Fireworks, I Feel Like Glitter
Tyler, the Creator’s Tiny Desk performance is a representation of the creative energy he emits regularly. From the incorporation of fans into his performance, as well as the ambiance he created for the performance, Tyler grabs the attention of everyone immediately without saying a word. On July 21st, 2017 he released his fourth studio album, Flower Boy, also known by the alternative title Scum Fuck Flower Boy. Some months later in December, he went down to Washington D.C. and performed for a video series of performances known as NPR Music Tiny Desk. The concept is exactly like it sounds–various artists from all different genres of music performed at a small desk, surrounded by items and knick-knacks from all the different performers that have been a part of the series.
I have always been a fan of Tyler’s music and would say that I’ve been a fan throughout his development as an artist. However, for some strange reason, outside of a single “See You Again” ft. Kali Uchis, I never gave the Flower Boy album a listen when it first came out. I didn’t hear any of the other songs until I watched his Tiny Desk performance, which was absolutely amazing. Other Tiny Desks typically start with the artist behind the desk, possibly introducing themselves, the song or album that it is from, or they will immediately jump into the song. Tyler, on the other hand, starts this performance entirely out of view of the camera. Rather, you hear the voices of the two backup singers Kaye Fox and Kiandra Richardson singing the opening to the song “Boredom” for almost two minutes, while Tyler is off to the side with the crowd. Just in time for his verse, he runs behind the desk and begins, “Boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom.” I must say, what an entrance! The initial lack of visual stage presence followed by the dive into his verse is an experience not many artists can provide. There is no breakage in the verse, so when we hear him gasp at the end, he suddenly seems very humane. This moment really helped to engage the crowd. To build on crowd engagement, as an outro to this song Tyler asks an audience member her name, which he then incorporates into the song singing “Nana in this motherfucker, Nana in this motherfucker, she can call me.” The song concludes and Tyler pauses to have a conversation with the audience about the tea he was drinking and then asks the crowd to join on around the second chorus of, “See You Again” because he “likes that shit.”
This performance sculpted my experience of listening to Flower Boy for the first time because the overall sound and aura were very different. Listening to the Tiny Desk created a sense of closeness to the songs that I did not feel when listening to the recorded album. The main difference was the vocals, the strong feminine presence in the live performance was absent throughout the album, it was definitely something I missed. This is especially true for the third and final song of the performance, “Glitter.” The recorded version has only Tyler’s vocals throughout the whole song. Contrary to this, the Tiny Desk performance has the assisted vocals of Fox and Richardson, which makes the track significantly better. The album versions of the song lacked a warm feeling that Fox and Richardson executed perfectly. Additionally, the song “Boredom” on the album features Rex Orange County. Hearing his rendition versus the performance of the girls created a clear division in which I found to be preferable.
FlowerBoy offers a complete about-face from the music that I listened to when Tyler first began came out in the early 2010s. From projects like Goblin and Bastard to Flower Boy shows true character development and change in Tyler’s personality. As drastically different as these projects may be, they all have a common denominator of unique, musical genius. This Tiny Desk performance shows progression in his character and stage presence, proving that Tyler, the Creator has undergone great growth, and is multifaceted. From the controversy early on in his career about being a devil worshipper to now making music that makes you feel like a firework, Tyler, the Creator has great depth and is putting it on display.
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The First Decade of ‘Ye
He’s your favorite artist’s favorite artist. Born in Atlanta, Georgia but raised in Chicago, Illinois, Kanye West has managed to influence generations of music that have not even come. He entered the game producing for Roc-A-Fella Records until he felt that he was too talented of a songwriter to not put his skills to use. The combination of producing and songwriting, along with an explosive personality and hardship gave fans an outstanding decade of musical genius. Our focal point will be the start of his career to what many would call the peak of his career, and the influence this has had on generations to come.
The College Dropout
In 2004 West released his first album The College Dropout. This album was incredibly experimental and different, as it included gospel, rap, soul, and much more, all while maintaining its core as a hip-hop album It amazes me how many times the video of him performing one of the hits of the album “All Falls Down” before it was released resurfaces on social media today. Before it was “All Falls Down,” at the 2003 Def Poetry Jam it was a poem called “Self Conscious.” Watching the video still makes the hairs on my neck stand up. Other hits on this album include the iconic music video to go along with “New Workout Plan,” a song that was recorded after a life-threatening car crash “Through the Wire” and Grammy award-winning “Jesus Walks.” This album gave us the infamous line in which West states, “Everybody wanted to know what I would do if I didn’t win… I guess we’ll never know.” West entered the industry as an artist with absolute bangers. Aside from this, he created a character-the Dropout Bear-which was something not many artists had done to that point. It wasn’t exactly an alter-ego of any kind, rather just a symbol that when you saw it, you immediately knew who it resembled. There were many others to do it before him also, however, the bear may be the most iconic of them all. One artist that comes to mind when I think of the impact this bear has had is Logic with his ATM 301 robot.
Late Registration
One year later in August of 2005, West released Late Registration, which again used a combo of strong music videos to assist in the popularity of his songs. This album was important because of the social impact West was making just after it was released. Hurricane Katrina struck three days following the release and during a telethon for Red Cross Relief West stated, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” A powerful statement indeed. This is by no means the first time an artist has referred to socio-political inequality, as we have songs by N.W.A., Tupac Shakur, and many others that give very similar messages. West found a way to do by using his platform, separate from music. That aside, the singles “Touch the Sky” and “Gold Digger” had vibrant music videos to go along with them that stick in people’s heads. Further, it would be no surprise if these songs were played on the radio on any given day. And yes, everyone sings along. A major point of West’s career at this point was samples. This a was a trend that carried over into many present-day artists’ production. He’s well known as the sample king for a reason. A hidden gem of this album is the track “Late.” This track was not widely available and would not be the last time West hides tracks. This influenced people like Childish Gambino, who had a hidden “Beach Picnic” version to his hit single 3005. The idea of a hidden track, something where the fans have to do their research to uncover is a construct West heavily influenced.
Graduation
Two years later, West released my personal favorite-Graduation. This 2007 album featured several songs that were made with the intention of getting stadiums of people on their feet. He succeeded. Singles like “Champion,” “Stronger,” and “Good Life” had the music industry in a chokehold for a long time. West composed a tremendous ballad on “I Wonder,” and got very personal about his relationship with Jay Z on “Big Brother.” I find this album especially interesting because there are alternate endings, one of them being the track “Good Night,” which is a smooth, subtle ending. Contrary to this, the ending I love was “Bittersweet Poetry” featuring John Mayer. This track offers such an interesting contrast, it is exactly as the title states, a perfect blend of singing and rapping throughout the track. A point of impact this album has is rooted in its synth-based production. Songs like “Stronger” opened the door for songs “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga and “Right Round” by Flo Rida in immediate years following this albums release. Most importantly, this album deviated from much of what rap music was in this era. This album was released in a sales competition against 50 Cent’s Curtis, which consisted of hardcore gangster rap. Following the first week of sales, West edged out 50 Cent to mark the transition into a new wave of mainstream hip-hop. This opened the door for so many artists such as Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, J. Cole, and Kid Cudi, as their music did not follow the hardcore route. Graduation is largely credited as the marker for the shift from conventional gangster rap to more free-flowing, rap about what you want hip-hop
808s & Heartbreak
Bring in the influence. West’s fourth studio album really breaks down several barriers within hip-hop, the largest one autotuning. Songs like “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless” pioneered this autotune movement along with other artists like T-Pain and Lil Wayne. This album helped influence a large portion of our current generation’s artists as their niche resides in the realm of autotune, some of the most notable artists are Juice WRLD, Travis Scott, and Lil Uzi Vert. Another agenda West helped to pioneer with this album was “emo” rap with the assist by Kid Cudi. Before this album, hip-hop and rap music never really indulged with feelings of sadness. Being that this album was recorded and released following the passing of West’s mother, we were given a very vulnerable side of his musical genius. “Welcome to Heartbreak,” “Street Lights,” “Bad News,” and “Coldest Winter” are all very emotionally charged songs where West shows how materialism, the loss of his mother, and separation from his fiancée have impacted him significantly. Not only did West influence people musically with this album, but his fashion impact was especially strong in this era. Cue the shutter shades, bubble vests, and South of France haircut. It was impossible for me to go outside during this era without seeing any one of these, or any combination of these, on any given day. How could I forget? The Air Yeezy one prototypes, worn at the Grammys. This shoe along with the Louis Vuitton sneaker collaboration the followed shortly after was one of the foundational stones for recording artists having signature shoes. Since then, we see artists like J. Cole and Rihanna with Puma, Future with Reebok, Drake with Jordan/Nike, Wiz Khalifa with Converse, and many more. These collaborations are largely in part due to the impact West had in the fashion community.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Many argue that this album is West’s best project to date. They have good reason to. Let’s start with the range that this album presents through its features and contributors. Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Kid Cudi, Jay Z, Rick Ross, Pusha T, John Legend, Elton John, and Bon Iver. This array of musical talent all on one album together can feel overwhelming. Yet, it was executed perfectly. 2010 proved to be a year that Ye could not miss. Taking elements of all his older albums whilst incorporating new ones helped to create a true gem-a masterpiece. The point of impact I would like to key in on is the artwork. The attention to detail West has is uncanny, as this album offered five alternative album covers. The primary one being a man with a green bottle in hand engaging in intercourse with what appears to be a phoenix, as the woman has wings. The next, a ballerina holding a wine glass. The third is an abstract piece, a distortion of awkwardly proportioned images of a caricature-like image of West. The last two are very similar, one pictures a severed head wearing a crown and a sword sticking out of it in the clouds, the other pictures the crown in the same position with the sword sticking into the grass with clouds in the background. These images each offer a unique meaning in relation to the album, but in all, they add to the masterpiece; A great deal of detail in the artwork of albums following MBDTF was a direct result of West’s influence.
Yeezus
“Yeezy season approachin’ / Fuck whatever y’all been hearin’” he opens on this experimental album. Yeezus consists of heavy synthesizers, electronic sounds, and distortions. This album is definitely an acquired taste for many, myself included. Upon first listen, my initial thoughts were, “the hell is going on?” The opening track “On Sight” gives you 34 seconds to just reflect on your thoughts while distortion plays before leading into West’s verse. West uses this album to address the controversy that has surrounded him his whole career. He addressed exactly who he thinks he is on “I Am a God,” he nods to the materialism and poor financial decisions of people in the Black community on “New Slaves,” and the destruction of relationships that comes with fame on “Blood on the Leaves.” This album’s influence is evident in especially within the last five years of music, as artists like Trippie Redd and XXXTentacion, as we began to see more artists follow the trend laid down in Yeezus which consisted of fewer lyrics and more sounds. Yeezus opened the door for heavily synthesized songs. He started this trend before West began using synths in Graduation, however with Yeezus, we see a generation of artists achieve great success following this groundwork. Future’s DS2 came out shortly after this and tracks like “I Serve the Base” act as a testimony of how important synths are. The shift Kanye made in this album is largely because of his relationship with Hudson Mohawke, also known as TNGHT. TNGHT’s electronic approach to music and collaborations with West created a popular segue into EDM as we know it today. The work done between these two helped to break barriers as artists became more experimental following the release of Yeezus.
In short, Kanye West’s first ten years and influence, synonymous.
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Cruisin’ in My Six-Four
The song I’ve chosen for record club is Kaash Paige’s “’64” off her debut EP Parked Car Convos. Kaash was 18 years young when she released this project in 2019. I found this album while scrolling on Instagram one day when I heard it in the background of the video, which led me to immediately surf the comments for what it was called. The song is very straightforward. Kaash talks about driving around her city in a ’64 Chevy Impala, picking up friends, and just having a good time. At the time when I first heard the song, I couldn’t relate at all. I didn’t have a car to go driving around in and my friends didn’t either. Now that I have a car, this song resonates with me so much more.
The tempo of this song is what sticks out to me the most. This isn’t a slow song. Or at least, this is not what comes to mind when I think of a slow song. It offers a nice in-between speed that is maintained throughout the song. It starts with a fade-in of the beat before Kaash directly goes into the chorus. Maintaining a steady pace throughout, the song carries you into the scene that she paints with the lyrics. “Cruisin’ in my six-four,” is the lyric that proves to be the most vital, as it is under-layered with, “I be riding through your city, yea” which helps to entrain listeners. The song opens with a repeated beat created on a synthesizer for the very brief intro. This synth carries on throughout the song, giving the track an electric aspect that I enjoy. Kaash talks about things that youth can relate to. These lyrics entrain me and makes me feel everything that is being said.
Tempo: The speed of the rhythm of a composition.
Fade: A gradual reduction/raise of the level of the audio signal
Chorus: Song Section – The chorus is intended to be the most memorable part of the song. It is repeated several times so that it sticks in your mind. Several other tricks are used to help it stick. Commonly a chorus: Contrasts with the verse, rhythmically, melodically, lyrically, harmonically, and/or dynamically. A chorus is repeated at least once, both musically and lyrically. Usually several times. It is more intense, has more energy. A chorus usually has a greater musical and emotional intensity than the verse. Lyrically: The main message and /or concept are expressed in the chorus.
Synthesizer: An electronic instrument developed in the1960’s that produces a wide variety of sounds by combining sound generators and sound modifiers in a single unit with a unified control system.
Intro(duction): A preparatory movement, usually in a slow tempo to introduce …
Entrainment: the bio musicological sense refers to the synchronization of organisms to an external perceived rhythm such as human music and dance.
