RIHANNA'S FEMINIST CHALLENGE: An Unfaithful Girl Like Me

In the midst of a series of disco-infused pop singles within two years, the Barbadian r&b/pop singer Rihanna released a rather odd ballad called "Unfaithful". In the MTV's review of the 2000s, it ranked as one of the best singles of the decade. But pop observers found it incredibly strange at the time. The song is unusual in many ways. First of all, it's a cold haunting song guided by piano chords reminiscent of the band Evanescence. It is about a girl who's becoming a "murderer" - perhaps figuratively, a killer of affection. This concept was much talked about within circles of music scholars because it unconventionally featured a girl in the position of the emotional abuser, and it produced a music video that ignited the flame even more. Yet they dismissed this moment as a talent show-off, that slowburn within pop albums intended to expose the vocal range of the artist. Following her own preservation of dance music in the charts, critics like Sal Cinquemani found the ballad "fucking weird". For me, it's a milestone in Rihanna's career.


Reading the lyrics, one would agree with Cinquemani's observation. In the first verse, she speaks of "searching for the 'Right'" but she assumes that "''Wrong' really loves her company". Then enters the subject of the song: a certain "He". Towards the refrain, it becomes obvious that she is indeed cheating "him". Yet the chorus suggests that she does not want to continue because she considers cheating the honest man as a form of murder. This is a young lady exposing her guilty pleasure, and you can see her confusion in her play of words: "Our love/His trust/I might as well take a gun and put it to his head/Get it over with/I don't wanna do this anymore".


Yet the real departure from the usual Rihanna image comes in the music video where the already dark theme of the song is given a much deeper visualization. It must be noted that she was only 18 when the video was shot, which is another reason why the whole thing about "Unfaithful" became immensely awkward. The video starts with the girl dressing up. Clad in a black fit sleeveless dress, she's vain and titillating. Then on a close-up of the visage, you can see cold beauty. She almost looks like Beyonce, older and maturer than her age yet maintaining a certain Lolita sexiness. Rihanna follows the song's narrative in not going all the way to violence (unlike what happened to the Adrian Lyne film of the same title, obviously an influence). We find the girl tiptoeing around with a white pianist but in the end, she goes back to her faithful man. She embraces him with a facial expression suggesting the guilt aforementioned, but it changes into a sincere smile - this time, she'll be more loyal.


The coming of this moment suggested a whole new different image from the Barbadian singer. It was probably an awkward presence in pop music at the time because it wasn't expected of the artist and it presented a new concept. "Unfaithful" placed Rihanna in the shoes of what seems to be a femme fatale inches away from dangerous crime. Succeeding the blissful "SOS" single, the image here bears the same sexual exposure but it's more confident. The maturely slick physique is perhaps a weapon, a magnet that attracted the likes of two men. And it's probably this sexuality that she is trying to avoid usage.


More notable is the fact that the video presents: that women can also take this side of the relationship. Rihanna's role in this is pretty much a gem - yes, the object of male gaze, but in power and never subverted. Not that I'm endorsing infidelity as a good thing but the way she presented this flipside to the conventional situation calls a much bigger and realistic picture of the nature of complex relationships. One that would call to mind the rise of "friends with benefits" where both male and female agree on the sex but not on the love, hence an issue that threatens the strength of heterosexual union.


The reason why I consider it a milestone in her art is because at the time when she was about to be labeled as just another pop dance flash-in-the-pan, she started off what would be a series of sexually-challenging work. In a ripe age of 18, a pop singer would follow the Lolita example most prominent with Britney Spears, but Rihanna (much like Beyonce) begged a more richer and political presentation of the female. It can also be read as a representation of the neo-colonialism of Barbados (she is smitten by a "white" pianist for a reason) but that's another thing. With "Unfaithful", she has launched a fierce statement against abuse. And as her discography moved along, it got richer and more profound.


- Gio Potes, March 2012

Rihanna’s Feminist Challenge

“I maybe bad, but I’m perfectly good at it.”


Despite all claims that Rihanna is just another pop tart in the music industry, I’d like to argue that she boasts a handful of brilliant songs and corresponding videos that distinguishes her from that list. Not only does she manage to conceive catchy hooks (or maybe Def Jam does that for her), she also captures an era of feminist struggle within her artifice.


In the middle of her young seven-year-old career, she has included in her art feminine modes of guilt, abuse and (finally) sexual liberation and dominance. Half of her popularity is due to the fact that she is a victim of abuse. The much-talked about domestic violence Chris Brown has committed towards the young pop star back in 2008 garnered so much media attention that it scarred the careers of both artists. But to her benefit, Rihanna used the music and visuals to escape the demons of the incident. The recorded songs and videos provided an in-depth approach to her condition. In return, the incident was followed by two dark and personal Rihanna albums. From ‘Rated R’ to ‘Loud’, the artist brought to the mainstream different forms of counterattack both allegedly to Chris Brown and the media, all the while exploring her own sexuality and challenging social norms, not to mention blossoming before the eyes of the audience and winning back loads of cash and undeniable fame.


Yet more significantly, these songs and videos present a good girl gone bad. Bad in a sense that she is not the normative kind of artist, one who sings for the excitement of consumers, (well that is still something to debate on) but a woman who has experienced one of the hardships brought about by a patriarchal system. In a way, the incident and the art that emerged out of it made way for personal statements that women can relate to. Rihanna’s flesh-flashing is not an empty consumerist strategy, too: it’s part of her messages. And whether it is the cause or the effect of her feminist challenge, I can say that it is necessary. And notably after years of these feminist modes, the Barbadian artist tops off her ventures with a solution: a gunshot - the sound of freedom from oppression and vengeful Fury against the oppressor.


Which all raise the question: is Rihanna a feminist?


This summer, I am going to study the feminism surrounding Rihanna’s aesthetics. Starting from the release of ‘Unfaithful’ as a single ‘til the music video of ‘Man Down’ gets banned from several TV stations in the US, the study aims to discover how Rihanna represents female struggles and the 2010s Girl through pop music (which is generated through MTV and the internet: YouTube, Twitter, etc.). Though it’s possible that this era of thought within Rihanna’s career would reach deeper trenches as she grows older and wiser, I believe the incidences surrounding ‘Man Down’ concludes an initial period of feminism that Rihanna herself seemed to emphasize in the first place. Thus, I will focus on the artist’s fruitful middle career right after ‘Music of the Sun’ and before ‘Talk that Talk’. Yet it is still a huge question what exactly Rihanna wants her audience to take from her musical and visual output. For me, she gives women a new understanding of their condition, and solutions for them to fight it.  - Gio Potes, March 2011.

Ganda's Sarcasm

“May nag-blog!”


The rise of Vice Ganda didn’t only offer a new viewpoint of homosexuals in the Philippines - it gave the country a new infectious taste of hilarious sarcasm.


It’s not new to learn that we, Filipinos, mostly ask questions with obvious answers. You see your brother soaking wet after walking under heavy rain and you ask “Naulanan ka?”. You smell the food your mother is cooking and then you ask “Ma, nagluluto ka na?”. And you let a person inside your karinderya and you suddenly ask “Kakain po kayo?”. Vice Ganda, a stand-up comedian now a red-carpet delight, is clearly sick of these and so came his contribution to the endless prominent catchphrases composed of two words ending with an angry exclamation point: “AY, HINDI!”


And surely, even you have been a victim. Vice Ganda’s growing exposure (because of noontime television’s Showtime and soon his own talk show, Gandang Gabi Vice, probably a Pinoy gay counterpart to Ellen) planted a new popular way of speaking in Pinoy pop culture. Boys, girls and gays alike are using this, probably as a way of showing superiority or just to fool around.


Vice shows another concrete example of how gays in the country are indeed one of the most influential sources to new ways and forms of communication. There’s the gay lingo, and now this Vice Ganda-stamped sarcasm that are humorous but are, most importantly, colorful evidences of the Filipino language’s dynamism. Call it destructive, crude or frustrating, you probably just get fooled by it all the time. AY HINDI! - Gio Potes, September 2011

The Elitist's Shit

ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK (2011)

A cream of 2011’s indie crop, Marlon Rivera’s “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” turns the current Philippine indie scene to its head. Successful at the box office (probably because of its strong Star Cinema promotion), the film is both a critique and an exploitation of the “formulas” building up in the vaults of internationally-lauded Filipino films: films about poverty. It is an ultimate testament to the industry’s (if there ever was such an “independent film industry”) boredom of tackling poverty issues that the filmmakers fictionalized here can’t decide on how they’re going to sell the story – a gritty docudrama, a glossy musical or a movie-star vehicle?


It all revolves around an “ordinary Thursday” of a distracted mother named Mila who eats only a pack of instant noodles for lunch with her seven kids, one of which ends up being sold to a Caucasian pedophile much to the disgrace but money-hunger of the mother. Two rich filmmakers (Kean Cipriano and JM de Guzman) argue all over everything from script to poster, probably because they know the material is shit (its working title is “Walang Wala” for a reason). Soon enough, they are triggered by their envy of a fellow but lesser and grammar-Nazied filmmaker who just came home from the Venice Film Festival, and inspired by their dream of Oscar wins and, most of all, by the star who loved their script: Eugene Domingo.


As Bienvenido Lumbera observed, the real driving force behind film productions of today lies in the image of the bankable star. The film underlines that with Eugene’s satirical portrayal of herself. All the confusions and arguments of the filmmakers were immediately dropped when the deal of Eugene’s involvement was settled. Hence the film? It was envisioned as her own, with product placements and all emphasis on the star’s image. It is a performance Domingo will undoubtedly be known for, subtly balancing the wit of a comedienne superstar and the realistic drama of a struggling mother (did I mention that the latter was framed in three contrasting versions?). The supporting cast is nothing but back-up dancers to her show. Cipriano and de Guzman are mere channels of Rivera and Chris Martinez (the film’s writer) but probably the most notable element in that background is the one with no dialogue at all: Jocelyn (played by Cai Cortez). It was not a remarkable presence but the Jocelyn character is a rare addition to this portrait of show business - she is the audience eavesdropping to the ideas blurted out by the producer, director and star. She’s passive and subversive to the film dudes but with her, we imagine these ideas in our own movie fantasies and react to them. Jocelyn is a reminder of the filmmakers’ consideration of the consumers, which is (and should be) a relevant point. But to the star, the audience is barely as important. “Nandyan ka pala!” said Eugene upon spotting this silent observer sitting on her million-dollar couch.


When I saw the film for the first time in a recent Cinematheque screening, I was joined by a small group of obviously rich business men who laughed hysterically at the struggles of the elitist filmmakers. Maybe it’s unbeknownst to them that they were laughing at themselves. This is a movie about the elitist’s shit, how he intends to capitalize on stories he thinks are important and sells it using guaranteed money-making formulas. He exploits the lives of these poor people and in the end, he wouldn’t do anything about it. Nothing big really happens but profit and inclusions to official festival selections. It is a satire directly hinted at the same people who’ll never learn.


The commercial and critical success of “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” is timely. The indie film satire signifies the continuing rise of the Philippine independent cinema. It reminds me of film history, when one independent filmmaker slapped the norms of the industry with a provocative film entitled “Pagdating sa Dulo”. Though, in time it will most likely be forgotten for its politics since by then, the indie film would’ve moved on to fresher themes, new-found success and worse conflicts. And also by then, the target of darting satire in the film would’ve been sitting pretty in the mainstream. I wonder if Brillante Mendoza has seen it. - Gio Potes, December 2011

References:

1. Lumbera, B. (2011). Re-viewing Filipino cinema. Mandaluyong City:

                             Anvil Publishing Inc.

2. IMDb - The woman in the septic tank (2011). (n.d). Retrieved

                             from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1961179/

2011: The Year of Intimacy Issues

"This is the second movie this year to ask whether it's possible to have sex with someone without falling in love, and the second to arrive at a mistaken conclusion — because of course it is."

"It’s essentially about marital infidelity, tackling the sordid turns in a married couple’s life when another girl enters frame"

"Still, one must do something about sex, lest the pipes run rusty."

"It is all cute at first. Sex has never been a serious proposition for Filipinos. Sex has been quite the favorite punchline for skits and jokes."

Critique from Roger Ebert and Oggs Cruz

The Gaga Wars: Ladies on Gaga

Videos in point:

*STUPID HOE - Nicki Minaj

*BIG MOUTH - Santigold

Within the week, Entertainment Weekly released Madonna’s latest 20/20 interview in which the Queen of Pop finally commented on the heated comparisons with Lady Gaga. Her remarks about Gaga being “cool” back in 2009 seemed to fade when she called Gaga’s gay anthem “reductive”. It isn’t quite odd that some of Madge’s collaborators on her new album (titled MDNA) added fuel to the fire in the same week as well. Two frustratingly bizarre videos (at least in the perspective of a regular Vevo music video subscriber) from Nicki Minaj and Santigold sliced and diced the nature of being a pop star - to be more precise, the nature of being Lady Gaga.


The two songs are about noisy girls by noisy girls. “Stupid Hoe” at first seems to be pinpointing at Lil Kim and it’s quite a painful listen. It doesn’t have the swagger of “Super Bass” or the eerie mystery of “Did It On ‘Em”. It’s a mean bully of a song. “Big Mouth”, on the other hand, is better. A playful experiment of synths and bass, it’s more like the Santi-penned Christina Aguilera song “Bobblehead” (which, in a better world, is a celebrated pop anthem) only this time the annoying bobblehead is bigger. Regarding their visuals, both videos reject current pop star trends. Both are animated, often funny but never fun. They’re very serious in their starbashing while remaining puerile and literal, which would mean they bring nothing new from the artists. But quite possibly these are their most absurd videos to date.


By now, music lovers (except Gaga’s loyal Little Monsters) share the annoyance felt by these two artists and how they seem to perceive the whole Gaga phenomenon as something terribly absurd. Just look at the artist’s humongous success in 3 years, and then question her sincerity - how she takes away millions of dollars while declaring that she’s a savior for the oppressed. And most importantly, just imagine her numerous “homages” that spark controversy and question her artistry. Her success is now being scarred by her critics, and Nicki Minaj and Santi White are ready with their knives. Their satire of Ms. Germanotta’s business is striking and is not so subtle indeed. Take Minaj’s imitation of Gaga’s locks and Santigold’s flashing of animated mermaids and monster tits. And in a more obvious move, take Santi’s line “Ga-ga-ga or slightly off”. This lack of subtlety straightly reflects Gaga’s artifice since her work was never discreet in its intentions even at the slightest bit.


It should be noted that Gaga’s videography is known to escape pop’s standards while still dwelling in it, and she produced some remarkable ideas. Her fast growth in the industry opened the gates for artists whose musical ideas, like her own, are far from pop’s status quo and more on something most would label as “freaky”. Gaga made the outlandish such a cool thing to do in the vein of pop stars, and Nicki will not be as out and about as she is now without Gaga. Santi and Nicki now slap Gaga’s ideas to the face, taking the cream of her three-year harvest and eating them up like real mother monsters. Gaga’s perception of the “fame monster” applies to this case now that her peers suddenly get up as pop cannibals ready to eat her.


Then again you might ask: All this fuss for silly old pop? It will not be relevant anymore after the flame of the conflict fades (especially since it’s just some silly attempt on a consumerist cat fight) but then we’ll come back to this and remember how fast-paced pop music has been since the arrival of Lady Gaga, and how her fellow artists - despite ripping her to shreds - also benefit from it. - Gio Potes, January 2012.


View the videos here:
Stupid Hoe - http://youtu.be/T6j4f8cHBIM
Big Mouth - http://youtu.be/cxdQ_uD5IWk

"VOGUE" 2012

Madonna

GIRL GONE WILD

M.D.N.A.

Madonna is finally acknowledging her own influence. The video for ‘Girl Gone Wild’ is a mash of different elements from her Imperial phase, given a fashion video (shall I cite Mugler as an influence?) style. Those elements at least did something new for Madonna, which means they were some new shit for women in music at the time. The video follows the vogue (no pun intended) of current pop video that is - ironically - also inspired by Madonna. But it’s fun and brings to the forefront of pop quite possibly another remarkable era for the “Queen of Pop”.

There’s no question about the style. It’s a lot better than the disastrous ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’. Like Lady Gaga’s (yes again, she must be mentioned!) video for ‘Alejandro’, the concept is simply centered around the female gaze. It’s more ‘Vogue’ than ‘Erotica’ with her as the Queen of Homosexuality all around, until she herself gets smitten by her subjects into a sexy sequel for ‘Truth or Dare’. The ‘Act of Contrition’ sample is quite tired, and is unfitting in a song about being ‘wild’. It doesn’t exactly mean being ‘bad’, right?

Remarkably she doesn’t look 53 at all, which is exactly the point - if the Imperial phase challenged feminism, this time Madge is challenging ageism. Not that I find the age disturbing, it’s just truly noteworthy how she remains so active after a handful of hits within - gasp! - three decades. And perhaps after being such a role model for young girls back in the ’80s, these girls are now her age and she reaches out to them through her own exercises encouraging how age doesn’t matter in corporate music. She looks as fun and as sexy as she was back in 1990. She continues to prove that she’s an unstoppable force. She managed to remain active in the industry holding her own power to whatever she wants to do with it. And that is simply amazing. Like what Robbie Williams said: Face it… she’s Madonna.

Yes, she might have moved forward with her fuck-you to ageism, but her fights for the LGBT remain in the 90s style as if she just flaunts her activism around as a part of the marketing package (something Lady Gaga gets accused of most of the time). Or yeah, maybe she’s just bored with all these fairies and decided to join them again for another round of ‘Who’s-Your-Queen?’ and the LGBT isn’t exactly her thing. Though I still hope that she would fight for the gays, since they’re the major reason why she’s up there.

Then after, maybe she can still own a place in pop culture’s throne(s).

Score: 4.5/5

Watch the video here: http://youtu.be/tYkwziTrv5o

A Flashback within an App

Temple Run is about a Western traveler who stole an ancient artifact from an indigenous group pictured out as “demonic monkeys”. And the rule of the game is to help this thief escape from the people who tend to claim back their treasure, all the while continuing his crime getting more goods (golden coins) on his way.


After almost 400 years of colonialism and an imaginary independence, thousands of Filipino gamers are having fun in helping the white thief escape with the treasure…

Sex and the Secret

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Revisiting the Music of 2011, Part 2

TAKE CARE
by Drake featuring Rihanna

"If you let me, here's what I'll do: I'll take care of you"

In the silence of this song, two artists portray a drunken sadness that has not been heard before. Perhaps it is only fitting, since it's about time that Rihanna finally exorcised the Chris Brown demon and Drake his bends of pop stardom. But perhaps, the winning aspect is the involvement of Jamie xx. Earlier, Jamie xx remixed Gil Scott-Heron's "I'll Take Care of You" with his own minimalist style. The result was raw and rough tribute. When Drake approached him for his new James Blake-inspired album, xx combined just the right ingredients for arguably the best song of the year.

The sexy, drunken vocals of the Barbadian star tops her recent trippings with Kanye West and Eminem. She's the rightful muse to Drake's successful but lonely lover because she herself is just the same. The restrain she puts in words like "I've loved and I've lost" makes you wonder if she's responding to Drake's sympathetic lyrics or she just had a night out and went home to talk to her mirror. It's the most heartwrenching moment in the year's pop next to 'Someone Like You' and 'Marvins Room'.

SOMEONE LIKE YOU
by Adele


After her fierce and successful delivery of ' Rolling in the Deep', Adele gives us a lonely ballad about losing the guy she loved, with nobody to comfort her except a mic and a piano. It seemed strange to love such a song about loss and sadness, but Adele delivers it from the bottom of a severely broken heart. It's a rare moment of honesty, where most of us would just choose the bitterness over accepting the truth that we had lost the battle. As Madonna said in her own ballads album 'Something to Remember', "It takes more strength to cry, admit defeat", I can see clearly why 'Someone Like You' is a gem of 2011. In the digital age, it's proof of our hunger for honesty, since the concept of love has become something more complicated than what we initially thought.


And also, amid the the dominance of house and dubstep, 'Someone Like You' is a farewell anthem to a distant genre. A genre that served well the likes of Amy Winehouse and Adele herself. And its our decision if we will let that go away. But thank goodness 'Someone Like You' was a success! It's a heartbreak song to end all heartbreak songs. And it will no doubt be an unforgettable one, not because it is bitter, but because it's real.








COUNTDOWN
by Beyonce


2011 was all about girls lookin' so crazy in love. There's Nicki Minaj and her 'Super Bass', Britney Spears and her 'Criminal', Lady Gaga's own 'Judas' of a boyfriend, even Katy Perry who imagined Russell Brand as an alien, a zookeeper and someone as gorgeous as Diego Luna. But who'd do a better (crazy in) love song than destiny's child herself?


'4' delivers so many emotions towards love. But they can be categorized into two: so-in-love-I-just-cry ballads and so-crazy-in-love-I-dance icebreakers. Those dance songs in that album exhibit her full diva potential without restrain. So if '1+1' was one hellufa weepy, 'Countdown' is the euphoric opposite. It's the mix of all Beyonce's craziness since she first shook her hips to the horns of her first solo single. But while it's all about her present love, she incorporated portions of her past to express it.


First of course is the notable sample. The titular countdown was taken from Boys II Men's song 'Uuh Ahh'. The 90s generation was all head over heels for the musical balladry of Boys II Men, and of course, as a 90s kid herself, Mrs. Carter loved them. But who would've thought that she could get back at the band's slow sexy jam and use it to new dizzying heights? And if you look at that video, it's a montage of dance's different eras with Beyonce lookin' good and fierce in the front. While 'Countdown' is the creative highlight of Beyonce's latest album, you can't deny that inspiration is wrapped all around that album.


Actually, I just can't describe the Beyonce present in this song. She's in love, she's all deranged about it, and she wants to make them three... all in a countdown of 10 to 1! It's her most exciting performance yet, and it was something you probably didn't expect from her material-girl-slash-R&B-soul-sister schizophrenia. If all this was because of monogamous love and that alone, wouldn't it be nice to have your own Jay-Z at this very moment?


Remember Sasha Fierce? Forget her. The real Queen B has stood up.

SUPER BASS

by Nicki Minaj

The euphoria you feel with love, translated into the boom ba doom boom bass of a speaker.

It's quite possibly the most popular song of the year, with rap verses a whole generation memorized by heart. And there's the chorus that made us all fall in love with how Nicki Minaj fell in love. It found Nicki balancing the schmaltz with her angst. Yes, she's head over heels in love but it's obvious that she isn't one who's falling fast and vulnerable. She's still her badass self. "I am Nicki Minaj, I mack 'em dudes up/ Back coups up and chuck the deuce up" And she falls for a guy who's not so macho like the stereotypical boyfriend, but is shy and gentle to her. "I can tell that you're in touch with your feminine side" Plus a guy who's like Pelican fly? It's true that the guy being described here is someone rare, a guy so gentle and loving without being gay. Now girls, check your boyfriends. If he's an asshole, leave him. Listen to 'Super Bass' and follow Nicki's example.

In the end, that's just Nicki Minaj's version of love. And how happy this love has made us.

CALL YOUR GIRLFRIEND
by Robyn


How about a guide to breaking up with your girlfriend?


Robyn's musical history has always placed her in the shoes of the other girl. Now, she isn't buying it anymore.


"Call you girlfriend, it's time you had the talk/ Give your reasons, say it's not her fault/
But you just met somebody new"


It's a confidence that you won't find in the schmaltzy wounded puppy shit of ballads straight out of Celine Dion, or any other stuff like that. She must be crowned for being the first other girl to rebel against her condition, and inspiring us all to realize it, finally.

ALL OF THE LIGHTS

by Kanye West

featuring Alicia Keys, John Legend, The-Dream, Drake, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Elton John, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, Elly Jackson, Alvin Fields, Ken Lewis, and Rihanna

It’s Kanye West’s latest opus, so why not combine the forces of several powers of the industry and make one hellufa record? ‘All of The Lights’ is Kanye’s share of the limelight, of the riches and of the fame to the next generation. But even though ‘All of the Lights’ is a beautiful place to be, Kanye and all his performers here know that it can be such a ‘ghetto university’. The sexy devilish croon of Rihanna everywhere in the song (exhibit A: “Turn up the lights in here baby”, exhibit B: “We’re goin’ all the way this time”) is the tour guide to one whole roller coaster of the Hollywood life. It’s both a blessing and a curse. “I tried to tell ya but all I could say is oohh” warned at the end by perhaps the most experienced artist of the lights, Elton John.


In terms of the music, the whole orchestration is a reminder of Kanye West’s unpredictability and superstardom. After going through the rap geniuses of ‘The College Dropout’ through ‘808s and Heartbreak’, the song’s structure shows Mr. West’s maturity into one accomplished artist. One whose ideologies also developed along the process. And ‘All of the Lights’ is that part of his beautiful dark twisted fantasy that is a shaking reminder that on earth, life can be a series of critical darling ups and self-embarrassment downs.


‘All of the Lights’ is perhaps an unforgettable song about Kanye’s life and career nonetheless, and we can share and relate from his experiences because we also want ‘All of the Lights’. And after all the sins he’s committed (and ones he thinks he committed), he gets back to us with a musical creativity like no other.







SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW
by Gotye (feat. Kimbra)


A heartbreak song disguised in an 80s pop package...
but the bittersweet taste remains in the buds long after the song concludes.








FIREBALL by Willow Smith (feat. Nicki Minaj)


You asked for a fireball, you get a f*ckin' fireball!
Just strange that we're getting all this hotness from Will Smith's baby girl. Alright, the girl's 10 years old. But she's got more charisma than the Disney pop princesses combined. Plus Nicki Minaj up there, it seems Pitchfork was right in claiming that the female rapper is the secret ingredient to a good hit these days. Age ain't nothin' but a number, and my love for this dance hit is just inescapable.








CRYSTALLINE
by Bjork


If Bjork's themes are getting tired, her music is always fresh. Possibly because she's one of the most resourceful artists around, using the sounds of live nature to punctuate her eclectic vocals. An experimental showcase of percussions, the surprise of 'Crystalline', aside from its striking criticism of commercialism, is the drum-'n-bass ending that gives the entire song a menacing final exclamation. She's still an exciting artist, that Bjork.

YONKERS

by Tyler, the Creator

A haunting rap track by a man who's "not gay, just wanted to boogie to some Marvin".

Yet, he's on therapy and imagines B.o.B. dead in a plane crash and Bruno Mars stabbed to the back.

And here's an even grimmer music video to make it worse.

Okay, Tyler. Run along. Go ahead and find yourself. I'll just cure the stabs you've done to Bruno Mars.

CRUEL
by St. Vincent


"How can they be casually cruel?"


How can they be, when your whole song is a series of quotable Facebook statuses compiled into one cohesive weave and delivered with dead-pan quirkiness and a catchy backtrack?


This one's a find.








CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT
by Foster The People


I learned in art class that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Therefore, all the things I consider beautiful is all because of my perception of beauty. Then later, I learned the theories of Hegel and Marx about things like the "ruling ideology". Looking back at history and tracing towards the present, we get bullying, labels and all those cruel names. In response to this, we get songs titled 'Born This Way' and 'Call It What You Want'.


"Yeah we're locked up in ideas/ We like to label everything/
Well I'm just gonna do here what I gotta do here/ 'Cause I gotta keep myself free"


I don't know what Foster the People want to bring up from their debut album 'Torches' but to me, the whole thing is summed up in this song, to which you can say they're playing it safe. But upon listening to the song, the anthemic declarations of "CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT!" forces your own judgments to be erased and just sing along. Call it what you want, Foster the People pays no attention to what you think. Like Lady Gaga's own erase-hate statement, in its own light, "Call It What You Want" may be the year's biggest self-empowerment theme song.


Just call it what you want? Hell, it's beautiful.








ROLLING IN THE DEEP (JAMIE XX REMIX)
by Adele featuring Jamie xx)


Much of Adele's performances are so beautiful and so powerful that they get a bit campy. And her admirers can't help but make fun out of it, producing GIFs and funny sketches revolving her talent. And Jamie xx, well aware of the happenings in music right now, took that idea and blended it with his own style.


This Jamie xx remix of the inescapable 'Rolling in the Deep' replaces her anger with a playful I-don't-care-if-you-care manner, backed up by a track of continuous percussion. The vocals suddenly changes pitch and the whole first and final choruses sound like scenes from 'The Exorcist'. And he let Adele interrupt his game. A seemingly endless run of "You played it. You played it. You played it. To the beat." finishes the remix, giving her an obvious reason to rant. In other words, Jamie xx turned Adele's song against herself. The irony gives the song a whole new catchiness, and it's so not Adele.

TILL THE WORLD ENDS (THE FEMME FATALE REMIX)

By Britney Spears (featuring Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha)

The single itself was already a humongous earworm. Like the luscious strings of 'Toxic' and the three-note piano intro of '...Baby One More Time', the gigantic oh ohs of that chorus are forever stamped in my brain. And did I mention that on paper, it was only about a night out in the club?

Enter the dragons. In a brilliant move, Brit allowed the (wittily titled) Femme Fatale Remix of the song to be done. Not only was it remixed to heavier dubstep, she let the new pop stars Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha unleash their talents in one of her many comeback singles. While half the song can be attributed to Ms. Sebert for co-writing (notice the resemblance to 'Blow'?), Ms. Maraj colors it pink. Her rap before the actual song is proof of her mastery, and the playfulness was unexpected. Who else could just blurt out fried chicken in a club pop song and get away with it? And in the now famous role call ("It's Britney biiiiiiiiitch! I'm Nicki Minaj and that's Ke$ha!"), the femme fatales combine in a three-headed monster and kill it like pros.

I can't take it, take it, take no more! It's just one hellufa brilliant idea.

SHAKE IT OUT
by Florence and The Machine


(Ceremonials)


A celebration of freedom and confidence, complete with arena-sized declarations and Luis Bunuel references. So much soul, it’ll make you want to pray.
#Shake







MAN DOWN
by Rihanna


In one silly YouTube comment, a playful switch of lyrics say "Oh mama, mama, mama, I just shot a Chris Brown." The whole Chris Brown issue has always been associated with Rihanna. But she used this to her benefit. Her fifth album 'Rated R' (plus a featured song with Eminem) was dark and the songs presented mostly chaotic love and domestic abuse. In her successful album 'Loud' and its corresponding videos, she finally exorcised the demon.


And speaking of the songs, no other song reflected the state of Rihanna than in 'Man Down'. 'Man Down' is the quintessential Rihanna song. It is notable in that collection because of its unique structure and delivery. It's reggae, that one song in every Rihanna record that would reveal the Barbadian within all the American pop fluff. But what really kills in her fifth single is the lyrics twisted to the music. She sings about the murder of a man, and how she regrets it. Yet the way she sings this tale is vague and undisturbed, as if she's just saying that she didn't mean to do it but she knew it was coming. As with Foster the People's 'Pumped Up Kicks', Rihanna can't help it if she's a criminal. The man deserves it. And she deserves the relief.


This relief though wasn't satisfied till the video came out. The tale was visually presented and completely spelled out for the spectators. Rihanna portrayed a Barbadian lass having fun in the island until a local guy raped her. She gets back on him by shooting him dead. Alas, it was another controversial video. Catholic groups around the States deemed it too vulgar and violent. People would always rant about violence against women, but why is it that when women rise up from the violence and do something about it (say "shot a man down in central station in front of a big ol' crowd"), it is deemed inappropriate? In this light, I bet Rihanna called for the controversy herself.


Rum Pa Pum. Rum Pa Pum. Chris and Critics Down.
Not only did she exorcise her demons and made the critics scratch their heads. She managed to craft one of her best songs to date.








PUMPED UP KICKS
by Foster the People


Eerie vocals introduce us to the twisted mind of a Counter Strike-inspired killer who's half-serious in his upcoming spree. "You better run, better run or I'll run my gun." Then come the scarier whistles that you can almost feel Mr. Foster walking behind you. 'Pumped Up Kicks' is deranged alt-pop, but catchy as hell.








JUDAS
by Lady Gaga


Love it or loathe it, 'Judas' surely was 2011's most head-stomping, brow-raising, under-performing Lady Gaga song. It paved a larger path for the coming of more silly Illuminati accusations and made a lot of fans walk away, yet the Lady just sat calmly on her throne and awaited her biggest success yet: the album. Maybe if the subject matter was not something as Biblical as the betrayal done by Judas, it would've been a success. Unlike its mother, Madonna's 'Like a Prayer', which kept its sex-with-God backstory behind gospel choir catchiness, 'Judas' enveloped its bad romance within a conspiracy involving Mary Magdalene, Judas and Jesus Christ. The (Christian) world wasn't ready for Gaga's musical ambush, so they responded with brash criticism and a total eclipse from her artistry.


But it's clear that the song is one of her best yet. 'Judas' pushed her music further, baptizing it with heavier beats and crazier ideas - Ear condoms? Lipstick guns? Most of all, likening your bad boyfriend to Judas? - and fearlessly releasing the animal right before the Holy Week. Who would dare to do such things but the newly-crowned Queen of Pop?








UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS 
by The Strokes


Like a tribute song to The Strokes by The Strokes.
Nothing new, but you can't deny it: you did miss "Someday" and "Last Nite".








1+1
by Beyonce


If she has nothing, she's got YOOOOUU! She doesn't know much about algebra but she knows 1+1 equals TWOOOO! Yes, it's an almost campy performance from Beyonce declaring her love for Jay-Z. She delivers an amazingly matured vocal but she gets it out by way of a teenage girl much in love and is too happy that she begins to cry, or like a drag queen in a karaoke bar hitting the high notes of a Whitney Houston song. With all that restrain, it's like one of the songs of Adele's albeit one with a delivery that's more like a warm and tight embrace than a cold kissoff.








HEADLINES
by Drake


One of the strongest hits from Drake yet, once again the rapper spills his issues on celebrity in the forefront of booming beats and restless strings. Like his rise to the top, the song is a speedy reflection. And it gets better.








WHAT YOU NEED
by The Weeknd


It's like that cold post-orgasmic feeling, when you leave the scenery right after she climaxes and returns to what she wants. Yes, we've all been there, in that painful options list, and being the other boy/girl might be the real pain of Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd. But when he opened up the gates for his latest experimentation of indie and R&B, there is of course no one else in the game better than him. Even Drake took him for the rapper's latest album.








RUMOUR HAS IT
by Adele


Beware of the monstrous percussions and angered vocals that are ready to crush your indecision! Bless your soul, you have made a fool out of this woman! In no more than 4 minutes, she will make you think again and run to your mommy like a silly little boy who spoiled the whole meal by eating sweet candy. And beware because there's more bashing to come!








VOMIT
by Girls


A mystifying love song that builds up and explodes into howling gospel.








I'M THE BEST
by 2NE1


There is no way I'm buying into this KPop craze. But if they ever managed to build-up these inescapable ra-ta-ta's and na-na-na's and get 4 confident bitches snarl all around the place, why not give in? It's 2NE1's best, and probably of the whole KPop phenomenon as well.