Likes: Hopeless Romantic, Kindly Calm Me Down
Dislikes: Dance Like Your Daddy, Mom
Overall: Cutesy, but Trainor's unconvincing as a 2016 pop-diva
 
Meghan Trainor shot for multifarious pop for her second album, Thank You, presumably to demonstrate flexibility and avoid being typecast as the millennium doo-wop girl, but she wound up making her face just another in the crowd and relinquished any trademark quality she had before. If the lyrics aren't fatuous (ex. "I ain't saying I'm the besteses, but I got nice curves, nice breasteses") and nursery-rhymed (ex. "You might have a mom, she might be the bomb"), they're extremely corny and cliché passages straight from the bible of girl-power anthems. This causes Trainor to sound stock and unconvincing as she poorly imitates late 90's-early 2000's pop/R&B (was "No" a Destiny's Child reject or nah?) and 2016 popstress; Caribbean notes (ex. "Better), dance specks (ex. "Champagne Problems,"), rap features and all. "Champagne" takes home the "Most Ludicrous" award. I thought it was going to be like Kelly Rowland's "Turn it Up:" up-tempo, but surprisingly solemn in nature. Here I was, figuring Trainor would be singing about the hardships that drive people to drink, and she's complaining about a crappy internet signal and her iPhone dying. More like first-world, my-life-is-totally-manageable problems. Unless of course...that was her point. If so, it wasn't rendered well. Of the tracks with a modern tone, the orchestral-pop "Kindly Calm Me Down" feels the most natural (it also the best-written song on the album). "Hopeless Romantic" is the least campy, daft and useless of the songs that have her freshman style (which includes "Dance Like Yo' Daddy"), but it may be too similar to the single "Like I'm Gonna' Lose You" (with John Legend) for some. Between the sound switch, image change (tight, shiny fabrics, sharper heels and big hair) and writer/producer additions (it went from Trainor and Kevin Kadish, to everyone else), one could posit that record-label interference is at work here. No matter what's at the root of these modifications, if it aint' broke, don't fix it; especially if you seemed more unique and sincere in the beginning. Artists can try different things--it's necessary for growth--but it's pertinent that it's their take on a variety, and not an impersonation. Some of the cuts are catchy and cute, but not enough to gloss over the ineffectuality. I'm sorry, but no thank you. I respectfully decline. 

 Album Review.
Favorites: Pray You Catch Me, Daddy Lessons, Sandcastles, Freedom
Dislikes: 6 Inch, Sorry,  All Night
Overall: Though a little inconsistent and melodically dry, it's her most emotive work and first fable

When Beyoncé surprise-released a self-titled record in 2013, it was praised for allegedly being raw, philosophical and individually ground-breaking. Some people called it her Thriller (Michael Jackson's iconic album, of course). I shook my head and rolled my eyes at these adjectives and notions; it was like I was the only one who could tell the purse was knockoff Versace. With popular music, all you have to do is put explicit sexuality and language over tunes that wouldn't normally be considered radio-friendly and voila! False sense of authenticity and innovation. Luckily for Bey, she got 1,000 additional bonus points because the project came unannounced and she hadn't sung about sperm, surfboarding, or (vicariously) used the word "feminist" yet (it's fascinating how an album that features a rap verse likening violence to sexual performance and lyrics such as "I did this all for you boy, just come my way...I just want to be the girl you like" was called her most feminist one, but okay). Credit was given when it wasn't due. She hadn't truly challenged herself, taking a textbook route to liven things up. "Oh, but all the themes!" You mean the conflicting assortment of concepts that were underdeveloped because the writing and organization had holes? "Oh, but the music is so different!" It is on every record (something she should get more credit for). "Oh, but she gave us videos with it!" There was a video anthology for 2006's B'Day. After the word-vomit and gothic ratchetry that was BEYONCÉ, my hunger pains for certain things from my fave worsened. I didn't want her to just be known as a great entertainer, but a great artist too. I wanted her to rise to her own occasion and potential. I had developed a wish-list; among my desires was heartfelt, thoughtful lyrics, topic diversity and an all-lady team of producers/writers to really get a female perspective (I remember a behind-the-scenes clip where Pharrell told her she'd free all the women with "Rocket." How in the hell would he know what would free us?). Though February's "Formation" had aspirations of honoring black culture, majority of the lines were irrelevant to that cause and kind of ridiculous. Additionally, the trap beat and throbbing bass triggered my self-titled post-traumatic stress. I tried to hold onto my mild optimism that an upgraded BEYONCÉ was on the horizon for her 6th LP, and that's what we got... legit Versace.

​Set on the aphorism of "when life serves you lemons, make lemonade," (as you will hear delivered by Jay-Z's grandmother), Beyoncé presents her first narrative, bringing back warm memories of Destiny's Child's Destiny Fulfilled. Lemonade's trajectory, however, isn't as victorious and joyous. It's an acutely desolate voyage through the experience of infidelity, each song exploring various emotional stages, like unease, paranoia, inferiority, fury and longing. These stages are broken down and expounded on in the partnering mini-film of the same title (aired on HBO on 4/23), where her main character's micro dilemma is used to discuss interrelated macro issues of gender and family, like generational abuse, unfaithfulness and paternal abandonment. Touched on are the sacrifices and compromises women make to be considered more desirable, the bullets they bite (either to survive or retain what society says should be important to them) and how their contributions are often taken for granted and disrespected. This is brought to life by the beautiful and gut-wrenching poetry of young Kenyan-born Somali author Warsan Shire, who became the Young Poet Laureate of London in 2014. The assisting imagery is nothing short of compelling and complex as well. There's a suicide scene with Beyoncé jumping off a rooftop in the first 5 minutes, at the conclusion of the opening track "Pray You Catch Me." Unlike most scenes of this kind, we see every inch of her fall, to the point I turned away because I thought they were going to show the land (she alights in a body of water, transitioning to the next section). I thought "Okay...this is going to be intense." Nature, tribal, African, historical and religious symbols are threads, but references to New Orleans and black southern ethos dominate, much akin to the "Formation" video. The intent to speak specifically to black women and their walk is apparent, but aside from the talent being entirely African-American and female, the emphasis is most pronounced with a Malcolm X speech excerpt ( "The most disrespected...unprotected...neglected person in America is the black woman") and appearances by the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Michael Brown, who have yet to see justice for the murders of their sons. Many other moments, like cameos by athlete Serena Williams and actresses Zendaya Coleman, Quvenzhané Wallis and Amandla Stenberg--all of whom have faced racially-charged criticism--are more subtle (the common denominator between them may not instantly occur to the mind, for example). Succeeding this sequence is the second-to-last poem. A recipe for lemonade is given and the following is recited: "Grandmother, the alchemist, you spun gold out of this hard life, conjured beauty from the things left behind...discovered the antidote in your own kitchen...you passed these instructions down to your daughter, who then passed it down to her daughter." It's striking commentary: black women come out of the womb cursed to a life of lemons, left-overs and scraps barely suitable to be called such, but something's missing if this is the thesis of which this entire project is laid (after all, there is no song called "Lemonade").

Rock&Rant-Quick rants about music.
By Eddie J., Contributing Writer

So, anytime a hip-hop/rap or R&B artist who may or may not have some kind of credibility as a lyricist releases a new record, these click-bait "X Amount of Writers are Credited on ____'s New Album" articles always seem to pop up. The purpose is usually to subliminally invalidate the artist's skill-set and fuel debates on whether they're talented or not. It's been done with Kanye West (The Life of Pablo had 103 writers), Beyoncé (Lemonade=72 writers) and now Drake (Views=81 writers). That sounds like a lot of Pablos, views and gallons of lemonade, but hold up! There's a little technicality to be mindful of. Not even half of the individuals listed did any literal writing. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if no more than 10 people actually assisted. Let me explain...
 
Often in hip-hop/rap and R&B, there's this cute thing called sampling that happens, where portions of a song by someone else are mixed in. When this is done, the song and its original writers typically have to be cited for legality's sake (e.g., "This song contains replayed elements from 'You Tried It' by Tamar Braxton"). Those few of us who still buy physical copies (and read liner notes) and others who frequent Wikipedia, see these sample lists. The remaining majority who don't are prime takers of the click-bait and pass it along to the other fish that such and such artist doesn't write their own rhymes or can't stand on their own.
 
Take Drake's "U with Me" (featured on Views) for example. It contains samples of "What These B*tches Want" and an interpolation of "How's It Goin' Down," both by DMX. Breaking this down, "What These B*ches Want" was written by Earl Simmons (DMX's real name), Mark Andrews, Tamir Ruffin and Phillip Weatherspoon. "How's It Goin Down" was written by DMX and Anthony Fields. When you remove those names from "U With Me" in the credits, you have only Drake, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Dave Goode and the producers: 40, Kanye West, DJ Dahi, AxlFolie and Vinylz. 13 writers just went down 8.
 
This brings me to my next point: also in hip-hop music, producers are almost always included as songwriters in the notes. This is probably in part to how hands-on producers are in creating the music or melodic ideas the artist uses. Taking into account how limited credits are in showing the true extent of each person's contribution, a "producer" can be a composer, someone who programmed the drums, or made with the chorus melody that the song was developed around. In that case, it makes sense to consider this kind of work "writing." However, this doesn't mean that Drake, Nicki Minaj or Kanye West are sitting in a room full of 10 other people taking different bits and pieces of lyrics to make a song. These times are occasional, and rarely involve more than 2 or 3 people tops, which is the average amount of writers on a song in any genre.
 
Finally, some rappers are simply best at their primary job of rapping and need to bring in help for choruses, hooks and catchy moments in their verses. Just because one can receive points on a song for doing this, it doesn't mean the artist they worked for is lacking talent or capability. It's assumed that hooks are easy to form, but it requires a particular skill. It's fairly uncommon in the realm of hip-hop/rap that artists can come up with great hooks naturally because their focus is choosing a topic, inventively approaching said topic, punch-lines, voice inflections/delivery, rhyme structure/pattern and verse variation. It may take a village for your favorite song or album to be made, but that never has anything to do with how good or bad the artist is at lyricism or overall. So feel free to take this red pill with a tall glass of lemonade, and enjoy the views.

By Ladan, Contributing Writer

Dear Ms. Lauryn Hill...

Thank you. I want to start there. As a matter of fact, I think it's important I start there. You're one of the dopest MCs to ever grace hip-hop and I remember feeling inspired to sing because you made alto singing popular. You blessed us with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and for this we are forever grateful. 

So now, here we are in 2016 and I'm crossing off an item on my bucket list because I've just witnessed your concert at Chastain Park in Atlanta, GA. The park was filled with those like myself who respect and adore you. With that being said, Lauryn, I need to ask why you would make us wait 2 hours and 35 minutes for this moment with you? I'd hope you would respect your fans and supporters-who are still fervent after 15+ years and just 1 studio album-more than this. This was a commitment you made, this was your word. Our time and money is valuable, and I'm sure you would agree that like any relationship, respect should be the reciprocal gift that keeps on giving.

Moving forward, with no apology or acknowledgement, you jumped right into "Perfect Peace." You are still beautifully talented and your voice is as I remember it...mostly. This was your opportunity to make-up for your tardiness. As a fellow alto, I noticed you struggled with mid-range notes. Your stage presence and energy, or lack thereof, was low-level from the start and I think we all expected more from you. As for the choice of opening, we like "Perfect Peace," but we were all waiting for one of your songs that gave us that nostalgic feeling. We wanted Miseducation in motion. You gave it to us 2 songs later, but the music paced faster than we remember the lyrics moving, making it hard to recognize anything. We couldn't sing along. This was your chance to make us feel like family again. It didn't happen. Not helping matters, we couldn't see you well. The stage lighting was poor; we couldn't catch true glimpses of you and the creative power your dancers brought to your performance. Even the screens weren't very clear due to the dimness after 10pm. I'd do you a disservice by dismissing these things Lauryn, but in fairness, amidst the boo-ing from my peers, I should tell you what you got right.

As an independent artist, your production was exceptional. Your band delivered!! I commend your ability to find and recognize talent that is truly outstanding. I don't want to breeze by that lightly, because I know they are a reflection of you and I need to thank you for that. The atmospheric lights that projected into the theatre brought elements that we fans needed. It felt warm, uplifting and it kept the crowd engaged...as much as could be done. Finally Lauryn, about 30 minutes into your set, the venue operators cut your microphone off (there's a strict noise ordinance at 11pm) and as much as I love you, I think it was best. When I returned home from Chastain, I showered to The Miseducation. I needed to remember the Lauryn and the artistry we all knew. The person I saw was essentially still Lauryn, but without the heart, respect, nobility and love for what she does.

Signed,
Nostalgically Disappointed, but Still Yours Truly