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2pac of Saudi Arabia?

When thinking about artists making a cultural impact, the first that comes to mind is 2Pac, Dr.dre and those old school rappers. Or maybe Lady Gaga, Sia or those who are activists. But this blog will be for a Saudi artist, who kind of had a similar impact as 2Pac on the Saudi rap industry. This rapper is called Klash, yes, as the weapon klashenkof. Fun fact, even his group members have guns names, such as: Bazooka. Mohammed Alghamdi, known as Klash, was born in around 1986, in Jeddah city in the western region in Saudi Arabia. In 2004, he started his music career in rap music. He started as an under-ground artist, meaning that he used to work on stages and in unofficial concerts, he used the internet as his main sources to upload/stream his music. At first, all of his music served as diss-tracks on certain types pf people in the Saudi community, those people were criticized because of their appearance, which was “weird” to the Saudi culture back in the 2000s. furthermore, his music had a big controversy since he used to diss those people with a very “bad” language, and that was not acceptable in an Islamic community. Although the youth liked his songs, the older people and the government itself did not, which caused him to be sentenced of three years in jail. However, in Saudi Arabia, we have a law that says if you memorize Quraan while serving in jail, your time in jail will be less depending on how much did you memorize of Quraan, and because of that Klash was sentenced only for a year or so in jail. While in jail he wrote some emotional songs, like “I Love You”, which talked about how his mom is a very hardworking mom and tried her best to raise him, but he ended up being in jail. By the time he got out of jail, his songs were already played everywhere, he got popular to the point that a lot of rappers started their career because of him. Yes, his first songs’ beats were actually stolen from Eminem and Dr.dre, but nobody cared back then because the whole rap industry was not a thing back in 2004. In fact, people liked his work, even though it was dissing people just because of their look. From 2010 to 2016, Klash didn’t have that impact in Saudi rap, his main focus was to attending shows in hopes that he cleans his reputation, especially to the government, he also made few appearances in TV shows. After that period, he started making music again, but this time with his own beats, he has new members on his group, but also has new rapper dissing him, so the fights start again. I, myself. Am not a big fan of Klash, but the impact he did on the Saudi culture by introducing rap to an Islamic culture is a big deal. Maybe he did not do any political impact, but that is the way Saudis are. As Saudis, we are not familiar with sharing/talking about politics publicly, especially if it’s something that is against the government. But I believe that Klash made a huge step that not anyone has the guts to do in a conservative community. His new music is well produced and written; he even makes music videos in his official YouTube channel. He seems to be embracing the style of old school rappers, which he said once that they were the reason of starting his career.

Note: Unfortunately, there aren’t any article/interviews in english.

Klash’s YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/KlashFans

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The Artist That Made a Music Fan

How do you get attached to music in a country where music is not a part of its daily life? Exactly, you don’t. And this is my situation, kind of. I was born and raised in a conservative country that “was”, kind of music-less. Music is considered "sinful" or "haram" in my country. This is based in part on certain ahadith (plural of hadith), which speak negatively of non-percussion musical instruments and the idea that music and art are distractions from God. The music in my country is a bit limited, meaning that there aren’t, or may be “were not” is a better word- many types of music or artists, I will talk a bit more about that in a video later. So, anyways, I grew up without listening to music, mostly, which is different from most people. And I feel that made me the music addict I am now. So, here is my story falling in love with the very first artist/musician I listened to, which is Sia.

Sia is a huge Australian artist, who made many hits, including: Chandelier, Elastic heart, Cheap Thrills… so on. She started her career sometime in the 1900s in a band called “Crisp” that made jazz-ish music. The band disbanded, then Sia started her solo career from then, in 1997. She produced few solo albums, like: “Only See” and “Healing Is Difficult”. Ok, her present is what made me love her, she released Chandelier in 2014 as a lead single to her new album “1000 form of Fear” and it was amazing. I did not know the song when it was blowing up in around the world, the song kind of blew up a bit later in Saudi, around the time when elastic her was blowing up, because of its music video. Anyways, I remember I was really stressed out back then, because I had an ILETS exam, two SAT(but Saudi version) exams and my high-school finals, which were very important because they decide if I will make it to get accepted in the scholarship or not. So, all of this stress made very anxious and emotionally unstable. My cousin, who listens to music back then, showed me the video of Elastic heart and the memes that came after it, we talked about the controversy too and is the song good or not. And from there I googled Sia and listened to Chandelier, which was my first song that got uploaded to my phone and became an addict to it. This song makes my heart cry and at the same it kind of lifts the weight on it too.

Speaking of “Elastic Heart”, I feel I should address the controversy around it, I when me and my cousin were discussing the topic, after officially being a music fan, I digged a bit deeper in the controversy about the music video of “Elastic Heart”. Because she was (and still is) my favorite artist, and the only one back then, so, I was so curios about what people thought of it and how did Sie herself react. The video of “Elastic Heart” caused the controversy with people tweeting and commenting by saying it is pedophilic. The reason for this is that because the video included Shia Labouf, who was popular back in the day, with the child, Maddie Zeigler, a young dancer, dancing inside a cage. Well, that is not all to it, those two dancers were wearing beige clothes, which kind of made them look like as if they were naked. The video is really popular and made achievements: hitting a billion views and being one of the top ten watched music videos in 2015 … so on. However, the controversy was still there and Sia apologized for it and tweeted that this was unintentional. This story of the video is what made me really fall in love with her, and I feel this accident made her more aware of her position as a musician and thus she is putting more efforts in her music videos, which is a good thing.

Another thing that helped her career is her collaborations. Plot twist, I realized that I listened to Sia, from my cousins who listen to music, before even knowing her. She has really big collaborations, from being featured in other artists songs, just like: “Titanium” with David Guetta and “Wild One” with Flo Rida, to writing music for other artists, like: Rihanna’s Diamonds and other songs for Beyoncé and other big artists, to acting/voice acting in movies like: “Peter rabbit”, “Scooby-Do”, “My Little Pony” and many more. These appearances and collaborations made her even more popular, and I feel that she develops every time I see her collaborating with others as an artist. At first, she was more of a jazz singer, but with years she became a pop singer, and lately she even produced some R and B music too, which is also amazing. Even her music topics changes. She was all about sadness and depression, she literally has “100 Forms of Fear” as an album title. However, Recently, she is more positive, empowering and inspiring, making songs like: “The Greatest”, “Unstoppable” and a lot more, definitely shows that she is improving and developing, it is not like that she doesn’t have any experience, but I can see that she still puts her heart on her work.

The rolling stone magazine stated “She’s penned more than 100 pop songs for artists like Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Perry and Rihanna, whose “Diamonds” hit Number One. And she’s overcome more than her share of hurdles to get where she is today, including alcoholism, bipolar disorder, an autoimmune disorder and a suicide attempt (more on all that in a minute).”, suicide? Interesting, digging a bit deeper in her life, I read that she suffered from addiction of alcohol and even tried committing suicide, which was a shock to me, but again, is that why her music speaks to me genuinely? Is that why when I listened to her sad songs for the first time, I felt her misery? Maybe.

 Oh yeah, is that the reason for the big wig and bow? Don’t care, I love her anyways.

Resources:

Rolling stone article about Sia: 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/sia-face-songs-chandelier-maddie-ziegler-712691/

Elastic heart music video:

https://youtu.be/KWZGAExj-es

this is a list of Sia’s best songs to me in her albums:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0AaZ3ruGquksJDHcqic3ty?si=EM5C0bXvSRyqCnlCHmFc7Q

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Wesam Abbas the pianist

It’s a very good idea to know local musicians in the city, because those local artists do their art genuinely, otherwise they wouldn’t leave their studies to do music for money. Luckily for me, I know a pianist personally, he was with me in high school. His name is Wesam Abbas. He started playing the piano at a very young age. So, I found it interesting to interview my friend and show him my appreciation to his art.

 ·        What first got you into music?

I started playing the piano since I was around 12. So, basically my whole life has always been surrounded by music, even when I was younger, my parents used to play music to us (me and my siblings) all day long. So, I guess the reason why I got into music.

·        Who inspired you to make music?

First of all, it’s my dad. He, again used to play music, and I remember seeing him really vibe with it and that really made me happy that there are people who get happy and feel motivated just by listening to music.

·        How would you describe the music that you typically create?

Classical and a bit sad.

·        What is your creative process like?

It’s weird, to be honest. I kind of make the melody with my mouth first, it just happens. Then I try to play it with my piano. Also, when I get emotional, I just go to my piano and start playing whatever I’m feeling.

·        Who would you most like to collaborate with?

I mean, I play music, so it’s not like I make songs, so collaboration might not be the thing for me.

·        What is one message you would give to your fans?

Thank you, people, some of you literally grew up with me along my journey. Your support means everything to me. Love y’all.

·        Do you sing in the shower? What songs?

We all do, don’t we? I sing whatever comes to my mind, literally.

·        What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?

Music is not my full job. Right now, I study computer science at KFUPM. So, I’d be doing some CS stuff, I guess.

 ·        Where have you performed? Do you have any upcoming shows?

I usually record videos and post it on Instagram, but sometimes I perform in a local café or a restaurant.

·        How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?

Yes, definitely. I post everything I play, which gained more popularity. Another thing is, even the most popular artist gain a lot of their songs streams through the internet, even the use the internet for the advertisements. I can make a whole research paper about this topic.

·        What is your favorite song to perform?

I do not perform songs, I perform classic music

·        Which famous musicians do you admire?

I really can’t specify a certain name, but I do admire a lot of artists though.

·        What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?

Learning how to play the piano.

·        What is the best advice you’ve been given?

My parent gave me everything I need; I can’t think of a specific one.

·        If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?

Honestly, more appreciation to the classical music. Especially in the middle east area, people just don’t give a f**k about this type of music, they just want the Bang Bang music.

·        What’s next for you?

I’m learning how to play the clarinet. May be start my own show on Youtube?

I didn’t expect him to be this happy for this conversation/interview. he even invited me to a nice dinner the next day. See? This simple interview made him this happy and made him feel this appreciated. Just imagine if we do tis to the other local artists, our lives would be filled with music and art.

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How would you feel if I told that an artist released a music video literally one day after his death ? It’s weird, yeah? But that is exactly what happened with xxxtentacion’s Sad! music video. Xxxtentacion known as X, who was born in 1998 and died in 2018, he was a young rapper, singer, songwriter and always surrounded with controversy, one of which is his music video for his song Sad!, because it was released after his death announcement back in 2018. I have watched some videos about that song/ music video of it, people were surprised and even some of them still believe he is still alive, which is weird. The video starts with two eyes in a dark background, asking questions like “who are you” what’s your name” and “why do you love and?” And so. Then come X at a funeral in a church. He goes in to check The Who is dead, it’s him, it’s the Old him. Then the dead body attacks him, the song starts at that point. Now the two personalities are fighting, his new self knocks out his old one, then we go on a black background again. A creepy looking man shows telling X that whoever he is he fighting is his worst enemy, which is his old self, the man says, I’m rephrasing: if you want to win you should understand the power of your mind, then we go back to the fight, now the new X has superpowers, letting him win the fight, and letting his old self die, indicating that he has changed and he understands what he must do to better himself. I am not a big X fan myself, but when I watched this music video, I was impressed. I mean, other than the fact that he died and released a music video, which is totally fine, the idea of the video and that he wanted to change, he wanted to spread love and positivity instead of hate. I like that, I like that when an artist, especially those who are like X , always surrounded with controversy- is trying to change and trying to enhance themselves. I also like when there is a story in the music video, not just some lip syncing the song. The deeper the artist goes in his videos the more audience will get attached to it. Lastly, X did have few very big songs in his “?” Album, and when I say big I mean big hits and popular songs- just like: Moonlight, Changes and Jocelyn Flores and more.

The music video:

https://youtu.be/iAeYPfrXwk4

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My Favorite Arabic Song

The music industry is huge with a very wide variety of artists, some depend on their own voice, others depends on the music or the beat thy are using and so on, but in Arabic music realm, most of the artists, if not all, focus so much on their voices, that doesn’t mean they don’t care about the quality of their music though. So, for today, I will be talking about a very popular song in the middle east, and I will try my best to explain why it got this popular. The song is called “انتحل شخصيتك" in Arabic, which means I will mimic your personality. First of all, the song starts with an instrument we call Oud (عود), this is the instruments that is known that Arabs love to play in their traditional songs. The sound of it is between a guitar and a violin, it is usually played in soft/ slow pace songs. In fact, there is a whole genre in Arabic music that is associated with Oud. Anyways, the oud plays for few seconds then a keyboard tone is added to the oud, which gives the song an even more calm vibe to it, then in the middle of the verses a violin is played. I guess by now you already guessed what the song is going to talk about, it is love. The singer starts singing by saying, and I translate here:

“I will mimic your personality    

And I will stand by my mirror

I will hug me, I will love me

And I will tell me what the world has sone to me”

I do not know if “mimic” is the right word to use, but what he means is that he will his lover, as if she was with him, and hug himself and speak to mi self as if she was with him. I think just the first verse of it make get attached to the song and kind of want to keep listening to it. Then after the first verse, which lasts until 2:10, the oud keeps playing but in a different tone for twenty seconds or so, then the second verse starts. The second verse is exactly similar to the first one but with different lyrics, that talk about he misses his love and prays to god bring them back together. The singer’s voice is incredible, it is not like those type of voices where you would expect to make very clear high notes, but it is a voice that would deliver the emotions to the listeners. His voice makes you feel his pain and thus you continue listening to it until the end of the song. But for me, the main two things that made this song very successful are the oud played in the background and the lyrics. Yes, it has a simple oud play in it, but it really does give you the vibe of sadness/ missing someone. And the lyrics are so sad, I will state some of the best lines in it.

1)     “you made me drown in your love, but you made my flag white

I have given up, but filled with hope that I’d come to you and filled with love to you”  

2)     “didn’t I tell you? Ever since that time, I’m praying to god

to make you closer to me, and god gives me hope and will help me.

even if you were not meant for me , I’d still stand in front of my mirror

and will mimic your personality and tell me what the world has done to me”

If yo think of giving it try, I will leave the Spotify link for it, I really hope you enjoy it.

the song’s link: https://open.spotify.com/track/6Emk1NhjqwE2x7quvCpg6n?si=acqcRziMTCqA05FWFVdyQw

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Hi guys, this my album review for “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, I kind of ran out of time, sorry, didn’t realize I’m talkative. But hey, at least maybe this will make go back and listen to it. Thank you.

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Songs that remind me of me

I love listening to music all day long. I play music when I am cooking, taking shower and cleaning the house. I listen to a lot of genres of music, but I prefer pop and hip-hop/ rap. Today, I will be talking about some of my favorite songs, which most of them have certain memories, some are sad and others are happy. So, let’s get started:

Summer time in Paris- Jaden Smith:

This song, along with few, more songs, reminds me of the darkest time in my life, which is when I had my worst semester ever in my three years in university. I had the hardest classes, Data structures is the hardest to be specific, and the worst grades. Along with that, I had a big issue with my sponsor because of the health insurance, and that prevented me from getting my transcript and send it to my sponsor, which is required every semester. So, because of all of that I was about to be dismissed from the scholarship. And I even had thoughts of leaving the school and just go back to Saudi Arabia. So, my only way to get away from all of this or at least to keep my mentality some what straight, is to listen to music, like: Summertime in Paris, Harleys in Hawaii by Katy Perry and Trippie Redd songs, and it did help me go through this tough period.

 Chandelier- Sia:

This defiantly my favorite song of all time. Back when it was released, I was not a very music lover. But I knew this song because of Sia’s Elastic Heart, but hen it was everywhere, and people were kind of complaining about how weird is the video, because it had shia Labeouf dancing with Maddie Zeigler in a cage when she was under age, and that caused some controversy. But I enjoyed Elastic heart back then, and that is why I started looking for her other songs and albums, and found Chandelier. I instantly got addicted to it. Yes, it might not have a special memory of it, unlike Summer time in Paris, but I cried a lot of times while listening to it. Sia’s voice and her amazing high notes helped the song so much. I just love it.

 Everything I wanted-Billie Eilish:

I am not a very big fan of Billie Eillish, I listen to a couple of songs, but not constantly listening to her. But this song reminds exactly of the final exam for Data structures, it was released just few days before the exam. So, I used to listen to it while studying, and it really makes a bit calmer and more focused, because I do panic when ever I have a test or an exam, even for quizzes too.

 Love game- Lady gaga:

Yes, it is a very old song by Lady Gaga, I know way back when it was released but I did not know it was for Lady Gaga because my brother was the one playing it when we used to go to the same school, but I re-discovered it again while talking to cousin and he suddenly just started singing it, so I kept looking for until I found. I blasted it in my apartment almost every day and celebrating because I had a high GPA last semester.

 Swish Swish- Katy Perry:

This song probably can turn my mood 180 degrees, and that is because it has very good memories filled with positive vibes. One of which is my graduation from high-school, after done doing our graduation ceremony, me and my best friends went to have a celebration dinner, which about an hour away, all in my car, and blasted this song while getting crazy, singing it and dancing…etc. So, when ever I listen to this song, I feel hyped and remember those good old days.

 I usually get attached to the songs with sad memories because they remind me of how miserable I was and somehow I survived and found a solution to the problem.

Resources:

Summer time in Paris: https://open.spotify.com/track/6XNANAB7sFvkfho6bMCp7o?si=n7vh5sqDSPePhiA01aprdg

Chandelier: https://open.spotify.com/track/2s1sdSqGcKxpPr5lCl7jAV?si=x81n4pMcS0ulqYi_tObrdw

Everything I wanted :   https://open.spotify.com/track/3ZCTVFBt2Brf31RLEnCkWJ?si=7FhYLkiWQNyWkDXqeqdqEA

Love game: https://open.spotify.com/track/4aHpgYc6wd0rxfP0Rjp3Qi?si=NnNvqdM5Rn6D4UCXcX0CFA

Swish Swish: https://open.spotify.com/track/3OtMnyUaiipcAT23A8liyi?si=t813Xnm3T_ORUTm9Qud7jw

Elastic Heart music video: https://youtu.be/KWZGAExj-es

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Gaga’s VMAs 2020 performance

In general, I do not watch live performances, I just think that studio performances are way better, in fact, I have never attended any concerts before, never in my life. However, in this blog I will be talking about Lady gaga’s performance in this year’s VMA with the help of Ariana Grande. I choose this one specifically because of three reasons: it is done during this horrible time with the spread of COVID-19, the performance and the costumes are interesting and because it is the most recent live performance that I have watched. But first let me introduce the artists to you.

First Lady gaga, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, she was born in New York in 1986. She a very popular artist in pop genre, with six albums, including the recent hit album Chromatica. She, also, is a song writer, an actress and a successful business woman. (from Wikipedia). She is also known for her non-profit foundation and charities to help those in need and to support them. She is also known for her weird fashion choices, mostly to stand with a certain opinion or belief, thus became a fashion icon.

Second is Ariana Grande-Butera, born June 26, 1993 and she is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her amazing voice with high notes. She rose to fame by acting her role as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious, and produced various huge hits like: Problems, Dangerous Woman and Thank you, next.

The first thing that caught my eyes is her mask, it was similar to those masks that are used if there was a nova gas or something, her costume was also eye catching, I loved it, especially this cyan green-ish color, it was amaziiing. Lady gaga started the show with the track “911” and her iconic way of dancing, just like what we saw in her Rain on me music video. She ends the song while lying on the floor, and you know what that means? Yes, she is about to sing Rain on me. Before she starts singing the camera went up and got back down, then when Gaga already changed her clothes, to ones that are similar to the ones in the music video of Rain on me. She actually kept singing on the floor for like 20 seconds. And then, here comes the part when Ariana Grande comes out of a cylinder-like elevator with surprise. Let me tell you that her costume is pretty simple, but her hair was what made her look looks interesting. The performance was very similar to the music video. The next song was Stupid Love, Gaga performed it differently this time. The original song has a very intense and loud beat, but gaga performed it with aa very soft piano. I did not like it as the original song. She stops playing the piano by saying something like: I “want your love all day every day”,” love yourself, be yourself, be kind, be brave and braver all the time” and then comes the intense beat of the song, she performs it and then goas back to her bed, where the show started.

It is not the best show ever, but it is unique, they could put a very good show during this pandemic. And with all honesty, the masks in the show were a part of it, at least they were a good addition to the fashion in this performance. Lastly, I liked the set up in the show, some times it was similar to the music videos, jut like in Rain on me, other times its different but really looked amazing.  

Resources:

The show: https://youtu.be/LoG04Nyea8w

Lady gaga (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gaga

Ariana Grande (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariana_Grande

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Justin Bieber’s Changes album review

Justin Bieber is one of the biggest names in the music industry. He was wildly popular since he was around 10-ish years old. And then after he dropped his album Purpose in 2015, he went through some depression issues, and I believe that everybody knew about them at that time, especially for a big artist like him. And with this long break, that lasted for 5 years, he finally dropped his album Changes in 2020, which includes of 17 songs, including a remix. Let me give you a quick review for each song in the album:

1-All Around me:

For an introduction song to the album, I felt it is pretty, especially his vocals. He sounded really clear in his voice while signing it. Also, I feel like, in a way, this song served the purpose that Justin has changed in terms of signing. It a chill song, and it delivers the echo-ish, floaty vibes in it. Like it is a perfect fit for a night ride, makes you feel you are flying in your dreams. In terms of lyrics, this is probably one of his best songs in this album. Rating: 6/10.

2-Habitual:

First of all, I really liked the background beat, it kind of serves the same purpose as All around me, but the problem is that it is so repetitive throughout the whole song, kind pf boring, honestly. Lyrics? Hmmm, nothing special about them honestly. Rating: 5/10.

3- Come around me:

I like the beat for this one too, it is just that it is almost identical to the one in Habitual. Same instrument, same ups and downs, everything really. The only difference between those two songs is that the lyrics in this one are way worse. He says:

“Who taught you how to drive stick? You a fool with it, love the way you fool with it And the way you motion, motion in my lap Love the way you move with it “

Very sexual, to the point that, its kind of weird in the way he is singing it. It kind of indicates that he loves only for the body, not for the person he loves, not to have some to share feelings with. Rating: 4/10

4-intentions-ft. Quavo:

It is probably the second known song, after Yummy. The beat is amazing. Not repetitive like the others. Quavo was just OK in it, didn’t do the expected job when you hear “Quavo is featuring a song” or something, just OK. Lyrically, also nothing special about them. However, the flow of the song is good, Justin, and his amazing vocals, did a good job keeping up with the beat. Rating: 7/10

5-Yummy:

Yes, it is the one. The most known song, that Justin Bieber tried his best to force it on the audience. Honestly, its is not too bad. I liked the beat of it. It is also catchy. However, when you listen to multiple times, it gets boring. I wouldn’t add it to my favorites but it is fine if someone played it in the car or something. The lyrics are so sexual, just like Come around me. But at least, his vocals helped making the song a bit better, not his best performance though.

 6-Available:

The instrumental for this song is beautiful. It has some happiness/joy vibes in it, but also kind of floaty sound too, which is repetitive at this point. Justin hits really good high notes in this song. This song’s lyrics are the weirdest in the album.

“ I get frustrated when you're busy Lately, that's been more than often, baby, what is this? It's like, do you even miss me? Feelin' less than priority, you got me convinced Convinced I'm the only one, trippin' in my head Because in reality, you live in my bed I'm supposed to hold onto everything you said Yes or no question, don't leave it unread”

I mean, what is this? Some psyco lyrics? Ugh! Anyways there are more wired lyrics than these, this only the tip of the iceberg. Rating: 5/10

7-Forever- ft. Post Malone and Clever:

The beat starts good, but it gets boring and repetitive. Needless to say, that Justin’s vocals are the best thing about it. The featuring in this song is sooo unnecessary. Post Malone was not on his best while recording this song, he was using too much auto-tune. Also, clever, the artist that I do not know before this song came out, also just made the song way worse. Rating:6/10 would have been higher if it wasn’t for the features.

 8- Running over- ft. lil dicky:

The beat is a bit repetitive, similar to Yummy’s and Forever’s, not mush similar though. But honestly, I liked it more than the those two. It is more of a fast-based beat plus it changes a bit here and there throughout the song. Lil dicky didn’t do too much in it honestly, just like Quavo in Intention, nothing special about it. All I can about the lyrics is that at least it is not materialistic and directly calling out sexual things and actions. But, when in lil dicky’s verse, the lyrics are just worse, they are lost, but his performance was not bad at all. Rating 8/10

9-Take it out on me:

The only two things I liked about this song are: the vocals and the bass/kicks in it. I mean, it is not new to say that Justin saved the song with his vocals. And that is it, nothing wow. Rating:5/10

10-Second emotion-ft. Travis Scott:

Boring beat, repetitive and a bit too loud for the ears/not clear. I didn’t like Justin’s performance that much; he is kind of yelling throughout the song “EMOTTIIIOONNNNN” for nothing, and also, he trying so hard to catch that rapping flow, but fails to do so, horribly. Travis Scott was the same situation as Post Malone and Clever in Forever, his performance is bad. He is the king of Ad-lips, but he still missed it up, it feels like he was singing just because he was paid or something. I love Travis and his songs; it is just not this one. Rating 5/10.

11-Get me – ft. Khelani:

This is the BEST song in this album. Honestly, it might be the best song the Justin has ever released, no joke. The beat is so chill and simple, and yet not repetitive and boring like most of the songs in the album. I literally enjoyed everything about it. The beat, the performances of both artists the lyrics and everything. I am not a huge fan of Khelani, but this song made me rethink. They have a very unique and awesome vocals. They were singing with harmony and they were doing it very well. When I listen to this song, especially in the morning, I get chills because it makes me feel emotional. Rating: 10/10

12-E.T.A:

In this one I didn’t like the instrumental in this. Even the guitar is a bit loud in it. However, Justin’s performance is the only good factor about it. Rating 5/10.

13-Changes:

The title track. Not very strong as title track. Usually the artist puts his best work on the title track, not I didn’t see it in this one. I was boring to be honest, and nothing special about it or even about Justin’s performance. Moreover, the chorus does not make any sense. He says:

“Though I'm goin' through changes Don't mean that I'll change”

Which I do not know what that means. Very weird if you ask me! Rating 5/10.

14-Confirmation:

The beat is so cold that it makes you feel bored. However, there is this synth that comes in the middle of the song, it’s really good. His performance was OK, not the best he has to offer. What I like the most about this song is the lyrics, they are amazing, probably the best in this album.

“All you ever really want All you ever really need is at home”. That is just pretty, and it feels like he really means it. Rating: 5/10

15-That’s what love is:

The cord in this song starts good, like this rising level of sound. Just in general, I liked the guitar in this song. But everything else is just ordinary. Rating: 5/5

16-At least for now:

The second best song in the album. The instrumental music in it, it is mad pretty and it has the western vibe to it. And towards the end, Justin almost yodels, like not a full yodel, and it made love the song even better. The lyrics are good, his performance was like “wow” to me. It’s like he is taking a new direction in this track, what makes special, other than the western vibe, is that it has a mix of acoustic and electric sound, which we didn’t see in the rest of the album. Rating: 9/10

17-Yummy (remix)-ft. Summer walker:

Hmmmm, nothing has changed in this one. It is a bit boring; the beat is still the same. Everything I said about the original still applies here, but would rather listen to the original one if I had to pick. Rating: 4/10.

 I am a bit disappointed, to be honest, after all these years, I expected a better album. In general, what made this album boring is the repetition. There are a lot of songs that sound very similar to each other. Also, the lyrics were weird in few songs too, and most of them are not lyrics that you could remember in a song, they were just OK. Thank you

resources:

Come around me lyrics: https://genius.com/Justin-bieber-come-around-me-lyrics

Available lyrics: https://genius.com/Justin-bieber-available-lyrics

Changes: https://genius.com/Justin-bieber-changes-lyrics

Confirmation lyrics: https://genius.com/Justin-bieber-confirmation-lyrics

The whole album in spotify

spotify:album:63iWSELt9V1kV6RSMxN7Ii

https://open.spotify.com/album/63iWSELt9V1kV6RSMxN7Ii?si=TO_LbRcXSNOgR4jhdbXMiA

[alhasanalobaydan]

FTY by YG

2020 was not an easy year for all of us, I guess, it started with the World War 3 thing, then to the mass fires in Australia, to the death of very loved and popular artists and celebrities such as: the one only Kobe Bryant and others, to #Covid 19 that really missed up everything we were planning to the point that evens schools and airports are shut down ( that is why I am still stuck in Saudi Arabia by the way), then comes the incident when a police officer, who is supposed to protect the citizens, mercilessly steps on #George Floyd. As a result for the assault, people started rioting, destroying and even looting. Even celebs contributed to this protest in their own ways, one of which is this song:

F**k the police, f**k the police F**k the police, f**k the police

… F**k the police (f**k 'em), f**k the police F**k the police (f**k 'em), f**k the police

…

Yes, strong words at the beginning of a song, this song is #FTP by #YG, which by now I think you all know that it was released around the time of the infamous murder.

“FTP,” standing for “Fuck the Police,” is a single from California rapper YG. The track, released during nationwide protests regarding George Floyd’s May 2020 murder, is meant to address the trends of police brutality inequitably affecting Black Americans.”(from Genius) . To me, this song is the new N.W.A’s song “Fuck the police”, it serves the same purpose. Fighting against the racist police and the injustice happening around the united states. And repeating F**k the police for around 50 times indicates that “we are not scared of you” type of vibe, it’s almost like YG is saying he is being a rebel now or something.

F**k silence, speak up b**ch, this shit ill (Big-big) Big stick on me, y'all kill, we kill Been tired, f**k cardboard signs, we in the field It's the Ku Klux cops, they on a mission It's the Ku Klux cops, got hidden agendas It's the truth, I won't stop Open cases, police already hate me, why not Make your rich-ass city look like trash (Look like trash) To whoever make the rules, we need answers fast Oh they mad, f**k it, let's make 'em mad (Let's make 'em mad) Without that badge, you's a b**ch and a half

Again, with the idea of we not scared of the police and would do whatever it takes, even destroying the city and maybe even kill, to bring justice back and to live peacefully. When I read the lyrics for this part, I was literally like “ daamn, really strong words. He is threatening them” to my brother. But, its true when the same thing keeps happening for decades or even centuries, defiantly, there will be a very strong response to the point of destroying buildings starting fires and everything we saw in the media. I don’t know if I am with or against everything that was happening during the riots. I have two points of view. First is that as a person who lives in America I feel that yes, this should happen. People kind of need to destroy and to show dominance and the strength “we are not weak; we don’t fear your guns”. Because they were peaceful protests and nothing happened, till when and those minorities will still live while being discriminated. Just like what YG said in his second verse

I hate when they handcuff me (Me) Actin' tough with a vest and a gun, he think he keen I hate when they handcuff me Actin' tough, callin' for backup, I think he weak

But my other point of view, as a person who is from outside the US, why would we destroy the buildings of those people who barely have a job to pay their needs in life. And not just that, this riot will leave a negative point of history to the next generations, that may be the next generations will not understand the reason why we destroyed killed looted.. etc. what I mean by this is that there are other solutions than violence. Don’t ask me “like what?” because I’m not a politician or anything. Don’t even like politics. Wish a happy life to all of you :-)

sources:

FTP: https://open.spotify.com/track/2RBsmtiaD90yNFtqkFjBVW?si=AP-xG5lARXeIDvxOYzzr0Q

Genius: https://genius.com/Yg-ftp-lyrics