MFMM September 2019
(my favorite music of the month)
Hello all and welcome back to MFMM! September was a fantastic month for releases and I think has produced one of the best crops of songs so far this year. Remember to share with your buds if you enjoy my picks or writing :) As always, here is a Spotify playlist of the tracks to listen to as you read:
Also as a bonus to get you ready for the sp00ky season, here’s a Halloween-y playlist from my dear friends Parker Coon and Jeremiah Cha.
Camelot – NLE Choppa
16-year-old SoundCloud rapper NLE Choppa is a hit maker. Just months after releasing the platinum-certified “Shotta Flow,” the young Memphis artist is out with “Camelot,” an equally energetic trap banger.
Choppa’s irreverent bars are delivered with some incredible aggressiveness. Some of his best lines are his most menacing, like “I'm a hothead, I'll crash any second / He speakin' on who? Send his bitch ass to heaven.”
My favorite lines come between the flexing and threatening when Choppa drops funny pop-culture references: “I love Batman, but a young ni**a robbin'” and “Flexin' on these bitches, they call me Johnny Bravo.”
The production on “Camelot” may not be cutting edge, but it gets the job done. The hard piano melody reminds me of the sound Blueface has been zeroing in on recently (this is not a bad thing). The flute line is especially nice when the piano fades into the background, giving enough diversity to the instrumental to keep listeners entertained for the tight two and half minute-long track.
LaLa Challenge – EarthGang
Atlanta rap duo EarthGang’s long awaited debut album Mirrorland opens with a bang.
“LaLa Challenge” highlights all the reasons the Dreamville signees have so much hype around them: jazzy experimental production, mazy bars, and spacey concepts.
The track sweeps listeners into a new sonic universe almost immediately. Chock full of diverse sounds, including an accordion, plentiful vocal clips, and frenzied drums, the instrumental is sure to get you moving.
Olu, a.k.a. Johnny Venus, opens and closes the cut. His first verse slowly builds as he invites listeners into his fantastical depiction of Atlanta. His second includes some powerful lines including “Another white man scared, another black man dead / Another rich man war, another red man bled,” a highlight of the track for me.
WowGr8, a.k.a Doctur Dot, follows up Olu with a hilarious opener: “I got the sauce like Italians / Digital love don’t mean shit to me, bitch, I can tell you a catfish / Came from the bottom, trained how to spot ‘em.” He also talks about his heritage and how pervasive the legacy of slavery is on his first verse.
A skit comes in after his verse, the lyrics end, and the beat begins to accelerate. WowGr8 jumps back in with a wild double time verse accented by the bass that builds to the most chaotic moment of the track.
Olu’s repeated “la-la”s to close out the track are a perfect end to the ball of energy that is “LaLa Challenge.”
La Mala Ordina – clipping., Elcamino, Benny The Butcher, & The Rita
Starting with a disclaimer here: I do not enjoy listening to the last minute of this song. clipping.’s infatuation with distortion and hard noise goes a little too far for me there.
That being said: “La Mala Ordina” is a certified banger. The experimental rap trio – consisting of Daveed Diggs (of Hamilton fame, if you’re into that) William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes – is releasing a new album this fall and it seems like it might be their scariest yet.
The track’s title is a reference to the Italian name of The Italian Connection, a 70s mob thriller. The lyrical content is dark enough to qualify as horrorcore rap, with Diggs opening the cut snarling “the bags on the table ain't for weight, they for body parts.”
Diggs handles the first, second, and fifth verses in which he delivers bars about movie tropes, fake rappers, and hits.
Elcamino and Benny The Butcher (who keeps Griselda’s streak of excellent features alive) drop some heavy verses about really doing what they rap about. Coke bars are plentiful along with some SoundCloud rapper disses for good measure.
The Rita, a noise artist, lends a hand on the track’s crunchy production which I enjoyed, but again – I’m not a huge noise fan.
Mariners Apartment Complex – Lana Del Rey
I’m very disappointed in myself for never really appreciating a Lana Del Rey album until this month’s Norman Fucking Rockwell. The project is a deep, complex, gorgeous and elegant piece of pop. No track is a better synopsis of what makes the album so special than “Mariners Apartment Complex.”
Lana’s inexplicably emotive deadpan is equally soothing and chilling on the ballad as she sings about guiding a lover through troubled times.
She also spends a significant portion of the song pushing back on how she’s been portrayed, letting the world know that “you took my sadness out of context” and “mistook my kindness for weakness.”
“I fucked up, I know that, but Jesus / Can’t a girl just do the best she can?” she whispers right after, referring to the impossibly high standards she has been subjected to.
Jack Antonoff’s production sounds ripped straight from the 1970s, with powerful piano chords and acoustic guitars lines that bring the track’s nostalgic feel up another level.
Disclaimer: the song came out last year, but merits inclusion because of its power in the context of the album.
Mountains – Charlotte Day Wilson
New Charlotte Day Wilson? I was looking for an excuse to get extremely pensive! The Canadian pop/soul singer’s first release since her moving 2018 EP Stone Woman, “Mountains” is simultaneously a return to a tried and true formula and an exciting sign that her sound is still progressing.
Wilson’s voice is the star of the track. Her dulcet vocals are full of emotion as she laments the end of a relationship. The vocal flairs and riffs she gifts us with display a mastery of singing that few have.
"Please don't forsake me / all of a sudden," she croons in the opening chorus, setting the song’s tone early.
The instrumental builds steadily throughout “Mountains,” swelling in the final chorus to a lush, full sound boosted by a background choir. The regal horns, plodding guitar, and delicate piano melodies are a delight.
Fellow Toronto singer Daniel Caesar’s background vocals are a welcome touch that also merit a mention.
No Cable – IDK
Prince George’s own IDK, f.k.a. Jay IDK, released his major label debut this month. Is He Real? features some of his most enjoyable cuts to date, including “No Cable.”
The track opens with a sermon from Chicago elder statesman GLC about the need to organize against hate, a common thread throughout.
IDK’s first verse focuses on misconceptions of what rappers’ lives are like. He raps about how even though he has money now banks still won’t give him loans to buy a house and how he has to question friend’s intentions more closely.
The first chorus features clips of news segments touching on a variety of issues, but before any sentence is finished IDK interjects with a “change the channel,” seeming to signal frustration with how surface level mainstream media can be and shortening attention spans.
The second verse is an incisive reflection on racial politics where IDK touches on the fear of anti-black violence he and many others constantly experience. “It's never gon' end, that's why I gotta scribble this pen / 'Cause I got a voice and no one in my generation don't ever say shit,” he laments right after considering the ever present possibility of being lynched.
IDK is not the only rapper to tackle these issues but the complete package of the tight lyrics, fluttery instrumentation, and delivery make for a worthwhile listen.
Panini (Remix) – Lil Nas X & DaBaby
I’ll admit it: I slept on “Panini” when it first came out. The track has steadily grown on me since 7 EP dropped, and the addition of mid hot streak DaBaby takes it up another level.
Lil Nas X takes the opportunity to flex his vocal chops while talking about people who were supportive early on but haven’t been during his rapid ascent to fame.
The melody, interpolated from Nirvana’s “Bloom,” is wild catchy. The backing, especially the super bouncy synth bass, creates a rich sound that Nas X would benefit from leaning into going forward.
DaBaby has an incredible knack for finding pockets in any beat to drop bars into. Although it’s a pretty quick verse – and song overall – his line about a girl watching his “Walker Texas Ranger” music video and saying it reminded her of Nas X is memorable.
Now a word from my father:
Note: I’ll be including something from DaBaby’s album in next month’s round up most likely.
Professor X – Dave
I don’t think I’ve included a track from a TV soundtrack on this newsletter yet, but here we are. British crime drama Top Boy was revived this month with the support of Drake and arrived with an accompanying album. Rising star Dave featured in both the new season and soundtrack.
On “Professor X,” Dave focuses on what he does best: delivering bars. The simple beat, featuring a hard drum pattern and bouncing synth, stays squarely in the background of Dave’s clever wordplay.
He spends most of the track flexing about his expensive fashion tastes – “Football and Balenciagas / Or I kick ball in my all-black Pradas” – and success with women. In one such line he manages to blend Greek mythology, FIFA, and his new girl: “And my new ting came with kids / And that’s okay ’cause I am still dickin’ it / Little man wanna jump on Fifa / So I’m close to the son like Icarus.”
Dave’s lyricism has carried him into the upper echelons of the British rap game and he’s unlikely to be dislodged anytime soon if he keeps coming out with tracks like “Professor X.”
Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.) – Princess Nokia
Princess Nokia reemerges as an almost completely new artist every album cycle. In the last five years she’s dropped: a club album where she sounded like Grimes, a classic New York boom-bap album, and an emo album. On “Sugar Honey Iced Tea,” the versatile artist reintroduces herself with some braggadocious bars over an addicting beat.
Nokia drops line after line needling her critics, making it clear that she’s the S.H.I.T. "You talkin' shit 'bout my music / But what the fuck have you dropped? / Now what the fuck have you done?” she asks her detractors.
In the second verse Nokia expands the target of her bars to racists, domestic abusers, and gun carriers: “In fact they all make me sick.” Her lyrics and delivery are sharp throughout, concluding with a call for an embrace of love.
All these shots ride over an upbeat and cheerful beat headlined by bright New Orleans bounce reminiscent horns. The gospel samples and finger snaps amp up the track’s brightness even more.
Thoughts – Charli XCX
On my first listen through Charli XCX’s pop opus Charli I was immediately drawn to the high profile features like Christine and the Queens, Kim Petras, Cupcakke and Clairo, all of which did not disappoint. On my second listen, Charli’s solo work stuck with me much more.
“Thoughts” is one of her most personal songs ever, as the British star opens up about her frustrations with fame and doubts about the authenticity of her friendships. The modern ballad is deeply melancholy and features Charli singing about taking drugs but not being able to control her pain.
The rawness of Charli’s delivery here is an asset – she revealed in an Instagram live video that parts of her original vocal take, recorded after a particularly tough day, are still in the track – and contributes to the track’s vulnerability.
Frequent collaborator A.G. Cook’s production is excellent on “Thoughts.” The gliding synth chords fill out the bleak atmosphere that is accented by a simple hi-hat rhythm.
Last thing: the auto-tuned scream at the end of “Thoughts” might be the single purest and saddest moment on Charli.
When The Fires Come – Kero Kero Bonito
Bilingual pop trio Kero Kero Bonito released their first single from a yet-to-be-named project this month and as usual seem to have reinvented their sound. “When The Fires Come” incorporates electronic dance into the band’s sound, which seems to have dropped the faux rapping in Japanese for good (bless).
The fires in the song’s title are a stand-in for the upcoming climate crisis. “As a pillar of smoke reaches over to strangle the land / We desert all we have as fast as we can,” leader singer Sarah chants, a line which she says was inspired by last year’s Camp Fire in Northern California.
References to apocalyptic damage from climate change – “no one will be left here to remember us,” “the sun’s returned to send us home to earth” – are rife.
“When The Fires Come” might be the dreamiest cut I’ve ever heard from KKB. The pan flute melody is so damn good. The pulsing synth base keeps the track buoyant, harkening back to the band’s Bonito Generation sound.
The relative levity of the production and Sarah’s delivery is the perfect antidote for the lyrical doom and gloom and for me actually amplifies the track’s criticism of people willfully ignoring the climate crisis.
Wild Girl – Empress Of & Kito
Honduran-American singer songwriter Empress Of and Australian producer Kito linked up this month for one of the most addicting clubby pop songs I’ve ever heard.
Kito’s swirling melodies, energetic synth bass, and off-kilter drum lines on “Wild Girl” are excellent, transporting listeners right to the dance floor. The track’s deep ebb and flows make every second exciting.
Empress Of’s vocal performance is equally upbeat, soaring to deliver lines about unleashing your inner wild side. “I'm a wild girl in the wild, in the fire,” she belts in the chorus. “Gather me from one place or another / Loving is enough with a kiss, with a kiss.”
Kito’s vocal edits in the back half of the track boost the track’s frenetic energy, clearly distinguishing “Wild Girl” from your average pop/dance crossover hit.