pierrenoise

[pierrenoise]

About the recent rise in popularity of a darker style of trap

We are all familiar with soundcloud rappers such as Lil Pimp or 6ix9ine who are the perfect examples of soundcloud artists that sell out as soon as they can to start a career in the mainstream business. Though we’ve seen many rappers do this and get more or less forgotten, some chose to stay independent and they’re slowly but surely topping the charts more and more. Particularly a darker side of rap with grim themes and aesthetics, artists like the $uicideboy$, Ghostemane, Pouya or City Morgue. However they are not new artists, they have all been a big part of the SoundCloud scene since the 2010s, constantly releasing new music and touring.

They take inspiration from old Memphis rap and horrorcore, and use modern technology to give it a breath of fresh air and expand on the themes covered by the artists that inspired them. Those “new” artists have their own labels with many of their friends being artists as well, such as G59 or Hikari Ultra. It took time and dedication but those artists are now slowly becoming a part of the mainstream without having to make any compromise on the content of their music with a regular label. But why is this kind of dark trap getting as huge as it is getting only now ?

People seem to be more and more attracted by this particular style, for the sound as well as for the aesthetic. Who can forget the E-boys of TikTok ? It was a particular style that was very trendy at some point in time, and accompanying those cringy TikToks they usually had rap with heavily distorted 808s, a triplet flow with a dark voice, that was the beginning of this new popular genre getting into the mainstream, and with this new genre comes a new aesthetic, and people want to show that they’re into it. 

I think that, in a way, rap is the new rock and teens have been rebelling through music since rock. Maybe people think that being a metalhead is not cool anymore, and people/teens that are into darker stuff than what is offered in the mainstream want a new aesthetic. We used to have a lot of punk kids, emo kids, goth kids but recently we mostly had e-boys, and they clearly didn’t listen to metal, or at least not in their TikToks. Maybe they are the key as to why this particular style of music is getting more and more attention. While they are by no means the target audience, they still listen to it and enjoy it. When my little brother was in middle school it was clear to see that this kind of rap had a great influence on him and his friends, they all had listened to rock classics with their parents and were looking for something more fresh. Trap being the most popular genre in the mainstream at the moment, I think we can see why and how this very dark trap is getting bigger and bigger with each release. I’m eager to see where all of this is going to go, what about you ?

[pierrenoise]

Hyperpop: lazy or experimental ?

Hyperpop is a genre that has been blowing up lately, many artists have begun to make a name for themselves in this genre; artists who were precursors such as SOPHIE and Charli XCX, aswell as new artists who continue to push the subgenre further and further musically, like 100gecs. Hyperpop is pretty much pop cranked up to 11, it is pop exaggerated, that is to say very dreamy, making use of autotune, basic pop chords, weird noises… It’s a weird mix that gives us some sort of “glittery” pop. It might sound corny but it really isn’t, some people might have a hard time getting into and appreciating the music because of this heavy pop side, but it is really interesting how those artists bend the notion of pop through sound and aesthetics. A good example that has divided people on Twitter was the song and music video “money machine” by 100 gecs, some people were loving it and some people couldn’t stand it, I suggest watching it for yourself. I can only hope that this song will leave you curious enough to listen to more hyperpop. Every genre has evolved because artists pushed the boundaries of said genre, and maybe hyperpop can get you to have a new appreciation for this kind of music. What do you think ? Is it an easy way to make a quick buck as an artist by taking advantage of a popular aesthetic at the moment ? Or is it more than that ? An experimental take on pop and its most flashy features ?

[pierrenoise]

I chose to talk about “Who” by Tommy Cash and Modeselektor because I love this song and I think this song is a great example of what we talked about in class about music videos. The song is about doubt, not being able to trust what people say to you, and about nihilism. It’s about the people telling you what to do and not believing everything they say. For example, when Tommy sings:”Who said that job will get you the cash? “ he shows us the difference between real life and what people say, having a good job that pays well is hard and not everyone is able to go through the standard path of studies then work. He adresses those misconceptions about life in general and tell us that it’s not necessarily true, hoping your life will be all sunhsine and rainbows is absurd, life doesn’t work this way for most people, so he asks us WHO said that, and why do we give him/her/it credit. All this person has said can be summarized by “blah blah blah”.

 We had to understand the basic meaning of the song in order to understand the music video, in which we can see very weird imagery that leans towards self-harm. The atmosphere of the music video is pretty dark, intimate, there are no big open spaces that evoke a sense of freedom. Even if it seems pretty dark at first, there is hope; there is a bit of humour, it’s not very gory, and I think each scene it’s beautiful and metaphorical. Dancing with a chainsaw, cutting yourself with razors and slamming your face as hard as you can into a table is very violent but it represents the harm that the narrative Tommy Cash sings about can do to people who struggle to follow those supposedly easy steps to being happy. This song and music video advocate against this toxic crowd mentality. The last minute and a half of the song is the outro, and we can see one of the characters, a supposedly blind lady with a candle, peutting out all the candles in a room. In my opinion she represents how the artists think how we should approach those types of advice, the lady is blind and no amount of additional light will help her, so she decides to put them all out and go her own separate way. 

I think this music video is a great amplification of the song, it has Tommy Cash doing weird stuff, strange imagery and isn’t too obvious. My explanation of the song and music explanation is my own and perhaps you will be able to see some things I missed, it’s up to interpretation and anyone can take a guess. I think it’s brilliant how a song that has only one verse can have so much meaning thanks to the support of a music video.

[pierrenoise]

“”Joke artists”” nowadays

Recently, a weird niche has been getting attention from the mainstream audience. This niche could be referred as the "weird and absurd artists". Indeed, singer and songwriter Oliver Tree, who has been making a name for himself over the last few years with is crazy universe; which is about bowlcut, scootering and his explosive personnality. A quick look at his music videos should get you up to speed. He 's recently played at Coachella and the performance was what you'd expect from such a weirball. He's started to work with other artists that are also quite weird. I don't mean weird in a bad sense, I mean weird as an aesthetic, taking tropes from humour and the absurd. Earlier this week, he's released an EP with the russian group Little Big which is notorious for their very strange music videos and their sound wich is a weird mix of catchy pop and russian hardbass most of te time. This project also features Tommy Cash, the estonian sensation which is well-know for his funny/eerie creative universe. This EP has been gaining attention thanks to social media, where those artists share their unique world through stange photographs and videos. We've always had "joke artists" but never on this scale, and this is thanks to social media, which allows us to discover an artists not necessarily through their music, but through an odd and/or humourus instagram page or tik tok. Of course, their music can't be described as "high art" but it's nonetheless very interesting, it's catchy and weird, it scratches a particular itch that some people have. It's very original and refreshing in my opinion. While this EP is very far from perfect, I don't really like the songs on it, I think that checking out those artists is worth it. If you like french rap perhaps you should try to listen to "Pumpidup" by Oliver Tree and the french rapper Lorenzo, as I think that Oliver's part is quite telling of the sound he's sometime going for.

[pierrenoise]

About Metallica Blacklist

One of the biggest and most influential metal bands in the world, Metallica, will soon release a collection of covers from their 30 years old eponymous album. More than 50 songs will be on this album and a lot of artists you woulddn’t expect are contributing to this project. For example, nobody could predict that the indie rock sensation Mac DeMarco was going to cover Enter Sandman, or that Miley Cyrus was going to sing Nothing Else Matters. We can also hear Weezer, Cage The Elephant, IDLES, Portugal. The Man, Flatbush Zombies… Artists you wouldn’t expect a Metallica cover from. This album will be released to celebrate the 30 years anniversary of the Black Album. 

I’m far from being a big Metallica fan, but I think this album is a wonderful project that is worth a listen. Metallica has paved the way for the metal genre, and their role in the success of this genre is undeniable, and it’s awesome to hear artists pay their respect through these covers. The album is already available for listening on most streaming services and it is really cool; and by that I don’t mean that I’m sure you’ll love it, I mean that the listening experience is very interesting. It’s not an album you will listen to on repeat, except if you really want to hear the same track multiple times. But what those artists bring to the table is refreshing. Some artists stick to the metal sound, like Mac Demarco for instance, while others completely reinvent the song they’re performing, bringing a lot from their own musical universe, take Flatbush Zombies for example. You probably won’t sit through the whole thing in one session but I think there is something for everyone in this piece of media. 

This collection also shows the progress music made as a whole. In the early days of Metallica, they were hated by the media because of their “dangerous” music, but now they’re celebrated by major artists from very different genres. While some hardcore metal fans might argue that this is bad because it’s not “metal” anymore, I think there is a lot to take from this album and see some of Metallica’s most popular songs get covers that are this original by so many different talented people with good ideas and taste.