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emotionallychargedtowel · 9 months

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The idea of figuring out what the Only Friends characters smell like came up in a discussion I was having and it made me want to assign everyone a fragrance--like, the perfume/cologne kind, not just some kind of smell. What follows is not based on any close reading of the show and is full of stuff I made up but it's made-up stuff that is consistent with how I'm currently thinking about the characters (without having had the repeated viewings or having engaged in the detailed analysis some have with this show). So, you know, nothing serious. But I enjoyed writing it.

Top: Cuir Oud Padishah (Auphorie)

Top prides himself on knowing about niche things that are considered high-quality by discriminating people so of course he likes Auphorie. The fact that the label is from Southeast Asia (Malaysia, specifically) appeals to him as well. This fragrance is heavy on animalic, musky notes which I think Top would think makes him some kind of sexy badass (it doesn't), and it has a prominent oud note, and the rare and fancy aspect of oud is something that would appeal to his snobby side. Whenever someone compliments Top on this fragrance he launches into a whole spiel about Auphorie and small-batch natural perfumery that comes off as pedantic to anyone who isn't already convinced he's the second coming.

Mew: En Passant (Frederic Malle)

Mew likes that this is from a fancy, niche label that isn't that well-known, and he likes that it's a unisex scent because he likes being a little hard to pin down in that department, but his favorite thing about this fragrance is that the combination of lilac, cucumber, and springy green notes reads as really innocent while actually being low-key alluring. The sweet drydown is another aspect that is like the version of himself that Mew presents to the world. Someone on Fragrantica pointed out that "en passant" is, among other things, the name of a chess move in which a player captures an opponent's pawn while passing by them during an opening move and I think that is just so Mew.

Sand: L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme (Issey Miyake)

This is a pretty affordable fragrance but definitely an interesting enough composition to interest a guy like Sand who is a little particular when it comes to his aesthetic preferences. It's also from the 90s, like some other things Sand likes, and I can totally see him checking ebay to get a vintage bottle. In theory it hasn't been reformulated but he'd be convinced that older was better. This would also be a likely crowd pleaser across genders which is something Sand would be into. L'Eau d'Issey (the fragrance for women, which came first) was kind of an un-perfume perfume, fresh and translucent but practically nonexistent. The Pour Homme variant is more balanced thanks to some low end from woody, aromatic, and spicy notes. It's still on the subtler side, though, so he wouldn't have to worry about seeming like he's trying too hard even if he oversprayed, and you know Sand has a horror of seeming like he's trying too hard. My choice of this fragrance for Sand may be influenced by a certain singer/guitar player/songwriter person I dated in the early 2000s who was very popular with his gender of choice, had a whole collection of different-colored Converse low-tops with contrasting shoelaces, and used to spray a puff of L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme into the air in front of him then step into the cloud because a girl taught him to do that once.

Ray: Philosykos (Diptyque)

This was Ray's mom's signature perfume. It's distinctive and sophisticated but easy to like, exactly how she wanted people to see her. She's kind of like Ray in that way--like him, she was high-maintenance but always wanted to seem just the opposite. The shift from mother to son worked out well because it's a very gender-neutral fragrance. At first Ray wore it in remembrance of his mom and then he just stopped thinking about it and just kept wearing it out of habit. He can hardly perceive it anymore after all these years but every so often he gets complimented by a stranger and it makes him get a little bit full of himself. Philosykos often gets described as the photorealistic scent of a fig tree--not the fruit, but the whole tree--and Ray likes to imagine that it's the smell of a particular tree someone would remember fondly from their family home even though he has never felt that rooted in any place ever.

Boston: Sauvage (Dior)

Boston's taste in fragrances is basic as fuck but that works really well for him, because what he needs is something that appeals to the lowest common denominator of dudes. He secretly wishes this was more overpriced because while he doesn't like to admit he's a rich kid, he has a secret love of pointlessly exclusive things. But he gets more attention with this one than he did when he wore Gucci Guilty so he keeps wearing it. He originally tried it because he saw a review by some straight guy complaining that he didn't get compliments from women on this scent, only other dudes, and he's had the same experience, but doesn't see it as a problem for obvious reasons. Boston has become inured to the smell of this stuff and barely notices it anymore, but then he barely noticed it in the first place. It was and is only a means to an end for him.

Nick: Bleu de Chanel (Chanel)

Nick's last job was at a kiosk in a mall and he used to visit the perfume section of this one department store on breaks because a hot guy worked there. The hot guy recommended this stuff, and when Nick smelled it he thought it smelled like something an extremely cool and attractive person would wear. After that he was determined to get it somehow despite its ridiculous price tag. He never got the hot guy's number but he did convince him to sell him a half-empty tester of this under the table for (relatively) cheap. He uses it sparingly to try to make it last but sometimes he sprays it on his sheets and pretends the hot guy from the perfume counter stayed over.

If you like this, you might be interested in my post on osmanthus fragrans, a.k.a. tea olive, and its significance to Utsukushii Kare.

#only friends the series #this is 90% made up #BL smells

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tayfabe75 · 22 days

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Okay, this is probably a bit of a weird question, but do you think Matty and Taylor are in a real relationship with their current partners? If this is all a game they're playing, does that mean they're still together in secret? (Based on your theory).

If that's the case, it's just weird to me that it lasts for such a long time and they involved their friends and families for this, and moreover the families of their partners. And these are not only photos, videos, pap walks, but also visiting events and everything like that. I remember that you once said that the point of all this is to play to the last, but is their desire to prove something so huge that they are ready to sacrifice everything for it? I just... I don't know, it's like I don't quite see it. And I get that all this can be easily staged, but again, are they ready to go that far? And for what?

I’m just genuinely curious about your thoughts on this topic since you really did your research and, I’m sure, during it noticed much more than others.

Hi anon! My thoughts on what is currently going on with Taylor and Matty are controversial, to say the least. So, let me use a cut…

Ah, that's better! Before I answer, allow me to throw out a few disclaimers:

I mean no disrespect to Taylor, Matty, or anyone in their lives. I have an immeasurable amount of admiration for both of them, as artists and as people. Regardless of which direction their love lives go in, I will remain a fan. I have no entitlement, no expectation, and no ill will towards anyone they are perceived to be dating, both past and present. But I love a good story and solving a good mystery, so here I am.

That said, I do believe that Taylor and Matty are engaging in "kayfabe" which is defined as:

"the fact or convention of presenting staged performances as genuine or authentic"

I would like to clarify that it's not done as a "game". I believe they're using it for self-preservation and as a means to protect both their privacy and sanity in the face of what is a really very unfortunate consequence of their job description as confessional songwriters: celebrity (and thus, tabloid and gossip culture).

Since he was a kid, Matty has been disillusioned by his mother's fame in particular, recounting stories about how he'd see tabloids just straight-up lying about his mother for profit, saying things he knew damned well weren't true because he actually lived with her day to day. Taylor, too, has made many disparaging comments about tabloid culture, here's a quote I love:

"The reason most of the things in the media that are written about me aren't true is because none of my real friends would ever talk to the press."

Anon, also please understand that paparazzi photos are not candid, most celebrities call them to be photographed to remain a relevant topic of conversation. Social media, too, has long since turned into a curated form of self-marketing.

So, would their friends and family help them? Absolutely! Especially since for most, all it involves is just… keeping quiet. Not talking to the press. Others are likely happy to help out in performative ways, such as their parents - Denise, who dealt with all the same invasions of privacy, and Scott, who had always seemed to have a hand in controlling Taylor's public narrative.

But why would anyone pretend to be their partners? Anon… have you not noticed the opportunities just pouring into their laps? A hosting gig, various modelling gigs, an incredible amount of clout for both of them. The sheer amount of merch Taylor wears is… suspicious.

Why is it taking so long? Well...

"People often greatly underestimate how much I will inconvenience myself to prove a point."

I've said this several times now, but Taylor is a storyteller. Her favorite stories are ones with moral lessons. She's teaching one right now. And if people are following the clues in TTPD, they'll realize the album reflects an earlier time in Taylor's life.

Lastly, I believe their Love Story (or "Story of Us" if you prefer) is wrapped up in Eras and the re-releases (especially the vault tracks). TTPD is just another chapter, not the conclusion. The backstory will progress when Reputation is released (or if the stars align and we get music from Matty before that… clownin' hard for June 1st!)

So, in summation, here's what I think is happening:

1) Indulge in "kayfabe" to protect privacy and sanity at all costs 2) Develop a healthy relationship in secret, away from public scrutiny 3) Take care of those who help them along the way (opportunities) 4) Dismantle pre-established fan lore 5) Break the media's favorite toy (her love life) 6) Reset boundaries and fan entitlement/expectation 7) Make fools of the media when the time comes 8) Tell their love story on their own terms 9) Emerge as the ultimate, untouchable power couple

Trust me, I get it, I'm probably wrong and "delusional" and blah blah blah - except, I've been right a few times now by just following the storytelling techniques I see at play, so I'm gonna go ahead and keep on clownin'! Thanks for the ask! 🖤

#answered #theory: kayfabe

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musicarenagh · 1 year

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Know More About ZuP And His Latest Album - For Me Singer/ rapper and songwriter ZuP is an artist who doesn’t classify himself ‘Musician’ but rather a Music Maker, because of the type of music he produces, his songs are so nice that they can’t be categorized into a particular genre. He started making music at a very young age, and since he started, he realized it was something he really connected with, he felt whole whenever he was doing something music related. ZuP took made a conscious effort of moving away from the music scene for some time because he found himself in some dark places. But fortunately, he found his way back in 2020. ZuP is mainly focused on making music that other people can relate to, songs you can relate to emotionally or can dance to, you can call it two-in-one. “When I started making music, I was writing rap songs that I had no business making. Rapping about the 24” rims on my Cadillac… when in all reality I had factory rims on a Chevy Corsica haha. Then it evolved into a little bit of singing mixed in with semi-relatable lyrics in my raps, to being vulnerable myself and putting myself out there a little bit more and mostly singing with a sprinkle of rap in there.” – This according to ZuP is how his music evolved. In a recent interview with Mister Styx of Musicarenagh ZuP delve deeper into his personal life and touched on his latest album “For Me” which he stated he made for himself, although he claims he made the album for himself, I feel the album was made for me as well, so I guess the album was made for us all. For Me has a total of 11 songs on it and spans over 39 minutes 38 seconds, and my favourite off the album is Better Off, but I have to admit all the songs on For me are fire, the rap, the bass, the production, everything is top notch, this 6 years hiatus really paid off. ZuP had more to say in the interview, get the full story below: Listen to For Me below https://open.spotify.com/album/2iSzC9K03fl2Ekus8zcDmM ALTERNATIVE POP ALTERNATIVE INDIE R&B HIP-HOP ROCK POP INDIE POP POP COMMERCIAL POP SINGER-SONGWRITER Band (Full Band Sound) RAP US RAP MALE VOCALS EASY LISTENING SUPER CATCHY US BASED ANTHEMIC GROOVE Follow ZuP on Facebook Twitter Spotify Youtube Instagram Songkick What is your stage name ZuP Is there a story behind your stage name? It’s part of my last name. When I was in high school I had a friend that used to call me Yung Zup… and it just stuck. Well, ZuP did, not the “Yung” haha! Where do you find inspiration? I find inspiration in everyday things. We as human beings love the feeling of connection. It reassures us that we are not alone. I try to draw inspiration from conversations I may have had, or break ups, or tragedies in my life. I could be having just a really good day for no reason at all, and want to write about it to bottle that feeling up for others to enjoy. What was the role of music in the early years of your life? Music played a huge role in my early years. My parents used to have cassette tapes with a bunch of their favorite songs and I would put my Walkman on and fall asleep listening to them. As I got a little older, I would ride my bike to the local record store and buy CDs that I had never heard of before to expand my range of music! Are you from a musical or artistic family? Sort of. My grandmother on my mother’s side of the family is an incredible painter. My mother was also heavily involved in the theater when she was younger. My father always wanted to be a radio DJ but never fully pursued that avenue. Who inspired you to be a part of the music industry? That’s a tough question but I guess I would have to say The Beastie Boys. I used to listen to their albums and write all the lyrics down. I would even change my handwriting for each member's lyrics. That then got me into writing my own rhymes and lyrics. How did you learn to sing/write/to play? A lot of practice/ trial and error. I would listen to so much music and overtime I knew what I l

iked. I like how this musician sings in this key, or I like how the drums sound in these songs, or I like what this artist is saying. I took the things I loved about music and tried to emulate them. When I first started out I didn’t know anyone who produced or made beats, so I sort of figured it out myself. I then bought a piano and took piano lessons and chipped away at it all day every day. [caption id="attachment_48231" align="alignnone" width="720"] A lot of practice/ trial and error. I would listen to so much music and overtime I knew what I liked[/caption] What was the first concert that you ever went to and who did you see perform? I actually went to a couple concerts of my friends' bands before I ever saw a national act live. The first concert (with national acts) that I ever went to though was thrown by a local Cleveland Ohio radio station (Z107.9) and it was a bunch of big rappers and R&B singers at the time. I can’t remember everyone, but I do remember David Banner was incredible. Still one of the funnest performances I’ve ever seen. How could you describe your music? I never know how to answer this question. My music is a mixture of a bunch of different genres. A little bit of pop mixed with alternative mixed with hip-hop mixed with R&B mixed with a little reggae. No matter the style though, I try to make it relatable. Describe your creative process. It all depends on the song. My process on this new album mostly started with a concept idea and then I’d start humming different melodies while sprinkling keywords in until I found something I really liked. I always make sure I get the chorus done first. I’ll pull out my MPC and start working on the beat and then start piecing in the rest of the song from there. What is your main inspiration? My friends and family. They all inspire me to be the best version of myself. What musician do you admire most and why? I really admire Kenrick Lamar. This is a guy who isn’t afraid to take risks within the hip-hop genre. Each of his albums have a different theme and feel. His vulnerability and honesty is what really draws me into his music. When he puts out an album, I know it’s going to be an “album” and not just a cluster of songs. I admire that about him. Did your style evolve since the beginning of your career? Oh yeah definitely. I think that comes with age, experience, and confidence. When I started making music, I was writing rap songs that I had no business making. Rapping about the 24” rims on my Cadillac… when in all reality I had factory rims on a Chevy Corsica haha. Then it evolved into a little bit of singing mixed in with semi relatable lyrics in my raps, to being vulnerable myself and putting myself out there a little bit more and mostly singing with a sprinkle of rap in there. Who do you see as your main competitor? Somebody told me that “the only person in your way is you” and I believe that. I don’t really look at other musicians as competition. As a fan of all music, I want everyone to be able to share their story. What are your interests outside of music? I love to draw, so you can catch me cooking up some art. I also love to hop on Xbox once a week with my crew and play some Sea of Thieves. I love going on adventures and trying new things with my girlfriend… grabbing drinks and wings with my friends. My calendar is always full. If it wasn't a music career, what would you be doing? If I had the choice?!?! …oh man, a storm chaser. Buckle me up in a heavy duty car and drive me into a tornado! What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music? Keeping up with the new trends. I took a few years off from music and when I came back, everything was different. I was like, “what is a TikTok?” haha, it has been an adjustment… but that’s what also makes it exciting. Life would be boring without a speed bump along the way. If you could change one thing in the music industry, what would it be? Local radio stations showing more love to independent music

ians. There are some great unsigned artists out there that would benefit from radio plays. I find new artists all the time from Spotify playlists or Reels on Instagram… gone are the days of discovering somebody new on the radio. Why did you choose this as the title of this project? As I stated before, I took about 6 years off of music. I was in a dark place that I had no real way of getting out of. 2020 Changed that for me and I had the opportunity to start creating again. The one thing I told myself when I started this album was, “don’t do this for anybody but yourself.” I didn’t make this album because people asked me to, I made this album because I needed to. This album is “For Me”. What are your plans for the coming months? I have a couple concerts lined up for this year. First being my album release party on April 29th, which I am so excited for. Besides that, keep pushing this album every way I can! Do you have any artistic collaboration plans? I have a couple lined up, but besides that I am always down to collab! What message would you like to give to your fans? To everyone who has been along for this journey for years, thank you. It means everything to me that you are still around and listening to what I have created. To anyone new reading this that just recently heard my music or is going to listen after this interview, I hope you enjoy it. The universe has put me in pretty nasty situations in the past and I felt like it was my duty to share those stories with you all. I hope my music resonates with you. I hope you cry, I hope you laugh, I hope you dance, I hope you feel seen. Thank you so much for reading! See ya’ll soon!

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doityourselfbombs · 3 years

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Riverdale S1E1: The River's Edge

Riverdale is an unintentional piece of absurdist art masquerading as a teen drama and anyone who hasn't had the chance to experience it is missing out. here's all of the weird out of pocket shit that goes down in the first episode alone.

general rundown:

the show takes place in Riverdale, a small town that can't seem to move past 1960s nuclear family aesthetics. on July 4, twins Jason and Cheryl Blossom took a boat ride down the river and only one of them came back alive – Jason's body still hasn't been found, and nobody really knows what happened to him.

the five main characters:

Betty Cooper, heavily based on the "girl next door" archetype, who lives with her weird toxic journalist parents, has a crush on Archie, and has a sister who is staying in a group home after she got pregnant with Jason Blossom's kid and was disowned by her parents.

Archie Andrews, redheaded football star who decides he wants to be a mediocre singer-songwriter and is also having an affair with his music teacher.

Veronica Lodge, trust fund baby whose dad just got arrested for embezzlement and just moved with her mother to her parents' hometown. gives weird out of pocket speeches.

Jughead Jones, emo boy with a weird hat who writes extremely pretentious articles about the town and insists that he has no friends.

Cheryl Blossom, grieving twin, extremely overdramatic for no reason, head of the cheer squad. also notability Madeline Petsch is the only natural redhead on the cast so far.

a non-comprehensive list of all the weird shit that goes down in this episode

Jughead finds out his classmate has died and decides to go to a diner and write a pretentious article abt it instead of, idk, being normal

"six more reasons for you to take that ginger bull by the horns tonight" WHAT THE FUCK

Betty starts telling Archie that she has feelings for him and Veronica shows up in a full cloak for some reason

the Pussycats are always practicing in empty music rooms and seemingly never in class

"you're staring at our pussycat ears, which is rude... the pussycats are building a brand, creating a signature look, okay? we're telling a story." (they're literally just wearing cat ears at school)

"I've tried every flavor of boy but orange." -Veronica

the scene introducing Archie's affair with his music teacher has a lot of lolita inspired imagery and I find that very interesting

Fred Andrews gives his employees paternity leave what an absolute dilf

Cheryl exits a conversation by saying "follow me on twitter!"

it really adds to the absurdist aspect of this show that Archie (15) looks to be the same age as the adult teacher he's having sex with (and somehow the actors have an even larger age gap in real life than they do in the show)

at cheerleading tryouts, Cheryl says Betty and Veronica are missing "heat", so Veronica ends the routine by kissing Betty. I like to believe this was just Veronica finding an excuse to do this.

"check your sell-by date ladies, faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994" -Cheryl, a closeted lesbian (canon)

Veronica's first out of pocket monologue of the season comes after Cheryl rejects Betty from the cheer squad: "I know what you need, Cheryl. because I know who you are. you would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. you're rich, so you've never been held accountable. but I'm living proof... that certainty, that entitlement you wear on your head like a crown, it won't last. eventually, there will be a reckoning. or maybe that reckoning is now... and maybe that reckoning is me. Betty and I come as a matching set. you want one, you take us both. you wanted fire? sorry Cheryl Bombshell, my specialty is ice."

Veronica talks like she's in a commercial at all times

Hiram (Veronica's dad) sends Hermione (her mother) a bag full of loose cash and honestly that's what I want in a husband

they keep Lili Reinhart in that tight Jojo Siwa ponytail for so much of this show that it's a relief to see her with her hair down

"can't we, in this post-James Franco world, be all things at once?" ????

Cheryl asked the pussycats to cover the song her parents claimed to be listening to the night she and Jason were conceived

Betty can't even tell Archie she likes him without reminding him that she's a cheerleader and he's a football player and therefore they MUST be meant for each other

"let's see who's riding the ginger stallion tonight" I think now is a good time to remind everyone that the Riverdale showrunner used to write erotic fanfiction abt the archie comics characters and is CLEARLY living out his fantasies with this show

Jughead finally decided to show up 40 minutes in

the Riverdale water polo team is called the Aquaholics ????

Kevin tries to go skinny dipping and finds Jason's dead body. end of episode

you can find more episodes here :)

#riverdale #the cw riverdale #archie comics #betty cooper #archie andrews #jughead jones #veronica lodge #cheryl blossom #lili reinhart #cole sprouse #madeline petsch #kj apa #camila mendes #rory watches riverdale

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dream-a-little-bigger-x · 4 years

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Chapter 14 -- Perfect Harmony | Charlie Gillespie

Summary: Emily Fox is a talented 17-year-old with a passion for all things music. Her dream is to become a successful singer-songwriter one day. But to achieve that dream, she needs to get into one of the most prestigious music schools in her district – it’s all been part of her plan since she was six. Sadly enough, those schools cost a ton of money that her parents don’t want to invest. They don’t even want her to pursue her dream. So, now Emily’s hustling, working at the music store to save up to get into college. That’s until she meets Charlie, an annoying seventeen-year-old boy with the same dream as her. The only difference is, he’s just doing it. He doesn’t need a fancy college to pursue his dream to become famous with his band. He just writes his songs and books small gigs here, there and everywhere. Will meeting Charlie defer her from her dream college, or will he actually help her achieve the dream?

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x OC (Emily Fox)

Warnings: mentions of death, sexual assault

Important note: the characters of Charlie, Owen, Jeremy and Madison are based on the characters they play on the show and i do not own their names, only OC are mine. The songs aren’t mine either, they’re all from the show except for one.

Chapter fourteen

~|Charlie Gillespie|~

Life is good on the other side of Hollywood. The song really does stick. Life with Emily has definitely changed me for the better. I feel like I’m soaring on clouds every time I’m around her or even think of her. And my songwriting has gotten better too. “Where have you been?” My mother’s bone-chilling angry voice greets me when I enter the kitchen. “You’ve been out nearly every night of the week, not returning until late.” This is not going to be a fun conversation. “I was rehearsing with the boys, ma,” I say as I grab a bottle of water from the fridge, hoping to escape this talking-to quickly. “Again? What about school, Charlie?!” “I did that before I left for rehearsals,” I lie. Why would anyone work for school when there are no tests this week? That’s just working for nothing. This whole school-thing is a waste of time when you think about it. I want to be a Rockstar, get Sunset Curve famous. “You don’t think I would actually believe that, right?!” Her voice rises with the second. “Believe what you want, mom. There’s nothing going on this week anyway.” I probably should not have said that because mom’s expression changes from angry to furious. “That’s no reason not to work for it, Charles Gillespie!” The full name takes me back to Emily calling me Charles and it’s enough for my brain to give my lips permission to curl up. “You think this is funny, do you?” The smile vanishes as soon as it came. “No, mom! But I got this, okay? This is my life and I’ve got control over it, okay? You have to let me live my life, mom!” The screaming match lures my father into the kitchen as well. “What’s going on here?” he asks, clearly annoyed we’d disturbed his favorite show. “Your son over here thinks he has control over his life and doesn’t need to work for school anymore,” mom explains, the volume of her voice goes down, but the anger’s still there. “I mean, he’s seventeen, honey…” At least dad understands me, “He’s going to learn how to live life by making mistakes, you got to let him make them.” “You’re seriously going to take his side right now?!” The volume raises again. “Mom! This has nothing to do with taking sides! If you didn’t breathe on my neck like you always do, you would know how amazing the band is doing and that I have an amazing girlfriend! But all you care about is controlling my life!” I freeze when I realize what I’d just yelled at my mother. “Just let me live!” “You’re seventeen, Charlie! You don’t know what you’re doing with your life!” At least she’s not reacting to my girlfriend-news I’d just blurted out to them. If she ever talks shit about Emily, I swear to God, it won’t be their finest day. “No, I don’t! But that’s normal, okay?! I want to figure out life by myself, with my band, with my girlfriend. So, stay out of it!” I push past her and dad, grab my backpack and leave the house again, cycling to Jeremy’s garage again. I know I’m always welcome to crash there after a fight with my parents. Owen and Jeremy are both still in the garage, cleaning up, chatting. When they see me, their grinning faces fade into worried glances. They already know what’s going on. I drop my backpack on the floor and plop down next to Owen onto the couch. “You okay, man?” Owen asks. “Yeah, just my parents being controlling again, you know?” He offers me a sympathetic smile. “Hey, Jere, do you mind me crashing here tonight?” “You can stay as long as you want,” he replies with a smile. “Thanks, man.” “I’m staying the night too,” Owen tells me, “Parents still aren’t talking to me.” “How long since you came out to them?” I can feel my heart breaking at the thought of Owen just being himself and completely being obliterated by his parents, the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally. “About a year…” Heart shattered. “At least I still got Luka.” I smile as I think about Owen’s sister. In 6th grade, she used to babysit us, even though we thought we were old enough to stay home alone. But Luka actually was the best babysitter ever. And I can’t deny I had a little crush on her at one point. It did blow over when she ditched us one time to go on a date. Besides being the greatest babysitter ever, she’s also been a great sport in Owen’s coming out. She was the first one he told besides us. Not only that, she’s also the biggest Sunset Curve fan. “How is Luka?” I ask, which earns me a sharp glare from Owen. “I’m just curious.” “She’s navigating college, so home isn’t where I want to be at the moment.” “Right, must be tough for her too,” Jeremy chimes in. “Yeah, must be tough having your parents worry about your every move.” I note the sarcasm in his voice and offer him a sympathetic smile, hoping that’ll help somewhat. I also feel slightly attacked by his comment. “Hey, at least we’ve got each other,” I tell him, patting his shoulder. “And us is all we need,” Owen agrees with a small smile shining through. “And Emily!” Jeremy’s mention of Emily simply makes me smile again. Even the mention of her name makes me smile. I guess that does show how whipped I am for this girl. I wish I could tell her though. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Both Owen and Jeremy nod their heads, agreeing with me. “You’re so in love with her, bro,” Owen says. “Have you taken her on a date yet?” Jeremy wants to know. “No, not really. Unless you count sorting invoices at the Music Store or secret make-out sessions on her balcony?” They now shake their heads in response. “Why don’t you take her out on a date? Cute little picknick? Movie?” Owen suggests. “Yeah, if you want, you can take her here, we’ll set up like a projector and a screen, decorate with Christmas lights, and buy some food.” I stare at Jeremy for a little longer than I’d like. Did that really come out of his mouth? That’s a decent idea for once. “I don’t know if she likes romantic gestures like that though?” I manage to bring out once I’ve recomposed myself. “What girl wouldn’t like watching a movie on a big screen with her boyfriend, eating food, surrounded by pretty lights?” Owen reasons. That’s a good point. “Will you guys help me set up though?” They nod in response, and we get to work straight away. Jeremy goes inside to grab the projector and a large white sheet we hang up in the garage while Owen and I go on the hunt for the Christmas lights. According to Jeremy, we’d find in the attic. “Have you told Emily about us yet?” Owen asks me when we’re in the attic by ourselves, searching for the box with the decorations. I look up at him for a second before turning to a cardboard box to my right. “Uhm, no… I’m not sure how to tell her I used to date my bandmate?” “Emily’s cool, man. Her favorite uncle was gay and now she lives with his husband and they both know I’m gay, but she never treated me any differently.” “Yeah, but isn’t there a difference between being friends with a gay person and dating a pansexual person?” Owen shrugs whilst fishing a bundle of fairy lights out of a box. “It’s both very queer. I’m sure she’d be cool with it.” “I’ll see what subjects we’ll talk about tomorrow. Might tell her if it comes up.” “Good call, man.” I take a few more bundles of string lights and join Owen downstairs. While Jeremy hangs the white sheet and installs the projector, Owen and I decorate the place with all the Christmas lights we found. Warm whites, cold whites, and colorful ones. It serves for a fairytale looking glow throughout the entire garage. “Why didn’t we do this earlier?” I ask, admiring our work. “It really does give it a more calming atmosphere, doesn’t it?” Jeremy agrees. “Okay, I set up the projector, you just got to plug in a laptop and you’re good to stream your favorite or most romantic movies.” I pat him on the back, offering him a thankful smile. “Thanks, Jere. This was an amazing idea.” “Emily’s going to love it,” says Owen whilst looking up at the lights surrounding us. “Let’s go to sleep now and after school tomorrow, we’ll go shopping for food and set it all up for both of you to enjoy.” Jeremy’s almost giddy with excitement. It really is adorable. Jeremy hands Owen and I a sleeping bag and takes one for himself too. The three of us are used to sleeping on the floor of the garage. Many nights were spent like this ever since Middle School whether it was for sleepovers or when either Owen or I had problems at home. Jeremy often asked us to come over if he’d had a bad day too. Just fun little sleepovers between three best buddies. And they really are the best.

“Won’t be at the Music Store tonight. Find me at Jeremy’s garage to find out why. Wear something comfortable x” I send Emily the text after school just before the boys and I go grocery shopping in Jeremy’s fridge. He did ask his mom to buy a few extra snacks and things, saying it was for rehearsals. I’m glad he didn’t tell her about Emily and me yet. “Okay, we’re all done here!” Jeremy exclaims excitedly, looking at the finished product. My heart is beating faster and faster, scared Emily won’t like it, scared she doesn’t feel the same. “Hey, guys!” Emily’s voice startles me, and all three of us turn around to see her enter the garage. “What’s going o—” she freezes in place, noticing the fairy lights and the big screen. “Wha—” She looks adorable with her eyes bulging out and her mouth agape. I’m frozen for a moment. My feet don’t want to move even when I tell them to. “Charlie said you guys never had a proper date,” Owen springs into action, stepping forward and taking Emily’s hand, “So, we kind of put something together for you guys.” He leads her towards me. I doubt she’s even listening to what Owen’s saying as she’s still gazing around in surprise. “Hope you guys enjoy!” The two dip out of the garage, leaving Emily and me by ourselves. I let her take in the sight for a moment before grabbing her hand and leading her towards the mountain of pillows and blankets. “Charlie…” she breathes out, “This is beautiful.” She sits down while I go to the laptop to pick out a movie, settling on Aladdin since she made a comment about it the other day. I then hand her a glass of orange juice and place the snack platter between us whilst sitting down. “I wanted to do something special for you,” I tell her and clink my glass against hers. “Do you like it?” She nods her head vigorously. “I love it!” She leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek. “Who’s idea was it to do the cinema and the fairy lights?” “Surprisingly, Jeremy’s,” Emily’s eyes widen in surprise. “Yeah, I was shocked too.” “Such a surprising guy, that one.” I nod in agreement. “Let’s watch the movie, shall we?” Emily nods her head and we settle into the cushions. At first, we just sit shoulder to shoulder until she starts fidgeting. “Not comfortable yet?” “I can’t find the right way,” she chuckles, crossing her legs. “Come here,” I open one arm as I lean into the cushions behind me. Her cheeks flush pink as she leans in and rests her head on my shoulder. “Better?” I drop my arm around her shoulders, pressing her closer to me. “Much better,” she mumbles. I’m pretty sure she can hear my heart beating quicker, especially when she puts her arm across my stomach. “Can I confess something?” she asks around halfway into the movie. I look down at her, finding her staring at me, and nod. “I totally watched Aladdin with Uncle Mitch yesterday because it reminded me of you.” I can’t help the smile on my face at how endearing she sounds right now. “I picked it for today because it reminded me of you too.” Emily chuckles slightly and sits up straight to take another sip of her orange juice. “You want to watch something else?” She shakes her head. “Let’s just talk for a while?” I agree, but I can’t help to feel nervous. “I feel like I don’t know that much about you yet, but I somehow feel like I’ve known you for years, you know?” “Yeah, I totally feel the same,” I confess, “Don’t people play that Twenty-Questions game on the first date?” She takes a piece of cheese and pops it into her mouth. “Yeah,” she says after swallowing, “That’s a good idea! I’ll start!” She presses her lips together and looks up at the ceiling, seemingly thinking of a good question to ask. “A simple one; what’s your favorite color?” The color of your eyes. “Uhm… blue, I think? Yours?” “Yellow! It’s a happy color,” she gives me the cutest smile I ever did see. “Your turn!” “Uhm… Do you have siblings?” “Nope, only child over here.” I raise my hand for a high five, saying, “Same, girl!” and she slaps her hand one mine excitedly. “What’s one secret you’re still keeping from your mom?” Her question stumps me. Not that I don’t know the answer, because I do. The nerves just suddenly settle in. She’ll be cool. “That I dated Owen for about a month last year and that I’m pansexual.” Her eyebrows rise in surprise. “Pansexual is the attraction to people regardless of their gender, right? Just so I got it right.” “Yes, exactly,” I gaze at her, awaiting her response of running out of the garage and never coming back, but she stays put. “How was it dating Owen?” She asks instead. “Not great. I mean, Owen was a great guy and we had good moments together, his parents just… never really accepted his sexuality. They still don’t, so being with him was a little rough. We broke up because we realized it didn’t really fit, I guess? With his parents and the band and stuff…” “How did you start dating?” Our game of twenty questions has become a little one sided and about one topic in particular. “He’d just told his parents and they got into a fight, so he came here. Jeremy wasn’t here yet, but I was since I’d run away from my parents too after a fight. He had a panic attack, so to stop him from panicking, I kind of kissed him?” She smiles an endearing smile. “But it’s my turn to ask a question now!” “Right, sorry!” “If you ever got trapped on a deserted island with one friend, who would you choose?” I ask, hoping to be rid of all the questions about me and Owen. Though I love the fact she didn’t up and run. She stuck around and is actually interested to know more about my past relationships and my sexuality. She would only ask if interested. “Madi, probably. I—” she cuts herself off, her eyes widening as if she’d just remembered something. “Oh my God. Oh. My. God!” She scurries off the ground and grabs her backpack quickly. “Madi asked me to hang out tonight after my shift and I told her it was okay since we didn’t plan any band practices! I totally forgot! She’s going to kill me!” She fishes her phone out of her backpack and quickly types in a message while I get up from my spot. “I’m so sorry, Charlie!” She gives me an apologetic look. “It’s okay! We’ll do this over one day. Go to Madi!” A relieved smile cracks through right before she grabs my face and kisses me on the lips. Just a quick, passionate peck, and off she goes, leaving me a little woozy from the electricity that just zipped from her lips to mine and through my entire body. An amazing girl, that one.

Taglist: @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @hannahhistorian92 @gingerxarmy @marinettepotterandplagg @lovesanimals @thequirkybookaholic @calamitykaty Lemme know if you want to be on my taglist for this story/any of my other works!

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #charlie gillespie #jeremy shada #owen joyner #madison reyes #charlie x oc #oc emily fox #luke patterson #reggie jatp #alex jatp #julie molina

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henrymorehenry · 3 years

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Who is Henry Lau?

Henry Lau, also known as Liu Xianhua or just Henry, is a singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actor and artist based in South Korea and China. He was born on October 11th, 1989, in Toronto (Canada) and lived there until he was 17. His father is from Hong Kong and his mother is Taiwanese.

Henry learnt piano from his mother when he was about four years old and started taking violin classes at around six. While he was in high school, he was the president of the violin and popping afterschool clubs. Because the two clubs had conflicting hours, he combined them and taught himself how to dance and play the violin at the same time.

During his last year of high school, one of his friends told him that he should audition for SM Entertainment, one of the largest South Korean entertainment companies which, at the time, was holding auditions in the US and Canada. Henry had never heard of SM before and didn’t know anything about Kpop either. In spite of this, his audition was a success. He was selected, signed with SM and moved to Korea.

In 2007, he debuted in the South Korean band Super Junior. More precisely, he became a member of Super Junior-M, a sub-unit of Super Junior which goal was to break into the Chinese market.

For many reasons that I’ll detail more in the post “Henry and Super Junior” (when I’ll come around to write it 😅), Super Junior-M activities slowed down drastically in 2009-2010. Henry used that time to study music composition at Berklee College of Music. While studying, he continued writing and producing music for Super Junior and other SM artists.

In 2013, Henry starred in the movie Final Recipe where he played Mark, an aspiring chef participating in a cooking competition. To prepare for the role, Henry practised cooking with a renowned chef for multiple hours a day for several months. It’s also in 2013 that Henry made his solo debut by releasing his first EP Trap which was followed in 2014 by the EP Fantastic.

From 2014 onward, Henry has appeared in multiple reality TV shows in South Korea and China. To only name a few, he’s been in Real Man, Star King, We Got Married, Back to Field, I Live Alone, Begin Again, etc. Those numerous TV apparitions have had a huge impact on his popularity. Indeed, his joyous, optimistic and playful personality has helped him garner a lot of fans.

In 2018, it was announced that Henry had reached the end of his 10 year-long(!) contract with SM Entertainment and was leaving the company on good terms. Henry then set up his own studio in South Korea, named Monster Entertainment.

The same year, he was cast in the lead role in the movie Double World which was released globally on Netflix. He also starred in the Hollywood movie A Dog’s Journey next to Kathryn Prescott.

In November 2020, he released his third EP, Journey, alongside its lead single, Radio.

> Henry can speak three languages fluently (English, Mandarin and Korean). He can also speak conversational Cantonese, a bit of Thai and a bit of French.

> Henry has written and produced many, MANY songs for himself and others. He’s notably credited for The Eve by EXO (that you can hear him sing here) and he’s written the song It’s You which features in the Korean drama While You Were Sleeping. If you want to see all the works he’s credited on you can go there.

> Henry has a younger sister named Whitney and an older brother named Clinton. He works very closely with Clinton since he is the CEO of his company, Monster Entertainment. As for his sister, she’s appeared in the show I Live Alone.

> Henry is known as a “musical genius” because he knows how to play multiple instruments and because that is how he was marketed when he first appeared in reality shows. However, he’s said a few times that he doesn’t consider himself a genius and had to work a lot to be able to do what he does.

> He calls his fans "Strings" as in "violin's strings".

> He is well-known for his live loop stations, which is a way of recording and making music in real-time. Many of Henry’s performances have gone viral in China and Korea. Some of his most famous loop stations are How to Love, Believer and Youngblood.

> In an episode of Real Man, Henry has mentionned that he struggled with ADHD when he was young.

> As he likes to remind us all every time he has the opportunity (*sigh and shake head*), Henry has heart-shaped nostrils.

> He owns a Taiwanese-Chinese restaurant in Seoul called… Xiao Zhan.

> According to his own friends (Jessi, Jessi again, Amber) he is very messy. And I say “messy” not to say “dirty” but he’s admitted in I Live Alone that he doesn’t shower often.......... no comment lol (man, I love you but I can’t defend this 😂.)

> In an episode of I Live Alone, Henry learned pendulum painting so he could decorate his apartment with his own art pieces. His paintings were later exposed in an art gallery in London.

> Henry and Super Junior

> Henry’s discography and MVs

> My favourite I Live Alone episodes with Henry

> Henry TED talk

> The interview I used to write most of this biography

#henry lau #henrymorehenry #my posts

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thecoleopterawithana · 4 years

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"I never knew what he wanted in a woman because I never knew what I wanted" I think this quote is so telling but I haven't seen much commentary on it. Do you have any particular thoughts? It seems to put John in a very sad light. And to me it's one of his most revealingly repressed-gay quotes, but maybe there's another way to interpret & I'm overstepping.

Hello there, dear anon!

I hope you’re still around to see this! As usual, I’ve taken an appalling amount of time answering this thought-provoking ask. However, in this instance, that “appalling amount of time” is probably over a year; a new record for me. Wherever you are now, I hope you are well, and if my ramblings don’t reach you, may they interest others.

I also have to admit that at the time I received this ask, I was most likely not equipped to understand all the layers of meaning in this sentence. And it’d be quite presumptuous of me to assume that I am completely prepared now. But let’s just hope that my ability to perceive their nuances has grown since then, and will continue to do so in the future.

Needless to say, this is only my current interpretation, and I welcome any commentaries that will help broaden it! (And please don’t fret for a second about offering your own interpretation and somehow “overstepping”; we’re all just having a decades-spanning conversation here.)

Now, on with your question.

First, let’s integrate that sentence in its full quote:

Q: So, John. You and Paul were probably the greatest songwriting team in a generation. And you had this huge falling out. Were there always huge differences between you and Paul, or was there a time when you had a lot in common?

JOHN: Well, Paul always wanted the home life, you see. He liked it with daddy and the brother… and obviously missed his mother. […]

JOHN: So it was always the family thing, you see. If Jane [Asher] was to have a career, then that’s not going to be a cozy family, is it? All the other girls were just groupies mainly. And with Linda not only did he have a ready-made family, but she knows what he wants, obviously, and has given it to him. The complete family life. He’s in Scotland. He told me he doesn’t like English cities anymore. So that’s how it is.

Q: So you think with Linda he’s found what he wanted?

JOHN: I guess so. I guess so. I just don’t understand. I never knew what he wanted in a woman because I never knew what I wanted. I knew I wanted something intelligent or something arty. But you don’t really know what you want until you find it. So anyway, I was very surprised with Linda. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d married Jane (Asher) because it had been going on for a long time and they went through a whole ordinary love scene. But with Linda it was just like – boom! She was in and that was the end of it.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld, at St. Regis Hotel, New York City (5 September 1971).

So, the interviewer inquires about their differences and similarities during the relationship, probably to assess the pervasiveness of the clashes that supposedly led to the “huge falling out” in “the greatest songwriting team in a generation.”

And John answers that “Paul always wanted the home life.”

At first glance, and following the logic of what was asked, one might assume John was pointing to a difference that always existed between them. And an irreconcilable difference at that, given that it’s the first thing he points out in answer to a question that is probing for sources of conflict that might explain their falling out.

So we get a feeling that John saw Paul having a family as incompatible with Paul maintaining a partnership with him. They were mutually exclusive; thus, Paul getting a family resulted in a falling out between them.

That right there carries a lot of implications already.

Because John himself also wanted the “complete family life”:

Q: But with that much experience behind you, now, would you like to have more children?

JOHN: Yeah, I – as – as many as come, you know. If Lennon roll out, as they. [thoughtful] I like large families. The idea of it.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Brian Matthew (13 November 1965).

And we shouldn’t take his disappointment with the suburban life in Weybridge as proof that he’d given up on that fantasy. It’s all about the circumstances, in the end; who you’re sharing your dream with.

After all, Yoko herself came with a “ready-made family”: a six-year-old daughter named Kyoko, who she was fighting to get the custody of, after divorcing the father, Anthony Cox, in February 1969; by then John and Yoko would even have a baby of their own.

This would all eventually fall through, as Yoko suffered a miscarriage in late November 1968, and Cox would disappear with Kyoko in 1971. Yoko would not see her daughter again until almost three decades later.

So you could see how John could have felt resentful of the family life Paul had built. Always perfect mirror images, Paul was living the dream, while John’s turned into a nightmare.

But with John, the situation is always doubly complicated. Because if he was often envious of Paul, John was also jealous. Note that “envy is when you want what someone else has, but jealousy is when you’re worried someone’s trying to take what you have.”

So we have to go back to his first answer. We’ve established that wanting “the complete family life” was something they had in common rather than something they differed in.

But Paul wanting a family is still presented here as a reason for their falling out, or at least tangentially related. And John goes on to present his theory about how Paul’s choice in life partner was based on who could provide that for him. It wouldn’t be the career-focused Jane, or the inconsequential groupies.

And it couldn’t be John himself.

We should also note that, in answer to the second question, it is made clear that John’s previous declarations were but a retrospective interpretation of what happened. As he goes on to admit, at the time, John was surprised by Paul marrying Linda instead of Jane.

And that is how we finally get to the sentence in question:

“I never knew what he wanted in a woman because I never knew what I wanted.”

A possible first layer of meaning is what I’m guessing you meant by this being “one of his most revealingly repressed-gay quotes.”

1. The emphasis being placed on John never knowing what he wanted in a woman, and thus not being able to know what Paul would find more desirable in a wife.

He does go on to use admittedly questionable pronouns: “I knew I wanted something intelligent or something arty.” It happened in other instances in this interview:

I just realized that [Yoko] knew everything I knew, and more, probably, and it was coming out of a woman’s head. It just sort of bowled me over, you know? And it was like finding gold or something. To find somebody that you can go and get pissed with, and have exactly the same relationship as any mate in Liverpool you’d ever had, but also you could go to bed with him, and it could stroke your head when you felt tired, or sick, or depressed. It could also be Mother. And obviously, that’s what the male-female – you know, you could take those roles with each other.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld, at St. Regis Hotel, New York City (5 September 1971).

So one could see how, at this time, John was struggling to manage the differences between male and female partners. As Cynthia put it:

I think he was trying to find himself a… what he’d call a soulmate. Someone who had as mad ideas as he had. I think he felt that she had the talent… but that’s debatable. But he needed that— he didn’t need a ‘mumsie’ partner at that point. He needed a mate. And I think he actually said, at some stage, in an interview that, you know— She’s the nearest thing to a man — a mate; man — that he’s ever had in a woman.

— Cynthia Lennon, interviewed by Alex Belfield for BBC Radio (2006).

Another angle that I find curious is:

2. The parallel drawn between Linda’s knowledge of Paul’s wants (and her ability to satisfy them) versus John’s.

“[Linda] knows what he wants, obviously, and has given it to him.” / “I never knew what he wanted”

This one integrates a theme I’ve been interested in exploring recently: their epistemology of each other. Basically, assumptions of knowledge; when it works out and when it doesn’t.

1968: I wonder should I call you but I know what you would do

JOHN: Well, [‘How Do You Sleep’]’s an answer, you know? Paul, uh, personally doesn’t feel as though I insulted him or anything. ’Cause I had dinner with him last week, and he was quite happy.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Mike Douglas on The Mike Douglas Show (12 February 1972).

1973: And I know just how you feel / And I know now what I have done / And I know and I’m guilty (yes I am) / But I never could read your mind

In this specific case, he could be humbly admitting he never knew what Paul wanted. But another possible reading of the sentence is the exact opposite:

3. The assumption that they were so connected, so much like a single entity, that to know himself was to know Paul. That their wants and needs are aligned, and what John wants must be what Paul wants.

I never knew what he wanted in a woman because I never knew what I wanted.

1967: I am he / As you are he / As you are me / And we are all together

1969: I know you, you know me

The mirror image of this interpretation would be Paul’s own thought-provoking declarations:

[T]he Beatle thing is over. It has been exploded, partly by what we have done, and partly by other people. We are individuals— all different. John married Yoko, I married Linda. We didn’t marry the same girl.

— Paul McCartney, for Life Magazine (7 November 1969).

Q: Will Paul and Linda become John and Yoko?

PAUL: No, they will become Paul and Linda.

— McCartney press release (9 April 1970).

And finally, I believe another very important facet expressed in this sentence is:

4. The theme of John not knowing what he wants for himself.

I never knew what he wanted in a woman because I never knew what I wanted. […] But you don’t really know what you want until you find it.

This is a sentiment that John has expressed before.

JOHN: Weybridge won’t do at all. I’m just stopping at it […] I think of it every day — me in my Hansel and Gretel house. I’ll take my time; I’ll get my real house when I know what I want. You see there’s something else I’m going to do, something I must do — only I don’t know what it is. That’s why I go round painting and taping and drawing and writing and that, because it may be one of them. All I know is, this isn’t it for me.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Maureen Cleave for the London Evening Standard (4 March 1966).

JOHN: I think, in one way, all of us were under the slight illusion that we might— or maybe it wasn’t an illusion and maybe had we pushed harder we would have got what we wanted, but I’m not sure that anybody really knew what we wanted. We knew we didn’t like what was happening but nobody quite knew what it was that we wanted, cus we’d never had it!

This is another very fascinating avenue I’ve been wondering about.

John Lennon, the Dreamer, not actually knowing how that dream would manifest. Him having a vague romantic idea of what he wanted, but not really knowing how to practically bring it about.

[Imagine here a whole essay of John versus Paul in the studio, and their contrasting abilities to materialize the sounds they heard in their head and turn them into something that others could experience with them.]

In conclusion, these are about all the potential levels of nuance I can read in John’s statement at the moment. All of them fascinating and worth exploring. So I’m truly grateful to you for giving me the perfect opportunity to do so.

It would fill me with joy to have this conversation continued with all who feel like adding their own perspectives to it!

#asks me why #i never knew what he wanted in a woman because i never knew what i wanted #it's like a marriage #wedding bells are breaking up that old gang of mine #I'm just a jealous guy #and if i say i really knew you well #i know you you know me #you may say i'm a dreamer #the person i actually picked as my partner #johnny #macca #linda #yoko ono #Cynthia #3rd verse #1971 #quote #meta

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dailytomlinson · 5 years

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It’s been a long and turbulent four-year road for Louis Tomlinson. Since his band, One Direction, announced their ‘indefinite hiatus’ in 2016, Tomlinson has struggled to find a professional path that suitably represents him as an artist. As he gears up to finally release his long-awaited debut album Walls this coming January, the singer-songwriter finally feels comfortable in his own skin, finding his own unique Britpop-inspired sound which has been spurred on by the resentment towards a diluting of his vision in a bid to find radio play in the States. Tomlinson, it is safe to say, has finally found his feet and, with a new record label firmly behind him and a renewed energy propelling his every move, the 27-year-old is now a man on a mission with two fingers in the air and a point to prove.

His remarkable story really needs no introduction. Plucked from a crowd of hopefuls auditioning for the X-Factor in 2010, the then 18-year-old singer was placed alongside Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik by Simon Cowell much to the joy of their growing social media fanbase. Just 12 months later their debut album, Up All Night, was released and propelled the group to international fame. In the six fast and furious years as a band One Direction tour relentlessly, released five hit records and became unfathomably rich in the process. For Tomlinson, however, the immediate highs were quickly met by severe lows when it all came suddenly crashing down. The end of the band, the media relentlessly pursuing his private life, personal tragedy and more have followed. Now though, with a renewed vigour and clarity for his future, Tomlinson has picked himself up and is about to carve out his own niche of pop music. I met Tomlinson in a back bar of a central London hotel as I self-consciously began to consider the possibility that I may be underdressed for the occasion. Thankfully though—and much to my relief—he arrived casually dressed in a brown quarter-zip jacket, jeans and Adidas trainers which arrived as a refreshing change in reference to the typical, modern-day pop star. Having travelled down to London from Yorkshire that day, with my editor’s words ringing in my ears, the somewhat opulent surroundings of our meeting lacked the relaxing edge I was hoping for. It must be said that interviews with musicians of international fame can be tricky — especially when they have a new album to sell. With media training, PR managers typically watching over and a sense ill-trust with the media, it will come as little surprise that popstars can be standoffish in interviews. Despite my initial trepidation though, Tomlinson greeted me with immense warmth and immediately offered to get a couple of beers in from the bar—the first sign that our conversation would follow the laid-back pattern I was hoping for. After we’d sat down and had a sip of lager, our Yorkshire accents clashing, my mind turned to his recent performance of his last single ‘We Made It’ on Children In Need. Tomlinson looked in his element, like he’d finally found his feet as a solo artist—something that hasn’t been an easy adjustment for him to make in the last few years. “Yeah, naturally I feel as any fucking solo star finds – the longer you’re in it, the more experienced you get, the more confident you get. I think it took me a second to work out who I am musically, to fully detach from One Direction and stuff but I feel like I’m there now so, naturally, I’m more confident in my songwriting ability, I’m more confident performing, singing and all of that, so it feels good.” Following the split from the band, it did feel from the outside looking in that there was no clear direction where his solo career was going to take him. With collaborations with the likes of Steve Aoki and Bebe Rexha, both of which performed commercially well, there was a creative direction that left more questions than answers. Earlier this year, he took to social media to make a statement to claim that he was turning a page, that he was fed up with writing to a formula in a bid to chase radio play and instead he wanted to make music he loved. That moment was the beginning of the second chapter in his solo career, which he expands on looking while back at that difficult time with more than a pinch of honesty as always, disclosing: “Yeah but I’m not going to lie, it’s still something that I’m fighting up against if I’m being honest. I mean, because there’s constant opinion around me and you know a lot of people do want to focus towards radio—which I do understand—but what bugs me is just how much it limited me — especially because what I grew up listening to on pop radio is very different to what’s on pop radio now and because I couldn’t see a place for myself. I thought that it wasn’t not going to be authentic because I’m going to be trying to sound like what’s on the radio. Today, in 2019 more than ever, people can spot bullshit. So yeah, I think since that moment I’ve always been conscious of that and as I say it is a constant battle, but I think I’m winning at the moment.” The state of mainstream radio is something that Tomlinson is passionate about. As an artist who aims to make songs that are accessible to the masses without compromising integrity at the same time, Louis appears to be well versed on the shift in the popular musical landscape: “If I’m being honest, I didn’t actively search for stuff because it was on pop radio,” he said while discussing the change in approach to consuming music. “Especially a band like Catfish and The Bottlemen,” he adds after a moment of contemplation. “When I was growing up they would definitely, definitely, be on every radio and I think those bands are very important and now I have to actively search for them or listen to the right station.” He continues, “Also, I think it took me a second to come out and say what my influences are because I know what people expect from someone who has been in a boyband and stuff like that.” With this lightbulb moment, Tomlinson wanted to detail more about the inner workings of his creative process, how collaborating with like-minding musicians helped free his thought process. “Once I’d had this epiphany and put this message on social media, at that point I’d done four songs that are still on the album. I think ‘Kill My Mind’ was actually a turning point, I wrote it with a guy called Jamie Hartman and the next session we had together we wrote ‘Walls’ which is the title track for the album and is going to be my next single. I think from that moment it unlocked something and we got some momentum so then the second half of the album was written relatively quickly but I think as I say it being transitional I’d have loved 10 ‘Kill My Mind’s’ but maybe the next record.” ‘Kill My Mind’ looks and sounds like the first step towards the definitive direction that the Yorkshireman is aiming for. It has a punchy Hot Fuss era Killers’ chorus and is more reminiscent of the type of music that Tomlinson himself loves. “That’s probably the proudest I’ve been of a song because that is genuinely a song that I fucking love listening to and that’s not necessarily always the case when you’re playing for radio all the time. It didn’t get the attention that I think it quite deserved but that’s the way it is.” The shift towards the guitar-led music, which bucks the trend with current chart-toppers, is the path that the 27-year-old is determined to follow. A recent writing session with Australian indie giants DMA’s had popped up in our conversation and the beaming smile across Tomlinson’s face said it all: “I’ve hung out with those boys (DMA’s) actually, one night because we were in the same studio and I’ve written together with [them] before,” he said before clarifying that the drinks were flowing which resulted in an unfinished recording. When probed on whether this is something he’d like to re-visit at a later date, Tomlinson expanded with an eye firmly on the future: “The DMA’s session was a bit of an experiment, to be honest, when I look at my solo career I’m looking at it as a five, six or seven-year plan. I realise this from doing the DMA’s one, I would fucking love to do an album full of them but it’s a transition you know what I mean, I’ve got to understand the fan base and what they want. I don’t want anything to be so drastic so in my eyes, it’s a two, three even four-album progression before I get there and I also think to write those kinds of songs that I love I need to have more experience as a songwriter as well.” For someone who has had such rich successes in their career to date, the singer-songwriter does seem to have struggled with his self-confidence since going solo—but this year seems to have changed that. One song that stands out is ‘Two of Us’, a track which was released earlier this year is a tribute to his late Mother who tragically passed in 2017. Tomlinson’s life was then struck by more devastation following his sister’s sudden death in March this year. ‘Two of Us’ clearly carries a heavy weight of emotion. Created from the inner workings of Tomlinson’s grief, the song is by a distance the most personal release in his entire career to date. Despite that, the track manages to find the universal within the personal as it’s lyrics resonate for anyone who has ever lost anybody close to them—myself included. While our conversation remained on this topic I was keen to know whether these heart-breaking events had impacted his professional epiphany, whether the personal grief had allowed him to stop worrying about the chart and instead focusing more on enjoying the ride: “When I wrote ‘Two Of Us’ that was something I never really had with music before where I like to think every lyric has meant something. There was a different emotional weight with that song and just hearing people’s stories about what it meant to them and how they related to it, that was amazing for me.” “If I’m being honest what made me have my epiphany was me spitting my fucking dummy out because I was sick of being put in writing sessions which I couldn’t relate to, or people trying to pull me in a certain way to work on American radio. I could probably have commercial success like that, but I’ve got the luxury of having had that already with One Direction and I thought ‘what does success mean to me?’ I just thought I’ve got to follow my fucking heart and if I can win like that it’s like a double win you know what I mean.” One Direction’s immediate success was unprecedented for a British boyband. Together they conquered the world with their debut Up All Night going straight to number one in the States and shifting more than 4.5million copies globally. Just one to this moment, Tomlinson was an 18-year-old living for the weekend in Doncaster—but he was determined not to let his newfound fame change him: “Yeah I was always pretty resistant to it [fame] to be honest, I always say that when I got famous, when I first got put in band, that I was having the best year of my life. So, it was a lot to deal with to leave my favourite year behind and to be doing something else where you’re working really hard. The personal and professional problems that have occurred in recent years appears to have given Tomlinson a remarkable sense of life experience. Despite still being so young, despite having lived a whirlwind life, he still has the ability to self reflect on with a grounded honesty. “Being from Donny you don’t expect to get that kind of opportunity and I then got put into the band and then had to deal with everything on the job. Honestly, it was a fucking incredible time in my life that shaped me as an artist and shaped me as a person, I saw some amazing things but it is also nice now to have a little bit more free time because we were so fucking busy and also you know stand on my own two feet and say this is who I am.” “As far as what’s on my checklist of a credible artist you know they have to write their own tunes, that was always important to me and I did a lot of writing in the band which I think gave me the incredible experience to write now. It was like a crash course, there were so many sessions and I think it’s put me in good stead, but I feel like I’m always getting better as a writer man I feel like with every song I learn a little bit more.” Although, it’s clear from speaking with Tomlinson that he looks back on those years he spent with the band with all the fondness in the world. Yet the media attention that came with all the success was something that got the better of him at times. “That was hard and I’ve often envied artists from an era where smartphones weren’t around. There were definitely some days where it got the better of me. I suppose you’ve got to be selective on where you go and I learned the hard way from a few different people that you can’t trust. Some people want something out of you and it took me a second to understand, but again I think that helps me have a thicker skin in the real world outside of my job. There are times when I’ve gone through difficult things in my life and I’ve thought certain people haven’t been amazing but it’s part of it, fuck it.” As our conversation then meandered toward the split of the band and what life was like for Tomlinson after exiting the world of One Direction— which was all that he had known for the entirety of his adult life up until that point. A sense of honest emotion entered his voice, a moment that seemingly suggested that this permanent change was something that was taken from his own control: “It was good to be back doing normal things but I wasn’t ready for the band to go on a break and it came as a shock for me,” Tomlinson exclusively told Far Out Magazine. “It definitely wasn’t my choice but I understand why the decision was made and there’s a good argument for that. I’m enjoying expressing myself now but it rocked me for a time and for a bit and I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said, vehemently. From the tone in his voice, it is obvious that the subject is still a relatively raw one for Tomlinson who initially struggled to find the right sound for him following the split of the band—a factor stemmed from his initial reluctance to move solo. From the gravitas of the moment to the importance of his first steps back into music, it was clear that Tomlinson wasn’t ready to be going out on his own so soon after the band’s breakup—a learning curve which other members of the group seemed to overcome in different ways. The break was initially thought to be just that ‘a break’, but nearly four years after the announcement there are still no signs that the group is entertaining ideas of reuniting anytime soon. With Louis Tomlinson set to release his debut album in January, Liam Payne’s debut LP1 out next month, Harry Styles’ second offering, Fine Line, being made available on December 13th and Niall Horan working on the follow-up to his 2017 Flicker, the One Direction members are firmly in solo mode. Tomlinson acknowledges that during the final One Direction tour he began to accept that the break was inevitable, admitting: “It had kind of been brewing and we knew the conversation might be coming around but it was just one of those things. It was always going to happen, we were always going to take a break, but I think there are always people who are going to take things better than others.” Looking on the bright side, however, since the break he has been allowed to live a bit more of a quieter life. From speaking with Tomlinson I get the sense that he’s in this because he loves the music, appreciates the love he gets from fans and loves playing live. However, the celebrity lifestyle that comes with it isn’t why he’s in this game. “I think I can definitely have a bit more of a balance now, there are obviously times when I’m releasing songs or releasing album when it’s really ramped up and It’s hard but definitely easier in those off times to have the balance because otherwise when you’re so busy it’s impossible to literally fit everybody into your life. It’s definitely nicer having more time to do normal fucking things,” he adds with an almost sigh of relief. Tomlinson’s solo career, which has found its feet with emphatic effect and is currently flying high with a sold-out world tour and highly anticipated debut on the horizon, was something that the singer himself had never initially envisioned. With Tomlinson originally wanting to take a back seat in the music industry following the end of the band, he revealed exclusively to Far Out: “I’m not going to lie it hit me hard but it definitely inspired me to get on with my own solo career because it wasn’t something I was always going to do. I was just going to write songs and just hopefully send them to other people and stuff like that, but everything happens for a reason, so they say anyway.” As the careers of all five members of the band have all taken off, with each turning into different avenues sonically, our conversation then turned to the competitive nature between the band since they went their separate ways. Typically, the avid Doncaster Rovers fan opting to use a hugely specific football analogy to describe the relationship with his former bandmates: “I could be wrong but I think we’ve all got that in us, there’s a competitive side to everyone. I can only speak from personal experience, and as time goes on you understand the differences. It’s not all that relevant but I liken to the feeling at first was that you’ve all been at Barcelona’s youth academy, so we’ll call One Direction ‘Barcelona’ and then we’ve all been put off at different clubs and that takes a second to understand and compute but we’re all still lucky to be able to do it as solo artists.” Having time off to relax over the last few years for the first time since stepping foot for his X-Factor audition all those years ago, Tomlinson seems to have returned with a renewed love for music and everything that comes with it. For a while, it appears the music was falling second in line to all the hysteria that surrounded his fame—a situation that has been duly rectified. Next year will see him return to Doncaster as part of his world tour for a very special homecoming and, with that mention, his face lights up with a grin on his face the size of South Yorkshire: “It’s going to be class, I can’t wait for Donny Dome. I don’t feel like my career has fully started until I do that first tour show, it’s all well and good writing songs, releasing songs, doing all the promo and everything that comes with it but the most important fucking thing is that you put on a good show. I started realising the longer that I’ve been in this that there’s a level of importance in these nights to people, especially the avid fanbase that I’m lucky enough to have. You can see from the reactions and look into people’s eyes and see what certain lyrics meant to them.” What struck me the most from the time I spent with the singer-songwriter was just how grounded he was, seemingly bereft of any level of arrogance and still just that same local lad from Doncaster who began this journey ten years ago. His working-class Yorkshire heritage, he told me, is what has made him the man he is today: “You’ve got to be fucking humble where we’re from you know what I mean? Because otherwise you get called out like ‘who the fuck do you think you are?’”. The greatest takeaway from our conversation is that Louis Tomlinson is still that music enthusiast that entered the music industry in 2010 who, despite all the success and fame, has managed to stay grounded. With surreal highs came earth-shattering lows—all of which has shaped him in one way or another. Instant success is no longer what he seeks with it now being about the long game for him, this change in attitude is a sign of maturity for Tomlinson who no longer losing sleep about pleasing streaming algorithms. Having been sitting at the mountain top of the music industry for almost a decade, it seems it is only now he is really getting started with a long-term plan of where he wants his solo-career to go. With a strong sense of support around him, his future and creative vision is firmly in his own hands. With an abundance of experience behind him and has renewed enthusiasm, Louis Tomlinson is finally ready to find his own direction. Walls is available on 31st January via Sony Music, for tickets to his world tour – visit here for tickets.

#press #291119 #louis Tomlinson #far out magazine #stunt mention #dlibyh

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chippyskylark · 4 years

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LIGHTS DOWN LOW.

death content warning. alcohol content warning.

creatively, chip is on the cusp of something extraordinary. the pop sensation takes a tentative step into maturity though remains careful not to shed his squeaky clean image. the beauty of chip skylark’s third album lies in the complexity of the man and the stories behind it. while still under the direct control of his label, chip still manages to take a stand towards independence as he tries his hand at songwriting and production for the first time in his six year career. the sunny pop filled production is representative of the singer’s optimism as he battles the worst year of his life.

lights down low w. chippington skylark the third. the opening track of chip’s third album packs the punch of a new sound for those who have been a fan of the singer since he first burst onto the scene at fourteen. chip reflects on his six year relationship with fellow singing sensation britney santiago, penning a love song that he hopes begins to convey how strongly he feels for her. it’s one of the first songs he writes for the album and it comes shortly after a conversation his family has with the couple during one of their family dinners. his grandfather jokes about marriage, earning chastising from Chip’s grandmother and mother for embarrassing the young couple. and while he doesn’t say much when the topic is brought up, a lot of thinking leads him to the conclusion that he’d be ready for marriage if it was with britney.

love me less w. chippington skylark the 2nd & ricardo skylark. another song born from a playful conversation amongst family. chip finds himself on vacation, surrounded by the important men in his life. so young and having lived such a squeaky clean life, chip can do nothing more than sit back and listen on as his father and uncles trade stories of life before their wives. chip is, to put it lightly, horrified by the tales he hears of cheating and breaking hearts. he hardly expected to find out that his father had been such a player before marrying his mother, content to assume that the music his father sings was all just a stage persona. it prompts chip to ask if his father and uncle were ever concerned that their wives would find out and it would ruin their relationships, and so love me less was born. originally a salsa song and written in Spanish, Chip’s label suggests the sound doesn’t fit with the vision they have for the album. and because he can’t bear to let anyone down, chip reworks the track and translates it to English.

cruel w. chippington skylark the 3rd. chip struggles with the mounting pressure and stress of their jobs, finding the anxiety that plagues him doesn’t necessarily care if he’s a singing sensation. but, when his thoughts get too loud and the crowds get to be too much to handle chip can always count on Britney to be one of the good things in his life.

treasure w. chippington skylark the 3rd & ricardo skylark. chip’s built an entire career around singing songs that make girls feel confident and beautiful, so treasure is kind of following in the scheme of that. he writes and composes the song with his uncle, and it’s one of his favorite songs to date for the memory of getting to work with a band for a change.

blueberry eyes. a song that’s presented to him by the label. chip has no hand in writing it but unlike every other song in his career prior to this album, he does make a production decision on it. the label is set on the pop beat they present him and chip wants to focus more on an acoustic take on the track. they reach a compromise, the label allowing chip to close the song with a fluttering piano moment.

love me like you do. w. chippington skylark the 3rd. a collaboration between the couple was long overdue as far as their fan base was concerned. the duet is something treasured by their fans and yet it brings nothing but frustration to the singers in question. britney and chip’s relationship ends abruptly, and as far as chip is concerned without reason, weeks before his album releases. when love me like you do is hailed as a fan favorite their teams decide it’s time to capitalize on the movement and make it a single. chip and britney are now faced with the challenge of keeping their split a secret while they’re forced to do a press run for the song. pretending to not be heartbroken during radio interviews and fighting back sorrow from a love lost is practically impossible during televised performances at award shows, but they manage. they don’t have a choice.

where am i at? w. chippington skylark the 2nd & chippington skylark the 3rd. ricardo meant everything to the skylark family, and his sudden death shakes the family. chip is overseas when he gets the call about his beloved uncle’s accident. his management team denies his request to cancel his talk show appearance and performance, insisting he get through the night and then travel to see his uncle on his deathbed. chip doesn’t make it back in time to say goodbye, and the robbed opportunity for closure adds salt to the wound. his father feels the loss of his younger brother around him all the time, and chip finds that it’s hard to love what he does when one of the men who inspired him to do it is gone now.

moonshine. w. chippington skylark the 3rd. he’d never drank a day in his life before, turning down alcohol at every party he’s ever been to despite even the most fierce peer pressure. losing his uncle and watching the way it hits his family is enough to make chip turn to whisky. he goes through a three week phase where he’s drinking every night, clutching his uncle’s old flask close to his chest as he stares out at the night sky hoping something could cure the cold touch of grief.

there is a god. w chippington skylark the 2nd & chippington skylark the 3rd. revisiting the topic of marriage, chip reflects on his relationship with britney as she supports him through the hardest time in his life. emboldened and fresh with the knowledge that life is too short, chip makes a decision putting his happiness first for once. he’d talked about it with his family and they were happy that he was ready to take the next step in his relationship with britney. chip never did get to propose and now he can hardly stand to listen to this song.

working for the weekend. w. chippington skylark the 3rd. working in this industry has always been challenging for chip, the cold gaze of executives and the harsh criticism from strangers consistently chewing chip up and spitting him back out. but following the struggle he’s facing with his management team and the stacked schedule he’s always given, chip takes to his music to voice his frustrations. his fans should have seen the long hiatus coming as he alludes to his stress and exhaustion.

new life. w. chippington skylark the 3rd. chip closes his album on a high note, making a declaration that things will be different for him moving forward. the triumphant track showcases chip at his most confident as he channels all his anger and hurt into wanting a change. tired of being pushed around by his label chip declares that he will take full control of his next album. the song is written mostly in anger, and the choice to feature a latin inspired take on production is a direct shot at his label who had spent years trying to force him to assimilate to American culture so he can be more palatable to pop listeners. chip is never more sure of something in his life. joke’s on him though because the loss of his uncle combined with the end of his relationship in the midst of a world tour kills whatever determination he had in him.

#i said fuck a graphic #but lain and nat inspired me to get my boy figured out so here he is!#🎤 i don't need nobody tellin me just what i'm gonna do about my destiny. (about.)

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louistomlinsoncouk · 4 years

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Louis Tomlinson shot to international and unprecedented fame back in 2010, as one firth of One Direction on the X-Factor.

Fast forward ten years and Louis Tomlinson – now 27 years-old has experienced the most incredible professional highs with mind boggling achievements such as winning five Brit awards, embarking on record breaking international tours that outsold even Katy Perry and The Rolling Stones and selling over 50 million records worldwide all as part of one of the planets most successful ever boybands.

But during this time Louis has also experienced many personal lows, all whilst under the microscope of extreme public attention. In late 2016 Louis’ mother died and in March this year Louis also lost his sister. Despite these life changing moments, Louis has used the lows to empower him with him notably writing the powerful, Two of Us and returning to the X-Factor stage the day after his mother’s death to perform his collaboration with Steve Aoki, Just Hold On! Louis’ response to the darkest times of his life are nothing short of inspiring.

In our latest edition of GLAMOUR UNFILTERED, hosted by Josh Smith, Louis Tomlinson talks about how he has leaned into his vulnerability, how hard it was for him to establish his own identity away from One Direction to create his own path as a solo artist and how his relationship with the brotherhood in the band has changed…

With a new album, new songs and a tour on the way, what does Louis 2.0 represent?

I haven't really thought about it really, but I think musically what I was really happy with on this album is my first single of this, Kill My Mind. I feel like I am a little bit more mature in my songwriting, and I feel like as time goes on, the more songs that I write, I feel like I understand lyrics more and more. I'm just honest I'd say.

What do you think has been the hardest thing for you to be honest about with yourself?

To be honest, I'm lucky with where I grew up. In Doncaster we wear our heart on our sleeves really. So, it comes naturally to me really to just be open about the way that I feel. I think it's important to do that in songwriting. I just see it as honesty.

There is still so much stigma around men being vulnerable – how have you navigated around the stereotype?

I'm aware of it, but it’s not how I operate personally. I've always kind of owned it. I think my mum did a good job of bringing me up and taught me good values. When we wrote Two of Us, that was obviously a very personal song for me, and probably the most vulnerable I've been, especially on a song. But it feels good to be honest and talk about these things and encourage other people to talk about these things.

What's been the most amazing reaction to that honesty for you?

It was with Two of Us, to be honest. It was just, I've had a couple of moments where fans have come up to me and told me what that song means to them and maybe they've just had a loss in their life. I never really had that in the band to that level, my lyrics really meaning something to people. So, that's incredible.

What have you learnt about yourself through being a front man?

I feel like I've learnt to trust my gut more and just own my decisions, because when there's a lot of people around you that, there's always a lot of opinions. So, I feel like I understand myself more as an artist, I understand myself more as a songwriter. I’ve just been trusting my gut more I think as I've got older. To be honest, kind of what you see is what you get with me and I've always been that way. There's not really too much complexity to it - I'm lucky like that.

You have been through so many extreme private moments in such a public sphere. How have you coped with that?

It was definitely difficult at first, when I first got put in the band and having to deal with not having as much privacy. But I suppose as time goes on you grow to understand it and get used to it. To be honest, there have been some pretty hard times in my life, and although I wouldn't have chosen to have them played out in the public, some of the reactions and some of the stuff I got from fans was incredible too. It’s tit for tat really. It’s been difficult, but that's life anyway, it's just that on a massive scale. I suppose at the start of the band I struggled a little bit with that, but I think I'm pretty resilient and look, I'm lucky that I had the experience at that level. I'm also quite persistent. It was actually the third year that I'd auditioned for X Factor that I got put in the band and you have to have a certain amount of self-belief for that.

What advice would you want to give the you, who went through those private moments now?

I would just say, "Trust yourself and trust your gut, because those things are important, and nobody understands you better than you."

How strange was it for you to go from having that immediate support network of the other four members of One Direction almost gone over night?

It was difficult. There are still people around me that were, like my vocal coach for example, that were around, and she plays a big role in my career. So, there is still enough familiar faces to not kind of feel like alienated and on my own, but it definitely took some getting used to. One Direction was such a well-working machine, so it definitely took some getting used to. But I think, as you spend time on your own you find new people that you really got on with and develop those relationships.

How did you build your identity away from the band?

It took me a second to understand that I was on my own now, and my identity for so long was part of a collective, and obviously you still have an individual identity within that, but you're upholding this collective identity. So, I think it took me a second to kind of understand that I can be a bit of a chav again!

Did you ever feel like were having to put anything on during the band?

You see, I think sometimes people insinuate that it might be the record label and management that make you like this, but it's not. You're respectful of the fan base and their age, and we had a young fan base. Also, they've got mums who can get angry if you piss them off!

Was there a turning point in discovering who you are as a person?

I think I'm lucky that I can kind of come to those conclusions almost through my music. As I've started trusting myself more musically and my musical instincts, there is an overlap with real life there as well.

What's been the career high and low you have learnt the most from?

The high I've learnt the most from would be collectively the One Direction experience and so much that comes with that. It was an incredible experience and taught me so much along the way. In terms of the lows, it's been quite difficult at times to understand the difference between the experience that I have with the band and the experience that I have now, and how relevant that is to a solo artist. I think that's taken me a second to work out, there's some, like the way I started my career as a solo artist and I released a couple of feature songs, which I think are great songs, but looking back I feel like maybe didn't say too much about me musically and my influences All of these things I've kind of had to learn from to get here really.

Looking back over the last ten years is there anything you would change?

In reality I wouldn't. I wouldn't because I think every mistake is all part of your journey, and you do definitely learn something every time. So, in terms of my career and how I've come across publicly and all of that, no, I wouldn't change anything to be honest.

What advice would you want to give someone who has gone through the same life experiences as you?

Find the people in your life that you know you love and trust and talk it through with people. Because I might come across as confident but obviously you have moments where you build things up in your head. The longer you live with that thought you think it's big, it ends up being bigger than the reality of the situation. So, I think just as much communication as possible especially with your family.

How has your relationship with brotherhood changed in your life?

I suppose my career has helped me see the world and meet a lot of different people, and I think that gives you a certain level of understanding. As I've got older really, my responsibility has changed with my sisters and my little brother. I'm currently trying to have a conversation with my twin sisters to go to the sixth form! I try to be more mature but as a brother you have to be.

How have you leaned into your immediate brotherhood of the band at different times in your life?

I think, honestly, there's obviously times where you have better relationships with other members than you do others, but that connection, that'll be forever. Definitely. Because, we experienced so much in a relatively short space of time and it was crazy what we all saw together and experienced, so I think that is something that we'll have forever, really. Definitely. Sometimes you might not see eye to eye, but that's the way friendships go in real life!

You can listen to Louis's tracks 'Don't Let It Break You Heart' and 'We Made It' now, taken from his debut album 'Walls' out January 31st

#louis tomlinson #17dec19

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sotellmemoreaboutthat · 4 years

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Sooo, here are my babies! Some of them have more personality than others, but I love them all the same!! Also, they are in order of creation.

Name: Eliza, Lizz for short, Lizzie for friends

Department: Pure & Applied Sciences

LI: Raquel

Lizz is my main account, she is also the one that is probably the closest to my personality, she tries her best to be nice to everyone, but know how to impose herself when she feels something is not fair. She speaks fluent spanish since her family from her mother side is Mexican. She used to do cheerleading during middle school, but had to give up on it after a bad knee injury, so going to high school she choose to focus on her grades and she found a passion for math and physics, and seeing that she had potential, she thought it would be worth it to at least try to get a scholarship at the most prestigious school in the country, and that’s how she got into Arlington. She gets a bit nervous around Raquel, but flirts back as much as she can, slowly getting more confused whether is actually flirting or not.

Name: Matthias, Matt for short

Department: Fashion

LI: Tadashi

Matt was created while I was really into the Mean Girls musical, so I decided I would make them have a crush on Tadashi while being friends with Karolina. They are probably one of my characters with the best relationship with Karolina, they are genuinely worried with her and they are a little bit relieved that she doesn’t is that angry with them about their crush on Tadashi. They don’t have the best relationship with their parents and since they were able to get into Arlington but choose the Fashion department instead of the Business or Health, but they try their best to be proud of their kids. Arlington is somewhere they can be themselves, designing and creating pieces that they are passionate about. They are slowing getting out of their comfort zone and becoming friends with more people.

Name: Harry

Department: Performing Arts

LI: Tegan

Harry was created to be a counterpoint to Tegan, so I thought that the opposite of a introvert nerd was a extrovert arts kid (keep in mind, no i didn’t knew Tyler’s personality or department yet). Anyway, he is the kind of person that is effortlessly good at what he does if he sets his goal into doing something, but he is so nice that no one gets angry at him for it. Dancing is his passion, but he also knows how to play drums and sometimes helps the other performing arts students (like Shawn, my other Performing Arts oc) with their compositions. He is the tallest out of all the ocs, but he is still shorter than Tegan, but is not a huge difference (Idk how inches and foot work and I won’t even try at this point).

Name: Charlie

Department: Business Commerce & Politics

LI: Claire

Charlie came from my realization that I would actually be at the Business department and not the Science one based on what I want to do when I graduate. They are professional and reliable, but are not that great on social skills, they’re rather shy and were really grateful when they were invited by Claire to hang out with her and Raquel and it definitely helped for their crush slowly grow, they don’t really know how to deal with those feelings tho, they are just going with it and hoping for the best. After a rocky start their relationship, Tadashi and them got into a point where they are kind of friends, but really formal friends and until the whole Nakano scandal they weren’t really vulnerable to each other.

Name: Janet

Department: Fine Arts

LI: Neha

Janet was another person that was created as a counter to her LI, Neha is very organized and Janet is very chaotic and messy. She is from a small town and the Academy is very different from everything she knows, so she was really impressed at first by the diversity, she was not used to it, but she feels blessed she gets to have this opportunity to meet so many different people. She usually jokes about how the arts department is full of nice and fancy materials and she was used to make it work with cheap materials back at home. She usually have some trace of paint on her face or clothes (but she is trying to keep it clean because the uniform is way too expensive to have paint on) and her hands are always with some colorful pen marks. She is described as talented by people around her, but she’s been drawing since she was a small child and works really hard to get on the level of people are Arlington. She is a little bit scared of Karol, but she is always nice to her and is genuinely concerned about both her health and how her situation affect Neha. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but someday Janet will give Neha an original design for a print.

Name: Krystian

Department: Athletics

LI: Alistair

Krys was created when I realized I really liked Al and that I wanted someone who could like, work out and be athletic with him (is this what athletic ppl do? idk, can’t relate). He is a short king, probably the shortest among my ocs, he plays volleyball as a libero (and yeah i decided that literally this week bcuz i rewatched haikyuu and it inspired me). Alistair makes him feel all kinds of things and he is so sweet and nice, I can imagine him and Lizz complaining together about how hot ppl from Athletics are. He doesn’t really like Karolina, he thinks she is rude and prejudiced and it took a little while form him and BIanchi (the other Athletics oc) because of that, he ends up warming up to her after the Nakano Scandal because she seems very genuine about her feelings for Tadashi and he can respect that.

Name: Angel

Department: Fashion

LI: Axel

(So... Here is when I start getting out of ideas and they may have less personality, sorry)

When I was thinking about Angel I was just like, pretty and fun, a little bit edgy. He is pretty in a kinda unconventional way, too feminine for most of the male models demand but he choose to remain authentic to himself (And also he will never be able to have a six pack and he accepted it). He probably heard about Axel before (I mean, he is a sensation, isn’t he?), but didn’t actively look for him, he consider himself a more indie kind of guy. In the process of falling for Axel he did question himself if he was not falling in love out of interest, but he soon got over it, because he couldn’t avoid the feelings that were growing.

Name: Bianchi

Department: Athletics

LI: Karolina

Bianchi was created using “jock” as the first thing that came to my mind about her. After a little research I figured Bianchi is actually a surname, not a first name, so I decided she doesn’t vibe with her first name and she decided she would like it better to be called by her last name. She is kinda cocky, she knows at what she is good at and is very confident. She works with Karolina because she won’t let her put her down without fighting back and she knows what she has to offer, Karol would eventually see her as a equal and Bianchi is very weak for pretty girls, she would probably also flirt a lot with Karol, just to piss her off a little bit. She hopes to become a professional swimmer, but she also does weightlifting as a hobby.

Name: Yuri

Department: Health Sciences & Biology

LI: Ellie

Yuri was created because I needed someone who was around the conversation about Arlignator to be into the Health Department to actually do the Arlignator and undertsand the reference. It’s hard for me to relate to her because I would never in my life go for a health area, so it’s hard for me to develop her. But, I did develop her family (cuz u know, i needed to be able to talk about her in someway amirught), so her father have a Japanese heritage and her mother have a Chinese one, her dad is not that in touch with his heritage because he was raised by his single white mother, and her mother’s family on the other side is very connected with the Chinese culture, and that’s why despite the Japanese name, Yuri speaks fluent Mandarin. Ellie is someone who takes her a little out of her comfort zone, and that works for her because she always wanted to be a little adventurous but never had any stimulation for it, and now she have it (with a little crush as a bonus).

Name: Shawn

Department: Performing Arts

LI: Tyler

Shawn was heavily influenced by AJR, which is a band I listened a lot when I started to play SE. He is a songwriter and a composer (no, i don’t know the difference, I’m sorry ppl who know music I’ve failed y’all) and he wants to make music that are more than love and sex and still have a kinda pop feeling about it. He is the most confident after Bianchi out of my ocs and he is very restless. Him a Tyler hit it off from the beginning since they have a similar sense of humor and sometimes he feels like he understands a little better all the love songs out there, and even promising himself he wouldn’t sing about love (a la Hayley Williams, but maybe one or two actually are actually created.

#sweet elite #se axel #se alistair #se tyler #se karolina #se claire #se raquel #se tadashi #se tegan #se neha #se ellie #this is the second time im writing this cuz I lost it the first time #i could go on about these children for hours #se scholar #i actually found the part i had already written but i was almost done rewriting so we're ignoring it #sorry about any mistakes english is not my first language

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loyolahcmass · 4 years

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Homily on Righteous by Juice WRLD

Here is the preview of Fr. Rossi’s homily about the song Righteous by Juice WRLD:

Fighting to be “Righteous”

Juice WRLD

“Under attack, in my soul

When it's my time, I'll know

Never seen a hell so cold

Yeah, we'll make it out, I know

We'll run right through the flames, let's go.”

“Righteous” Juice WRLD

Jarad Anthony Higgins, known professionally as Juice WRLD, may be gone, but his spirit lingers.

The rapper and songwriter from Chicago died in December 2019 at age 21 after suffering a seizure.

The cause of death was later revealed to be an accidental overdose.

__________

His music continues on as well.

At midnight on April 24, the rapper's first posthumous single, "Righteous," was released alongside a video.

That video takes you on quite an emotional ride.

__________

The visual splices together footage from Juice WRLD's short but eventful life.

We see him working in the studio, performing onstage, kissing his girlfriend, and smiling a lot.

The second half of the vid turns into an animated adventure, in which Juice fights his demons before leaving Earth and flying into the galaxy.

The clip ends with the words "Legends Never Die" scrawled across the screen.

__________

As for the song itself, it's a mellow, melodic number that's packed ironically with references to pills, demons, and "anxiety the size of a planet."

It's tough to get through, but essential listening because of its message.

But especially when paired with the video, it's a nice reminder of Juice WRLD's undeniable compassion and artistry that came out of his afflictions.

__________

Fittingly, "Righteous" was announced in a tweet from the rapper's family.

They wrote, "Juice was a prolific artist who dedicated his life to making music.

“Choosing how to share his upcoming music with the world has been no easy feat.

__________

“Honoring the love Juice felt for his fans while shining a light on his spirit are the most important parts of this process to us.

“We are releasing a song called 'Righteous,' which Juice made from his home studio in LA.

“It was very close to his heart.

“We hope you enjoy this new music and continue to keep Juice's spirit alive."

__________

Earlier, Juice's mother, Carmela Wallace, announced the establishment of the “Live Free 999 Fund”.

The fund will provide access to education, prevention, and treatment options for opioid addiction and other forms of drug abuse.

“I was aware of his struggles with addiction, anxiety, and depression.

__________

“We had many conversations about his challenges with these issues.

“I know he truly wanted to be free from the demons that tormented him.

“Now I'm going to share his struggles with the world with the objective of helping others."

__________

That’s what Juice’s positive message of 999, which featured on his merch, as well as in his music, sought to capture.

“999 represents taking whatever hell, whatever problems, whatever bad situation, whatever struggles you’re going through and turning them into something positive.

“It’s the power of God.

“Use it to push yourself forward,” Juice told MTV in 2018.

__________

999 is the opposite of 666, which is the "Number of the Beast" in modern popular culture.

666 has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the Antichrist or, alternatively, the devil.

The number 666 is used to invoke Satan.

By employing 999, Juice was asking God to intercede for him in his struggles in life, especially his battles with drugs.

__________

His honesty about his own trials unlocked the door for fans, friends, and peers to heal from their own wounds and become better versions of themselves.

This is powerfully conveyed in the track “Righteous”.

The title of this song points to the idea of Juice WRLD wanting to “feel righteous”.

__________

Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of God as portrayed in the Bible.

Its chief meaning concerns ethical conduct

In the Book of Job, the title character is introduced to us as a person who is perfect in righteousness.

__________

Within the context of the song's lyrics, this actually alludes to the rapper rockin’ an “all-white Gucci suit,” with white being the color most often associated with pious living.

But outside of that reference he doesn’t present himself as virtuous or blameless.

__________

In fact, most of the lyrics actually center on his sense of helplessness and stress when abusing drugs.

In the first verse he plainly acknowledges the inherent dangers in his habit.

“Righteous” is based on the theme of internal turmoil; he feels constrained to resort to drugs even while trying to have recourse to God.

__________

“The last shall be first.”

Gospel of Matthew

Jesus tells us that God takes the initiative in seeking us out, especially when we are feeling lost.

In other words, God continues to love us in spite of our sins and weakness.

I think Juice was aware of this.

Even in the muddled and confused state he was often in, he insisted on using his symbol for God and goodness, 999, at the very heart of his message to us and to himself.

__________

Speaking about this, I have to comment on the picture for the track "Righteous".

It portrays the animated character of the rapper putting on an all-white robe with the number 999 on it.

This is noteworthy for someone like Juice who was raised as a Bible-Christian.

__________

God loves His creation and he fashioned it good.

But sin corrupted it.

He has a plan to return it to its original state of perfection, and He will reward those who help Him carry out this plan.

Those people are the “white-robed army”.

__________

Juice wasn’t claiming that he was righteous by wearing white.

But righteousness was something to which he aspired.

He wanted to walk with Jesus, and he was trying as hard as he could to keep up.

__________

Remarkably, in his overwhelming struggles with drug addition, he wasn’t just thinking of himself.

He was reflecting on us as well.

Just listen again to these lyrics of “Righteous”.

“Yeah, we'll make it out, I know.”

That’s

HIS

legacy and

OUR

hope.

#righteous #righteous juice wrld #juice wrld righteous #juice wrld #juice wrld music #homily #homilies #catholic homily #Catholic Mass #hcm homilies #loyolahcmass

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hlupdate · 4 years

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Louis Tomlinson and the rest of One Direction were on top of the world commercially when they went on a hiatus in January 2016 - according to Billboard, the TV-made boy band sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.

Now, Tomlinson has released his first album as a solo artist and he's finally adjusting to going it alone.

The band's hiatus caught him a little off guard, he says. He loved the songwriting process and was keen to do more, but the singer was thrown into the deep end when the five members of One Direction announced their timeout.

"It took me a while to kind of compute really," Tomlinson tells The Herald.

His first venture into solo work was his song Just Hold On with American DJ Steve Aoki in 2016. In 2017 he collaborated with Bebe Rexha on the song Back to You, and the following year he appeared as a judge on The X Factor.

"The song with Steve Aoki, I thought 'Yeah, I'll give this a go.' That was only really something to get me back into the industry," the 28-year-old says.

"I hadn't really thought about doing anything in terms of a solo career, but you know, I think I started writing some songs that I liked the sound of…and things just kind of happened from there."

There are a lot of off-topic conversations when I chat with Tomlinson. I'm not allowed to ask him about the other One Direction members – which rules out setting the record straight on any possible feud rumours with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, or Zayn Malik.

I'm also instructed not to ask about his family – Tomlinson lost his mother to cancer in 2016 and his 18-year-old sister Felicite passed away last April. He also has a son named Freddie Reign.

When someone like Tomlinson is the subject of as much worldwide fame and adoration from young, impressionable girls as he was with One Direction – there are several people behind computer screens ready to tear him down. Armed with a thick skin, Tomlinson says he simply doesn't let it get to him anymore.

"Any f***ing idiot journalist who wants to write s*** about me… it's like, really? In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter," he says.

"It used to bother me more to be honest, but I have the luxury of a really supportive and loyal fan base."

His album, Walls, was released last Friday. It's an upbeat record, blending the lines between rock and pop. He sings about the highs and lows of life – from love to fame. The singer's favourite song on the record is the title track, a song about letting his guard down and accepting someone back into his life, presumably his girlfriend, Eleanor Calder, who he split from in 2015 after four years together, and reunited with in 2017.

Tomlinson describes the album as lyrically honest and "musically organic". Out of all of the One Direction member's solo efforts, it sounds the truest to the boy band's sound. And it's no wonder – he has more songwriting credits on One Direction's albums than any of the other band members.

I ask Tomlinson if he feels more creatively free now that he's worked on a solo album. "I think it's quite a common misconception with One Direction…especially from the third album onwards we were in the driving seat, and we very much crafted our own sound," he says.

"It was a pretty cool f***ing challenge, there wasn't really too many restraints other than the fact that you had to share concepts and ideas with four other people," Tomlinson says of his days collaborating with the other One Direction members.

But breaking out on his own has been a different kind of revelation for the young singer.

"It's definitely nice to be independent and say 'This is who I am.'"

#louis tomlinson #stunt mention #040220

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independentartistbuzz · 3 years

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Good News, Good Music 1.0

Here we are at the end of 2020. We don’t need to tell you that this has been a very hard year. We are feeling beaten down by the bad news and music is the one thing that lifted our spirits again and again and saw us through. We have partnered with our friends at Cyber PR Music to bring you a series of GOOD News from artists who carried on making music in spite of all of the insanity that was happening and continues to grip us. We have cried listening to some of the tracks, felt deeply inspired and yes we laughed as well. What we have seen is the Cyber PR artist community is rich and varied - there are artists from all across the USA included as well as Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, France, Sweden, The UK, Germany and Scotland.

So - we bring you part 1 of our 4 part series GOOD NEWS, GOOD MUSIC.

Please Follow the Spotify Playlist below to hear all of these amazing tracks.

Thanks to all of the artists who shared their music AND their good news.

JVMIE & Lionel Cohen | “We Will Rise Again”

Started A Collaboration From A Quarantine Hotel Room and Got Nominated For A Major Award

We had a crazy year but some great things came out of it! I was forced to leave LA and head back to Australia until things ‘calmed down’ but started a remote collaboration with LA based film composer Lionel Cohen - we received a grant from HOTA (Home Of The Arts Gold Coast) to create an album and we were just nominated for a HMMA Hollywood Music In Media Award :) The whole process of collaborating and talking every day was what helped me keep my sanity throughout this crazy year!

Perle Vybz | “Electric Dancefloor”

Almost Lost Her Partner To COVID And Took The Leap Of Faith To Release Music

My debut single 'Electric Dancefloor' was released on Dec 8th, against the odds. A few months ago , my partner almost lost his life (to COVID). He was hooked up on a ventilator and had a really rough time. At the same time, I lost my main source of income and so, during the pandemic lockdown I had more time on my hands to focus on my music. So I'm glad that in spite of what was happening around me I was able to take that leap of faith and get my music out there.

Arielle Silver | “What Really Matters”

Became Music Connection's Hot 100 Live Unsigned Artists and Bands and Top Prospects 2020 lists in their year-end issue

As COVID shut everything down in April, I leaned into my commitment to authentic connection and inspiring creative expression with the creation of two weekly livestreams: Tomes & Tunes, a weekly show where I interview songwriters about books, and Arielle's Acoustic Happy Hour, both of which are going strong. In June, I released a new album, A THOUSAND TINY TORCHES, along with two official music videos (one shot entirely during quarantine), which have been featured in American Songwriter, Music Connection, and more.And in September, in the wake of closing studios, my sweetheart and I launched a new online yoga studio, Bhavana Flow Yoga, with online classes, workshops, and retail.

Alongside my own sorrow at the pandemic, I have been living a year of creative expansion, and was recently featured in Music Connection's year-end issue on both their Hot 100 Live Unsigned Artists and Bands and Top Prospects 2020 lists.

Hannah Judson | “Deep Sea Diver”

Launched The Backwards Record Release Concept And It Worked!

The 2020 lockdown was an exploration of new ways of doing and connecting. Everything became an experiment as new processes were developed to replace the no longer actionable old ones. I launched the Backwards Record Release for "Stingray," a rock/folk collection of songs. The 8 week campaign started with a socially distanced concert in a chateau courtyard, was fueled by my new podcast the Hannah Judson Beat, conversations with women in music, and concluded with a capstone edition of MUSEfest Online, a music festival I normally produce in major cities that promotes women in music, film, art and culture. I stayed connected with colleagues and fans, envisioned future projects, and maintained momentum and enthusiasm for creative projects, present and future.

Evan Mazunik | “Comfort and Joy”

Funded, Recorded & Released A New Holiday Album

I’m grateful that I was able to successfully fund, record, release, and sell my new holiday album this year.

Eli Lev | “Anywhere We Can Go”

Released A Touching Global Fan Driven Music Video

youtube

I had a powerful experience this year when my music community from all across the world helped me create the music video for 'Anywhere We Can Go.' I was in happy tears editing it and seeing all these wonderful faces come together and make something truly special. Here it is and I hope it brings some joy to folks.

Jeff Oster | “Five Great Mountains”

Found Solace (And Music) In Mother Nature

youtube

I was lucky to spend three months in the fall of 2020 up in Vermont. In the midst of all of the turmoil, Mother Nature just kept on shining. I was able to create this video on my iPhone, in an attempt to capture her beauty.

Beca Dreams | “Calm Before the Storm”

Had A Creative Burst That Resulted In Ad Campaigns & New Singles

It’s been a very challenging year, and yet I’ve somehow managed to have some awesome wins I am super grateful for.

Partnered with Bounty to write/perform Quicker Picker Upper, currently streaming on all major platforms and has gotten over 7M views on Tik Tok and 150K streams on Spotify so far. Composed/performed song for an ad campaign for fashion designer Asher Levine on launching his new groundbreaking LED outerwear line (who’s recently worked with Doja Cat, Lil Nas, Lady Gaga). I also released 2 singles “Calm Before The Storm” and “Taking Time For Myself” and most recently was featured on “Dance Party In The Living Room” by UK producer Fritz von Runte, about making the most of the quarantine.

I feel so lucky to be making music and doing what I love, which has been a huge silver lining during these dark times.

AfriCali | “The Struggle”

Turned An Eviction Into A Special Retreat & Healing Place

Our landlord lost her pilates practice and couldn’t afford her Oakland home so

Our family of four with a baby due any month now had to figure it out and find the humanity in moving out before the lease was up. In the magic of mother earth and without knowing we were blessed with a beautiful place to be away and seven thousand feet above the mountains where we could have this beautiful bundle of joy. Which would turn into a special retreat healing place after our departure this past October.

Akira AK | “Pearl”

Completed His New Release Remotely Over Zoom

My "good news, good music" story is simply how I was able to release 2 major projects this year despite everything that is going on: putting out my second EP and my first music video. The EP in particular had been in the works for 3 years and was SO CLOSE to being done when everything started to shut down, so with the work of my engineer, we set up remote sessions via zoom that helped put the last song over the line and get the release out there! From there I was able to promote it with it's adjacent merch.

As far as my first music video is concerned; I was able to safely show up in person in NYC and film it with the help of a great videographer. The conceptualizing of the video is very special and I think speaks to the experiences some of us have had about going to that special place inside your head where you feel most powerful/comfortable/fierce to deal with whatever is going on externally. The promo for the video was also a success in terms of being able to schedule it on time and put it out there to hype the video itself. And once it was out it was really (unexpectedly) well received!

Those are just my personal success stories and I'm excited to see others' as well!

Monsterboy | “Ain’t Worth the Dime”

Played 60 Livestreams That Reached 7,000 Households

When my husband and I found ourselves without gigs and our small business closed, we decided to go live with our music and stay in touch with our fans. We cobbled together equipment from our home studio and gigging rig, going live in that first week. We really didn't know what to expect. The messages we got from people were so heartwarming, we built a little community for them night after night, reconnecting with existing fans and finding new. In total, we did over 60 live streams during the shutdown and reached over 7k households on some streams. Entertaining and interacting with people was our way to do our part for our community. A podcast found us via the streams and started hiring us to produce music for their shows from it.

Artist: Crotona P., Producer: Pablo Brownbeats | “Silk”

Forged An International Collaboration South Africa and the USA via A Chance Facebook Meeting

I'm Pablo Brownbeats, a producer who has been producing since my youth and creating music for the last 12 years. I just released my new Ep with Crotona P from Rochester New York featuring Street Da Villain, Dj Shawn Touch, KING Flamez all from Rochester New York and SOLO MAJITA from Free State South Africa. The African Ep is available on digital stores and Bandcamp. I enjoyed making this project and it will be an honor to share the leading single Titled Silk.

This project was recorded during the early days of Covid19. Me and Crotona met over Facebook and exchanged some few words and he agreed to do the single (silk) then African EP was born.

Scott Whitfield | “A Bi-Coastal Christmas, Vol. 1, by Scott Whitfield & Friends”

Released A Christmas Album That Features Artists Who Have Passed That Started Recording in 2004.

Despite the challenges, I was able to release a Christmas album on Bandcamp! It's available as a digital download OR a physical CD. This is the culmination of MANY years of work (some tracks date back to 2004, and, sadly, a few of the artists who played on them are no longer with us).

John Maksym | “Drinkin’ & Thinkin’”

Worked With 22 Collaborators Spanning 7 Countries and 16 Cities

I kicked off this year as a solo recording artist for the first time in my life and had an ambitious goal of releasing music every 5 weeks. When the pandemic struck, I had just started recording my 4th single in the studio and everything got shut down. Within a couple of weeks I was able to pivot and invest money into building my own little home studio, to continue to create. With every musician in the world stuck at home, I was able to connect with a dream team of collaborators who helped me finish the song that I had started and go on to record 8 more songs through remote session recording from their own home studios. All in all I worked with 22 collaborators, spanning 7 countries and 16 cities, which I would never have thought of doing had the world not been in lockdown. It also allowed me time to revise my original release plan and build a more robust plan to release a number of singles and eventually an album throughout 2021.

Stay tuned ...There’s more Good News Coming!

#2020 #2021 #independent artist buzz #indie music #music blog #spotify #spotify playlist #positive vibes #good vibes #cyberpr #cyberprmusic

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blackkudos · 4 years

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Bob Marley

Robert Nesta Marley, (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter and musician. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade. Over the course of his career Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for the legalization of marijuana, while he also advocated for Pan-Africanism.

Born in Nine Mile, British Jamaica, Marley began his professional musical career in 1963, after forming Bob Marley and the Wailers. The group released its debut studio album The Wailing Wailers in 1965, which contained the single "One Love/People Get Ready"; the song was popular worldwide, and established the group as a rising figure in reggae. The Wailers subsequently released eleven further studio albums; while initially employing louder instrumentation and singing, the group began engaging in rhythmic-based song construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which coincided with the singer's conversion to Rastafarianism. During this period Marley relocated to London, and the group typified their musical shift with the release of the album The Best of The Wailers (1971).

The group attained international success after the release of the albums Catch a Fire and Burnin' (both 1973), and forged a reputation as touring artists. Following the disbandment of the Wailers a year later, Marley went on to release his solo material under the band's name. His debut studio album Natty Dread (1974) received positive reception, as did its follow-up Rastaman Vibration (1976). A few months after the album's release Marley survived an assassination attempt at his home in Jamaica, which prompted him to permanently relocate to London. During his time in London he recorded the album Exodus (1977); it incorporated elements of blues, soul, and British rock, enjoyed widespread commercial and critical success.

In 1977, Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma; he died as a result of the illness in 1981. His fans around the world expressed their grief, and he received a state funeral in Jamaica. The greatest hits album Legend was released in 1984, and became the best-selling reggae album of all time. Marley also ranks as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide. He was posthumously honored by Jamaica soon after his death with a designated Order of Merit by his nation. In 1994, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked him No. 11 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Early life and career

Bob Marley was born on 6 February 1945 at the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Malcolm. Norval Marley was a white Jamaican originally from Sussex, whose family claimed to have Syrian Jewish origins. Norval claimed to have been a captain in the Royal Marines; at the time of his marriage to Cedella Malcolm, an Afro-Jamaican then 18 years old, he was employed as a plantation overseer. Bob Marley's full name is Robert Nesta Marley, though some sources give his birth name as Nesta Robert Marley, with a story that when Marley was still a boy a Jamaican passport official reversed his first and middle names because Nesta sounded like a girl's name. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child but seldom saw them as he was often away. Bob Marley attended Stepney Primary and Junior High School which serves the catchment area of Saint Ann. In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 70. Marley's mother went on later to marry Edward Booker, a civil servant from the United States, giving Marley two half-brothers: Richard and Anthony.

Bob Marley and Neville Livingston (later known as Bunny Wailer) had been childhood friends in Nine Mile. They had started to play music together while at Stepney Primary and Junior High School. Marley left Nine Mile with his mother when he was 12 and moved to Trenchtown, Kingston. She and Thadeus Livingston (Bunny Wailer's father) had a daughter together whom they named Claudette Pearl, who was a younger sister to both Bob and Bunny. Now that Marley and Livingston were living together in the same house in Trenchtown, their musical explorations deepened to include the latest R&B from United States radio stations whose broadcasts reached Jamaica, and the new ska music. The move to Trenchtown was proving to be fortuitous, and Marley soon found himself in a vocal group with Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Beverley Kelso and Junior Braithwaite. Joe Higgs, who was part of the successful vocal act Higgs and Wilson, resided on 3rd St., and his singing partner Roy Wilson had been raised by the grandmother of Junior Braithwaite. Higgs and Wilson would rehearse at the back of the houses between 2nd and 3rd Streets, and soon, Marley (now residing on 2nd St.), Junior Braithwaite and the others were congregating around this successful duo. Marley and the others did not play any instruments at this time, and were more interested in being a vocal harmony group. Higgs was glad to help them develop their vocal harmonies, although more importantly, he had started to teach Marley how to play guitar—thereby creating the bedrock that would later allow Marley to construct some of the biggest-selling reggae songs in the history of the genre.

Musical career

1962–72: Early years

In February 1962, Marley recorded four songs, "Judge Not", "One Cup of Coffee", "Do You Still Love Me?" and "Terror", at Federal Studios for local music producer Leslie Kong. Three of the songs were released on Beverley's with "One Cup of Coffee" being released under the pseudonym Bobby Martell.

In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith were called the Teenagers. They later changed the name to the Wailing Rudeboys, then to the Wailing Wailers, at which point they were discovered by record producer Coxsone Dodd, and finally to the Wailers. Their single "Simmer Down" for the Coxsone label became a Jamaican No. 1 in February 1964 selling an estimated 70,000 copies. The Wailers, now regularly recording for Studio One, found themselves working with established Jamaican musicians such as Ernest Ranglin (arranger "It Hurts To Be Alone"), the keyboardist Jackie Mittoo and saxophonist Roland Alphonso. By 1966, Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left the Wailers, leaving the core trio of Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh.

In 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, and moved near his mother's residence in Wilmington, Delaware in the United States for a short time, during which he worked as a DuPont lab assistant and on the assembly line at a Chrysler plant in nearby Newark, under the alias Donald Marley.

Though raised as a Catholic, Marley became interested in Rastafari beliefs in the 1960s, when away from his mother's influence. After returning to Jamaica, Marley formally converted to Rastafari and began to grow dreadlocks.

After a financial disagreement with Dodd, Marley and his band teamed up with Lee "Scratch" Perry and his studio band, the Upsetters. Although the alliance lasted less than a year, they recorded what many consider the Wailers' finest work. Marley and Perry split after a dispute regarding the assignment of recording rights, but they would continue to work together.

1969 brought another change to Jamaican popular music in which the beat slowed down even further. The new beat was a slow, steady, ticking rhythm that was first heard on The Maytals song "Do the Reggay." Marley approached producer Leslie Kong, who was regarded as one of the major developers of the reggae sound. For the recordings, Kong combined the Wailers with his studio musicians called Beverley's All-Stars, which consisted of the bassists Lloyd Parks and Jackie Jackson, the drummer Paul Douglas, the keyboard players Gladstone Anderson and Winston Wright, and the guitarists Rad Bryan, Lynn Taitt, and Hux Brown. As David Moskowitz writes, "The tracks recorded in this session illustrated the Wailers' earliest efforts in the new reggae style. Gone are the ska trumpets and saxophones of the earlier songs, with instrumental breaks now being played by the electric guitar." The songs recorded would be released as the album The Best of The Wailers, including tracks "Soul Shakedown Party," "Stop That Train," "Caution," "Go Tell It on the Mountain," "Soon Come," "Can't You See," "Soul Captives," "Cheer Up," "Back Out," and "Do It Twice".

Between 1968 and 1972, Bob and Rita Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer re-cut some old tracks with JAD Records in Kingston and London in an attempt to commercialise the Wailers' sound. Bunny later asserted that these songs "should never be released on an album ... they were just demos for record companies to listen to". In 1968, Bob and Rita visited songwriter Jimmy Norman at his apartment in the Bronx. Norman had written the extended lyrics for Kai Winding's "Time Is on My Side" (covered by the Rolling Stones) and had also written for Johnny Nash and Jimi Hendrix. A three-day jam session with Norman and others, including Norman's co-writer Al Pyfrom, resulted in a 24-minute tape of Marley performing several of his own and Norman-Pyfrom's compositions. This tape is, according to Reggae archivist Roger Steffens, rare in that it was influenced by pop rather than reggae, as part of an effort to break Marley into the US charts. According to an article in The New York Times, Marley experimented on the tape with different sounds, adopting a doo-wop style on "Stay With Me" and "the slow love song style of 1960s artists" on "Splish for My Splash". An artist yet to establish himself outside his native Jamaica, Marley lived in Ridgmount Gardens, Bloomsbury, during 1972.

1972–74: Move to Island Records

In 1972, Bob Marley signed with CBS Records in London and embarked on a UK tour with soul singer Johnny Nash. While in London the Wailers asked their road manager Brent Clarke to introduce them to Chris Blackwell, who had licensed some of their Coxsone releases for his Island Records. The Wailers intended to discuss the royalties associated with these releases; instead, the meeting resulted in the offer of an advance of £4,000 to record an album. Since Jimmy Cliff, Island's top reggae star, had recently left the label, Blackwell was primed for a replacement. In Marley, Blackwell recognised the elements needed to snare the rock audience: "I was dealing with rock music, which was really rebel music. I felt that would really be the way to break Jamaican music. But you needed someone who could be that image. When Bob walked in he really was that image." The Wailers returned to Jamaica to record at Harry J's in Kingston, which resulted in the album Catch a Fire.

Primarily recorded on an eight-track, Catch a Fire marked the first time a reggae band had access to a state-of-the-art studio and were accorded the same care as their rock 'n' roll peers. Blackwell desired to create "more of a drifting, hypnotic-type feel than a reggae rhythm", and restructured Marley's mixes and arrangements. Marley travelled to London to supervise Blackwell's overdubbing of the album which included tempering the mix from the bass-heavy sound of Jamaican music and omitting two tracks.

The Wailers' first album for Island, Catch a Fire, was released worldwide in April 1973, packaged like a rock record with a unique Zippo lighter lift-top. Initially selling 14,000 units, it received a positive critical reception. It was followed later that year by the album Burnin' which included the song "I Shot the Sheriff". Eric Clapton was given the album by his guitarist George Terry in the hope that he would enjoy it. Clapton was impressed and chose to record a cover version of "I Shot the Sheriff" which became his first US hit since "Layla" two years earlier and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 14 September 1974. Many Jamaicans were not keen on the new reggae sound on Catch a Fire, but the Trenchtown style of Burnin found fans across both reggae and rock audiences.

During this period, Blackwell gifted his Kingston residence and company headquarters at 56 Hope Road (then known as Island House) to Marley. Housing Tuff Gong Studios, the property became not only Marley's office but also his home.

The Wailers were scheduled to open 17 shows in the US for Sly and the Family Stone. After four shows, the band was fired because they were more popular than the acts they were opening for. The Wailers disbanded in 1974, with each of the three main members pursuing a solo career.

1974–76: Line-up changes and shooting

Despite the break-up, Marley continued recording as "Bob Marley & The Wailers". His new backing band included brothers Carlton and Aston "Family Man" Barrett on drums and bass respectively, Junior Marvin and Al Anderson on lead guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl "Wya" Lindo on keyboards, and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on percussion. The "I Threes", consisting of Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, and Marley's wife, Rita, provided backing vocals. In 1975, Marley had his international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica, with a live version of "No Woman, No Cry", from the Live! album. This was followed by his breakthrough album in the United States, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which reached the Top 50 of the Billboard Soul Charts.

On 3 December 1976, two days before "Smile Jamaica", a free concert organised by the Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in an attempt to ease tension between two warring political groups, Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley's home. Taylor and Marley's wife sustained serious injuries but later made full recoveries. Bob Marley received minor wounds in the chest and arm. The attempt on his life was thought to have been politically motivated, as many felt the concert was really a support rally for Manley. Nonetheless, the concert proceeded, and an injured Marley performed as scheduled, two days after the attempt. When asked why, Marley responded, "The people who are trying to make this world worse aren't taking a day off. How can I?" The members of the group Zap Pow played as Bob Marley's backup band before a festival crowd of 80,000 while members of The Wailers were still missing or in hiding.

1976–79: Relocation to England

Marley left Jamaica at the end of 1976, and after a month-long "recovery and writing" sojourn at the site of Chris Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, arrived in England, where he spent two years in self-imposed exile.

Whilst in England, he recorded the albums Exodus and Kaya. Exodus stayed on the British album charts for 56 consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love" (a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's hit, "People Get Ready"). During his time in London, he was arrested and received a conviction for possession of a small quantity of cannabis. In 1978, Marley returned to Jamaica and performed at another political concert, the One Love Peace Concert, again in an effort to calm warring parties. Near the end of the performance, by Marley's request, Michael Manley (leader of then-ruling People's National Party) and his political rival Edward Seaga (leader of the opposing Jamaica Labour Party) joined each other on stage and shook hands.

Under the name Bob Marley and the Wailers 11 albums were released, four live albums and seven studio albums. The releases included Babylon by Bus, a double live album with 13 tracks, were released in 1978 and received critical acclaim. This album, and specifically the final track "Jamming" with the audience in a frenzy captured the intensity of Marley's live performances.

1979–81: Later years

Survival, a defiant and politically charged album, was released in 1979. Tracks such as "Zimbabwe", "Africa Unite", "Wake Up and Live", and "Survival" reflected Marley's support for the struggles of Africans. His appearance at the Amandla Festival in Boston in July 1979 showed his strong opposition to South African apartheid, which he already had shown in his song "War" in 1976. In early 1980, he was invited to perform at 17 April celebration of Zimbabwe's Independence Day.

Uprising (1980) was Bob Marley's final studio album, and is one of his most religious productions; it includes "Redemption Song" and "Forever Loving Jah". Confrontation, released posthumously in 1983, contained unreleased material recorded during Marley's lifetime, including the hit "Buffalo Soldier" and new mixes of singles previously only available in Jamaica.

Illness and death

In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of a toe. Contrary to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match that year but was instead a symptom of already-existing cancer. Marley turned down his doctors' advice to have his toe amputated (which would have hindered his performing career), citing his religious beliefs, and instead, the nail and nail bed were removed and a skin graft was taken from his thigh to cover the area. Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980.

The album Uprising was released in May 1980. The band completed a major tour of Europe, where it played its biggest concert to 100,000 people in Milan. After the tour, Marley went to the United States, where he performed two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of the Uprising Tour.

Marley's last concert occurred at the Stanley Theater (now called The Benedum Center For The Performing Arts) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 23 September 1980. Just two days earlier he had collapsed during a jogging tour in Central Park and was brought to the hospital where he learned that his cancer had spread to his brain.

The only known photographs from the show were featured in Kevin Macdonald's documentary film Marley.

Shortly afterward, Marley's health deteriorated as his cancer had spread throughout his body. The rest of the tour was canceled and Marley sought treatment at the Bavarian clinic of Josef Issels, where he received an alternative cancer treatment called Issels treatment partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks, and other substances. After eight months of effectively failing to treat his advancing cancer Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica.

While Marley was flying home from Germany to Jamaica, his vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. Marley died on 11 May 1981 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital), aged 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life."

Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his guitar.

On 21 May 1981, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga delivered the final funeral eulogy to Marley, declaring:

His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation.

Legacy

Awards and honours

1976: Rolling Stone Band of the Year

June 1978: Awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations.

February 1981: Awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit, then the nation's third highest honour, .

March 1994: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1999: Album of the Century for Exodus by Time Magazine.

February 2001: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

February 2001: Awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

2004: Rolling Stone ranked him No. 11 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

2004: Among the first inductees into the UK Music Hall of Fame

"One Love" named song of the millennium by BBC.

Voted as one of the greatest lyricists of all time by a BBC poll.

2006: A blue plaque was unveiled at his first UK residence in Ridgmount Gardens, London, dedicated to him by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and supported by Her Majesty's Foreign Office.

2010: Catch a Fire inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Reggae Album).

Other tributes

A statue was inaugurated, next to the national stadium on Arthur Wint Drive in Kingston to commemorate him. In 2006, the New York City Department of Education co-named a portion of Church Avenue from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn as "Bob Marley Boulevard". In 2008, a statue of Marley was inaugurated in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia.

Internationally, Marley's message also continues to reverberate among various indigenous communities. For instance, the Australian Aboriginal people continue to burn a sacred flame to honour his memory in Sydney's Victoria Park, while members of the Native American Hopi and Havasupai tribes revere his work. There are also many tributes to Bob Marley throughout India, including restaurants, hotels, and cultural festivals.

Marley evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums. In light of this, author Dave Thompson in his book Reggae and Caribbean Music, laments what he perceives to be the commercialised pacification of Marley's more militant edge, stating:

Bob Marley ranks among both the most popular and the most misunderstood figures in modern culture ... That the machine has utterly emasculated Marley is beyond doubt. Gone from the public record is the ghetto kid who dreamed of Che Guevara and the Black Panthers, and pinned their posters up in the Wailers Soul Shack record store; who believed in freedom; and the fighting which it necessitated, and dressed the part on an early album sleeve; whose heroes were James Brown and Muhammad Ali; whose God was Ras Tafari and whose sacrament was marijuana. Instead, the Bob Marley who surveys his kingdom today is smiling benevolence, a shining sun, a waving palm tree, and a string of hits which tumble out of polite radio like candy from a gumball machine. Of course it has assured his immortality. But it has also demeaned him beyond recognition. Bob Marley was worth far more.

Several film adaptations have evolved as well. For instance, a feature-length documentary about his life, Rebel Music, won various awards at the Grammys. With contributions from Rita, The Wailers, and Marley's lovers and children, it also tells much of the story in his own words. In February 2008, director Martin Scorsese announced his intention to produce a documentary movie on Marley. The film was set to be released on 6 February 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday. However, Scorsese dropped out due to scheduling problems. He was replaced by Jonathan Demme, who dropped out due to creative differences with producer Steve Bing during the beginning of editing. Kevin Macdonald replaced Demme and the film, Marley, was released on 20 April 2012. In 2011, ex-girlfriend and filmmaker Esther Anderson, along with Gian Godoy, made the documentary Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

In October 2015, Jamaican author Marlon James' novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, a fictional account of the attempted assassination of Marley, won the 2015 Man Booker Prize at a ceremony in London.

In February 2020, the musical Get Up Stand Up!, the Bob Marley Story was announced by writer Lee Hall and director Dominic Cooke, starring Arinzé Kene as Bob Marley. It will open at London's Lyric Theatre in February 2021.

Personal life

Religion

Bob Marley was a member for some years of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. He became an ardent proponent of Rastafari, taking its music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene. He once gave the following response, which was typical, to a question put to him during a recorded interview:

Interviewer: "Can you tell the people what it means being a Rastafarian?"

Marley: "I would say to the people, Be still, and know that His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is the Almighty. Now, the Bible seh so, Babylon newspaper seh so, and I and I the children seh so. Yunno? So I don't see how much more reveal our people want. Wha' dem want? a white god, well God come black. True true."

Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq baptised Marley into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, giving him the name Berhane Selassie, on 4 November 1980, shortly before his death.

Family

Bob Marley married Alpharita Constantia "Rita" Anderson in Kingston, Jamaica, on 10 February 1966. Marley had many children: four with his wife Rita, two adopted from Rita's previous relationships, and several others with different women. The official Bob Marley website acknowledges 11 children.

Those listed on the official site are:

Sharon, born 23 November 1964, daughter of Rita from a previous relationship but then adopted by Marley after his marriage with Rita

Cedella born 23 August 1967, to Rita

David "Ziggy", born 17 October 1968, to Rita

Stephen, born 20 April 1972, to Rita

Robert "Robbie", born 16 May 1972, to Pat Williams

Rohan, born 19 May 1972, to Janet Hunt

Karen, born 1973 to Janet Bowen

Stephanie, born 17 August 1974; according to Cedella Booker she was the daughter of Rita and a man called Ital with whom Rita had an affair, nonetheless, she was acknowledged as Bob's daughter

Julian, born 4 June 1975, to Lucy Pounder

Ky-Mani, born 26 February 1976, to Anita Belnavis

Damian, born 21 July 1978, to Cindy Breakspeare

Other sites have noted additional individuals who claim to be family members, as noted below:

Makeda was born on 30 May 1981, to Yvette Crichton, after Marley's death. Meredith Dixon's book lists her as Marley's child, but she is not listed as such on the Bob Marley official website.

Various websites, for example, also list Imani Carole, born 22 May 1963 to Cheryl Murray; but she does not appear on the official Bob Marley website.

Marley also has two notable grandsons, musician Skip Marley and American football player Nico Marley.

Association football

Aside from music, association football played a major role throughout his life. As well as playing the game, in parking lots, fields, and even inside recording studios, growing up he followed the Brazilian club Santos and its star player Pelé. Marley surrounded himself with people from the sport, and in the 1970s made the Jamaican international footballer Allan "Skill" Cole his tour manager. He told a journalist, "If you want to get to know me, you will have to play football against me and the Wailers."

Personal viewsPan-Africanism

Marley was a Pan-Africanist and believed in the unity of African people worldwide. His beliefs were rooted in his Rastafari religious beliefs. He was substantially inspired by Marcus Garvey, and had anti-imperialist and pan-Africanist themes in many of his songs, such as "Zimbabwe", "Exodus", "Survival", "Blackman Redemption", and "Redemption Song". "Redemption Song" draws influence from a speech given by Marcus Garvey in Nova Scotia, 1937. Marley held that independence of African countries from European domination was a victory for all those in the African diaspora. In the song "Africa Unite", he sings of a desire for all peoples of the African diaspora to come together and fight against "Babylon"; similarly, in the song "Zimbabwe", he marks the liberation of the whole continent of Africa, and evokes calls for unity between all Africans, both within and outside Africa.

Cannabis

Marley considered cannabis a healing herb, a "sacrament", and an "aid to medication"; he supported the legalisation of the drug. He thought that marijuana use was prevalent in the Bible, reading passages such as Psalms 104:14 as showing approval of its usage. Marley began to use cannabis when he converted to the Rastafari faith from Catholicism in 1966. He was arrested in 1968 after being caught with cannabis but continued to use marijuana in accordance with his religious beliefs. Of his marijuana usage, he said, "When you smoke herb, herb reveal yourself to you. All the wickedness you do, the herb reveal itself to yourself, your conscience, show up yourself clear, because herb make you meditate. Is only a natural t'ing and it grow like a tree." Marley saw marijuana usage as a vital factor in religious growth and connection with Jah, and as a way to philosophise and become wiser.

Discography

Studio albums

The Wailing Wailers (1965)

Soul Rebels (1970)

Soul Revolution (1971)

The Best of The Wailers (1971)

Catch a Fire (1973)

Burnin' (1973)

Natty Dread (1974)

Rastaman Vibration (1976)

Exodus (1977)

Kaya (1978)

Survival (1979)

Uprising (1980)

Confrontation (1983)

Live albums

Live! (1975)

Babylon by Bus (1978)