teddy's takes 1/25/21
lets all just try and have good days
“good days” is the song we deserve
“good days” is unequivocally the best record i’ve heard since the pan*emic started.
at a time when tik tok anthems are as inescapable as they are exorbitant, the release of “good days” is a moment that feels permanent; a quality mainstream artists have been struggling to attain since the world has attempted to social distance.
sza cultivated the ambiguous & dynamic feelings that have ceaselessly presented themselves in this pandemic, wrapped them in a track that brings as much solace as it does introspection and delivered on the progression her hiatus promised. truly astonishing.
it’s so rare that our favorite artists comeback live up to the sheer magnitude of our spoiled expectations, but if it was to happen to anyone—im glad it’s sza.
“bad boy” made me very, very sad
i don’t say this lightly: juice wrld was a once in a generation talent.
he was the direct result of all the music that ruled my iPod classic; from his range being reminiscent of the cold sentimentally of the fray and fall out boy, to his inexhaustible presence on the mic and ingenuity, much like his forefathers kid cudi and lil wayne—he was like a quilt of the internet age.
his magnetic energy with young thug has shown its face before, with records like “mannequin challenge” (note: my favorite song of 2019), and i already knew i was in store for an instant hit.
it was beyond bittersweet watching the last lyrical lemonade video with juice wrld featured. him and cole bennett always knew exactly what to bring out of each other, a creative trapeze that never tipped lopsided.
juice wrld was poised to be the biggest rapper on the planet. he had everything and more that this generation of artists has to offer, and nothing is more daunting than the fact that we will never see his life flesh out.
rip to a legend in the making.
how tf do we find new music in a panoramic
something i’ve been thinking about recently is how the pandemic (sorry i had to say it right this time) has changed the way we discover music.
i’ve always preferred and pursued word-of-mouth recommendations for finding new music. i’ve vehemently avoided algorithmic methods to discover fresh music (hence the reason i don’t have a tik tok), well as much as one can in our time, and this has served very challenging for me in the pandemic.
i have always found the best way for me to be introduced to new artists is a. the way their music interacts with crowds at shows and b. trusted co-signs from the few music experts (my friends) that i talk to regularly. though b. still serves as the highest-quality methodology to finding artists like blxst and mac ayers, it still is not serving me the platter i need.
then, this week i got my high horse and googled a song i found off g herbo’s tik tok (which i later found out was titled “the beatbox challenge”. this led me to spotemgotem’s viral hit “beatbox”. i almost felt ashamed that i had caved to finding songs off of an app i usually scoff at people for being addicted to.
this moment lent me to a moment of reflection: i have to adapt with the times or be left in the echo-chamber of my previous taste. there is no shame in using clubhouse or triller or tik tok to find unknown music you enjoy, because if we deserve anything during the shittiest era of my existence (and there have been a few to choose from) it’s happiness.
for most of us, our musically inclined friends are farther than an arm’s reach and live shows feel like they are from a mythic existence. so, in conclusion, utilize whatever you can to get out of the trap of listening to the handful of artists we are coddled into listening to by some of the many algorithms that rule our lives, even if it takes compromising pride.
tldr; i learned this week not to be such a fuckin miserable dick about finding music and to adapt to the times, at least a little, before i’m a relic.
what should you listen to this week:
‘prince’ by prince (1979)
i have completely blacked out last march for obvious reasons, but one of the few things i remember is a promise i made to myself was to attempt to listen to all of prince’s music.
this has been an overwhelming pursuit to say the least. not only does he have a plethora of music to sift through, but even understanding his aura is a challenge unlike any other. calling prince an enigma feels like an understatement to say the least, and months after i started my pursuit i only feel inches closer to understanding his allegorical stature.
so this week with the death of legendary interviewer larry king (rip), i stumbled upon an interview with the two and it jump-started my curiosity.
i leaned into this by listening to my “prince” by prince vinyl and throughout the whole experience i truly struggled with comprehending that it was made by a sole human being. the album is like a beautiful cluster-fuck of everything i love about music, and to be honest my knees hurt from dancing so much during my listening session. it was one of those albums i was genuinely disappointed ended so quickly, yet was enthralled that it was able to pack such a punch in 41 minutes.
this project was so perfect that i genuinely felt stupid that i hadn’t listened to it in full till now. sometimes when i listen to key artists like d’angelo and stevie wonder, i sit back and ponder how a person can express themselves so beautifully. just, trust me, give this album the time it so readily deserves.