Although hip-hop is not my scene, I tend to make exceptions at times, even if rarely. Earlier this week I came across a dedicated young rapper whose lyrics grasped my attention instantaneously. This young rapper that goes by the name of Lilgims will impress you in his own right. The instrumentals through most tracks on his mixtape ‘Legends Are Made’ provides a good feel towards the lyrics, which I feel are what make this rapper stand out the most. You can see this quality of work in his song ‘Downfall of Society’, which manages to rub the right spot. You can hear sheer determination and dedication towards his music throughout each track, which communicates a clear passion and drive. If you want deeply moving and realistic lyrics then I suggest you take some time to check Lilgim’s Soundcloud and listen to his ‘Legends Are Made’ mixtape.
Tag: commercial
David Bowie Departs Peacefully
To much of everyone’s shock and grief, early this morning the legend David Bowie has died after an 18-month battle with cancer. It is indeed a tremendous loss for many of us that adored his art and craftsmanship. Just a few days ago, David turned 69 and that’s when he released his last album ‘Blackstar’. Listening to the album right now after this tragic news is slightly eerie, however, listening to it now would also make a lot of sense. The song ‘Lazarus’ perhaps could give us an insight into the tragedy of the singer’s death, however it is goose-bump material! This is because David communicates his message of death so clearly in the song that it truly feels like a message made for his fans who would be grieving his death. The music video is very symbolic with him on what it seems to be his death bed and his eyes all bandaged up. He seems to be jotting his thoughts and ideas with a lot of energy in a journal at certain times, and the actual scenery of the whole music video is very dark and mortal.
The actual song itself is beautifully crafted with simplicity and of course a lot of thought. There isn’t a single doubt that David Bowie is a genius and a true artist, he knows what he is doing. The song creates an atmosphere that is very appropriate for a tragedy but with a hint of freedom as he sings “You know I’ll be free/ Just like that bluebird”. David also sings about being in danger and that he’s “got nothing left to lose”, as well as the fact that he claims he has “scars that can’t be seen”. At first when the song was released many fans heard the lyrics in a manner of metaphors, but now everything is much too real in this song .
It still feels absolutely unreal that David Bowie has died, it is almost like some kind of nightmare. I never knew the guy, wish I got to meet him though, we would’ve had the most interesting conversations ever. For sure he has left an immortal mark in this world, especially for those involved in art. His song “Changes” which he released earlier on in his career has impacted many in retrospective, it surely has impacted me on a very personal basis. The very first album of his that I bought was ‘Hunky Dory’ and it stunned me so much as an artist. ‘Hunk Dory’ was such a unique album, everything about it was so inspirational and even self -fulfilling. Within every song my younger self felt the inspiration to make such beautiful art as well, and also to view the world in such colour, with no filters, and lots of acceptance. As a young adult chasing a dream of art and truth in this world, David Bowie served as a huge motivation and inspiration in many of my choices. David sang for the masses but he never lost himself in doing so, he was a man of courage and a large will to be different. His songs were able to reach out to those who somehow didn’t feel accepted and the world he created through his music was a world of colour, humour and beauty. He was a poet, an artist, a beautiful human being.
What is vaporwave and what is vaporwave?
Perhaps you have heard of the song ‘420’ by Macintosh Plus from the 15th studio album ‘Floral Shoppe’, if not then most likely you’ve come across their aesthetically pleasing album cover with a faceless statue, making it appear super ‘avant-garde’.
Just like many other aesthetically pleasing album covers that you may come across when looking for some Macintosh Plus on youtube, you will find that this is all part of a genre called ‘vaporwave’. The name vaporwave derives from the marketing term ‘Vapourware’, which gives vaporwave it’s purpose of uprising against Capitalism. In a nutshell, vaporwave’s looped tunes that are taken from other artists, but are later unrecognizable tunes after the intensive editing that each sample undergoes, can either be catchy, kill your braincells, or make you laugh. Just like other bizarre genres such as seapunk and witch house that were allegedly a thing at the start of the 2010’s, this is also just a fad brought to us (and it is rude to generalise) by a bunch of hipsters sitting behind their computer screens and moaning about being born in the wrong generation.
However, there is something increasingly appealing about vaporwave. Despite it being optimised music for musty and empty shopping malls, its looped synthesised samplers combined with a handful of commercial jingles from the 80s and 90s in every song create a certain feeling of nostalgia, even if you weren’t exactly walking in the 80s. It may not be the most ‘original’ music at first sight, but something about the fact behind its production raises awareness of how sick today’s consumer society is. The only skeptical thing is the ‘vintage’ samplers that are repeated in almost every song without (or with little) vocals, of course all taken from some underrated 80s artist or Japanese commercial.
If you haven’t noticed already, vaporwave is all about the aesthetics, without the aesthetics vaporwave would not be the same. It is true that some songs may drive you insane with their ‘soulless’ messages to go against Capitalism, but some songs are pretty rad. There are actually good vaporwave musicians who don’t just make a living out of the vintage-anime-like aesthetics of their music, Saint Pepsi (AKA. Skylar Spence) is one of these good artists with good vaporwave music.
This ironic genre vaporwave, is worth a try and worth a laugh. It’s somehow an indication to anyone sitting in front of their computer screens to go out and experiment some samples on their own laptop and just try to be as creative as possible in between the lines of vaporwave and some revolutionary/ fashion statement. Personally, I don’t listen to vaporwave too often in fear that it might devour my soul, but a bit of vaporwave is relaxing to have in the background. There’s been a number of people on the internet saying that vaporwave has changed their lives, to an extend it is agreeable that vaporwave is pretty awesome, but then again sometimes it is in need of some originality.
Groovy Music 