Welcome back to week 3 of my weekly series—”What I’m Listening To”—where I plan to go through the top few songs, albums, or anything else that I’ve been listening to. I don’t plan to review the songs, as I am in no way a music expert, but more so plan to give my thoughts on how the songs make me feel and maybe what the song is about. Also, sorry in advance that I may get on random tangents, I’m trying to keep these posts as close to how I’d describe them in real life. This week has mostly been older songs.
Elohim—Skinny Legs (Mija Remix)
An amazing remix to a song I already enjoy, and I love both artists (original and remixer). This was the song that introduced me to the world of Mija’s music, and I now listen to quite a few Mija songs regularly. This song is super upbeat and follows a lot of the (unwritten) “rules” of house music. Features like the vocal change to a more standard sound, the breakdown in the second half of the song, and the overall instrumental itself. It is a song I very much enjoy vibing to when I’m home alone or on a long drive.
Elohim—Joga (Live)
A wonderful song in its original form (by the artist by Björk), sang perfectly. This is incredible for a couple of reasons: Björk is hard to match and it was a live performance. This song alone makes me upset that I was unable to attend any of these live concerts (even more so because the closest one to me was on my birthday). Like the lyrics say in the song, I “feel emotional,” when listening to this song. It is both literally, and figuratively, music to my ears. While the vocals are amazing, the song would not be complete without the wonderful musicians playing the instrumental (they were live musicians too, there weren’t any prerecorded instrumentals). Her rendition is truly a masterpiece.
Eminem—Underground
A song off of one of my favorite Eminem albums. I don’t know why this album gets so much hate, there are plenty of songs with great beats and lyrics that I’d personally say are some of his best. The fast pace of the song is one of the best parts of the song, in my opinion, I feel that it adds to the story being told. The song finishes off with a familiar character: Ken Kaniff, singing his own twisted version of Eminem’s song “We Made You,” and for a brief moment, Eminem’s song “My Mom.” I’d say it is a rather funny ending to the album.
Ice Cube—War and Peace
Arguably one of the greatest albums in rap history, and definitely towards the top of Ice Cube’s greatest albums. The title song is one of my favorites off of the entire two-disc album. The only thing that disappoints me about the song is the length, it feels too short (and that’s saying something considering it is a bit over 3 minutes long). The chorus’ vocals are amazing, and may even be my favorite part of the song altogether. It is a great addition to the rest of the album.
Logic—City of Stars
Overall, “The Incredible True Story,” is my favorite Logic album. Personally, I feel after his next album, “Everybody,” his music had dropped off. Technically, I did like his Bobby Tarantino mixtapes and his feature on Joyner Lucas’ “ISIS,” but overall I don’t think his music has been his best lately. This is just personal preference though, so you may like his other discographies. This song is my favorite off of the album, because of the two halves of the song—the slower “breakup” portion of the song and the upbeat “goodbye” portion of the song. The clash of these two positions in the song was creative and probably what gave me so much interest in the song.
