie that is difficult to analyze, because it doesn't really have any higher ambitions. The original goal of the Yūsei Ōji TV show was to make money off Star Man fans, and the movies were intended to make money off fans of the TV show. Fortunately, enough effort and good fun were put into the result that it stands on its own. Of all the Japanese-Superhero-Versus-Stupid-Aliens movies I've seen, Prince of Space is undoubtedly my favourite... and the fact that I can talk about those as a genre is... well, it's sadder than talking about the Nazi Zombie genre, but not as sad as talking about the Bela Lugosi vs Gorilla Suit genre. So there's that.

The other wonderful thing we got out of Prince of Space is the 'temporally displaced chicken puppet' sketch, which is probably the funniest single skit in the entire Sci-Fi Channel era. Gypsy's burrito makes me laugh every single time.

#mst3k #reviews #prince of space #50s #just fuckin weird #starman and friends

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scuttleboat · 7 years

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Review: Thor Ragnarok

(no plot spoilers until the replies/reblogs)

I've seen Thor: Ragnarok twice now, and my head is buzzing with all the things that I wish this film could have been. It's good but it's not great and that comes down to needing a portion---just a PORTION---of restraint.

I'd give it a B. Very rewatchable, fun action, winning performances, highest Cool Factor of the Thor films so far, and fabulous music, art, and CGI.

And yet, it had some problems. First off: 30% less comedy. Just cut out a third of the jokes right off the bat. Sure the movie is hilarious but it's often trying so hard to be funny in moments when humor is unnecessary, that it completely undercuts the impact of its own story. The tonal shifts in this movie are jarring, and much of the drama around Asgard feels empty and unimportant because the movie is so careless about it.

My big gripe is that they used the same style of joke--undercutting the tension--on EVERYONE. They used it with the heroes and the villains, the supporting characters and the leads. It quickly became a thing where that style of delivery had a dulling effect on me. You just... That's not good, guys. Humor should come from characterization, so a joke about Thor should be presented differently from a joke about Loki or a joke about Hella. Now, they DID manage this with Banner; most of the humor around him had a character-centric tone, and wasn't just about taking the piss out of everything all the time. The humor around him was mostly about the ways that Hulk is inherently a funny concept. The only moment with Banner that I didn't like was his "you're just using me, you're not my friend, thats gross." Like... Too on the nose guys. Taking the joke and pushing it too far until it's out of character. Since when does Banner care about people being his friends? Especially someone he's got the least relationship with on the Avengers. His character has run away from friendships and relationships so many times in the MCU that it doesn't work for him to be complaining about it, it doesn't come off as something he'd say. That line is just so... parody. Cut it. Let it go into the bloopers.

The undercutting style of humor worked best with Valkyrie--whose character is naturally positioned in the plot to undercut Thor anyway--and with the Grand Master, who is baked from Jeff Goldblum already. But even with the Grand Master, there were moments when it was too much, laid on too heavy. Ex: the aside about interrupting, about prisoners with jobs. Both went on too long. But overall, this style of humor was best suited to Sicar and the characters on it, because it was already a strange and absurdist place. Thor as a character shined nicely there, and a lot of his humor worked too, as part of that world. Chris Hemsworth has fantastic comic timing, and he sells ANYTHING. The most over the top stuff, he sells it. The movie does good with that, but... again, they abuse it. They undercut too much, too often, and some for the jokes come off as just things that the director thought would be funny, rather than jokes that work for Thor himself. The tone was a little to SNL or sketch comedy sometimes. Character sacrificed for a pithy line.

No plotline was more impacted by this creative over-indulgence than Asgard. Start off with Hella: great character, convincing threat, and fabulous headdress (my favorite CGI in the movie). If her character is going to be effective, you get ONE JOKE with her. ONE joke in this undercutting style. A character like her, so full of flair and drama and camp...you've got to treat any jokes around her like precious gifts not to be given lightly. She has to remain the "straight" character int the comedy flow, so that it contrasts with the Sicar stuff, and so that when you do get ONE JOKE, it will be by comparison the best fucking joke in the movie. But taking little asides to make her funny is just... no no no. T whole subset of jokes about her as a disappointed boss to Scourge... no. Ugh, why. It doesn't fit. Stop it. And the stuff in front of the crowd, so tonally wrong. Stop trying so hard with her! The best stuff from Hella was with the two princes and when they do or don't look like dad, which barely qualify as jokes and thus WERE MORE EFFECTIVE. There were so many compelling things about her character, but when the script or director applies this flat undercutting humor to her, it completely saps away the cool and the interest. Ugh...you can sap the cool away from your protagonists, but you don't want to take a single ounce of cool from the villain. Once you do that, nothing in the film has any stakes. At that point, we might as well be watching another post-Avengers SNL skit.

Also, let's talk about Korg for a minute. The rock guy. I...did not like that joke. His whole premise was not inherently funny to me, and then they OVER USED HIM. So much, all time. God, he would not go away. The director Waititi was way too indulgent with his self-insert part. Much too often the Korg character was there just to say a "funny" line for the sake of it, not a line that fit the story. And about half of his lines fell utterly flat with me. Again, he's a character type that should have the most humorous impact when he is used judiciously.

I had a few other complaints, mostly about the static natural of some of the characters, but the comedy balance was my big issue with it. It needed 30% less humor, and needed for more of the humor to come uniquely *from* the characters themselves, not just from the director's personal comic style. If they cut down a portion, then the humor would have landed with a lot more richness, as would the drama. They basically used this movie to make a parody of the MCU, and while I love parodies, that doesn't mean I want one of the films in the MCU to become one. That's what a blooper reel is for.

I really like this movie, but it's a B grade. 8/10. And that's too bad, because with the little bit of editorial oversight, this could have been an A.

and for God's sake, did Loki need THAT much makeup?

#thor #thor ragnarok #thor x loki #thor x valkyrie #chris hemsworth #tessa thompson #cate blanchett #tom hiddleston

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commentarycrewhell-blog · 7 years

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Commentary Crew Preference - Sleepover + the day after

A/N: bad lol. I was gone for like a week because some shit happened, apologies. Last night (week) took an L but tonight I bounce back.

Pyrocynical

Watching dumb videos on youtube up until like 3am. Probably started from like actual content then just turned into watching damn daniel vine compilations, until you both cried from laughter.

Coffee. Just lots of coffee. More coffee.

Then, when you’d actually find your way into the bed, he’d make sure that there’s at least 10 pillows and 3 blankets

Then like an hour of just laughing and giggling and switching positions??

Cuddling, no exceptions.

THE SLEEPY VOICE

Almost on the edge of falling asleep, then hearing him just say shit like “my name jeff,” and you’d both just die.

Waking up in a huge mess of pillows, blankets, everything.

Spending the morning just laying in the bed, being quiet and enjoying the moment. He’d probably play with your hair.

The day would consist of you two just being home, doing nothing. Playing games (G a r f i e l d K a r t)

It ending in lots of goodbye kisses on the forehead.

ImAllexx

He’d have probably it all planned out. What to do at what hour etc. You went with the plan for like the first two hours and then just forgot it.

Baking!!! You love baking and you were not too bad in it either. Lots of brownies.

Helping him film videos and skits to them. Also discussing the video or it’s topic in general.

Talking about stuff. Could be serious like politics, recent news or then just a funny you tube video of a cat playing a piano 10 hour remix.

Watching a horror film all cuddled up on the couch.

Going to bed not too late.

Spooning. Him being the little spoon because of his small form.

You’d wake up at like 8am, few hours earlier than him. You’d also make breakfast for him.

Spending the day just doing random stuff, going outside for lunch.

A nice goodbye hug. A kiss on the cheek too.

NFKRZ

Watching him play CSGO just raging and screaming. Ablo Orman-style.

95% of the time would be just you petting and playing with his cat.

He’d probably insist that you have to make a q&a video with him.

When he would ask people on twitter to send questions, he’d get a bunch of replies with just “QnA with sister?” etc, and it would piss him off so much. You found it adorable.

You two recorded the video which was actually hilarious, but putting it on hold, not sure should he post it.

Touring around the big Soviet Union. He’d take you to KFC for the pengest munch. “Niggas gotta eat.”

When you got back it was really chilly so you decided to borrow, or atleast try one of his hoodies. You practically drowned in it.

Falling asleep quite fastly. A good and a cozy sleep.

Waking up at like 2pm.

He’d make food, or atleast try. That’s what it looked like.

Plot twist; the food would actually taste really good.

A warm hug for the goodbyes. Tall boy.

Chubbs

Watching him record videos. You had to go to another room because you laughed a lot and you didn’t want to ruin the recording.

Starting beef with feminazis and cunts on twitter. He would either annihilate them or then just reply “haha yes.”

He would be surprised how good you were at beefing with people. You weren’t taking no shit and it only made him more attracted to you.

Despite his rather edgy and wild online persona, he’d be absolutely different in real life. Being very caring and loving. Appreciating every moment with you. Not saying he wouldn’t throw some funny and snarky comments at times.

Sleep over with out the sleeping.

Going to McDonald’s at 3am to get a big pack of nuggets and lots of cheeseburgers.

Then just doing random shit for couple of hours, still not tired.

Going for a deep™ walk outside and getting real deep. Talk about his issues and reassuring him that he is just perfect the way he is.

Watching films and shows on netflix and commentating over them. It would be actually hilarious.

AMY SCHUMER BAD

Falling asleep on the couch, netflix playing in the background. Probably at like 6.30am

You’d fall asleep all cuddled up. He’d find you absolutely adorable and just smile.

Waking up practically in the same position. Wanting to stay like that forever, but he’d have to take a piss. lol.

BIGGEST HUG + kiss on the forehead. Big boy.

BradDoesBanter

Despite his actually offensive and edgy personality online behaviour, he’d be actually the most caring and affectionate person. Lots of hugs and kisses.

Cooking food together

Commentating over FUCKH8 or BuzzFeed vids. Letting his more offensive side out. He’d probably record few vids on the go as well.

Playing GTA V for his gaming channel. Ad revenue important bro.

Going out quite late for a few beers. He’d get absolutely wasted over two pints. It would be actually hilarious to watch though.

Having fun for the most of the time. Listening to music, dancing, him trying to sing which you recorded for the blackmail material.

Him listening to your stories and things 100% enjoying it. Appreciating every thing you did in general.

Calling Niall, Billy and everyone else at 4am just to tell that they’re gay.

Cuddling that he would suggest, surprising you.

Waking up at about 10am, you’d have coffee and he would have his beloved orange juice. And that legendary sandwich. (inb4 “How to make a sandwich” -video)

Going to Tesco, to get some ice cream. (And more orange juice.)

When you would leave, he’d hug you but then after that kiss you. Smooth.

B O N U S

Bamanboi

Getting Chinese Take Away.

Having the best and the most intense arguments and conversations about politics, music, culture etc.

Subtweeting or just posting conversations about memes between you two on twitter, even though you were literally few meters away from each other.

Playing CSGO. You were killing each other constantly and just 99% fucking around.

THE KETTLE WHEEZE/LAUGH.

Talking about his issues. He trusted you with these things, and you gave the best advice.

Critiquing and reviewing shows, games, albums, everything.

Staying up until about 2pm. Absolutely wild.

Waking up at 7pm, no regrets.

C O F F E E. Overdose of C O F F E E.

A very long goodbye hug.

#commentary crew #commentary crew preference #commentary channels #pyrocynical #pyro #imallexx #nfkrz #chubbs #youtuber chubbs #chubbs youtube #braddoesbanter #bamanboi

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thisaintascenereviews · 7 years

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Album Review by Bradley Christensen Goodie Mob – Soul Food Record Label: LaFace Records Release Date: November 7 1995

We’re nearing the last of the southern rap albums that I’ve recently picked up, but don’t fret, there’s a lot more! I went on a massive haul today at Goodwill, and weirdly enough, they had a ton of southern rap albums. I got a lot of stuff, much to my surprise, and some of the albums extend to other kinds of hip-hop, but I got a lot of southern records, nonetheless. One of the last ones in this particular haul, however, is the debut LP from Goodie Mob, entitled Soul Food. This group caught my attention for a couple of reasons, the first being that they’re a very influential and well-recognized southern rap group that frequently collaborated with OutKast, and this is the album that CeeLo Green got his start with. I never knew that, and that was the reason that made me check out Soul Food, especially since it seems like this group is more underrated and underground today. I haven’t really heard of them, unfortunately, even though I knew who UGK was. To be fair, I wouldn’t have known who 8Ball & MJG were if it wasn’t for Big K.R.I.T., because they’re featured on his projects all the time, but it seems like Goodie Mob is in the same boat that they are – influential in the genre, but oddly underrated in the mainstream. It doesn’t make much sense to me, because this is a group that should be more recognized, but yet they’re not as popular as they should be. That’s where I come into play, because I’m going to change that. Today’s review will be on Soul Food, obviously, so let’s talk about a group that should be more recognized in the mainstream, despite how the underground already knows about them. There’s a reason why this is one of the last albums in the first “wave” that I’m reviewing, too, and it’s because I save the best for last.

Right off the bat, I’ll admit it – this LP is awesome. It’s one of the best hip-hop albums I’ve heard in quite a while, and it’s because they take two sounds that I very, very much enjoy, those two sounds being southern rap and soul music, and essentially put them together. Yeah, this LP somehow manages to be bombastic, intense, and energetic as hell, but smooth, classy, and souful all at once. It’s due to a combination of the production and overall sound, though, because the album has a lot of soul / funk samples / production, but the overall sound has that slant sometimes. Green being in the group helps a lot, too, as his voice is great for that kind of sound. I’ve listened to one of his solo LPs, 2010’s The Lady Killer, and 2006’s St. Elsewhere (with the group Gnarls Barkley), so I’ve had some experience with Green’s vocals before, and yeah, he fits in well here. A good example of that, actually, is the title track on this thing. I love the hook of this track, and I love how soulful the overall song is, but the whole sound is like that. It’s weird, too, because this LP doesn’t have the typical southern rap sound. The production isn’t over the top, and it’s not extremely bombastic, but there’s a lot of soul production / influence in their sound. They remind me a lot of OutKast, which makes sense, because they frequently have collaborated with them (whether it’s with OutKast as a duo, or the individual members, as Big Boi and Andre 3000 appear on certain tracks here), just not quite as weird, experimental, or “out there” as OutKast have been before. OutKast are more experimental, for sure, but that’s not a bad thing whatsoever. If anything, think of Goodie Mob as a less experimental version of OutKast, all the while being their own thing, and having their own sound, too.

Moving onto everything else about this LP, even though the production is the best part, everything else is quite good, too. I love the vocals (Green’s included, as I’ve talked about him already), and the vocal chemistry between all the members is great. The lyrics are great, too, as they talk about a lot of interesting ideas (one of my favorites is “Guess Who,” which is about their moms and how important they’ve been in their lives). I’ll admit that there are a lot of short skits that don’t do anything for me, and one thing I haven’t mentioned at all is that I don’t care for the skits in a lot of hip-hop albums, unless they progress some kind of story. Kendrick Lamar used skits to his advantage in Good Kid, MAAD City, but the skits here just feel out of place. They’re not bad, per se, and they don’t ruin the album, as the skits are only ten to thirty seconds each. I think one or two are around a minute, but they’re not bad, and they don’t ruin the momentum of the album, but they don’t add anything, either way. Otherwise, though, I don’t have any problems with this album. The album flows well, it’s very diverse, and it’s unique, so it’s everything I enjoy in an album, let alone a longer album, as this LP is around 61 minutes, give or take. This album is considered a classic in hip-hop as a whole, let alone southern hip-hop, but I don’t know why it’s not more recognized. Why isn’t this group as talked about as much as OutKast? That’s what they sound like, at least to a lesser degree, like I said, but they still have their own thing going on. If you’re a fan of hip-hop with more R&B and soulful sounds, similar to the Fugees, OutKast, or things like that, you’ll love this group, too. They have that sound going on, and it’s done really, really well. They combine southern hip-hop with southern soul, and it sounds awesome, so I hope these guys are more recognized in the mainstream.

#goodie mob #soul food #ceeloo green #southern hip-hop #southern rap #outkast #andre 3000 #big boi #rap #hip-hop

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frostybeats · 5 years

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Favorite Albums of 2018

Here we are, another year in the books. I thought I’d compile a list of some of my favorite projects that artists did this year. Mind you, this is not a list of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2018, these were some of my favorites to listen to this year. I thought this was an amazing year for rap, especially this summer, so I’ve included quite a few rap records. I was still listening to a lot of music from 2017, but this list will focus strictly on what came out this year. There is no order of favorites. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Astroworld - Travis Scott

You can’t talk music in 2018 without mentioning Astroworld. Was the album overhyped? Absolutely. Does that mean it didn’t deliver? No way. People were acting like Travis hadn’t done anything in half a decade, when in reality it had been less than 2 years since his sophomore effort, Birds in the Trap, and he had dropped the collab, Huncho-Jack, with Quavo at the end of 2017. Still, fans and artists alike salivated at the mention of Astroworld. The man even made a Jordan 4 to contribute to the album’s hype. Astroworld delivers immediately and rewards multiple listens, I consistently find new things in this album to appreciate. Travis is back with the signature ad-libs, old and new, and an all-star feature cast that rivals that of an Avengers movie. The album feels like a rollercoaster, roaring at a fast pace with plenty of thrills, but there are also some slower tracks to even the ride out. Travis has never been about deep material though. He’s always been about having a good time, especially this time around. It’s an absolute go to when you want to get lit like a Christmas tree. The beat switch ups (see Stargazing) are akin to maniacally switching lanes on a highway. Just watch out for the groups of frat boys that start dancing in a circle and shouting when Sicko Mode comes on at a bar.

Top 3: No Bystanders, Sicko Mode, Coffee Bean

Swimming - Mac Miller

“Every day I wake up and breathe. I don’t have it all, but that’s alright with me.”

Okay, I know I said I wasn’t doing this list in order, but Swimming is near, if not at, the top of albums this year for me. GO:OD AM still remains my favorite Mac project, but Swimming is probably his best project, critically. I probably could, and may, do a track-by-track review of this album. Mac is producing at his best, it’s a listen that flows smooth from start to finish without anything really feeling out of place. The album holds true to it’s name, with tracks see-sawing back and forth between sounding like having your head above the water and being pulled deep under the waves. The J. Cole produced “Hurt Feelings” will take you to the ocean floor, while “Jet Fuel” will have you drifting across the surface. Thundercat lays down some incredible bass lines, and John Mayer even makes an appearance on “Small Worlds”. “2009” is a track that hits right in the feels, recounting the change, both good and bad, since stepping into the limelight. Swimming is a journey of self-acceptance, and being okay with life even when you don’t triumph, a tragic message given Mac’s passing just a month after the record’s release. I related to many of these songs on a personal level with my own struggles in 2018, the album came out exactly when I needed it. Rest in peace, Mac. Most dope…forever.

Top 3: Hurt Feelings, 2009, Self Care

Honorable Mention: It didn’t make the album, but go listen to “Programs”; it’s so buttery

Proper Dose - The Story So Far

This band has yet to disappoint and gets better with each album they do, I’m thankful for that since it’s a rare thing. The album moves fast with a combination of tracks that are best listened to while flying down the highway or cruising with the windows down on a nice day. Classic pop-punk vibes are present on “Need To Know” and the title track, while the band explores a new, more melodic sound on “Upside Down” and “Growing On You”. The most welcome new addition is Parker’s ability to sing, progressing from his shouting-style on previous albums; “Take Me As You Please” showcases this beautifully. Ryan Torf also deserves a lot of credit for the air tight drums on every track. The percussion is a huge standout. This album was made to be blasted in a car on a summer day.

Top 3: Out Of It, Light Year, Take Me As You Please

YSIV - Logic

I tried to keep it to one project per artist, so this beat out Bobby Tarantino II for me. Logic has dropped at least one project every year since 2010, let that sink in. Somehow, he has managed to not sound overdone or saturated, a true testament to his craft and workaholic nature. YSIV (Young Sinatra IV) revisits the 90-style boom-bap sound of his Young Sinatra mixtape trilogy that got him known. Logic sounds like he walked through a portal and it’s the early 2010s again, but his raps and 6ix’s production have both ascended to a new level. 1-800 fans will be very confused as the bar-hungry Logic of old resurfaces to show people that he’s still an animal on the mic with tracks like “Everybody Dies” and “The Return”. If you like straight bars then this is the album for you. The ENTIRE Wu Tang Clan makes an appearance on the song “Wu Tang Forever”. “Street Dreams II” is storytelling at it’s best, an ode to the style of rap that dominated the 90s. YSIV sounds like a genuine continuation of the Young Sinatra era, rather than a sequel or remake that tries too hard to be like the original. The only thing missing is an iconic Marty Randolph skit.

Top 3: The Return, Street Dreams II, Ordinary Day

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships - The 1975

The working title “Music for Cars” sent fans into a frenzy thinking that the band was revisiting their early days. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships proved to be the opposite by pushing the boundaries of the band’s sound. Yes, there are songs like TOOTIME and the single, “Love It If We Made It” that would sound perfectly at home on the previous album, but there are also jazzy songs like “Mine” and “Sincerity Is Scary” that we’ve never heard from this eclectic, pop quartet. The album explores a wide pallet of emotions, mostly surrounding love and relationships in the present day. They even propose the not so farfetched idea that we’re in a relationship with the internet and social media on “The Man Who Married a Robot”. I’ve always gravitated toward the instrumental interludes/tracks on The 1975 projects (excluding the remixed intros), but I also really enjoyed the softer songs as well on this one. This band has always encompassed many different feelings on their projects, but it’s broadcast on a similar spectrum for a given project. It’s hard to put this band in a box, and I really like that.

Top 3: Love Theme, Surrounded By Heads And Bodies, I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)

K.O.D. - J. Cole

Anytime J. Cole has been quiet for what seems like too long you can guarantee he’s about to drop something. K.O.D. officially marks the end of the Forest Hills Drive era that was continued on 4 Your Eyez. The album is a bit of an uncomfortable, medicated listen, start to finish, but that’s the point. It hits close to home for those that have struggled with addiction personally, or witnessed friends and family grapple. Cole warns listeners of the dangers of addiction and drug abuse, especially as a staple of the modern rap scene. However, Cole shows us that addiction isn’t just substance based, but also comes in the forms of social media and ego, with deeper rooted problems that we cover with these things rather than face head on. “Photograph” calls out the ego-stroke that Instagram has turned into. Cole impressively comes off from a place of concern, rather than being preachy. The album isn’t an easy listen, but it’s a necessary one.

Top 3: Photograph, Kevin’s Heart, BRACKETS

Culture II - Migos

Migos wasted no time in following their 2017 breakthrough, Culture. Culture II essentially keeps the record spinning with a slew of new songs. A friend once said to me that most of Migos sounds the same, and there’s a lot of truth to that. But their triplet bar scheme is still catchy and a lot of these tracks are just a fun listen, whether you’re working out, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or getting together with friends. “Supastars” and “Auto Pilot” are straight hype tracks, and the now ironic “Motorsport” slaps with the Nicki Minaj & Cardi B features. “Stir Fry” is a track that you can immediately hear Pharrell on despite his lack of vocals. Culture II is jam packed with lines that we’ve seen everyone use as Instagram captions throughout 2018, don’t count on that trend stopping anytime soon with Culture III already slated for early 2019.

Top 3: Motorsport, Movin’ Too Fast, Auto Pilot

Scorpion - Drake

There’s a lot I can say about Scorpion, I’ll try and keep it brief. The gargantuan work is a double album, split into 2 sides. Side A is more rap heavy, while Side B is moody R&B. The production on this record is phenomenal, 40 and OVO Sound killed this one. Scorpion feels like the long awaited followup to Take Care that so many people (myself included) have spent the past 7 years dreaming of. This isn’t the “beat your chest”, angry Drake of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, or the British, grime-stint that was More Life. This is Drake at his best, simply being Drake. He’s braggadocios on “Nonstop” (with the now iconic Tay Keith production tag) and “Talk Up” (with an amazing verse by Hov). He’s moody, with in your feels songs like “Jaded” that will keep you up past 3 AM thinking about relationships that you were never in. He finds himself attempting to navigate life on “8 Out Of 10” and “March 14th”. Scorpion is well worth the long listen, with a wide array of offerings. In my opinion, this is Drake’s best project since Nothing Was the Same.

Top 3: Jaded, Nonstop, 8 Out Of 10

Honorary Mention (so many songs!): Sandra’s Rose

Man of the Woods - Justin Timberlake

I wish it didn’t always take this man half a decade to make new music, but I’m okay with quality over quantity. A homage to his son, Man of the Woods finds JT at his pop roots, but attempting to blend in some folk here and there for some robust notes. Most of the time it works out. “Say Something”, with Chris Stapleton, is a prime example. “Montana” will sound a bit more familiar to fans that know his signature pop sound. “Midnight Summer Jam” is the sweet spot between these two sounds that will have you grooving. There’s an interlude that’s reminiscent of “Blue Ocean Floor” on 20/20 (a sound I wish he’d make a whole album with). The Alicia Keys duet, “Morning Light”, feels like waking up on a sunny day after a great night’s sleep without a care in the world. Man of the Woods showcases JT’s versatility and willingness to take risks and push boundaries as a pop artist in a genre that often sounds repetitive. Most of the time it’s rewarding, and even when it’s off-step I still appreciate the effort. This album definitely grew on me after multiple listens.

Top 3: Midnight Summer Jam, Wave, Montana

Ye - Kanye West

Okay, Kanye had quite the year… let’s stick to the music. Ye was apparently recorded mere weeks before the deadline, the album cover was shot on the way to the release party. Kanye apparently scrapped the Love Everyone album (rumored to be the upcoming Yandhi) after the whole MAGA controversy, when he received “new creative energy”. Ye is a short listen, seven tracks just shy of 24 minutes (a common them on all the projects Kanye worked on this year). The album packs a lot of content in for a short listen though, mainly addressing mental health, Kanye’s struggle with bipolar disorder (aka his “superpower”), and the turbulent year he had. Production is one of the highlights on the album; it opens with a dreamy sequence as Kanye speaks some dark lines, a stark juxtaposition. “Ghost Town” is the emotional climax of the album; Kid Cudi, 070 Shake, and PartyNextDoor nail their features, while Kanye delivers some of his best lines on the album. Kanye closes out on “Violent Crimes” with a touching note reflecting on his past behavior as a man and how he now worries for his daughter as she grows up in the world today. It’s a fairly cohesive album for such a rushed project, definitely better put together than The Life of Pablo. Say what you want about Mr. West, but the man is a musical genius.

Top 3: Ghost Town, No Mistakes, Yikes

Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts

People lost it when rumors dropped last fall that Ye and Cudi were working on a joint album. The idea sounded like a home run and something that needed to happen, especially after the momentary feud between the two as Cudi struggled with his mental health at the end of 2016. Kids See Ghosts delivers tenfold, and, in my opinion, is the better effort from Kanye this year (it’s a joint album so it’s an acceptation to my 1 project per artist rule). Ye and Cudi have always brought out the best in each other creatively, they’re yin and yang. “Feel the Love” starts the listen with Cudi chanting and harsh hitting production as Kanye shouts akin to a tommy gun. It sounds like the duo are using their voices as instruments and having fun with it, a theme present across all seven songs. Kanye chops up a 1930s Christmas song to make a banger on “4th Dimension”. As the album progresses, the two tackle their personal issues and struggles, slaying their demons, and coming out rejuvenated on the other side. Cudi returns with his signature hums and hooks, transitioning between rapping his ass off and gently delivering his verses. He delivers a new anthem with “Reborn”, assuring the world that he’s okay. Kanye saved his best bars for this album, delivering some of his best verses since Dark Twisted Fantasy (yes, I said it). Kids See Ghosts is trip that is a far more cohesive listen than Ye (not to take away from Kanye’s solo effort), and is a project that we sorely needed this year. It shows that Cudi is in a better place than in 2016 and the duo can still do what they do best: make good music. While “all killer, no filler”, it’s is a bit of a bummer that the album is only seven songs long, but the fact that they both want to do another certainly makes up for it.

Top 3: Reborn, 4th Dimension, Feel the Love

Testing - A$AP Rocky

We last heard from A$AP Rocky in 2015. Flacko makes his return in 2018 with Testing, an experimental venture. As soon as the staticky bass drops on “Distorted Records” you know that this project is going to be different. True to it’s name, testing offers a variety of sounds with no clear identity. The record feels like a stepping stone as to where Rocky is going, rather than where he is at right now. “Hun43rd” will take longtime A$AP fans back to the early 2010s, while “Buck Shots” will make you curious to see where Rocky goes in the future. Harder beats are contrasted with tracks that focus on gentle guitar strumming, like “Changes” and “Purity”. A lot of rappers tend to play it safe and not experiment much with their sound while focusing on their bars and going with whatever beat is considered “fire” at that moment. It’s rare to see someone, especially a big name like A$AP, really try a variety of sounds and put out an abstract project. It may not be what we expected after At.Long.Last.A$AP, but I give serious props to Rocky for trying something different and look forward to his next project, even if it’s another wait.

Top 3: Hun43rd, Buck Shots, Changes

Little Dark Age - MGMT

This one quietly flew under the radar. MGMT made their return with their first release in half a decade. While apparently inspired by the 2016 election, the album carries little political discourse. Without changing their sound too much, the duo delivers a throwback to the 80s. This album is an absolute bop, plain and simple. Despite sounding like it came from a time capsule, the album addresses a variety of topics relevant to society today. “Time Spent Looking at My Phone” warns of how engrossed we have become with social media and our smartphones and are oblivious to the world around us. “Me and Michael” sounds like a Hall & Oates tribute. Overall the album is a fun listen start to finish, the band’s core sound and the 80s make for an awesome crossover. It’s just really nice to have MGMT back.

Top 3: Me and Michael, James, One Thing Left to Try

Championships - Meek Mill

2018 has been a huge year for Meek. He got released from prison and became an advocate for judicial reform (if you aren’t familiar with the situation I implore you to read up on it because the media seriously misrepresented the facts to make him look like the bad guy and it goes to show the issues in our criminal justice system and the improvements that need to be made), the blockbuster beef with Drake was squashed onstage by performing Dreams and Nightmares (one of the greatest intros of all time), and he capped it off with an album. Championships is a victory lap, celebrating his comeback from a rough stretch involving some major losses. Funky vibes are present all over the album, which is uncharacteristic, but welcome for the usually hard hitting MC. Meek still raps about money, women, and his gritty past over beats that will blow out your speakers if you’re not careful, but also reflects on bigger topics like social injustice on “What’s Free” and “Trauma”. Amends are made with Drake on “Going Bad”. Meek once again proves that he’s undefeated when it comes to intros with a Phil Collins sample. Championships is the celebration of a man that took his lumps and came back, pop some bottles and join in on the party.

Top 3: What’s Free?, Dangerous, Pay You Back

Tha Carter V - Lil Wayne

Word of The Carter V surfaced before I started college… I finished grad school this past year. The album spent the better part of the decade tied up amid legal battles and feuding with Wayne’s old mentor, Birdman, and Cash Money Records. Wayne spent the time releasing various projects to try and satisfy the demand. Carter V seemed to be this decade’s Detox, an album we would always hear about but never actually get. Thank goodness that was not the case. The album clocks in just shy of 90 minutes, a hefty listen. But remember, the album was once slated for a 2013 release and contains material recorded as far back as 2012. Personally, I’m glad Wayne decided to include as much material as he did, this was a long time coming. It’s easily his best project in quite some time and reminds people of why Wayne dominated last decade. There’s something to offer Wayne fans of all eras, Mixtape Weezy, early Carter, and experimental Wayne are all present on this record. Hype tracks like “Uproar” are contrasted with duets like “Dark Side of the Moon”. Wayne lights up verses on “Let It Fly” and “Mona Lisa” (which also contains an impressive appearance from Kendrick). The record is a fun listen start to finish, welcome back, Weezy.

Top 3: Dope New Gospel, What About Me, Let It Fly

Daytona - Pusha T

Daytona had expectations. We last heard from Push in 2015 and this was the first of the wave of albums from G.O.O.D. Music this summer, not to mention one of the ones that was recorded during Kanye’s sojourn in Wyoming and also featured the photo of the late Whitney Houston’s bathroom as the controversial album cover. Daytona sounds like a modern take on the 90s boom-bap sound. Kanye West reminds everyone that he is a producer turned rapper, with top-tier production as executive producer and makes an appearance on “What Would Meek Do?”. Push then gobbles up these sensational beats akin to someone that waited all day to eat Thanksgiving dinner. The new G.O.O.D. CEO hits hard with the verses on every track and pulls no punches. “Infrared” brought his longtime beef with Drake from a simmer to a full boil and laid the ground for one of the most elaborate, methodical spillings of tea that music saw in some time. Originally intended to be King Push, Kanye and Push apparently decided to scrap 2 full albums before creating what would become Daytona, the wait and process was well worth it. The production is some of 2018’s best and the verses back it up. The drug dealer turned executive talks the talk and walks the walk. Yes it’s very early, but I’ll say it: this album will go down as a classic and be remembered as one of the better rap albums of the late 2010s.

Top 3: The Games We Play, Hard Piano, If You Know You Know

And finally, it’s been over 2 years, but go listen to Frank Ocean’s Blonde again. That album has aged like a fine wine.

#music #rap #hiphop #rock #punk #pop #review

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justanotherdumpingground · 5 years

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Chapter Reviews: April 1-5, 2019

Desire & Decorum Chapter 15:

Ugh! I hate seeing my MC being forced to wear the dress Duke Richards gave her and having to pay diamonds to get the Edgewater one. And what's with the option to have intimate moments with the other love interests? I'd stick with Hamid any day.

Crap! I didn't pick Edmund to walk down the aisle with me. Well, at least Bartholomew Chambers is good enough.

About time Viscount Westonly's mishearing comes in handy. Dragging him closer to the altar is a good way to delay the wedding vows further, though I'm sore at Hamid not objecting to the wedding.

At long last I get to reject Duke Richards during the wedding day itself. And it was a pleasant surprise to see Dominique and the queen stopping the wedding. About time the story goes somewhere. Now time for the showdown.

Across the Void Chapter 16:

The Jura general is one callous b***h. I swear, Pax needs to ditch the Jura, who comes across as moronic as the Vanguard. Just look at my precious Atlas sustaining major damage. At least the passangers are still cheerful, even though most of them except Lyra and Barlow are worthless.

Anyway, my MC and Sol got to prepare the Equinox for Barlow, and the scene is okay, though Sol's mention of his home planet just makes me think he could've been a great character while not hogging the spotlight. He's wasted potential, like the other love interests.

High School Story: Class Act Chapter 8:

I'm sick of the presidential election story sidelining my MC and Skye. Not to mention the twin's so immature for thinking it's serious business. Even their pro-sports platform is ridiculous because it's already the most supported program.

Super sad that I have to pay diamonds ro see my old MC and his friends. If I ever replay this book, I better pick that option. I heard it's also a good moment to see him and Aiden together.

As for the winter festival, I think there will be unnecessary drama, which has become the same old, same old.

Passport to Romance Chapter 4:

Honestly, Elliot's behaving like a manchild for playing around Marie Antoinette's bed. That guy shouldn't be on the MC's vlog. But then again, the MC is such a dimwit for getting basic history facts wrong. At least there's Sumire to provide insightful takes on Versailles.

Ahmed's change in demeanor isn't endearing me to him. His disdain for such opulence because it reminds him of the common man's plight is starting to make him act like a stereotypical social justice warrior. It would've made sense if he was raised rather poor, but he mentioned being in his family's home videos a lot, so probably not.

Anyway, I feel bad for Marisa having to deal with her boyfriend not seeing her again. Honestly, she better ditch him soon, just like Lily Spencer ditched Melanie early on.

America's Most Eligible Chapter 12:

Omar warning my MC to stay away from Jen just because he thought they're romantically involved doesn't make sense in this playthrough. Sure I like Jen, and my MC regards her as his friend, but not once did they do anything romantic. I mean, I roleplay my MC as gay, so...

I like how stylish Adam, Derek, Mackenzie, and Jen look in winter clothing. It's a pity the MC is never provided any. At least most of the activity is done indoors.

I'm starting to think Vince is getting the Ivy treatment. The narrative encourages me to hate him by giving me premium options to sabotage his food. It reminds me of the premium options to make the skit scene with Ivy look dramatic.

Dang, Heath and Slater giving me the cold shoulder is a reminder that I eliminated them. The irony is that Slater's still close with me. At least there's Bianca to vouch for me, and Ronan and Yvette seem to be fine with me.

Open Heart Chapter 8:

When Ethan told me to keep Naveen being Patient X a secret, I chose to keep it a promise, even when the MC's friends are asking him. Look, I know not everyone likes him, but I have to respect his privacy. Not to mention that I felt bad for him when he said he felt powerless when it comes to his seeming inability to treat Naveen, especially since he already lost Dolores.

I'm starting to respect Elijah more for his desire to save lives after a doctor saved his. I feel bad for him struggling with chronic spinal cord damage and his family's subsequent bankruptcy after paying for a surgery that saved his life. Even more so when he felt guilty for his family's ordeal even though it was never his fault to begin with. What ultimately made him earn my respect, however, was that decision to become a doctor alone after feeling inspired by the doctor who saved his.

So, the bachelorette party my MC and Bryce attended has three recycled models. Honestly, I understand that PB needs to save time, resources, and effort, but choosing already prominent characters like Scarlett Emerson? That's just bizarre. Still less bizarre compared to Nikolai Petrov's model reused in RoD even though his model, particularly the octopus tattoo, plays an integral role in VoS's story.

Ride or Die Chapter 12:

Toby should just quit the Mercy Park Crew and start a new life. Maybe a career in car painting. After all, it's an honest job.

Colt has gone the deep end, hasn't he? I never fully trusted him in the beginning, and seeing him proceeding with his job just proves his ruthlessness, even when it comes to the MC. To think of it, he's shaping to be like Icarus, who flew too close to the sun that the wax on his fake wings melted, causing him to fall to his death in the sea. I guess he'll perform an extremely risky move that it will be his downfall, all because of his pride.

So... Jason is part of the Brotherhood after all. Well, I guess you could call me foolish for underestimating the theory that he's a member of the Brotherhood and cooperating with him. After all, he's shady, and the reveal's predictable. The Brotherhood informant Foley being part of his task force is no surprise because of his character model. What kinda shocked me, however, was that Jason's entire task force are members of the Brotherhood, and the ending depends on whether MC sent info to Jason or not. Nevertheless, I find all od them except Jason rather bland because I only know that they could be worse than the Mercy Park Crew without being shown why.

After seeing people saying that Jason killed Foley, and they and their MC got trapped in the vault by the MPC, I gotta say that I'm impressed choices do matter. One thing I noticed is that consistently helping Jason (which is what I did) has him freeing Foley instead of killing him, restraining him, and telling him that MC saved their lives.

At this point, I'm going to say that as much as I hate this story for its clichés, overt focus on Logan, bland protagonist, and the predictable reveal on Jason, I begrudgingly concede that there are some parts I like. Among them are Colt and Teppei's characterization and this chapter's outcome depending on player choices.

The Elementalists Chapter 4:

The premium scene where Beckett experiments on the elements got me intrigued on how elements work in the story. I feel like it's about time I learn about the combos of the elements leading to a "higher" one (e.g. water + air = wood). Nevertheless, it would've been much better if this is free, as it reveals a bit about the plot and setting.

Man, Aster is someone who needs a big hug after her dad calls her out for mingling with humans. Seeing her and her species reeling from the outcome of the Wand Wars got me thinking this will lead to an important story arc that needs a satisfying conclusion. After all, the sour relations between humans and wood nymphs is a good way to show the gray elements in the setting. I also wasted no time cheering her up by helping her at her shop.

After the appearance of the caped lady who called herself the Blood Source, that got me even more excited on how the elements came into being. Seeing that blood is at the top of the pyramid, I think the lady is the first one created, followed by sun and moon, then wood and metal, and finally the other four, including Kane.

Speaking of Kane, as much as I like him, his behavior in this chapter is a somber reminder of the danger he poses. I like his playfulness and friendly demeanor towards the MC, but him suffocating the school staff shows his disregard for life.

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