Surell

Since I - as well as the world - may be dead or zombified tomorrow, I feel like I should do at least a Top 5 of this momentous year, especially since I've probably only listened to 5 albums that were released this year. I will attempt as well to thematically link these albums to the apocalypse, the fear created from it, or reactions thereof.

I just thought about entering these one at a time day by day for dramatic effect but I guess that would kind of demerit the project, huh?

So let's start with number 1 because if we play these records backwards they'll tell us the real reason we're all dead tomorrow anyway.



channel ORANGE - Frank Ocean

The biggest hype surrounding this album was that Frank was honest, that he laid all his cards on the table and let the chips fall where they would (or some other cliche). His gesture is not only honest to his fans and critics, though; that pales in comparison to the fact that he made his confession to be entirely honest with himself. Even though it may be too late to actually take the lesson to heart, we should; too often we lie to ourselves or repress our most meaningful feelings because we imagine it will keep things running smoothly, and too often we harm ourselves in the act, then go on to repeat the act.

If the world should end tomorrow, I doubt we'll have any acts of gods, wild scientific phenomena, or unforeseeable collisions with our beloved moon to blame - there will only be that thing we see in the mirror when we rise in the morning. It's been around seventy degrees here in my hometown for the past couple of days, and we are but a week from Christmas, a holiday mashed practically in the middle of the Winter season - I can't even enjoy a seasonal lager thanks to global warming. But so many businessmen in public servant's wool (as well as that of the scientist) have claimed that there is no need to worry, that it is a myth, and that we should go on with the natural (or anti-natural) order of things, like drilling, fracking, and spilling oil so we shouldn't lose jobs or rely on unreliable energy sources or whatever other shit they may tell us.

Or how about the whole class warfare issue that everyone wishes to ignore? I neglected it too so I won't get too in depth, but we ignored the excesses of a few individuals for so long that it affected everyone that said "hi" to the pricks. Now, we're at this boiling point where, at any second, all the water in the pot could spill out and evaporate, gone with little evidence that it was ever there - except for the fact that the spaghetti is dry.

Frank gets number 1 spot not only because he is such an exemplar of the art of blunt lyric, but because he is so poetic and lyrical in the craft as well. While Dark Fantasy was a fine Hip Hop album, not much of Kanye's lyrics can really be extended outside of its first meaning, or allow the listener to really delve into thought on the topics (unless that thought should be "Wow Kanye's cool" or "Wow Kanye's a douche"). Literal language is consistent in Hip Hop, and my primary attribution to this is that Hip Hop is based upon hustler credos, one of which being that cold, hard numbers and evidence must be available, or whatever being presented will never hold water. Frank, on the other hand, creates vivid scenes that constantly teeter on the line of reality and surreality, and surreality has always been a style fixated on symbols or double meanings.

There is, of course, "Thinkin Bout You," with its spewing of contradictions and boasts - the latter of which contradict the humble, sensitive artist himself. The greatest contradiction, of course, is that amidst the bald faced lies, he finally gives a pure, almost vague truth. Contradiction is another consistent theme in Hip Hop, seen in masters like Ghostface to brand new guys like A$AP Rocky, or, of course, the potential satire of the genre in "Yonkers," Tyler being a walking paradox and all. But these contradictions can be just as telling as unadulterated truth.

Then, of course, there is the album's centerpiece, "Pyramids." The song has been merely as "a stripper dying at a strip club" and Frank fucking her beforehand, which itself could be an existential statement now that I think about it, but that can't be all. Cleopatra is this grand figure; you don't put Liz Taylor in a movie, fuck her, and then she dies, nothing else, that's a waste of sweet Liz Taylor ass. The highlight of the track and it's depth, for me, is the scene with what appears to be a pimp, Cleopatra's to be precise, whose exploitations of her "keep his bills paid." Frank turns to a sort of singing-rap here, and the beat shifts to that famous cymbal tap that always reminds me of turning bicycle wheels in slow motion. It's a trademark of Three 6 Mafia, who are famous for their exploitations of women as well as their soaring "Mystic Styles." The first half of the song takes a very mystical approach to lyricism, but the beat is very rooted in club/dance music, which has euphorias strictly based in secular or earthly values; but the second half, though full of juicy, novel-like details (even the ones which reveal too much information (ride cowgirl!)), has a beat that gives a much more ethereal feel, as if it were an out of body experience or a dream.

The story itself is uncertain, but so am I, and i definitely had more to say about it until everyone started spouting that super-literal bullshit and I lost my train of thought months after having found it. I will update if it comes back to me and I'm not dead.

But just preceding that piece is "Crack Rock," so chock full of atrocities and grimace inducing self-destruction, with that fragile echo hovering over the song and that old school Hip Hop drum beat, Frank proves that the crack topic is still relevant to this day, a shamefully timeless look into not only the disease of drugs in the black community but addiction in the general sense, and how great a toll it can truly take. Frank was inspired for this song by NA and AA meetings he used to sit in on, as his grandfather was a participant in the programs, further showing just how far back addiction goes in American culture.

There are many other noteworthy songs on the album (all the songs having their merit) but enough time has been spent here and I have four other albums to over analyze before I die tomorrow. The prominent theme of the album is Success v. Failure, and how the two can collaborate. In "Crack Rock," the junkies have the option to redeem themselves and fall back into good graces with the family who "won't let them hold the infant," or stay in their downward spiral until utterly drained of life. "Thinkin Bout You," in its failure to grasp what it wants, may find solace in the memories it once had. The entirely adorable and tearjerking "Forest Gump" shows that, though the subject has his disabilities or handicaps, he is also an inspiration and has his times to shine. Ultimately, the album is surreal narrative reminding you that there is always second chances and that rebirth is always an option: From the clean, oftentimes sparse production (much like a clean slate or canvas), to it's revitalization of Marvin Gaye politics and pouring of the heart, spiritually and with ones lover, to all the light revealed at the end of the darkest tunnel. Frank offers us hope and redemption, even when we may not deserve it, like a loving creator should, and this, of course, comes with a complete purge of past sin.

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