for the love of music
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By Luke Modugno
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
While most view music as a form of artistic expression, others use it as a means to an end. Kanye West’s latest studio album “Donda” is perhaps the most potent example of music as utility. Ye finds himself again at a low-point in his life with 27 beautifully cathartic, solace-seeking songs which see the 44-year-old confronting the death of his mother and a failed marriage with Kim Kardashian.
Since the death of his mother in 2007, Kanye has hardly had time to cope with her passing. Around the same time, Ye and his fiance Alexis Phifer split dramatically. About a year later, Kanye was thrusted into what was one of the most infamous periods in his career after interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMA’s. For the next several years, Ye fought an uphill battle to stay in the good graces of the public. Later entering into the fashion industry, meticulously building a multi-billion dollar business and returning to religion, Kanye’s life has been running at nothing short of lighting speed since his ascent to stardom.
Perhaps the fact that the pandemic forced everyone (yes, even Kanye West) to slow their lives to a staggering halt is why 2021 is the year we receive a cathartic tribute to Donda West, nearly 14 years after her passing.
Coming off what was widely considered Kanye’s weakest project, JESUS IS KING, Ye takes many of the gospel-inspired elements and fuses them with avant-garde trap-soul sound he honed in projects like “The Life of Pablo” and “Yeezus.” However, the project has influence from nearly every other album in Ye’s discography.
“New Again” sounds as celebratory and futuristic as something scraped off of 2007’s “Graduation.”
The guest appearance of Kid Cudi on the alluringly spacial “Moon” sounds like the sonic brother of “KIDS SEE GHOSTS.”
The visceral soundscapes employed on “God Breathed” are akin to many that can be found on both “The Life of Pablo” and “Yeezus.”
The track “Junya” with Playboi Carti represents a creative and somewhat stunning trap gospel fusion, a sonic direction that seems to guide much of “Donda.”
Duality has been a continual motif in Kanye’s music and “Donda” is no exception to the rule. During the first half of the project, Ye seems to be basking in sin. “I’ll be honest, we all liars/guess who’s going to jail tonight?” Ye sings on the second track featuring Jay-Z titled “Jail.” Donda's first twelve songs are reactionary, they paint a picture of a broken man who gave way to sin in the face of grief and despair. “I was out for self, I was up for sale but I couldn’t tell/Made the best tracks and still went off the rail” harmonizes Ye on “Hurricane.”
Sonically, the first twelve tracks on “Donda” are uptempo, energetic and boast some of the most notable guest appearances on the record. “Off the Grid” and “Junya” see Ye recruit Playboi Carti’s infectious trap intensity, while Baby Keem and Travis Scott deliver aggressive features on the trunk-rattling “Praise God.”
“Donda” noticeably pivots starting with track 11 titled “24.” The ever-impressive Sunday Service Choir joins Kanye as he mourns the passing of a close friend, Kobe Byrant. Kanye opened up about the shock of his sudden passing in an interview with GQ Magazine, “He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him,” West said. “We came up at the same time, together. Kobe was one of my best friends.” The grandiose organ requires a high-level signing performance which Kanye delivers. The track represents a paradigm shift of how Ye approaches the rest of “Donda.”
Instead of numbing his pain through sinful deeds, Kanye surrenders to Christ in order to heal himself following the string of traumatic events that have left an indelible scar on his soul. The shift in perspective also comes with a shift in the musicality, as gospel influence seeps into tracks like “Lord I Need You,” “Keep My Spirit Alive,” and the angelic closer “No Child Left Behind.”
Although the tracklist is littered with what will become timeless Kanye West songs, the definitive penultimate track “Come to Life” encapsulates the “Donda” era both sonically and philosophically.
With a spine-tingling piano and roaring synth played by Tyler, The Creator gracing the background of the record, Kanye expresses his regret and sorrow in the face of losing his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, asking “Ever wish you had another life? I’ve been feelin’ low for so long.” Singing about how he wished he had listened closer to her dreams, aspirations, wants, and needs, Kanye feels empty in her absence. “I'm free,” Ye sings repetitively in the closing seconds of the song. It's an expression we’ve heard from him before (“Ghost Town”). However, this time feels decidedly different. Kanye has overcome the death of his mother, best friend, and the loss of his family. Somehow, someway, he has continually found peace in religion despite how low life tends to bring him. He’s willing to put his ego and pride aside for his family, a realization clearly years in the making. “Come to Life'' is vulnerable, despondent, telling, gorgeous.
While mostly polished, Donda is not free of criticism. Ye’s latest project is by far his longest, clocking in at one hour and 48 minutes. At times, the album is bloated, insisting upon itself on multiple occasions. The outro of “God Breathed,” is dragged on far too long, while the remix versions of four of the tracks don’t offer much, simply extending Donda’s runtime. Additionally, the mix on plenty of songs sounds incomplete, including “Tell the Vision,” “Pure Souls,” and Kanye’s verse on “Hurricane.”
Donda is the acceptance of duality for Kanye. The conflicted Gemini, Kanye is willing to move past his former life, leaving behind the pain, hurt, and struggle of it in order to preserve the peace he has found through his family. “New me over the old me,” sings Ye on “24.” Somewhat unsurprisingly, Kanye West has produced brilliance yet again.
Junya pt. 2 (feat. Playboi Carti & Ty Dolla $ign)
Lord I Need You
Come to Life
Rating: 8.5
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By Luke Modugno
Staring into a fire is an unequivocally human experience. Watching idly by as the heat of the flames melt away the old to give way to something new seems almost therapeutic, that is when those flames aren’t engulfing your own sanctuary.
Isaiah Rashad’s The House Is Burning, presents the pressing duality of this very scenario. “God’s not going to save you. I mean, he can. Because I believe in God. But God alone is not going to save you,” Rashad said in an interview with FADER Magazine. “When your house is on fire, are you going to go into that bitch to get the personal possessions, or are you just going to trust in yourself and in God that you’re going to be able to bounce back?”
Following up his debut masterpiece Cilvia Demo with an LP as intricate as his 2016 effort The Sun’s Tirade, had most rap enthusiasts pinning Zay as the crown prince of the game.
However, Zay was dealing with his own struggles at the time. From essentially giving up rapping and becoming dead broke to battling drug addiction and eventually entering rehab, putting out a new album was the least of Zay’s concerns over the past five years. “I was doing whatever I could to escape,” said Rashad. “Being out in L.A. without anything anchoring me down fucked me up. You can float off out here. You can get lost in this bitch.”
Since our first introduction to his music, Isaiah Rashad has proven time and time again his mastery of presenting profoundly existential concepts with a potent joviality. The House Is Burning is really no different, as Zay recounts his struggles over his music hiatus over energetic yet psychedelic trip-hop production.
Photo Courtesy of Carlos Gonzalez
Perhaps the most definitive example of the dichotomy that is The House Is Burning is its two opening tracks, “Darkseid” and “From the Garden.” On the album opener, Zay speaks of attempting to stay out of trouble and the perils of the music industry, comparing them to DC Comics’ infamous villain Darkseid. On the ladder, Zay absolutely lays loose with braggadocious bars over an 808 ridden beat featuring Lil Uzi Vert.
The project has plenty of sonic diversity, while mostly focusing on the theme of recovery and what Zay has been up to these past five years. Tracks like “RIP Young,” “Wat U Sed,” and “Chad” have a head-bopping energy, as well as unmistakable Tennessee trap influence. Zay’s skill and versatility as an R&B singer shine through as he slows things down on “Claymore,” “Headshots (4r Da Locals),” and “Score.”
As usual with Zay projects, the guest list on this project is stacked to the brim with talent. SZA, Smino, 6LACK, Amindi, and Iamdoechii provide beautiful vocals on their respective tracks, allowing Zay to handle the rapping. Jay Rock, Duke Deuce, Jay Worthy, YGTUT, and Uzi lend compelling guest verses (especially Jay Rock, wow).
“Score” is a clear standout from the tracklist. Over silky Kenny Beats production, Zay harmonizes about a lost lover. SZA and 6LACK accompany him on the chorus and their own verses, giving the song a velvety smoothness.
But perhaps the best song on the record, and one of Zay’s most honest songs is the closer of The House Is Burning titled “HB2U.” Opening with a conversation, Zay immediately establishes the stakes of the predicament that the title of the album implies. “Is there a heaven?” a child asks, a voice replies with affirmation. The child asks “How do you know that?” prompting the stale voice to reply “You don’t.” The first half of the record is triumphant, a declaration of victory for Zay who has been to hell and back, or rather into the burning house and back. Zay asks “If you don’t ever get yourself straight, who the fuck is you gon’ help mane?” “HB2U’s” first half is a recollection of the lessons Zay has learned: trusting in oneself to pull through even when it seems your life is collapsing around you. A tear-jerking celebration of a life renewed, “HB2U” takes a darker turn after a beat switch.
After a brief pause, a hallucinogenic melody cuts in with Zay harmonizing “You are now a human being.” This chorus possibly refers to the fact that most of Zay’s previous work was recorded under the influence of alcohol. The House Is Burning was recorded without the tempting escapism of being drunk, again hammering home the theme of the project. “This ain’t as hard as it gets, but I'm still on drugs,” sings Zay in the closing seconds of the project. “HB2U’s” second half acts as an intimidating warning to Zay himself, to continue his progress in life, or lose it all again and succumb to his old ways. “Am I cheating myself, I'm imploding.” As a whole, the song is haunting, victorious, revealing, sobering, a masterpiece.
“The House Is Burning” is a concept executed with razor-edge precision. A passionate, soulful project with the healing power of 100 hours of therapy, Isaiah Rashad has blessed his fans with something truly sentimental.
RIP Young
Wat U Sed (feat. Iamdoechii & Kal Banx)
HB2U
Listen to The House Is Burning here:
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Small by Nicky Saxton-Garcia, 2021.
Jamahl Edwards, better known under the moniker Small, is a musician, graphic designer, and photographer from Oakland, California. He released his debut single “SMALL world” in September of 2020 (You can read my review of the single here). Since then, Small has continuously released music over the past nine months. On Valentine’s Day of this year, Small came out with their first album entitled Please Cry 4 Me. It is on Please Cry 4 Me where Small truly introduces the many faucets of their artistry to the audience. An emotional, introspective and genre bending project, Please Cry 4 Me is only the start for what Small wants to do with his music. I had the pleasure to have a conversation with Small about the what and the why behind their artistry.
Kaila Cherry, StereoVision (KC) : Tell us a bit about yourself.
SMALL: My name is Jamahl. I would also like to say that my pronouns are he/they. I’ve been moving in this direction for a while, but I’m ready to solidify this for myself and be more comfortable in understanding my existence as a Black person to be not identified within these white hetreonormative ideas of expression. As I move through this world and try to do these performances of gender, I have tried to move away from the performance of male. Our perceptions of gender roles are fundamentally engrained in white supremacy. The reason why I started there is because I feel like that truly explains me as a person. The first thing I like to say to people that really hits home the point is “I’m a former imperial export turned current colonized subject.” This explains both the conditions of my existence and the context of my art. Because, y’know, art is all about existing and people perceiving existence and expressing existence.
KC: You have previously dabbled in photography, filmmaking, and graphic design. What inspired you to focus on music as your primary art form?
SMALL: The way I want to answer that is to first talk about my influences because they are the reason I got into music. I am a Kanye stan at heart. His influence on my music is outstanding. Growing up listening to Kanye, it’s not just music, it’s like time periods. That’s how strong of an emotional connection I feel to his music.
Another artist who I think is the reason I make music is of course Earl Sweatshirt. I get compared to him all the time. At first a part of me was like “I’m not Earl Sweatshirt, I’m different, I’m Small!” But also it’s like, Earl Sweatshirt is tight as fuck bro, I love it. If you’re applying the same lens you’re using when you listen to Earl as when you listen to me, that’s exactly why I make music. There’s also MF Doom, James Blake, and Justin Vernon from Bon Iver.
Graphic design work by Small, 2020
I make music because it’s one of those feelings where you hear a song and think, “Fuck, I gotta make something like that!” or you see something and think, “Fuck, I gotta make something like that!” As you mentioned earlier, I’m a person who tries to do a little bit of everything. Or a lot of everything, I don’t feel as if I do a little, I feel like I do a lot. They’ll be niggas who don’t even know I make music that’ll approach me with the graphic design tip and I haven’t designed a poster or anything in over a year. Or they’ll be niggas who only know me from photography. It’s very funny the different worlds I build within whatever medium I’m working in.
I think I’ve worked in so many different mediums because there are so many ways to tell a story. And one day I was like, “Man, I gotta make some music.” I’ve been playing music for a long time, but of course playing and making music are two different things. I took guitar and piano lessons when I was a kid but I always hated it. I felt like a nerd and was like “I’m off this!” when I was like 12. But music has always been a part of my life. I’ve always been engaging with it in a sense.
KC: One thing that I noticed while listening to your music is all the ways in which you manipulate your vocals. On some songs, your voice is heavily layered and distorted almost to the point where you can barely hear what you’re saying, like a depressed Playboi Carti. Then there are tracks that are extremely melodic with a pitched up, almost cartoony sound. What inspires you to use voice modulation throughout your work?
Small by Nicky Saxton-Garcia, 2021
SMALL: When I’m vulnerable but I want a sort of shield around me, that’s when I bring in my layers, my modulation, my distortion. Yeah, I’m vulnerable, but there are so many me’s within these layers. There’s power in numbers. It feels like something I have to do, in terms of the modulation. I also think about Tyler and how he modulates his voice for different projects. I remember as a kid reading r/tyler/golfwang and being like “Oh my god! That’s what that means?” and being blown away by the amount of storytelling that pitching a voice can do.
When I pitch up my voice, it takes on its own character and that’s what that means for me. It’s more than just pitching my voice, too. It’s how I say certain things, the tone I have when I rap on certain songs. Different stories are going to be told in different ways. I want people to feel more connected and I want to be more vulnerable, so I utilize different tools to reach that goal.
KC: I admire how your music morphs over time to express different emotions and experiences. What do you mainly want to express through your music? What messages do you want people to take away from your work?
SMALL: My music is my Notes app. It’s like a time capsule, a memento. It’s an expression of “Here’s what I’m on right now.” My music is a part of me, it’s my world. And that’s what it is. I’m building a universe.
An artist I’d like to shout out is Anna Kamp, also known as August Kamp (@guskamp). She is a musician who has helped me and been there with me through my growth process as an artist. We make music together in a band called Nor There. We approach music like an anthology. She used the word first. It’s an MCU but for songs. My favorite thing for artists to do is to easter egg drop a reference to an older track or project. It reminds me of the days when I used to look things up on random Reddit threads or read Genius lyrics to “get it.” I want to build something immersive like that. I want to build a universe of Small.
KC: Let’s talk about what you’re working on now. You have a single coming out on July 2nd. Tell me a bit about that.
SMALL: The single is called “Past Me (Keep My Notes).” I’m working on this album with a lot of people. There are about ten artists working on this project with me in terms of production, being a featured artist, or even just their voice being on the album. But for the most part, this album and “Past Me” was an accident. I recently got access to a good piano to record music on and I was just fucking around on it until eventually, I was like “Damn, I should get people to sing on this.” So I invited my friends over to record and sent them tracks to lay vocals on until I had so many songs that I thought “This is a project. These songs are so good, I can’t just sit on these!” The tracks clearly had a story to them.
The process of putting this album together has allowed me to feel more comfortable as a musician. I’m trying to prove myself as a musician as a whole using different tools in music to make a song. This is the first project where the majority of the songs are just my production and instrumentation, just my musicianship.
The way I think about it is like this: Please Cry 4 Me is me presenting to you my world in a sense of “Hey, this my first project, and this a world that I’m building.” And there are rough patches, and of course that album isn’t as refined as my next one, but it’s still my world. It’s still my presentation of me to you. With my next project, I’m showing you the first celestial object within the universe that the world resides in. But there is so much more to explore.
With “Past Me,” first known as “Keep My Notes,” it’s a song that’s taken around two months to make. A lot of drafts, a lot of sending back and forth, a lot of rerecording, and a lot of time to feel comfortable with how it was developing. I’m proud of “Past Me.” I couldn’t have that song be the last song on my hard drive, so I had to release it. It started with me just recording piano one day. I got a melody and I wrote some lyrics down. With this single and my upcoming album Lunar Touches, like I said, it’s just me being a musician and not feeling like I have to overstate things. I want to let my music speak for me. I want you to feel every note I play, I want you to feel everything that I do. That’s how “Past Me” came about.
The actual song is about losing someone in your life. They have a part of you, and the song is saying, “You can keep that part of me.” Keep my notes, keep the little things I’ve left around you where I’ve made my impact on you in a way. Like my lyrics say, “You can keep my notes/ I left them there on purpose.” It’s insignificant to me, but you can have them. I’m past you, I’m past this, I’m past whatever that was and I’m moving on. Like I said, I’m leaving the atmosphere of my world. “Past Me” can be about a person, or a thing, or a specific experience, but it’s just that feeling of being past certain things while also understanding that there’s a piece of you still there.
KC: You come back to referencing “your world” and “your universe” to describe the space in which you exist in. My last question for you is this: What is your world and what is it like for you to live in it?
SMALL: My world is Small. It’s like a fly-on-the-wall observation perspective. That’s how I rap. I’m observing it all and telling you what I see. For myself, most importantly, and for others secondly. I feel like I have this ability when I become Small to be very attentive and conscious of my surroundings. It’s like that meme from last fall where everyone else is partying and the dude is in the back sipping juice and thinking “They don’t know…” That’s exactly my world. Here are these things that I’m noticing. Here are these things in my orbit. Here are these musicians, artists, and beautiful people who make up my world. It’s hard for me to very distinctly define my world, but it’s Small. That’s my world. It’s also constantly being built. Things are always added, never taken away.
If you would like to join Small’s orbit, you can find their music on Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud. “Past Me (Keep My Notes)” is out now across all streaming platforms. You can further keep up with Small via his Instagram @onlysmallworks. His Twitter, another variation of his Notes app, is a treat you’ll just have to find for yourself. Thanks for reading! Make sure to follow us on Instagram to stay up on the hottest new music:
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By Luke Modugno
In many ways, Tyler, The Creator has come so far as an artist, without actually going anywhere at all. Perhaps the best example of this artistic dichotomy is the presence of his newest masterpiece record CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.
The LA rapper is back with his sixth studio album, continuing his consistent musical output of dropping new projects every odd year. Spanning 16 tracks and 52 minutes, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is one of Tyler’s longer projects. While the project is longer and features no central narrative, Tyler keeps the listener captivated with near flawless production, intriguing flows, bombastic bars regarding traveling the world, and unexpected featured artists.
From the opening seconds of the intro track “SIR BAUDELAIRE,” Tyler is taking a major pivot from the artistic direction he pursued with IGOR. Scrapping the lo-fi, synth jazz, neo-soul littered production that defined his last project, Tyler uses “SIR BAUDELAIRE” to ensure the listener understands that CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is heading back to Tyler’s roots. Co-written by Westside Gunn and produced by Conductor Williams, Tyler clearly wants to prove himself as a bonafide rapper, which he does successfully here and across the record.
Along with the opening track, the first three on CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST reinforce the idea that Tyler is locked in as a rapper for the duration of the project. From the hard baselines of “CORSO” and “LUMBERJACK,” to visceral head nodders “MASSA” and “MANIFESTO” featuring Odd Future standout Domo Genesis, many of the soundscapes favored by Tyler harken back to the early days of his sonic progression that appear on Wolf, and even Goblin.
While Tyler makes sure to remind us that he is one of the quintessential rappers in the game currently, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST still features melodic, neo-soul strokes that keep newer fans of Tyler’s music satiated. “RISE!” is a clear highlight of the record, with Tyler taking subliminal shots at A$AP NAST while flowing flawlessly behind a hook aided by DAISY WORLD. “WUSYANAME” is a harmonious love song pushed along by beautiful background vocals from Ty Dolla $ign and a gorgeous feature by NBA Youngboy. But the clear centerpiece of CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST comes from the tenth track, “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE.” Tyler again favors the sounds that characterized portions of IGOR and Flower Boy, flexing his singing voice while serenading a lover. Tyler recruits the help of the angel-voiced Brent Faiyaz for “SWEET,” who completely steals the limelight with a verse and vocals that simply melt in your ears. The track only gets better when it transitions to “I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE.” The song emits the same energy as the title, with reggae and samba production that makes for one of the best songs released this year. Fana Hues turns in a stunning feature on this track as well, fitting the sonic vision of the track entirely.
There is an endless amount of things to praise CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST about. From DJ Drama’s valuable contributions on various tracks to the eight-minute catharsis that is “WILSHIRE,” this project is unquestionably flawless. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is a summation of everything Tyler does well musically. He revisits and refines the edgy, rap-heavy days of his early career and the Wolf era while building on the ingenious innovation he’s displayed with Flower Boy and IGOR. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST checks all the boxes, it’s by far and away the best album that has dropped this year and debatably the best work he’s released.
SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE (feat. Brent Faiyaz & Fana Hues)
RISE! (feat. DAISY WORLD)
HOT WIND BLOWS (feat. Lil Wayne)
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