Musings on music, memories, and madness
2018 was an interesting year for music. It was like a mid-level playoff team – excellent depth throughout but few truly stand-out performers. There were quite a number of good releases to include on a best-of list, most of which I would classify as simply solid, but the few top tier albums were truly outstanding. I don’t like assigning absolute rankings (i.e., #1, #2, etc.), so I broke it down into the following salient categories:
Continue reading “2018 Music Recap”
Vince Staples is the master of sharp left turns. His go-to move is to set you up with a line that leads in one particular direction only to deviate quickly into unexpected terrain, as he does with lines like “I need to fight the power but man I need that new Ferrari,” or, “My momma was a Christian, Crip walkin’ on blue waters.” In addition to this knack for startling juxtapositions, his delivery is dirty and deliberate and deadpan, painting distinctive pictures while leaving you unsure as to just how serious he is at any given time. In the lead-up to his last release, Big Fish Theory, he said of the album to LA Weekly, “It’s Afro-futurism. This is my Afro-futurism. There’s no other kind.” He followed that up with an interview with Trevor Noah of The Daily Show in which he completely blew that comment off, stating, “I like saying stuff about black people to white people.” When Noah persisted, asking, “So that doesn’t mean anything?”, Vince responded, “Of course not.” Continue reading “Stuff I Like: Vince Staples – FM! Review”
