Here at groupbool, every thursday is tritone thursday where we pick three songs that share a common theme and write a short description about the overarching narrative.
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Music can be a conduit and amplifier for any mood: there are many a meme about listening to sad songs when you’re sad to make you sadder. While their purpose is to provoke a chuckle from a passerby scroller, they hint at a powerful and universal effect music seems to have. Songs enhance, highlight, and even create moods and feelings. Revisiting the idea of leaning on music when you’re feeling down, these three songs are my essentials for any rainy day. continue…
One of my favorite aspects of hip hop has to be its versatility. It is capable of fluidly traversing genres and make unconventional pairings sound right at home. This mostly speaks to a producer’s mixing prowess but also to the ability of the artist to supplement the original sample whether in relation to the subject matter or the sound itself. The artist is not simply using the sample as sonic filler but rather as an homage—paying tribute to another as a jumping off point to their own ends. continue…
Bollywood frequently gets written off as a second rate film industry - and for good reason. Most movies are poorly written and laughably acted cashgrabs. But every few years, a new movie comes out that equals if not surpasses Hollywood quality blockbusters. In my opinion, no director is better at producing these films than Sanjay Leela Banshali. His movies draw from epic periods in Indian history (albeit with a good bit of fictionalization and bias). continue…
I do not know what permanent is. The artist behind each of these tracks has stolen my dream of Drake tattooing their likeness onto his body—as each have achieved a level of talent or fame worthy of him abandoning the will of his Jewish God to homage. Sade’s otherworldliness has earned her not one but two placements on Drake’s physical being—given her beauty and the influence of her sensual sound on tracks such as “I Couldn’t Love You More”. continue…
Its hard to relate on a personal level with rappers; most people don’t live through the same experiences that inspire these artists’ music. But its easy to empathize with the sincerity in their words when they write about their moms. Three artists from different eras with different styles that rap about wildly different topics. One consistent theme - their songs about their respective moms are some of their best. Reminder to call your mom if you haven’t in a while. continue…
The imminence of a new decade seems to have catalyzed a wave in nostalgic hip hop: Tory and Summer Walker dropped albums centered around sampling and revamping classics from the 2000’s. Both projects are hype and beautiful homages to the past and simultaneously resonate with younger listeners. And although Normani doesn’t incorporate a preexisting song, the sound and visuals of her single “Motivation” has an unmistakably “Crazy in Love” vibe.
The world will never see another Amy Winehouse again, she was one of a kind with unparalleled talent and musicality. Her emotional depth and her ability to convey deep and personal subject matters while fluidly traversing genre boundaries was other worldly. Although she left this world too soon, she left behind an incredible legacy. I keep finding artists that embody her musical spirit in both tone and subject matter and it always leaves me a little bit emotional. continue…
Some think of rock and rap as two different worlds, but these songs show their harmonization. Take billy woods’ Ca$h 4 Gold, which utilizes references to rock anthems as a lyrical structure (🎶 sweet child o’ mine, red, red wine 🎶), Kanye West’s hit Champion, which samples Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne—a sample that was cleared only after a personal, handwritten letter from Kanye West was delivered to Donald Fagan, and alternative artists from both the rap and rock genres, Del the Funky Homosapien and Dinosaur Jr., colliding for the unexpected crossover, Missing Link.
Sampling is an art form in its own right; it is a meta instrument that lets artist explore their own creativity within the context of existing sounds. Lately, I've been fascinated by artists sampling esoteric middle eastern tracks (at least for the uninitiated). Aside from challenging conventional genre boundaries, like fusing dub elements with arabesque music in AMK to overlaying trap beats over an oud in Paradise People, it's a natural way to discover older artists like Selda Bağcan in Mos Def's Supermagic off of The Ecstatic.
Trey Songz loves women almost as much as he loves his sports euphemisms; the thread running through these three bops analogizes love, sex, and relationships with colloquial sports concepts from football and basketball. The puns level up traditional hip hop motifs and are complimented by steamy hooks and lyricism.
