My name is Crystal. I'm a physics and international studies major at Northwestern University. I write for Something for the Ladies. I was an unfortunate looking child. The people in my life are funnier than I am. I am probably just an overgrown cat.
Theme by nostrich.
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On a desire for normalcy:
Fault Magazine did an interview with Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw for their Summer issue, and this part in particular caught my eye and made me laugh:
Emily – were you indeed born in India?
Haines: My parents were living there, mom ran a school and dad was writing the lyrics for what would become Escalator Over The Hill [1971], this crazy seminal jazz record. Carla Bley, the composer, recruited Jack Bruce from Cream and others from more avant-garde backgrounds and created this inventive opera piece.
Has the avant-garde informed what you currently do?
Haines: Well I think it drove me into the arms of the three-minute pop song. I’ve been writing my whole life, and they encouraged me as a kid, but I’ve seen the fringes of society and I have no desire to inhabit them. Not out of any rejection, but I’ve always aspired to have Metric on the radio.
I know Emily’s talked extensively about her dad and especially how his art has influenced her own. There’s just something so great and ironic about the idea of a child rebelling against their parents by being normal and moving towards the mainstream. I love the idea of a young Emily Haines storming away from her dad, screaming “GOD WHY CAN’T THIS FAMILY JUST BE NORMAL AND MAKE MUSIC THAT PEOPLE CAN DANCE TO”.
I guess I also think this is great because I’m personally obsessed with the idea of normalcy.
Link reblogged from katherine st asaph
I wrote about Rye Rye, Azealia Banks, Brianna Perry, and Angel Haze for the Atlantic. →
The title of Word document I’ve been tussling with for weeks was “Ladyrap.”
THIS IS FANTASTIC.
This article by JBogart is really amazing. The artists that he’s featured are all great, but in particular, I love this:
Aside from being women and rapping, these four women have little in common. In fact, it would probably be more useful, from a descriptive standpoint, to consider them not as women first, but as regional rappers. Rye Rye’s loyalty to Baltimore club music may be the only thing standing between her and massive success, as the dense industrial sound hasn’t yet gone nationwide. Azealia Banks’s YouTube and Soundcloud channels of postpunk covers and freestyles over hip-to-death electronics affiliate her with a certain elegantly wasted New York cool. Brianna Perry embodies both the swampy Southernness and the jetsetting excess of Miami. And Angel Haze? An argument could be made that the D.C. area’s storied history of emo, the florid offshoot of punk, is responsible for her literate angst. But her true home is the Internet—and especially Tumblr, the social networking service overwhelmingly populated by emotional teenagers.
I’m really happy that there are very good music writers who understand that “female” =/= a genre.
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Our dreams are like rap videos.
- Miles: Sigh. One day I will go to Chicago and be surrounded by bitches and confetti for a bit. One day.
- me: ahahahahaha
- me: LET ME KNOW
- Miles: Oh I will.
- Miles: You bring the booty shorts, I'll bring the swag. And the confetti. Just to be fair.
- Miles: (That's my OK Cupid profile)
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Katie requested “Irreplaceable” so I responded by ONLY PLAYING “IRREPLACEABLE”.
At some point during this, I videochatted Annie and attempted to do body rolls for her much to her delight and Katie’s disgust.
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We will try to measure things we will never shake.
Watching you play, I’m not sure if I want to cry or shout “FUCK YEAH THAT’S MY BOY”. I don’t understand your music, but I can tell that you are good. I can hear our pal next to me sighing with happy astonishment, can feel his mouth open throughout the entire seventeen minutes that you are playing.
I’ve met a lot of people with a love for music, but I can honestly say that I have never met anyone quite like you. You spend eight hours a day practicing, and have only mentioned this once, when I pressed you for the truth. You’ve never thought of yourself as amazing or even good, which is truly nonsensical. But I guess that only makes you want it more, and that was so painfully apparent tonight as you showed me what you do at night when I cannot get in touch with you.
When it was all over, we went to find you backstage where you greeted us with your goofy grin and a hug. You thanked us for coming, and said that it meant a lot that we did. You pulled on that red jacket that has become such a familiar constant in my time here at Northwestern and walked us out to the lobby.
Your talent, passion, and dedication are not mine to be proud of, but I am so proud of you, babe.
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On Nicki Minaj and playing with gender:
Nicki Minaj frustrates me to no end.
Nicki’s at her best when she isn’t trying to 100% be one of the dudes (Roman) or 100% the girly pop star that Rihanna is. The best thing about Nicki Minaj is that she’s a badass who can both spit rhymes and sing hooks. The only other person as high-profile in pop music who can do this is Drake, and I actually think that Nicki at her best is better than Drake at his.
So I guess it’s frustrating to me that she’s split her latest album into two halves. The Nicki at the beginning of the album sounds nothing like the Nicki at the end of the album (with the obvious exception of “Stupid Hoe”). The masculine alter-ego Roman is at full blast up until “Champion” and everything starting with “Right By My Side” sounds like the “feminine” bubblegum pop side of Nicki.
It’s weird because the second half of the album sounds like a series of songs that were written for other female pop artists. “Beautiful Sinner” sounds like a Rihanna bonus track; “Pound the Alarm” could be a Britney song; “Young Forever” resembles “The Harold Song” by Ke$ha; and worst of all, “Automatic” sounds like a song a German DJ collab’d with Cascada on (like three years ago). Making comparisons to other female pop artists is, I’m fully aware, lazy, but given what we know about how music is made, it’s impossible to me to think otherwise.
It’s like Nicki saw the massive success of “Super Bass” and interpreted that as “Everyone wants me to do more girly stuff”, but in reality, “Super Bass” is perfect because she sings a girly hook yet is clearly in control and kinda egotistical when she flirts with a dude throughout the song. How’s that for a 21st century woman embracing her the power of sexuality?
And I’m fully aware that it’s unfair of me to expect this all from her. Because my idea of how she should fashion her career and go about making her art and even my idea of how she should play with the idea of gender is really unfair, kind of useless, and also speaks to my idea of what is heteronormative in and of itself. But I just want more from someone I consider to be one of the most exciting and interesting voices in pop music today.
I will confess that despite all my bitching, I have definitely listened to this album something like four or five times already.
Some other thoughts:
- “All you hoes crying / Christopher Bosh” - The Mavs fan inside of me loves this.
- That Skrillex-like drop in “Starships” is the worst.
- “Roman Reloaded” has a bunch of repeated “bang” which has already been done at a higher BPM and better by Rye Rye.
- Poor Ester Dean.
- Is it really impossible to find another male R&B singer to sing these duets? I feel like I really like parts of “Right By My Side” but Chris Brown makes my nose scrunch up immediately.
Photo reblogged from I'm With Kanye
My girl….talking ‘bout my girl.
#Flawless.
I need to point out that this photo combines two of my favourite things: our fabulous first lady and the Dallas Cowboys.
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On R&B singers and dancing with a cast on.
Last Saturday, I had a chance to see The-Dream at the House of Blues in Chicago. It was one of the best things ever. Some highlights:
- I was probably the only Asian chick there. When I walked in, there was a dude who was telling his friend, “Mmmm, man. I love my African-American sistas!” and after seeing me, smiled and said “No offense or anything, but MMMHMMM.” None taken, dude.
- Though The-Dream isn’t that well known, you’d believe from the way that the crowd was digging it that he was as big of a deal as Drake or Chris Brown. Well deserved. The man should be a legend.
- That Casha chick has the longest hair I’ve ever seen. One of my favourite moments in the show is when Terius stood back and watched her sing like a proud father.
- At some point in the show, The-Dream brought out a chick and a stool and she sat there while he grinded up against her. Then halfway through the song, they changed positions so he sat there while she gave him a lapdance.
- I no longer believe in the hipster shuffle or skinny white hipster boys. I have been converted forever after seeing The-Dream hip thrust while singing “pound that pussy” in perfect pitch.
- There was a hipster couple dancing behind me and during “Roc”, they went CRAZY grinding up on one another. This should be what all hipsters act like when they hear some R&B, guys.
- I broke my ankle a few weeks back, and though I have a walking boot on now, I look dead funny. There’s something beautiful about dancing to “Rockin’ That Shit” with a cast on.
tldr: I’d change my name to Mrs. Nash in a heartbeat.
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