014! Music Digest: Celebrity Music Videos + Pop Funk Carioca
Come to Brazil
I started this week off by going to a writing club in a Burger King in FiDi (highly recommend!). People keep saying that the printed word is on its last legs, but it seems fully alive if you look for it. Even Lil Uzi agrees.
If that seems like delusional hopecore to you, then I’ll be honest that’s the mindspace I’ve been in for the past few weeks, for obvious reasons. And just distracting myself with the usual mind-numbing stories from the music biz.
UMG has bought up indie distro PIAS, while Merlin has left its deal with TikTok and Tidal is going down the pan. UK MC culture is having a viral moment, meanwhile one of the UK’s most exciting new acts, Jim Legxacy, has publicly signed with XL Recordings. Young Thug is out of jail, and a new podcast is being made about the legacy of a recently released Vybz Kartel.
I’ve been intrigued/horrified by Google’s AI podcasting feature, and testing out Spotify’s new AI playlist feature, and amused by this site that turns PDFs into brainrot videos. Elsewhere, on Cash Cobain’s website you can pick which order the features show up in on his track, and then export a custom mp3. Are the features AI? I can’t tell.
In TikTok world, I’ve enjoyed seeing Chromeo go viral for their old song “Fancy Footwork” and this great Tiny Desk concert light up everyone’s lives.
Out in the real world I witnessed Andre 3000’s flute-playing at BAM a few weeks back, and I spent Halloween at the Two Shell album launch party at the Chocolate Factory in Brooklyn. While Two Shell played inside a smoke-filled box, a few people in the crowd had come in Two Shell costumes. It was unfortunately confirmed that they weren’t plants, but would have been a great idea all the same.
I’ve been constantly hearing ROSÉ (formerly of Blackpink) and Bruno Mars’ “APT” out in stores and on the radio. It’s pretty much a K-Pop pastiche The Tings Tings, with an accompanying electropop video. Meanwhile fellow Blackpink member Jennie is also having a big hit with “Mantra”, which is some serious white girl rap à la Uffie. 2008 is big right now in South Korea as well, it seems.
While Bruno Mars has two massive singles out right now (with Jennie and Lady Gaga), he’s also experimenting with a lil baile funk on his Instagram, after a long tour in the country. Bonde Do Brunāo doesn’t look like it’s gonna be released, it’s probably just a fun move to get the Brazilian comment hive (which is very active) to go crazy.
The Brazilian funk sound has never fully reached the mainstream in the US, even though there have been recent hints in Travis Scott’s “K-Pop” or Kanye West’s “Paperwork”. This morning I also saw that Nigerian artist Ruger is set to release a funk carioca-inspired track with Tiwa Savage.
The Weeknd is also experimenting with a baile funk moment, with “São Paulo” featuring Brazilian singer Anitta, currently sitting in Brazil’s Top 20 most Shazammed. It feels sonically pretty brave for someone like The Weeknd to be wading through these waters. That said, Abel seems like someone who wants to be out-there, musically, proven by many collabs with Oneohtrix Point Never. What’s really out-there, though, is the official video. Press play above - it’s worth it.
It’s directed by Oneohtrix collaborator Freeka Tet, who makes leftfield experimental digital art and sometimes music videos.
Most of the comments are “what the hell did I just watch” and “how can I unseen this”. There are also some “the FX are bad” comments, but that kind of seems like the whole point. It’s got that really raw body horror that you’d get in an ‘80s Cronenberg movie. Sure, you could probably get better VFX to make it look “more real”, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about being super f*cking weird. And it does the job, without even making a slight reference to Brazil or favelas (praise be). Good on Anitta, The Weeknd and his team for letting this one through.
There has been a steady flow of top notch music videos lately, with some on-point casting. The torch is being carried for the long-standing tradition of celebrity castings, and in this selection below it’s all about angling towards the cultural niche. It’s an IYKYK thing. And as we enter a world where you can create a one minute video just from a single text prompt, casting a celebrity is something that AI can’t quite compete with.
Here’s Ayo Edibiri starring in Tyler The Creator’s “NOID”:
Phoebe Waller-Bridge starring as a dominatrix in FKA Twigs’ “Perfect Stranger” (is anyone else getting Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” from the beat here?) :
Waka Flocka Flame starring in Denzel Curry’s video that samples “Hard in the Paint”:
And Fontaines’ DC doing a smart collaboration with Andrea Arnold’s movie “Bird”, which features a song of theirs. Their official video is made up of a collage of scenes from the movie, starring Barry Keoghan:
And a bonus FKA Twigs video for you. Remember what working in an office used to be like?
That’s all for this time - I plan to do a year-end round-up in the weeks to come. And in personal work news, I’m featured in this excellent No Tags book on “underground music culture” alongside people like Simon Reynolds, Eris Drew and Jeff Weiss, and my live set from experimental festival Dripping is up for listening here.
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And lastly, some random things I’ve been enjoying lately:
Joker’s RA Mix - not for the faint of heart!
The adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Say Nothing” on Hulu.
Boiler room’s Amplified Roots series about Brazilian sound systems.
Afro-portguese producer DJ Lycox’s “Guetto Star” album.