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Music/Concerts

“Thick of it” by KSI

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By: Samson Belihu

KSI, a famous British rapper, released a song called “Thick of It” in early October 2024 connecting it to his life. It got a lot of attention for its catchy rhythm and people created their own videos with the song acting out how the song goes especially the part that goes “From the screen, to the ring, to the pen, to the king…”.

Let’s break down how that line probably connects to KSI’s life.

“From the screen”: Likely referring to when he started out as a YouTuber and he gained much fame through his video.

“To the ring”: Here, KSI is talking about his venture into boxing, where he participated in high-profile matches, including going against his fellow YouTubers and celebrities.

“To the pen”: This part is when he’s talking about how he wanted to be a musician, and that’s exactly what he became. He wrote songs that he personally was able to express himself through his lyrics.

“To the King”: This symbolizes how he has succeeded in many fields as a “king” of the industry.

The song “Thick of It” is a hit, but not for the reason he wanted it to be. A lot of people find it as a funny song, and social media has transformed it to how they felt, from a life story, to a catchy humorous song.

Many people have added their own twist to their songs. This includes a 1950’s version, 90’s Rap song version, Rock song, pop version, Kanye West version, and many more doing whatever they can to add their own pizzazz into the song.

In my opinion, I find the original song very catchy, and also a bit humorous only because of the way social media has shaped the song. KSI is very talented when it comes to many things, but when you publish songs on social media you have almost no control over how it’ll transform into an amazing song or just like this song, pretty catchy with the twist of it being funny.

Music/Concerts

‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’ album by Mitski – Background information

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By: Christine Yang

Information about the album:

The album ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’ was made by the artist Mitski. The album was released on September 15, 2023, which was her comeback and recent album after releasing an album called ‘Laurel Hell’ in 2022. ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’ has eleven songs in the album. One of the songs in the album was one of the biggest hits after the release, and the song was “My Love Mine All Mine” with 560 million Spotify streams.

Songs:

“Bug Like an Angel”:

The process of the track, “Bug Like an Angel” has mainly four chords throughout it (chords: d flat major, a flat major, e flat major, b flat major) because the song is about addiction, and Mitski wanted to show it in a musical way that addiction is basically a cycle that you’re just kind of stuck in, it being repetitive over and over which doesn’t end, so the intention behind having the same chords repeating hopefully leads the listener to think what it’s about. Mitski also wanted a little twist/change by having the vocals in the middle of what we think is the chord progression; she wanted that twist to give a feeling of being off balance because the song is about addiction which isn’t a balanced state.

She started creating the song by having a descriptions so it’s easy to paint a picture in the listener’s head; she wanted the picture of someone drinking something out of a glass and which there’s stuff left. While they are drinking out of it, they realized there’s a bug stuck at the bottom of the glass, and because it’s stuck it looks like there’s an angel in the sky. She chose the angel reference so it can set the tone since later on in the song she says something about God and devils, which is supposed to give the listener the option to take two main meanings (positive or negative, pessimistic or optimistic) away depending on what they want out of the song.

After the the description Mitski wanted the protagonist to say something about themselves as an introduction, later on in the song there’s a choir part coming out of nowhere to be the first big emotional moment saying the word “family” with a whole choir out of nowhere, to evoke that sort of intensity with a choir as well. Then it goes back to the corporation and then the second verse, which is a spot to bring another character in and have the protagonist, who we know, point them out saying like, “Hey what’s the matter? You’re looking like a sticker stuck on a floor somewhere”. Which basically means like the person doesn’t look like they’re having a good time, like they look sad, despondent, and that phrase basically brings back to Mitski thinking stickers were so important to her when she was a kid, and how sad it’ll be if some kid’s precious sticker was stuck on a floor and couldn’t get it off. Basically, this brings up how the protagonist faces challenges which make them suffer, and that’s where the “God and devil” reference shows up, saying “is the suffering from God or the devil”, in the third verse. And that’s how the song “Bug Like an Angel” was created.      

“Buffalo Replaced”:

“Buffalo Replaced” is a track that was supposed to give an idea of how the album, ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’, is like. The track specifically— Mitski and her producer, Patrick Highland, was really inspired by ‘The Velvet Underground’. While the inspiration was added at the beginning of the song, Patrick also added keyboard sounds at the end too, which added something beautiful at the end, in Mitski’s opinion.

“Buffalo Replaced” might be about being dependent/leeching onto someone, and having struggles without the person that you rely on. 

“Heaven”:

“Heaven” is meant to exemplify the little time someone has with the person they love, and to cherish that time and leave the issues of the world outside the room to enjoy the beautiful love they share, Mitski has stated.

“Heaven” was an old song, but the beginning of the song sounded different than how it is now, because the older version didn’t have the swing that it does currently. Mitski was fine with that version; it just didn’t feel like it stood out as much alongside the other songs she wrote that have the same rhythm, so it sat for awhile until she and Patrick tried to figure out how to make it sound on a record.

The first demo version they did actually was right after they recorded “Be The Cowboy” in Philadelphia. That demo version had more of a Patsy Cline swing to it, which is closer to what it is now. The problem was that the track didn’t really have an album that it fit into or in the ‘Laurel Hell’ album so it sat some more, but eventually made the album ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’.

Since the track was such a romantic song, they wanted to do it with a whole orchestra and a sweeping Old Hollywood sound. They found an orchestrator, Drew Erickson, who did works with popular artists. Erickson orchestrated for “Heaven”, and then Mitski’s team recorded the orchestration part.

“I Don’t Like My Mind”:

The lyrics in ‘” Don’t Like My Mind” are literal and self explanatory, which the listeners can get the grip of what the song is about. The song could be about trying to distract yourself from negative thoughts and using stuff to cope with those things; it can also mean you not wanting to be alone with your thoughts due to negativity.

The production process for the demo was made right after she and her team recorded “Be The Cowboy”, and was also recorded in Philadelphia. The track in the song ended up being easy to make because it was similar and the end result was similar to the demo they made way back then. So, her team just kept the guitar track from the demo.

“The Deal”:

The song started by misinterpreting a Maria Mitchell poem, “How Charming is Divine Philosophy”. The poem is basically about how you discover more about the world and you while going on a midnight walk by yourself. One line in the poem, “There’s a deal to be learned on a midnight walk, when you take it all alone” Mitski misread it as, “There’s a deal to be made on a midnight walk when you take it all along” and before she realized the error she made, she thought it was an interesting thought: like what kind of deal can you make on a midnight walk?

The song “The Deal” can mean wanting your life to be like someone else or your expectations of yourself, and being willing to give or do anything for your ideals.

“When Memories Snow”:

Mitski got the idea of the music for “When Memories Snow” by playing the piano and experimenting with chords inspired by a show instrument, Japanese Shō (doesn’t follow the Western traditional music rules), which can be heard at the end of the song. The song has two parts inspired by Western movie soundtracks and British invasion rock. The song also pushed Mitski out of her comfort zone because most of her songs are quiet/soft which is an easy range for her.

“When Memories Snow” could be about putting the past behind you and focusing on making new paths/memories, and how the past will always be there to either drag or lift you up.

“My Love Mine All Mine”:

“My Love Mine All Mine” is about how to love is the best thing Mitski ever did, and how beautiful it is. According to a quote from Mitski, this song is better than any song she wrote, material possession she gained, or achievement. Mitski also wishes that after she dies, that the song leaves behind this beautiful love in the world.

Mitski’s first moment of the creation of the song started when she was carrying groceries and singing “my love, my oh my”, which she used that part and recorded everything, that’s how the song “My Love Mine All Mine” started/was created.

“The Frost”:

For the song “The Frost”, the producer, Patrick, and Mitski knew that they both wanted to draw from ‘Americana’ from classic country, folk, and old time music. This made them think they needed a band that was versed in those genres much more, and they were able to successfully find one. They even got Brooke Wagoner on the piano, who also did piano on Mitski’s album ‘Laurel Hell’ from 2022. Mitski and Patrick knew that they wanted the song to be live or have an acoustic feeling to it, so they had to rehearse with the whole band for a day then recorded all the songs they did together the next day.

The song can mean being left behind or falling out with someone, and that the friendship/relationship being put behind or forgotten, also not being able to move on from that person. 

“Star”:

“Star” was also an old song, but it started when Mitski went to her friend’s house, playing her acoustic guitar and just started messing around with the track. In the beginning it sounded different from what the track is now currently, the first demos her and her producer made were trying to do a “carpenter thing”, and the demo kind of had the type of swing they looked for.

But the demo felt a bit too happy so they tried a different version that was the same chords but sort of more of like “slow core” or “red house painters thing”, which also didn’t work either and they eventually figured out what’s not working is that there were so many chords per phrase.

They switched to adding a drone just the sustained tonic in the start of the song, and that ended up sounding really good so they built off of that so it started simple with just a sustain, and they decided to keep building off of it, and they took inspiration from Scott Walker at the end of the day.

Both, Mitski and her producer, wanted to add a little subtle orchestration to keep building on it, so they had their orchestrator, Drew Erickson, compose for strings that’s just very subtle, and they also took some parts of the orchestration to support the song instead of taking the spotlight.

The song “Star”, describes two people who are no longer in love, but continues to care about each other partly in memory of the love they had.

“I’m Your Man”:

The process of making this song included Mitski writing it on an acoustic guitar. When she wrote the first half of the song she thought the song was short after listening to it so she had to figure out a way to lengthen it, but the problem was that she didn’t want to add other parts (ex. chorus, bridge, etc). Even though she didn’t want the song to change she decided to add choral voices, which required her getting a choir that sang “yo ho”, that was inspired by pirates and gave her a more masculine feeling that basically led to the intention behind the song. That process also gave the name of the song, “I’m Your Man”.

The song is coming from the perspective of a man in Mitski’s head, basically it’s like the voice of a patriarch in your head because “we” all live in and were raised in a patriarchy. The “masculine voices” in your head depends on, not depending on what gender you are, but in a way of interacting with male figures in your life, and all the messaging you’ve received from the culture and the patriarchy around you. And so the song is to give a voice to that “masculine voice” in Mitski’s head to either help her bring into peace with it or free it up a little bit. This also was inspired by the story of the Buddha and how the Buddha was disturbed while being in peace, but how the Buddha was still kind to their “enemy”.

Mitski wanted to try something similar by just letting the patriarch mind to basically say whatever or doing whatever, which is where the song came from and what the song means too. 

“I Love Me After You”:

During the process of “I Love Me After You”, Mitski made a mistake of recording herself of just playing it on an acoustic guitar and singing along. After she listened to the demo over and over, she tried to figure out how the end result track should be, but she struggled of how it should sound.

After she brought it to Patrick, Mitski just wanted the song to just be acoustic guitar and voice since she was so familiar with it which also made her like the song like that. But she knew deep down that the track had potential and how she was just getting in her way, so eventually Patrick convinced her to do the version that it is today. He wanted the song to be like you’re crawling through something slow motion. In terms of making it, they made it faster and slower to get that feeling to see how it can get to that image.

“I Love Me After You” can be about finding freedom from moving on from a failed relationship. 

Music/Concerts, News

Liam Payne tribute

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By: Priya Anderson & Ruby Anderson

Screenshot of Zayn Malik’s Instagram tribute

From an English town in West Midlands, England, and born on August 29th, 1993, Liam Payne was an English singer-songwriter, and father. Best known as a member of One Direction, Payne’s life is a testament to the power of superstardom, and the beauty of talent.

One Direction, which is one of the best selling boy bands of all time, needs no introduction. The story of how it came to be is a classic amongst Gen Z. Liam Payne was the first member to audition on ‘The X Factor’, a British talent show. He was also the first to advance through the first round, but was cut at the ‘boot camp stage’. Simon Cowell, who would manage and form 1D, brought Liam back. Liam was cut again, but Cowell saw something in him, and encouraged him to come back in ‘2 years’.

2010 was the year it all changed. After returning to their show, Liam was paired with 4 strangers: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. They gained popularity extremely fast. Placing 3rd place on the show, they were signed to Simon Cowell’a ’Syco Entertainment’. From there, history was made. From songs like, “What Makes You Beautiful”, “Live While Were Young’, “Best Song Ever”, and countless other hits, 1D was sent into the stratosphere, and never really came down.

At a very young age, Payne was touring all over the world. Anywhere from North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe, Payne was living the superstar’s dream. But this type of fame at a young age would take a toll on anyone. Payne struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues for many years up to his untimely death. After 1D separated in 2015, Payne always maintained his hope for a reunion. The group’s success was so monumental, so intense, all the members continued to have a special relationship with one another, even after falling out.

Payne released his first hit single in 2017, “Strip That Down”, which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Payne then released a subsequent album, ‘Bedroom Floor’, and a planned second studio album was in the works for 2023-2024. Payne delved into themes like sexuality, and explored the R&B style he would be known for. Payne was also an extraordinary writer, co-writing almost 30 songs for 1D, and many other artists. Also skilled in coming up with melodies, Payne’s rich voice was perfect for capturing the right tune.

With his singing talent, Payne utilized his fame for good, and was a philanthropist for many organizations. He supported BBC’s children in need fundraising efforts, Comic Relief, UNICEF, and was an ambassador of sustainable development. During COVID, Payne helped fund over 60,000 meals in the Trussell Trust. Prior to his death, Payne donated thousands of pounds to various GoFundMe pages.

Many things could be said about Liam Payne and fame in general, but what is known is the need for people to take mental health and substance abuse seriously. On October 16th, 2024, Liam Payne died after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires. He was 31. This has raised concern about the music industry, media, and adolescent fame. Shortly after his death, fans and friends paid tribute to him. Fans gathered outside of the hotel the day he died, lighting candles and mourning the loss of the pop star. Fan memorials took place all over the world, such as in Mexico, UK cities, and NYC.

All members of 1D wrote eulogies about their friend, and posted them on social media alongside pictures with Liam. One of the most poignant quotes was from Zayn Malik, a band member who was close with Liam. Zayn stated, “I lost a brother when you left us and can’t explain to you what I’d give to just give you a hug one last time…”. Several other celebrities also paid tribute, including Simon Cowell. Liam’s death was a tragic accident, and a circumstance of immense fame. Not much is known about his death, and what’s best now is to appreciate his life and legacy. When 1D finally reunites, Liam’s place will always be cherished in the hearts of many.

Music/Concerts

The meaning behind “ I Know It’s Over” by The Smiths

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By: Kumari Wijetunge

The Smiths (1984 sire publicity photo) by: Paul Cox; Distributed by Sire Records

“I Know It’s Over” by The Smiths released in 1986 as part of The ‘Queen Is Dead’ album stands as one of The Smiths most heart wrenching and melancholic songs. With lyrics written by Morrissey and composed by Johnny Marr the song provides the listener with a candid exploration into the feelings of romantic rejection, personal worth, and the longing desire for human connection.

“I Know It’s Over” is a song about the pain of dealing with unreciprocated love. Lines like “Love is natural and real/But not for such as you and I,” reflect an emotional torment of being unable to experience the love that is given. Morrissey wallows in the sadness and hopelessness of loving someone who won’t reciprocate, with the song repeatedly going back to the line “I know it’s over, still I cling” showing that he knows deep down the truth but just can’t leave yet.

The song’s message reaches beyond just a romantic failure but goes into the feelings of broader existential loneliness. Morrissey’s lyrics convey a sense of isolation, reflecting on feelings of being disconnected with others. Lines like “it’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind” portray the struggle of maintaining kindness in a cruel world that at times is so cruel.

Additionally, it shows the dark feelings of feeling so unloved you’re willing to do anything just to feel something, like expressing thoughts of suicide with the line “the sea wants to take me/The knife wants to slit me/Do you think you can help me?” The line ending with a question further provides more evidence of unreturned love.

“I Know It’s Over” is more than just a break up song, it’s an exploration of human vulnerability, loneliness and the desire to connect with others. Morrissey’s deep and raw lyrics and Johnny Marr’s guitar world make a powerful piece that resonates with listeners on many different levels and can be interpreted in many ways.

Music/Concerts

Why ‘Plan A’ is one of the best albums this year

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By: Bailey Glime

‘Plan A’ by Lil Tecca is one of the best albums this year and here is why. ‘Plan A’ shows a more experimental Lil Tecca who uses different tones in his voice to make songs sound vocally different. The album has 18 songs and is 44 minutes long, so the album is not long but has a lot to offer.

‘Plan A’ doesn’t just have the same sounding songs like other albums. This album dives deeper into different sounds to attract the audience more. It also makes the songs more of a fun listen too. The album also has songs that are more chill, and others that hype you up more.

Personally, the song that sticks out the most and is my favorite is “HOMEBODY”. This is one of my favorite songs because of the way Tecca makes his voice go up and down. There is also a catchy chorus that is fun to not just listen to but dance to as well. This song is also not a long one to listen to, and it has the listener wanting to listen to it again.

Compared to other albums of the same genre, this album isn’t completely serious and it’s more fun. At the same time, it has that seriousness in it that the other albums do too. The effect that this has on the listener, is that they can understand the lyrics better but still groove to the beat. This makes it a replayable album.

A song that makes the album pop with its lyrics is “120”. In this song Lil Tecca is talking about how with his success now he has a lot. He sings about being able to own expensive things like a 120k necklace. This song also has a groovy beat that just makes the lyrics pop more.

Overall, ‘Plan A’ shows many different sounds and makes it a very fun and interesting listen. It really dives into all the techniques Lil Tecca has under his sleeve, and draws the listeners to the album. This makes it one of the best albums this year. Having all these sounds mixed together makes this album a really enjoyable one.

Music/Concerts

‘When Wind Meets Fire’

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By: Yohan Lee

Elevation Worship is a Christian band and it began in 2007 at Elevation Church. They are some of the most well known churches and worship groups. One of the most popular songs is “Praise” from the album ‘Can You Imagine?’

‘When Wind Meets Fire’ by Elevation Worship music list:

  1. New Thing Coming
  2. What A Miracle
  3. Sure Been Good
  4. Faithful Now
  5. God Is Not Against Me
  6. Owe You Praise
  7. When Wind Meets Fire
  8. Always On Time
  9. Another One
  10. Great Is
  11. Easy
  12. All Of The Sudden

For “New Things Coming” it gives like motivation because in the lyrics it says “Darkness bow down to the day. Mountains get up out of my way. Breaking out of yesterday. I got a new thing coming.” It says even though the enemy is going to come down and try to attack you, and even when you’re being attacked, you always know that tomorrow is going to be a better day and not going to be the same as yesterday.

Also in “New Things Coming”, when the lyrics say “[T]ell this giant in my face. You’re no greater than my faith.” It’s implying that even though your enemy could be bigger than you, it can’t beat your faith. If you just know that your faith is much stronger than your enemy then your enemy can’t do anything.

I think this song is pretty good. It has a lot of meaning behind it. Some of the stuff I said is not half of it.

For “What A Miracle” this song is implying that our savior is always going to love us. The lyrics that stuck out to me are “You called me from the grave and pulled me from the dirt. I love how you love me first.” For me, it says that even if you’re at your lowest point he will always somehow pull you from your lowest point to your highest point. Our savior will always love us even when we are lost.

I believe that this song is really good because it shows how our savior can still love us forever even when we did a bad deed.

For “Sure Been Good”, when the lyrics are saying “You took the mess that I was in and you have done some incredible things.” I believe that this is saying that our savior can just turn our mess and flip it to make our life better.

For “Faithful Now”, the whole song is basically you putting your faith in God and once you do he’ll do the task that is impossible for someone: like moving a mountain. If he wants that mountain to move he’ll start an earthquake. In my opinion, I really like this song because it’s catchy.

For “God Is Not Against Me”, the song is saying God will never go against us even when we make the biggest mistake. He is never going to betray you because he created us. I think this song is pretty good.

“Owe You Praise” is basically talking about how our savior has done a lot for us and he deserves our praise. Our savior will get tired but from afar it will always watch over us. I think this song is speaking the truth because after all the stuff he did for us I think he should deserve all the praise.

The “When Wind Meets Fire” song means bringing something that’s stuck in one place to another. Like imagine if the fire is all of us and we’re all stuck, but once our savior comes and touches us then we can quickly spread and move far apart. This is an opinion, but I think this is one of the best songs on this list.

“Always On Time”. This song basically is telling that our savior will always be there at our lowest and his timing is always going to be right. I like this song because it’s true. His timing is always going to be right. It could take a few minutes, a few weeks or even years, but during those times you can always learn more about him which can work or improve yourself.

“Another One” is a very good song. In the introduction it says “You do everything on purpose” which of course everything he does to us he does on purpose. It could be a test to see your faith in him or it’s just a life lesson. And in the next line it says “I’ve been praying and you’ve been working” which is saying he is working on that prayer but like again, it’s on his timing, and if he tells you about something it will happen.

“Great Is”, is another good song. This song shows how our savior can simply make something that seems impossible and just flip it. You might not know it but like everything else he does it’s on his timing. And if you have faith in him then you can trust the process.

“Easy” is a great song to show how powerful he is. Some of the lyrics are saying he can move a mountain, part seas, fight ten-thousand battles and still win and take down giants. In this song, a good lyric is “What I call impossible is easy for you”; nothing is impossible for him.

And finally, for the last song “All Of The Sudden” it tells if you just breathe him in, as in knowing or letting him in your life just a little bit, at your lowest point you’re going to feel strong all of the sudden. The strength just rushes through you and just overflows your soul.

I hope you guys will listen to one of these songs. You could even listen to a glimpse of it and it could somehow change your life. But if you do like this kind of music, I strongly recommend listening to ‘Praise’ by Elevation Worship or ‘Wake’ by Hillsong United.