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Arts
Friday, January 20, 2017 — 5
The Flaming Lips’ new
album inventive, dreamy
While the band’s latest offering is uneven relative to past releases,
the psychedelic project shows a group still grounded in innovation
If
nothing
else,
The
Flaming Lips are known for
their experimental ventures
into the world of psychedelic
rock. Some of these leaps have
turned out extremely well in
the past, while
others
have
misfired
and
rocketed
into
more confusing
territory. Given
the
range
of
quality
—
especially their more recent
output — I wasn’t entirely
sure what to expect from
Oczy Mlody, which details
a
primarily
drug-oriented
journey through the mind. My
doubt did resurface a couple of
times throughout the album,
but overall I was pleasantly
surprised by The Flaming
Lips’ sonic explorations and
their ability to keep diving
into new musical territory,
even after over 30 years of
experimentation.
The
album
opens
with
the titular “Oczy Mlody,” a
rhythmic instrumental track
that lets the listener know
what tone to expect from the
album: dreamy with a bit of
an edge, a musical feeling
that seeks — and finds — a
balance between repetition
and freshness. The Flaming
Lips use this song to launch
themselves into a 12-track
evaluation
of
the
many
emotional and mental subtexts
of love, drugs and violence. The
first few songs are lyrically
intriguing
because
they
introduce some of the most
central preoccupations of the
album — the violent confusion
of
“How??,”
the
troubled
idealism of “There Should
Be Unicorns,” the despairing
frustrations of “Sunrise (Eyes
of the Young).” These songs
are pensive and colorful, and
they are tied together by their
strange
representations
of
balance between the clear and
the cloudy, the real and the
imagined.
It is not until a few songs
into the album,
however,
that
things
begin
to
get
more
interesting. The
catchy
near-
instrumental
“Nigdy
Nie
(Never No)” maintains the
rhythmic feeling of the songs
before it, while introducing
a
little
more
edge
and
inventiveness in terms of the
relationships
between
its
instruments
—
sometimes
harsh and fuzzy, sometimes
fresh and clear, always quick
and insistent — and its sparse,
almost choral vocals. “Galaxy
I Sink” and “Listening to
the Frogs with Demon Eyes”
both embody the interesting
dichotomy
between
vivid
clarity and lost abstraction and
fear that is presented by drug
use and love alike. “Galaxy
I Sink” effectively employs
many different instruments
and sounds — from the hard
plucking of a guitar to the
anxious surge of violins to
an undertone of what sound
like crickets, and “Listening
to the Frogs with Demon
Eyes” brings the cricket-like
noises back, along with the
croaking of frogs. “One Night
While Hunting for Faeries and
Witches and Wizards to Kill,”
a psychedelic journey through
some fairyland, is to me the
most lyrically impressive song
of the whole album, detailing
a strange story of violence
met with healing, of confusion
met with clarity and leading
toward love.
Almost all of these songs
explore
the
relationship
between — and at times union
of — clarity and confusion,
trust and distrust. “Almost
Home (Blisko Domu)” recedes
from the album’s earlier strains
of fantasy with philosophical
questioning, expressions of
uncertainty, and disillusioned
recollections of “my fragile
dream / of how the world is
full of love.” Then comes the
closing track, the single “We a
Famly.” Miley Cyrus emerges
as the voice of the beloved
figure often addressed and
alluded to throughout the
album, and finally responds to
all of the album’s troubled-yet-
hopeful uncertainties about
love and life, affirming, “It’s
you and me, we a family.” This
song represents a definitive
decision on the part of The
Flaming Lips to end this
album, for all its doubts and
anxieties, on a note of hope,
faith, and togetherness. Brief
laughter comes after the final
proclamation of “We a family,”
closing out the song, and with
it, the album.
Oczy Mlody does see a
few low points – some of its
earlier songs blend together
musically, and the lyrics of,
for
instance,
“Do
Glowy,”
are nothing to drop one’s
jaw at. However, it comes
together for a well-conveyed
message about the merits of
existential inquiry, about love
in the face of confusion and
darkness. Dreamy, fantastical
and musically inventive, it is
a drug trip, a love story and,
above all else, a verification
that The Flaming Lips still
have something to offer the
world of psychedelic rock.
BELLA UNION
The Flaming Lips in concert.
LAURA DSZUBAY
Daily Arts Wrtier
NY rap makes a comeback
It’s been a minute since a New
Yorker reigned as the hottest
rapper. Without counting Jay-Z’s
post-retirement victory laps, it’s
probably been more than a decade.
The Big Apple, the birthplace of
hip-hop, was long-considered rap’s
pinnacle city. But in the early 2000s,
once 50 Cent’s debut album, Get
Rich Or Die Tryin’, cooled off, so did
the mainstream attraction to New
York’s gritty, street-core lyricism.
By then, other major metropoles —
namely, Atlanta, Los Angeles and
Chicago — had already established
their own musical movements, ones
that were inspired by alternative,
perhaps
more
progressive,
creative energies and have largely
dominated the rap charts since.
Today,
among
post-lyrical
mumblers like Young Thug and
Future, or even the soulful smooth-
talkers such as Chance the Rapper
and Anderson .Paak, a lot of the
always-on-beat rhymers that have
historically been deemed top-notch
can seem strikingly out of place.
It’s hard to imagine Fabolous, or
Jadakiss, or Cam’ron, or even Nas
earning a number one rap song in
2017 — not because they’ve lost their
technical abilities (note: they have
NOT!), but because of ideological
static that exists between them and
the culture’s youngsters.
Today’s kids have spent their
entire lives having a hip-hop
hierarchy passed down to them
by threatened adults who often
conclude by saying that kids will
just never understand. So those
same kids went out and built
something new, something that’s
entirely their own, something that
they can definitely understand.
They launched a sort of rainbow
revolution that aims not just to
adjust, but to entirely rebuild hip-
hop’s foundation by establishing a
new culture of acceptance within
the genre. Less fazed by the gun
talk and bullyish aggression of
earlier eras, modern fans are most
effectively drawn to artists that
oppose
convention.
Successful
boasts no longer broadcast body
counts
and
bank
receipts;
instead, they brag about social
media followers. Like Quavo
from Migos said: “They bustin’
for Instagram / Get your clout
up.”
Alas, there is now a new
movement at-large, one led
by traditionalist gatekeepers
(such as the once-influential
radio DJ Funkmaster Flex) in
vocal opposition to the mere
existence of young, cartoonish,
somewhat controversial hip-hop
stars (think Lil Yachty and Lil Uzi
Vert). While the ethical feud has
already produced tangible results
(lest we ever forget that mash-
up .gif of Funk Flex screaming
“Motherf*cking baaaars!!” after Lil
Uzi Vert moans, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Yeah!” on “Bad and Boujee”), it has
also catalyzed larger conversations
within hip-hop and revitalized an
ongoing search for New York’s next
prophetic rap star.
Perhaps hip-hop’s changing of
the guards was inevitable, a natural
result of the genre’s spreading
across the country, the world and,
most recently, multiple generations.
But try breaking that logic down
to a purebred New Yorker donning
Timberland boots and rapping
every word of Nas’s Illmatic. Let
me know how that goes for you
(warning: it won’t go well). So, in
2017, I am betting on the Big Apple
to strike back and properly reassert
its vitality. There is a whole wave of
fresh, young talent coming out of
the five boroughs. You better expect
these artists to come out shooting.
Dave East
Dave East is the oldest, most
traditional and, well, least new of
these newcomers. But he’s been
inching towards the spotlight for
a few years and, having recently
been named a member of XXL
Magazine’s
current
freshman
class, is sure to continue garnering
attention
in
2017.
Stemming
from Harlem, East blew up after
self-releasing his “Black Rose”
mixtape in 2014, a project that
proved his technical skills to be
absolutely superior to his peers’,
and eventually earned the attention
of hip-hop legend Nas, who went on
to sign the emcee to his label, Mass
Appeal Records.
East
released
his
first
commercial project, Hate Me Now,
in 2015, and though it demonstrated
both his willingness to evolve into a
wholistic songwriter and his ability
to hold his own bar for bar with
established veterans like Jadakiss,
Pusha T and Styles P, it still left
some emotional layers untapped;
there was room for the rapper to go
deeper. Thankfully so, because in
September of 2016, East released his
second project with Mass Appeal,
Kairi Chanel, and while its songs
maintain the gritty, or graphic, or
even intimidating tone of his earlier
work, they’re equally defined by the
artist’s heart and self-awareness.
Kairi Chanel is an almost perfect
rap album: The skits are cinematic,
vividly
capturing
disconnected
conversations
in
a
way
that
transplants listeners straight to
the sidewalks of Harlem, and its
songs are finer tuned than any of
Dave East’s earlier work. “Keisha”
is a wildly impressive street
parable reminiscent of Biggie’s “I
Got A Story To Tell”; “From the
Heart” offers a fresh take on a
classic format: rapping to a friend
who’s incarcerated; “Don Pablo” is
evidence of how organically East
can find infinite rhymes in a single
syllable; “Don’t Shoot” might be
the most chilling commentary on
police brutality to date. Dave East
raps with the street knowledge
of an industry legend in an era
that probably won’t pay him the
attention he deserves. If that
sounds dope to you, it’s time to start
listening.
A. Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
I swear, gun to my head, I still
can’t pick my favorite A. Boogie
harmony. So, to speed things up,
I’ve settled on two: First is the
deep-cutting,
“I’m
done
with
these Balenciagas, they keep on
fucking my socks up / Nothing but
foreigns behind us, we used to pull
up in that Honda,” which appears
on his prophetic single, “Not A
Regular Person,” chronicling his
evolution from aspirational Bronx
kid to rookie rap star. But then, how
could I not also mention the perfect
bridge on “Jungle,” which made
me comfortable with his singsongy
rap style in the first place? “I was
walking in the rain with my Timbs
on, stepping over puddles full of
pain / It’s a big storm, 13 on my
Balmains / It’s a big storm, in the
club, love to make it rain.” Those are
some of the most quintessentially
New York lyrics ever written, even
with A. Boogie’s unwillingness to
disguise his major “feels.”
Born Artist Dubose and raised
in the Highbridge neighborhood
of the Bronx, New York, A. Boogie
released
his
debut
mixtape,
Artist, on Valentine’s Day last
year, and after “My Shit,” one of
its featured tracks, turned into an
essential summer hit, he found
himself opening for Drake and
Future’s Summer Sixteen Tour
at Madison Square Garden.
Since then, he has self-released
a commercial EP, “TBA (The
Bigger
Artist),”
to
prolong
his residency on New York
radio. The five-song project
is filled with hits: “Timeless
(feat. DJ SPINGKING)” is a club-
ready anthem that inherits its vibe
from Island dancehall music; “99
Problems & Messages” is a boastful
romance rap that pays discrete
homage to tracks by Jay-Z and 50
Cent; “Baecation” is a singsong one
for the lady fans.
Boogie harmonizes like most
other post-Drake aspirers, but
writes lyrics that feel more directly
informed by those of the great
horror-rap era wordsmiths. Even
as a rookie, he’s proven himself
capable of establishing a unique,
recognizable sound that caters
to a wide audience. He can be a
braggadocious gangster or even
threatening, but more often he is
emotional, musical and publicly
romantic. That’s the kind of balance
needed to succeed in 2017, so
I’m betting on A. Boogie. A lot of
listeners already have.
Don Q
Don Q first emerged rapping
aside A. Boogie on their crew
mixtape, Highbridge the Label: the
Takeover Vol. 1, counteracting his
cohort’s more melodic moments
with slick, piercing verses that add
extra street credibility to proven
hits “Bag on Me” and “Bando.” He
already has the nasal twang of a
seasoned emcee (think Jim Jones
yelling out, “Haaarh-luhm”) and
on his debut solo project, “Don
Season,” which released in July
and is hosted by Don Cannon, he
explores a diverse set of musical
spaces, effortlessly proving himself
capable of creating within each one.
Don Q told REVOLT that he’s a fan
of Jay-Z, particularly “the way he
puts words together and flows,”
but he also “fell in love with the
punchlines” by listening to Cassidy,
Loyd Banks and Fabolous.
“Don
Season”
is
packed
beginning to end with straight
bars — there’s no other way to say
it. “By Accident” is a fully-equipped
street banger reminiscent of old
Dipset tracks and some Meek Mill
heaters; “Look At Me Now” plays
something like an unforgiving
memoir; “In Love With The Music”
and
“Everyday”
demonstrate
Don’s range and musical ambition;
“Everything Lit” is a firm reminder
that his lyrical acrobatics alone are
enough to carry a song. Be sure to
watch out for Don Q in the new year
and expect him to keep bullying
his generation with hard-hitting
verses. The entire Highbridge Label
just might turn into the next big
movement.
Young M.A
You know Young M.A. You may
not know that you know Young
M.A, but you know Young M.A.
You’ve heard her breakout hit —
“Oou” — at least a dozen times this
year, maybe a hundred if you’re in
a committed hip-hop circle, and
you’ve seen her perfectly meme-
able lyric — “Like I ain’t got a hitter
to the left of me” — on countless
internet timelines, unprecedentedly
accompanying your friends’ non-
gangster Instagram posts. You’ve
also seen Young M.A, whether
you’ve realized it or not, in the
Beats By Dre commercial (“I’ve Got
No Strings”) that has, like, every
celebrity ever (Pharrell, Travis
Scott, DJ Khaled, Amber Rose,
Nicki Minaj and more) parading
around
in
pastel
headphones.
During her spot, the Brooklyn-
raised
spitter
is
appropriately
shown
strolling
through
an
alleyway, staring back at a woman
that’s just passed and broadcasting
her approval with a staple moan —
“Oooou!” — that is among the elite
few audio tracks allowed into the
grandiose commercial.
Young M.A first blew up in 2014
after her barrel-emptying verse
on posse cut “Brooklyn (Chiraq
Freestyle)”
proved
vicious
enough to tick off of Dr. Boyce
Watkins, a social commentator
who struck back against the
rap
song
and
accidentally
earned it more attention. Since
then,
she’s
been
acquiring
credibility
mostly
through
underground
mixtapes
and
Soundcloud
freestyles
that
reimagine famous rap songs
into
more
street-appropriate
forms, but in late 2015, the emcee
commercially released six songs
from her SleepWalkin mixtape
as an EP, and ever since “Oou”
turned her into superstar, those
tracks have been earning a lot of
attention. “Hood Love” is proof
that even gritty gangster rap can
come in approachable packages;
“Through the Day” is a chilling
reflection on the death of her older
brother and the ways in which
that motivates her to grind
harder; “Get This Money” is
well-equipped to be a radio hit,
which is probably why it just
recently got a music video.
Young M.A might be one of
the coldest female spitters —
spitter, not artist, not musician,
rapper, remember those? —
to ever hold a microphone,
yet
she’s
openly
expressed
weariness with working with
others who might want to box
her in by emphasizing her
gender for marketing purposes.
She turned down an acting spot
on Fox’s hit television show
Empire; she’s still weighing
contracts
from
multiple
records labels and isn’t in any
rush to sign. “Nobody really
said anything that we weren’t
already doing, so I definitely
gotta big-up my team,” she
told Elle. In 2016, Young M.A
received public endorsements
— either through collaboration
or vocal praise — from Beyonce,
Serena Williams, Nicki Minaj,
50 Cent, The Game, French
Montana, Meek Mill and more.
The spotlight is already on her;
the ball is in her court. You
better expect Young M.A to
steal the show this year!
SAL DIGIOIA
Daily Arts Writer
MUSIC REVIEW
Oczy Mlody
The Flaming Lips
Warner Bros.
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
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