Tag: The Concordian

Categories
Student Life

It’s okay to be uncomfortable – confronting our complicity through The Lily Pod

Linneah Shanti sits down with friend & writer Antea Zivanovic to discuss The Lily Pod. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

A Concordia podcast that teaches us how vulnerability can connect us to ourselves and each other

Often when I think of Linneah Shanti, I think of all the things that have to do with feeling good. A feeling of good-ness that isn’t attached to something I can hold, no matter how much I adore croissants and cappuccinos. A feeling of good-ness that unwinds from budding empathy, love in bloom. A feeling of good-ness that, like her podcast, would be the worst thing to keep secret.

Originally from Ontario, Shanti is currently based in Montreal and in her third year of Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality at Concordia University. The two of us were introduced during

our first semester at university. A year and a half later, in January 2021, she started The Lily Pod.

The idea had been on her mind for a while before then, morphing itself from a yearning to create something special. What she ended up creating is now a space for learning and exploring, focused on the disentanglement of ideas and quenching curiosities.

When I asked Shanti to try and contain The Lily Pod to a set of defining words, she playfully replied with “Queering the existence of life.”

TC: So where did the name come from?

LS: The initial intention for the name came from my desire for this podcast to be a safe, peaceful, and loving place. I decided to take garden imagery — which for me evokes a sense of calm, safety, serenity, and welcoming. Flowers, water, and greenery have always played a big role in my feelings of belonging and safety, which I wanted the podcast to reflect.

‘Lily’ is [also] a name my partner calls me because it’s an acronym for “Linneah I Love You,” which felt really special given the loving space I wanted to create.

TC: Given that the podcast is something that is both yours and something you share — where does being vulnerable fit into this context?

LS: It fits in with how I and listeners confront our own questions, instincts, and learned ways of thinking about the world. In the process of thinking about and creating the episodes, I’m constantly confronted with how much I want to share and what I really think about something… putting my thoughts into the void can be both really scary but also really liberating.

I get a few messages a week from listeners interpreting what I’ve said in a really personal way, and I find this openness to vulnerability really special. It’s this cool cycle where this vulnerable experience for me is made public, then made personal to someone, and then reflected back to me… we’re all going through it together.

TC: You’ve explored so many topics throughout the last year, from desirability, to the male gaze, to polyamory, to the complexities of gender… Is there one topic that has stuck with you more than the rest? 

LS: I immediately gravitate towards what it means to desire and to be desired in the unique context of our own individual identities… how this intermingles with gender, sexuality, the body, perceptions. What it means to understand our positionality and using this understanding to connect us even if our experiences aren’t identical.

TC: If there’s one episode you recommend to first time listeners, which one would that be? 

LS: The polyamory one! It was the first collaborative episode and was recorded with two beautiful friends. It felt like I was doing something more than just sitting down and recording… and it reflected a lot of different themes from a queer perspective, really encapsulating what The Lily Pod is.

How to listen to The Lily Pod

My favourite place to listen to Shanti’s podcast is in my bedroom, in the midst of my process of getting ready to go somewhere. I often catch myself audibly agreeing with her, or suddenly hyper-focused on a new thought she’s helped me connect with.

Regardless of where I am when I hit play, I’ve found that by the end of each episode I’m always left feeling some type of new.

The Lily Pod is available on Spotify, Buzzsprout, and Apple Podcasts. You can find more of Linneah Shanti @linneahrae and @thelily.pod on Instagram. 

Photos by Catherine Reynolds

Categories
Music

Musicians in the wake of COVID

 Three artists from different walks of life speak on the the effects of COVID

William Cote-Monroe treads carefully around his studio apartment filled with amplifiers and music gear. His multi-holding guitar stand shares a space with his refrigerator in the kitchen. Where you would normally find the television, you see a home studio where he spends his free time recording and practicing music. His KRK speakers stand in place of house plants. 

This is the after-effect of COVID’s wake that Cote-Monroe and so many other musicians are left in. The pandemic left many stranded without a job, livelihood, passion, and in extreme cases, a place to call home.   

When Montreal went into lock down in March 2020, starting on March 20, 2020 to be exact, Cote-Monroe was in Ontario playing as a guitar player for a group called Chinsee and the Eclipse. They had just played in London, Ontario the night before and their Toronto gig was then cancelled with their Montreal show following suit. To add the cherry on top, schools were also cancelled for two weeks.   

 “I had a feeling that it was gonna be much longer than two weeks. It just didn’t seem feasible. The two weeks was probably just to comfort us,” said Cote-Monroe. 

Faced with having quite a bit of work suddenly disappear as an artist, and the severe reduction of income, and loss of momentum that came with it, Cote-Monroe had to shift certain priorities in his life. “All these festival gigs that I was going to have during the summer which were supposed to launch my career just dried up,” he said.

Cote-Monroe plays very few shows, and the majority of them happen to be solo shows, which entail just a guitar and vocals. That’s easy. However, playing with others now chalks up to more of a task as vaccine passport limitations fell into place.  

“You have to acquire your QR code to play and it became quite frustrating to play with other people because others didn’t have their QR codes and neither did members of the audience,” Cote-Monroe said.

These audience members then get kicked out and if there were three to four bands playing at the event they all end up going home with nothing.

“It’s more worth it to bring your friends over to watch you jam,” he said.       

Cote-Monroe hopes to add a full-time drummer and bassist into his ensemble, as well as get a driving license and a van for the band in order to be on the road every other week around Quebec and Ontario. The struggle will soon reveal itself as Cote-Monroe will have to start on a clean slate when it comes to networking with other artists and finding new jobs to help him sustain his goals as a full-time musician. 

Fortunately, the pandemic led to him centralizing himself and his creative outlook. He picked up drawing for his album artwork. “I’m not some trained sketcher and I’m just drawing art that I vibe with,” Cote-Monroe said. He is currently also learning the ropes in mixing and mastering so that he can ideally release a song per week because he can write like that now. “I’m just trying to bring it back to that level of which I can release music that I like and people care about.”  

What affects artists, naturally stems from what affects venues. There has been a collective called Growve MTL which organises music shows in the form of live sessions at several locations but mainly on the Saint Laurent and Saint Denis streets, including Turbo Haüs and Blue Dog. The event’s cofounder is none other than Shayne Assouline, a jazz studies student at Concordia, alongside professional beatmaker Shem G and Marcus Dillon, a silvertongue lyricist. According to Dillon, a member of the Dust Gang community, they are both members of a band named The Many which congregated in 2018 at a pub called Urban Science, which offers jam sessions under their “Le Cypher” event. Growve MTL’s main act is The Many, who are linked with the Dust Gang community. 

Dust Gang’s goal with Growve MTL is to have musicians who are at ease with their musical skills come together, so that they always contribute something new each time. Even if they play the same song at many events, they make each show fresh in this way. For example, because of their diverse influences and past experiences, a new musician with a violin will perform differently than the other stringed musician, like a bassist. They are set to return to the local scene on March 2 according to Assouline.      

Joseph Mascis (J) is the frontrunner of the Americana suburban alternative rock band known as Dinosaur Junior. As a band, they have been active since the late ‘80s, spanning almost four decades. Before COVID, the band only stopped playing live shows once in the 90s due to conflict between members. However, the pandemic has put a new stress on the group, causing them to stop twice in total. 

“People always come up to me and say ‘COVID must’ve been great for you,’” Mascis said. “Um, well actually no, I haven’t liked it at all, I mean.” 

Emmett Jefferson Murphy, Dinosaur Jr. drummer, stated at one point that he didn’t even have a family to go back home to. He would be holed up in the house alone with nobody to converse and interact with during COVID. “It’s not easy, far from it in fact,” said Mascis.

Mascis’ famous wall of Marshall 4×12 amps crowded his living room, while the Jazzmaster and Telecaster lay pell-mell over the couch. His living space was in disarray and one can tell he is not used to it. “It was horrible, I mean, I just haven’t been home that much ever since I was a kid or something, it’s just not how I usually live my life, I’m always going places and touring, so it was tough.” 

Cote-Monroe says that “everything is temporary,” and maybe it is, as Assouline and Mascis share his sentiment on the whole COVID ordeal. As the artists wait to go back out on tour again to exercise their passion, they’ll have to overcome the main COVID hurdle just like they hurdle over the smorgasbord of equipment in their houses.  

 

Graphic by James Fay

Categories
Opinions

What makes Molotov cocktails on a weekday night worthy for a journalist?

In the pursuit of finding the answer to journalistic woes, I was reminded why I am here

Patricia Mukhim, an investigative journalist and the editor of The Shillong Times was greeted with a gasoline-filled Molotov cocktail at her house on April 17, 2018 in Meghalaya, India. She had been reporting on illegal limestone mining in the northeastern hilly state with a fragile ecosystem.

Raman Kashyap, a freelance investigative journalist at Sadhana TV, Uttar Pradesh, India, was at first declared missing and later found dead on Oct. 4, 2021. He was covering the ongoing farmer protests where a vehicle of an official allegedly ran over protesters.

I could have brushed these examples off as anomalies in the vast profession that is journalism. But the stats didn’t support me either. In Reporters Without Borders’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index that ranks nations according to their press freedom and safe reporting laws, India ranked 142 among 180 countries. This calls out a crisis in Indian journalism, the very crisis I decided to be a part of.

These events and stats made it really hard for me to convince my dad to fund my journalistic interests. Like any Indian father, he too was religiously following the loud news debates, atrocious insensitive headlines, clickbait thumbnails and shameful coverage of what is now merely labelled news. He politely asked me to choose something else to pursue.

When I first shared my intentions to still pursue journalism, the immediate response was a shocking “Why?” followed by a big “No.” My loved ones were worried about my safety — and it was a valid fear. They knew I would be too ambitious to cover a mere puff piece instead of a scandal. Thankfully, I convinced them.

Once travel restrictions around the world were lifted, I flew thousands of kilometres from Hyderabad, India to Montreal to study journalism. I hoped that it would give me a global perspective on the respected profession.

Soon after arriving, I luckily came across an investigative article by Ricochet Media, which reported on police brutality in Montreal against student journalists during a protest. The Canadian Association of Journalists also published a press release condemning multiple attacks on journalists and reporters covering protests in Montreal and Quebec City. They requested police to take action against the attackers.

What I learned from instances like this is that the world views journalists and our profession as something to be restricted, disrespected, and controlled with an iron hand no matter the continent.

Why do these journalists keep going back to the field, back to their newsrooms, back to reporting and investigating just to be shoved around, arrested and even killed? Why am I still here writing for newspapers and looking for events to report on? It is because journalism is a powerful profession — one that I want to be a part of.

My presence as a media person suddenly made people around me self-aware of what they said and did. That was something to take pride in. It’s crazy to think that I, a student journalist who just started her classes, am already making people nervous. It was this power of journalism that still drives me and convinced my loved ones to support me.

Journalism is founded on the efforts made to seek the truth, and I believe that the profession derives its power from this truth.

Truth-seeking is also one of the founding pillars of freedom of the press. In the same way, the makers of the Indian Constitution included freedom of speech and expression as some of the fundamental rights for its citizens, with a few press or media exceptions.

But where do we draw the line in our reporting, when it doesn’t guarantee complete truth?

Some journalists get hit with death threats and “sedition” cases for digging deep or getting closer to a hidden truth. However, those who spread and propagate falsified truths remain unaffected.

The reason behind those who benefit from fabricating truth being unharmed is complex. When the truth is being weaponized, fabricated and projected from behind a shroud of imagined righteousness, those holding the weapon are not harmed, nor those who fixed the targets. I could be at the right place trying to debunk false news at the wrong time and become an easy target in this chaos. Now, I understand the collective concern and worry my friends and family had for me and my professional choices.

In the wake of all this, what is journalism fighting for? For the truth that is losing its sanctity? For righteousness that is constantly maligned? For an ultimate value that can never be achieved? No. Journalism fights for change.

Mukhim’s reporting moved the local government to make amendments to licensing limestone mining. This was a partial win as the illegal and environmentally harmful extraction of the locally abundant material hasn’t stopped. But neither will she.

Efforts of journalists like Kashyap, along with many local farmers, enabled change. They covered different angles of the farming laws, collected reasons for the dissent, debunked fake rumours for over a year, and finally led the government to annul the new farming laws.

Hope that change can be achieved, even in part, pushes journalists to keep going against the odds. It inspires young journalists like me to take up this profession so that in every article I write, I am able to push the wheel of change, one millimetre at a time.

It is great to witness journalism striving for noticeable changes and generating value for itself by overcoming the negative effects of the actions of some of its own, seeking truth, and hopefully being safe to practice. Until then, cheers to Molotov cocktails on weekday nights.

 

Photo by Christine Beaudoin

Categories
Music

Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show: Dr. Dre’s family reunion on home ground was a spectacular one

 This star-studded halftime show was one for the ages

Whether you are a football fan or not, Super Bowl Sunday is always a night you circle in your calendar. Some might use this yearly event as an occasion to appreciate one of the most-watched sporting events of the year, others use it as an excuse to gather round with friends and family to drink cold brews and eat an unreasonable amount of chicken wings. One thing is for sure though, everyone enjoys the halftime show. From 15 to 20 minutes packed with performances from legendary artists to the likes of Prince, Beyonce and Paul McCartney creates one of the most talked about music events of the year — propelling superstars into legendary status. 

The LVI Super Bowl made no exceptions by spoiling hip hop fans with the invitation of Dr. Dre and friends to headline this year’s show. And by friends, I mean four of the greatest MCs the legendary producer has ever worked with: Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige.

With the Super Bowl taking place in the Golden State, it was only natural to name the Compton native Dre as a headliner. The show started off with Dre and Snoop appearing on top of small white houses, to perform their hit “The Next Episode,” followed by 2Pac’s “California Love,” where Snoop rapped the late East Coast rapper’s verse. Following another track from the two, both Blige and Lamar performed two songs of their own while Eminem jumped on the chorus of “Forget about Dre” before performing his own “Lose Yourself.” An upside-down 50 Cent made a surprise appearance on the set to rap his hit song “In Da Club.”

While far from being the most visually stunning or creative halftime show, the music more than made up for it with hit after hit being played. This concert saw six of the most influential hip hop artists of the millennial generation, one being arguably the greatest rapper of the 2010s perform their best work. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg without a doubt stole the show, showcasing that Cali connection and looking like the coolest fifty-somethings out there. Lamar’s theatrical performance was also a highlight, with the Compton artist performing what might be his most important song “Alright” — especially during Black History Month. And while I could have gone without Mary J. Blige’s or Eminem’s performances to let the three West Coast rappers sing more songs, I get their inclusion to this lineup and they still did their thing.

All and all, this year’s halftime show was a memorable one and Dr. Dre orchestrated what might be the best hip hop-focused Super Bowl halftime show of all time.

 

 

Categories
Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Wild Rivers – Sidelines

The Toronto-based group doesn’t let listeners hold back the watergates 

Well folks, here you have it: the new album Sidelines by Wild Rivers has been released. It has been six years since their first self-titled LP and they’ve used the time to mature and develop their musical craft. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario, the Canadian folk band consists of Devan Glover, Khalid Yassein, and Andrew Oliver. Their use of songwriting elements often reminds avid neo-folk listeners of Gregory Alan Isakov, The Paper Kites, and Blanco White. 

Sidelines is a thirty-minute trip down high school memory lane, reminiscing of the many milestones that are staples within one’s journey through adolescence. The opening track “More or Less” sets the theme for the rest of the album. The band is thinking back to the good old days of high school with lyrics like “The best friend you had for ten years, that video store just disappeared, first person that you loved, last time you used algebra.” Did they peak back then? Sounds like they did.

The album takes a heartbreaking turn with the third track called “Long Time,” where Yassein and Glover emulate a phone call between two high school sweethearts that have broken up, but Glover’s character still hasn’t moved on. “Four years, how you wanna play this?” It’s been a while since they have spoken to one another but whenever they do it feels like they were the same “two kids lying in the basement.” While there is a lot of reminiscing, Glover knows that she has to bring herself back to the present, even though it’s emotionally painful. “I gotta get along with life, but you still run my mind.”    

Did you think you were done being heartbroken? Think again, because two tracks later it’s “Amsterdam,” which “is the retelling of a friend’s breakup, who had big plans to move to Europe to be with her long-distance boyfriend,” said Yassein, in an interview with Music For The Misfits. 

There’s no denying that Wild Rivers has their own sound. When it comes to indie/folk they have the textbook slide guitar in the background to give a dreamy feel, yet they’re not afraid to use pad presets of synthesizers (pads being background chords that ring out), filling the space and giving a softer feel to the song itself.

It almost seems like the entire album is a road trip of sorts, looking at life flash past you through the side windows like Bon Jovi’s “Lost Highway,” only a little softer. The sixth track “Weatherman” successfully reproduces this feeling with lyrics like “Rolling down the window of the driver’s seat, looking for a place to breathe, knowing where I’m at and where I’m meant to be, trying to close the space between.” Being one of the more upbeat songs, the moral behind it has a more positive undertone than the other songs: be present and “look around, you’re missing all the good stuff.”    

 Perfect to put on while taking a trip down memory lane with an old photo album of your youth, or just during some down time. 

 

Score: 8/10

Trial Track: Amsterdam

 

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/track/52BtapS0Wy7LM8R6QvJRpp?si=aa9368afc0494077″]

 

 

 

Categories
Music

On Repeat

Our Music Editors share what they have been listening to lately

Music Editor Guillaume Laberge

A lot of hot rap songs have seen the light of day recently, enough to make my hyperactive self sit back, put them on a loop and relax. With that said, here are three songs that have been in my rotation lately. 

“Johnny P’s Caddy” – Benny The Butcher, J. Cole

This hookless single sees Benny the Butcher and J. Cole both spit back to back striking verses with a heavy delivery riding along a chill instrumental.

“ETA” (with Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes & Anderson .Paak) – Dr. Dre

Released for the new GTA update, this collaboration features an amazing soul-sampled beat and a great chorus by Snoop Dogg. The best part of the song is without a doubt when Dr. Dre and Anderson .Paak trade bars at the beginning. A must-listen.

“2012” (feat. Day Wave) – Saba

A wonderful song about a young teenage school love over a laid-back beat. Saba provides a great hook and also solidifies himself as an incredible storyteller on this one.

Assistant Music Editor Saro Hartounian

My most recent music sessions have been all over the place: a little bit of funky Red Hot Chili Peppers, a little bit of soft grunge Eddie Vedder, and a little bit of alternative/indie with Father John Misty. That being said, my volatile music taste has brought me many a gem which I would love to share with you. 

“Black Summer” – Red Hot Chili Peppers

This well-awaited single with John Frusciante back as the band’s guitarist has delivered, ironically with a fitting title: “Black Summer.” A darker song from them than usual, but it still feels like driving through the Hollywood Hills.   

“Invincible” – Eddie Vedder

An uplifting song from the surfer grunge icon with strong elements of Bruce Springsteen. This definitely sounds like a song that could be in a surfing documentary the moment the athlete goes through the eye of the wave. 

“Q4”  –  Father John Misty

If ABBA and Rufus Wainwright could have collaborated, they would have made this song. It’s a  warm and happy melody involving a harpsichord (weird right?) that could be played in a Wes Anderson movie.  

 

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/track/0bzX26mfmUi0djOLemE2b8?si=1f5ea16bbdfc4c26″]

Categories
Student Life

Omicron or I’m-in-class?

Exploring the impact the return to campus is having

I heard the ping of my email, and saw it was from Concordia — instantly, my heart started racing.

I read the email and my heart sank. We were returning to campus as of Feb. 3, 2022.

This was two weeks ago. Concordia has since re-opened its door to students, with most campus activities returning in person.

My initial reaction to the news of in-person classes was anger and disbelief: was Concordia seriously doing this? We are still at the height of a pandemic, and their response was to make us all go back? I instantly started to spiral — at the time, this was the worst news I could have gotten.

Truth is, going back to campus right now is scary. For one, I am the mom of a 15-month-old. He cannot get vaccinated, he cannot wear a mask. He is vulnerable to COVID. Now, twice a week, I have to go to campus and potentially expose myself to COVID even more so than before.

On top of the added risk, Concordia doesn’t seem to be implementing too many measures to ensure that the return to school is safe. I would feel so much better if there were more measures put in place. This semester is now bound to be a mess. Don’t get me wrong — I want things to feel normal again. I just don’t know if that’s going to happen.

I am frustrated and scared about being in person. I feel rushed in my return to campus. What was the real reason? Is it really just because of government directives? The reasons are varied.

Many people I know are over COVID, and think that we just need to move on. They say that at this point, we have to accept COVID is not going away, so we need to “just live life” and let things go back to normal.

I tend to fall more into the other category, where I think most of us just need a little more time. We need to remember that we have not officially entered the endemic phase here, and I think it would be better to value health and safety before other things.

With all the conflicting opinions, we will never really know the real reason Concordia decided to go back in person so quickly.

There are aspects of in person learning that I miss and am looking forward to. I miss jumping into conversations and not having to wait in the Zoom queue — it would definitely make my seminars a lot more enjoyable.

I’m even looking forward to something as simple as holding a physical book in the library again. Those things will be great, but not at the expense of me, my family, and my classmate’s health.

All that being said, I am at a place where I have accepted that this is our shared hell-hole that we call reality. I don’t have much of a choice, other than signing the petitions calling for a slower transition that have been circulating. I have to comply, and make sure that I do what I can to be safe with my return to campus.

I also realized that I don’t have to go through this alone. There are resources that I can access at Concordia that can help make this transition easier.

Concordia offers short-term psychotherapy, which can help with the transition with going back to in person learning. Of course, the experiences that each student will get may not be the same. So it’s important to note that there may be some challenges accessing these services. Regardless, it is still a resource that Concordia offers, so at least getting some information about it can be a starting point to having support during a difficult time.

While you are waiting for the professional services, there are things you can do on your own that could help. Something as simple as creating playlists with happy music might help put you in a better mood. Or cooking that dish you have been thinking about cooking for oh-so-long. Even going for a nice walk to get some fresh air, might make things a little less scary.

One of the most interesting things is that Concordia offers some self-help tools, including a wellness tracking tool, and various workbooks that students and staff can consult. Sometimes we just need some self-reflection, and that may help.

There are also text/phone support options that students can access. While most of these are external links, they are still being suggested through Concordia, like Wellness Together Canada, which has many resources and options for people to use and perhaps help them.

Sure, they’re not perfect, and people need to explore what works best for them, but this is at least a foundation that could help students.

While I am still incredibly nervous about the potential exposure, and wishing Concordia would do more, I have hope that with time and with access to resources, the semester will be the best it can be despite all the issues we are still facing.

 

Photo by Kaitlynn Rodney

Categories
Music

Neil Young vs. Spotify

The classic folk singer’s ultimatum toward Spotify has created a chain reaction

It has not been a good start to the new year for Spotify: Neil Young has taken his music off of the streaming platform. The legendary Canadian folk singer made his decision due to the spreading of false information about vaccines on the streaming service, specifically targeting Joe Rogan’s podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.

Young made a reference to Rogan, who had said on his podcast “I think for the most part it’s safe to get vaccinated. I do. I do. But if you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go no.” The comedian/commentator extraordinaire made a deal with Spotify for the platform to host his podcast exclusively in May 2020. The majority of Spotify premium users were already there before Joe Rogan joined the roster; however, his podcast was responsible for a 21 per cent increase in user numbers (from 130 to 158 million).  

While this might have played out to be a win for both players, things turned sour when Young gave Spotify an ultimatum. He said “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.” Given that they had spent $100 million for an exclusive deal with Rogan, the company made the “hard” choice and picked him. What they did not expect was that Young’s exit would trigger a domino effect, causing more artists to up and leave the streaming platform’s embrace. The first musician to give way after Young was fellow Laurel Canyon folk artist Joni Mitchell. The singer-songwriter proceeded to remove more than nineteen albums including Blue and Ladies of the Canyon last week to further cement her departure from the platform.

The next artists that followed suit were Nils Lofgren from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band; as well as Crosby, Stills, & Nash (which Young is sometimes a part of), Québecois legend Gilles Vigneault, and singer-songwriter India Arie. They took a leaf out of Young’s playbook and chose to stand up against misinformation, or in Arie’s case, a race-related comment by Rogan. On the other hand, there are artists that use the current situation to troll: James Blunt jokingly announced that he’d be releasing new music amidst the Young vs. Rogan debacle.    

Joe Rogan’s podcast invites a smorgasbord of people from all walks of life: from comedians to astrophysicists, and even Concordia professors such as Dr. Gad Saad. Each person has a different set of beliefs and ideologies that might or might not be agreed upon by the public. There is a difference between freedom of speech and spreading misinformation that could endanger the lives of people, but where is the line?   

     So what does this mean for Young, Spotify, and Rogan (who apologized)? Young is a household name internationally and as such is able to afford not having the extra income from Spotify when his loyal fans would still buy his records and concert tickets. Spotify will most certainly recover from the cluster of artists leaving its roster, but maybe the worst is yet to come. At least they’ll be able to benefit from Rogan’s exclusive podcast, but who knows how long that could last, what with him constantly asking his guests if they want to try DMT.         

 

Graphic by Madeline Schmidt and Catherine Reynolds

Categories
Music

Hip hop and pop culture: What is pushing “🅿️ ”?

Some things won’t ever change. Like how the sun eventually set tonight or how the potholes won’t ever be fixed, there will always be a new hip hop trend for you to get into. 

As hip hop has grown and evolved from the 20th century onwards, it has undeniably become one of the world’s leading pop culture influences. Originating in the Bronx borough of New York, the combination of flashy fashion and catchy hooks has drawn millions of fans from all around the world and rocketed many rappers to superstardom. Nowadays, you can’t even walk into a party without seeing somebody in Yeezys or people adding “skrr” to every adlib possible. 

Earworms are nothing new in hip hop. Soulja Boy’s 2007 dance craze “Crank Dat” and Lil Pump’s 2017 hit “Gucci Gang” have changed the music industry and society as a whole. An earworm is basically a melody or tune that easily gets stuck in your mind for a while after you have heard it.

The most recent example of this is Atlanta rapper Gunna’s single, “pushin P.” The blue 🅿️  emoji has been plaguing the comment section of every Instagram post and every TikTok comment — almost all words that have the letter “P” in it have been respelled to include the now infamous icon. So what is pushing P? What isn’t P? And how do we start using the slang correctly? 

In a series of tweets posted by Gunna via Twitter promoting his newest album DS4EVER, he mysteriously began using the P emoji in tweets, even asking his fans “B4 I tell u….What u think Pushing P  mean ????” Gunna later went on to clarify and gave examples of what is and isn’t P. 

On Twitter, he said, “Risking your life to feed your family is P,” and “Being a real n***a off the Internet is P.” On the contrary, what isn’t P would be “Jumpin n a person beef or situation when u dk wats goin on Not P.”

Gunna went on Instagram Live to reiterate what he means by P. “If you see a lady at the door and you hold the door for the lady, that’s P. We pushing P” he said. “If you’re tryna act richer than your partner like, that aint P”.

Pushing P and the 🅿️  emoji can basically be used synonymously with the phrase keeping it one hundred, or the “100” emoji. It involves doing something positive, being respectful and chasing your goals. In other words, doing something that in most people’s eyes would be considered a nice deed. Pushing P means you’re doing something good such as hyping up your friend for a test. If you’re discouraging their efforts, that isn’t P. It’s all about the vibes. 

There have also been misconceptions about the meaning of Pushing P. Gunna’s song “P Power” featuring Drake had many people and fans wondering if P was another way of saying p***y. With lines such as “That p***y got power, that p***y got power” followed by “Get play as a player (we player), that P get devoured (P),” it’s easy to see where this misconception came from. But this has been refuted by Gunna himself. 

By now, you should get the memo but if you still have questions about what pushing P is, Urban Dictionary has got your back. On Jan. 17, an anonymous user posted what is currently the most widely agreed upon definition of P, with over 2000 likes. “It’s more then (sic) a couple words or ‘applying pressure.’ Pushin 🅿️  is a lifestyle, a whole way of living.” Essentially, it’s a positive way of living.

Gunna is simply going to milk this wave. On Feb. 5, he announced on his Instagram page that he will soon be releasing a children’s book called 6 Things I do to be Pushing P. The book is authored by Brian “Bwritous” Wright and features illustrations by Lavan Wright. Based on the Instagram video, the short story will be completely pink and most likely based on tweets Gunna made earlier. “Be loyal” and “boss your chick up” are just some early examples shown of what this book may contain.

In the end, it’s really up to you if you want to hop on the trend or not. Like most pop culture references or overly memed slang, pushing P will most likely die off. Until then,  it’s ok to not use P. However, to hate on the trend or hate someone else for saying P is most definitely the opposite of what Gunna first meant when he coined the phrase. 

 

Graphic by James Fay

 

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Music

Underrated albums of 2021, Vol. 1: Crumb – Ice Melt

Crumb’s 2021 release Ice Melt was widely slept on

With 2021 being such a great year for music that saw some of the most prolific artists in recent years release albums, it is expected that smaller bands and artists received less exposure than the big ones. This is the case for Crumb, an indie dream pop outfit from Brooklyn, New York who released their second full length LP Ice Melt in late April of last year. While this album might have gone under the radar, it doesn’t mean it isn’t just as good as the most popular records of 2021. 

Imagine being outside on a rainy day, wearing a yellow raincoat and you’re deliberately stepping into water puddles in your rubber rain boots. The rain stops and you start seeing the sun coming through the gray clouds. Suddenly, a bright rainbow appears: this is how Crumb’s music feels. The lo-fi approach of the band makes for the sweetest and most harmless dream pop music. Their intentions are very clear and they are nailing the sound they are trying to achieve. 

Ice Melt sees Crumb using the same simple yet effective formula that they used on their last record. Although a bit inconsistent and unfocused at times, their 2019 debut album Jinx had a lot going for it, showcasing all of Crumb’s potential to succeed in the indie scene. Their new album is a realization of all the potential their debut had to offer, with some much better songwriting and more infectious melodies.

There is something about Lila Ramani’s voice that meshes so well with this style of music. Her gentle and fragile high pitched voice is extremely pleasing to the ear and is in perfect harmony with the moody guitars, soft drum patterns, and overall mellow production of the album. Ice Melt is a very fun and accessible album, and is such a light listen that it can serve as background music, even when studying or trying to go to sleep. This record is the equivalent of getting tucked in with a warm hug before heading into dreamland.

Ice Melt is a truly beautiful experience as the band put together a tracklist that is filled with highlights and not a single skip. It might have slipped through 2021’s cracks, but it can easily go toe to toe with some of the best indie records of last year.

 

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Categories
Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS – [REC.] by YUJU

 YUJU lets herself fly solo with her new EP  

YUJU is back with a new EP for the new year! The K-pop artist released [REC.], her first material besides singles since she left the group GFriend. The girl group formed in 2015 and were active until they disbanded last year in May for multiple reasons, the main factor being COVID-19. YUJU of course is her stage name, her real name being Choi Yu-na.

The first track is “Bad Blood (Intro),” which would have benefited from being longer. YUJU comes in with a generic pop-y guitar after a reverse gated reverb effect. It’s a song about revenge, and includes original Korean lyrics such as “The violent word that became a knife, This is the recording I leave for you, oh” Clearly to YUJU, sharp words definitely hurt more than sticks and stones, and the instruments in the background are also in tune with that message. Once the chorus comes in,  the edginess ramps up with the compressed BABYMETAL-esque guitars.   

Though the first track is short-lived, it’s followed by a smooth transition into “Play.” YUJU takes elements of well-known pop artists to mix into this song. With the same chord progression and timbre, it almost sounds like a slowed-down version of “Love Again” by Dua Lipa. She even uses vocal trills and isms similar to those of Ariana Grande. 

“Cold Winter” is the only song from the record that includes a feature, courtesy of Mad Clown, a Korean rapper. This song truly feels like it’s about relationships during the winter, what with keeping each other warm as Mad Clown raps in Korean “I’m your consonant and you’re my eternal vowel, if you’re cold, I’ll put my fingers together.” With the ballad-like atmosphere, the duo mesh well together, creating a 2010 pop/rap ballad.        

The piano from the previous song is switched up with guitar and the BPM is anted up in “The Killa.” In this song, she recycles the same drum machine samples from “Bad Blood” and follows through with the same message: her lover is a bad boy and she likes to compare him to her drink of tequila which is suspiciously roofied…?

The finale is a nice twist. “Blue Nostalgia” sounds like Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was turned into an anime outro, feeling ever more nostalgic. In this song, YUJU is  currently passing time alone, and she’s upset that she can’t relive the past, but there is hope because her lover isn’t far off, calling them her “blue, blue butterfly.”  

Even though [REC.] was an EP release, it would have been better if she were able to actually “extend” the running time. In the music industry, it is normal to have almost 30 minutes if not (more than) that for half an album. Unfortunately, 15 minutes is hardly enough for fans to enjoy the music she put together.       

 

Score: 6.5/10

Trial track: Bad Blood

 

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Categories
Music

Remembering the late Meat Loaf

Heaven couldn’t wait to admit another one of rock’s greatest voices 

Celebrated musician Meat Loaf, known for branching rock to different genres, passed away two weeks ago on Jan. 20 in Nashville, Tennessee, surrounded by his family. The cause of his death was due to complications surrounding COVID-19 and his condition with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Unfortunately, just within the last year we have lost a great number of musicians to COVID; namely people like Tommy DeVito (The Four Seasons), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), and John Prine.  

Michael Lee Aday, the man behind the stage name “Meat Loaf” was born in Dallas, Texas in 1947. His major influences were none other than the Boss himself Bruce Springsteen, along with other legendary icons like Cher and Queen. After getting the name on his day of birth from his father in the nursery ward (he looked like “nine-and-a-half pounds of ground chuck.” apparently), Aday formed the band MLS (Meat Loaf Soul) and got their first gig opening for Van Morrison in 1968. 

In 1977 he released Bat Out of Hell. This debut LP is often regarded as one of rock’s most iconic albums, reaching over 43 million sold copies and further influencing many rockers to pass the genre of theatrical, opera, heavy rock to the ’80s. The LP included singles like “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” His second volume of the Bat Out of Hell series, Back into Hell, sold over 14 million copies after a 16-year hiatus and five albums in between. This album featured the infamous singles “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” and “Out of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire).”    

He was a huge influence to many in the rock industry and was the reason as to why so many people took up singing opera rock, like Jared Leto (Thirty Seconds to Mars) and Matt Bellamy (Muse). His career spanned over six decades which is no mean feat (and more than many other musicians can boast about). His ability to think outside the box and push boundaries within the genre of rock was what made him stand out from his peers.

Meat Loaf was the sort of artist who affected the lives of many, both to musicians who were in the same realm as him, and to the budding rockers like myself. In 2016 after I got paid for my first gig, I felt his quote “I go out on stage as if it’s the last thing I ever do” from Piers Morgan’s 2011 interview flash in my head. That stuck with me, and it still does, to this day. So thanks Meat Loaf; for the twelve albums worth of music, for showing up in movies like Fight Club, Wayne’s World, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and for being an inspiration to many musicians, including me.                 

 

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