Music Mondays: Some Random Songs I've Been Listening To

I don't have an assortment of music news to share today. I just felt like sharing some random songs I found via my searches/recommendations from Spotify/Bandcamp/etc. and have been enjoying listening to as of late. You may like them too, and if you do then you're welcome. If you hate them...I'm sorry? Now, in no particular order...

"Suede" by Anderson .Paak, Knxwledge, and NxWorries

Anderson .Paak has such a smooth voice that he can make anything sound catchy, even if its just some lyrics about how he likes a lady who can cook grits and roll a spliff at the same time.

"Stella Brown," by Jelani Aryeh

The weird lo-fi sound in this song should be annoying but compliments the lyrics of being too shy to talk to a lady quite wonderfully.

"Bad Texter," by Ryan Woods

I relate to being bad at responding to texts and the lush electronic sounds of the song are quite pleasing.

"Frankenstein," by Claire Rosinkranz

There is a nice light and flowy feel to this ditty, so I'm into it.

"Photo ID," by Remi Wolf with Dominic Fike & "Vampire," by Dominic Fike

I am not especially familiar with this Dominic Fike fellow, but I've been really digging a number of songs he does or appears on. I shall explore his work further.

"Wait a Minute!" by WILLOW

The artist also known as Will Smith's daughter continues to make weird and fun pop.

"Good Girl," & "Problematic," by Jesse Gold

Seemingly sweet songs with a slight dark edge are always fun and Jesse Gold makes just that.

"Closer," by Saweetie and H.E.R.

Anytime you feature H.E.R. on a song she is bound to kill it, as she does here.

"North$ide," by Destiny Rogers

A cute song about romance with a catchy hook. Sometimes that is all you need.

"Million Dollar Baby," by Tommy Richman

I know some people who really jam out to this song and others who absolutely hate it. I find it silly and fun.

"Linger," by TALA

Probably the weirdest cover of this song by The Cranberries you will ever hear, it morphs the song into a tragic ballad--but it works!

"Hush--Still Woozy Remix," by The Marias and Still Woozy

The synthesizer on this track mixed with the singing is a real delight.

"Yo Love," by Vince Staples & 21 Savage

Vince Staples is a superb rapper and 21 Savage does a solid job on this track too.

"AMERICAN HORROR STORY," by Earthgang

Proof that conscious rap can be hella catchy too.

"Shut Up my Moms Calling," by Hotel Ugly

A weird little trip-hop-style song, you can just kind of vibe out to it.

"Drugs You Should Try It," by Jordan Bratton

The orchestral score mixed with the ethereal singing results in this being an eerie and impactful tune.

"Intl' Players Anthem (I Choose You)," by UGK & OutKast

Probably the best song with OutKast that isn't actually an OutKast song (it is on a UGK album) and the last huge hit that saw them as a duo. I always love revisiting this tune every few months when I want a dose of Andre 3000 and Big Boi right before they stopped and hopefully will someday reunite.

The Problem With, "Heart on My Sleeve," and AI Music

I've discussed AI-created, "Artwork," or writing, and how it doesn't impress me. Obvious flaws it often has aside, if someone can't put forth the effort to paint a picture or write an essay and instead want to feed a few ideas into a machine that makes it, why should I put forth the effort to read/observe it? Then we get to AI music and I feel the water gets muddy because a problem arises when the song actually sounds good. I don't know how much of a human soul it was--if any--but there it is, appealing to our ears.

"Heart on my Sleeve," is a song, "Created," by ghostwriter977. They used artificial intelligence to simulate Drake and the Weeknd's voices for a song. If it were absolute trash it would be easy to dismiss, but I finally listened to it out of curiosity and it is uncomfortable to admit it actually kind of bumps. The problem with AI music is what to do when it sounds good? This also leads to the question of how much credit does ghostwriter977 get and how much does the AI get? Listen to the song and then we can continue this post:

Suppose ghostwriter977 wrote the lyrics and made the beat but lacked artists to rap and sing the song. He/she/they made a good tune but then added famous people via AI in an unethical manner. Does ghostwriter977 still get credit for the work they did put forth to concoct this tune? I mean, I'm sure actual processes went into this beyond telling a computer, "Give me a great beat and some lyrics that sound like Drake," because if a prompt that simple could make this song then the computers really are about to take over and make all humans their slaves.

They say the cat is not going in the bag when it comes to AI and music. Do we need to use AI sparingly to help make some beats? What happens when we simulate the voices of dead music artists and suddenly Michael Jackson, Tupac, and Cardi B are all on a song that slaps and only Cardi B actually wrote and performed her lyrics? What happens when Tupac also starts promoting timeshares thanks to AI? We live in a dangerous time with artificial intelligence. I only hope we can weather the storm. Meanwhile, ghostwriter977 now has a song that simulates Travis Scott and 21 Savage titled, "Whiplash," and it is fun too...but how, "Real," is it? That's a question that is going to bug me.

"Sittin' On Top of the World," AKA When a New Song Sounds Retro

Music artist Burna Boy has a new song out with a guest verse by 21 Savage titled, "Sittin' on Top of the World." It came out this year but upon hearing it I could've sworn it was some tune from the late 90's or early 2000's. I didn't know why, but it made me think of songs that had a bit of rapping and a bit of singing back then like, "What's Luv," by Fat Joe and Ashanti or the, "I'm Real," remix with Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule. There must have been a reason I thought this so I did some Googling and sure enough, "Sittin' on Top of the World," samples a song from 1998. "Top of the World," is a tune by Brandy featuring Mase. As a child of the '90s I knew the song and it must've implanted itself deeply enough in my brain that a brand-new production by Burna Boy funnily enough evokes my memories of past songs. 

I don't think Burna Boy is engaging in weaponized nostalgia as he isn't trying to outright make us think of that older ditty--he probably just saw the sample worked perfectly for his song. Still, it is a bit of a paradox that a brand-new song made me think of old ones. Younger folks probably didn't have this occur to them as the 90s were decades ago now (I cringed typing that and thinking about how I'm old), but props to Burna Boy for making something new out of something from the past.

"Creepin'," Is What Happens When a Song Samples Another Song's Sample...and It Works Out Well

The movie, "Inception," is about dreams within dreams. It is good but weird. The song, "Creepin'," by Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, and 21 Savage is an, "Inception," of samples. It draws heavily from the song, "I Don't Wanna Know," by Mario Winans which used an Enya sample and had P. Diddy involved too. We've got a sample of a sample now, and it is weird but still good and catchy. To be fair, Metro and Weekend have outright said it is more of a cover of Winans' song than it is an original piece and Winans even provides some new backing vocals for, "Creepin'," so everyone is perfectly fine with this sample-ception. The original song and the new version are both quite good, so it all worked out for the best.

If you would like to hear the original song, "I Don't Wanna Know," you can find it at this link.

Should you want to hear, "Creepin'," it can be found at this link.