#(like any good ferrari fan i fully expect to be saying ''it's so over!'' a week from now)

[singsweetmelodies]

Hello Katie 👋🏼👋🏼 :D

For the 50 romance prompts ask meme, I'll like to request for 44: soulmate AU: timers <3

but if possible... with a twist...? (you don't have to include a twist if it's too difficult to work it in!)

The twist being, for whatever reason, their countdown timers for each of them to the time they meet their soulmates doesn't match, so they think "we're not each other's soulmates. that's cool. (no it's not)" but it turns out that they're each other soulmates anyways. or they choose to be with each other in spite of not being each other's soulmates. idk. *nervous laughter*

hiiii charlotte 🥰 first off, i am SO sorry for the incredible delay with this answer!! i saw this prompt and i absolutely LOVED IT (and the twist!! 🙏 *chef's kiss*) but unfortunately i got struck with a horrible case of writer's block/work deadlines, and just couldn't get to it at all.

until yesterday: i decided to just open my inbox and see what came to me. no thinking, just following the vibe of a prompt and writing. and uh. this happened... not only did it get ridiculously long (oops?) but it also somehow became a mini "investigate montreal" fic?? so in that vein, i'm tagging @1016week and submitting a belated entry for Day 6 "Montreal"... ❤️

i love this one. hope you love it too!! 👀⌚

~

Charles' soulmate timer stops when he is seven years old, and he meets the boy with the bluest eyes he's ever seen.

He's been vibrating with excitement all weekend - not just because it's a karting cup, but because his soulmate timer has been ticking down to this day for months now. Well, not just months, not really. It's actually been his whole life, but Charles doesn't remember all of that. He only remembers the past few months, when the little numbers had been getting smaller and smaller, until there were only ten days left and Charles gasped when he realised that the day would fall on the same day as the Bridgestone Cup.

"Of course the girl I marry is going to like racing, too," he'd told Maman and Papa, confidingly. Not a lot about soulmates made much sense to him, but this did.

His Maman had tried to smile, and Charles had hugged her tight to let her know it was going to be okay. He would find his soulmate, and then everyone would be smiling, because that's what people do when you meet your soulmate.

(Later that night, when Charles had been too excited to sleep and he'd gone to the bathroom quickly, Charles had heard his parents having an argument in their room. The door was closed, so their voices were muffled, but Charles could still make out his Maman saying "I just don't think it's a good sign, to meet your soulmate so young!" But Papa had countered, "Many people do, and they have beautiful stories. You have to trust that our Charles will meet his perfect match tomorrow." And then there had been an icky noise, like kissing, and Charles had flushed the loo quickly and ran back to his room.)

Now, with the beautiful blue eyed boy standing in front of him, Charles thinks of Papa's words again. Our Charles will meet his perfect match tomorrow.

Charles thought it would be a girl who really liked karting, but this is even better. This is a boy who wins at karting, because he's holding a trophy in both hands and grinning like he couldn't be happier.

Of course Charles' perfect match would be someone who wins at karting. It's only right, because Charles also wins at karting.

Charles clears his throat. "Hi," he says shyly, and the blue-eyed boy jumps.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he says apologetically, and then he laughs. He has a nice laugh, Charles thinks - like he knows how to have fun. "You are a bit short," the blue-eyed boy adds, and hey.

"Hey," Charles protests. "I'm tall for my age. I'm seven."

"Well, I'm nine," the blue-eyed boy says, like that's the most impressive age in the world.

It is a bit impressive, but not very, because Lorenzo is much older than that. Still, it is a little scary - Charles is only seven. What if this blue-eyed boy doesn't like him because he's only seven? Older kids can be mean like that.

No, he is your perfect match, Charles reminds himself. This blue-eyed boy won't be mean to him, because that's not how perfect matches work.

Charles takes a deep breath, then he sticks out his hand. "I'm Charles," he says.

The blue-eyed boy takes his hand, and it feels... weird. A little bit like when you get shocked by static electricity.

Charles giggles, unable to stop himself, and the blue-eyed boy smiles, as though he likes that.

"Hello, Charles. I'm Pierre," he says, squeezing Charles' hand. His eyes widen a moment later. "Oh! You've met your soulmate?!"

Charles doesn't understand what he means. "Well, yeah," he says. "It's y-"

And then he notices it.

Pierre's soulmate timer, right there on his wrist, right above where Charles is gripping his hand - it's still ticking.

Now, Charles doesn't know a lot about soulmates yet, but he knows that that's not good. Not good at all.

"I, um," Charles stammers, and then he does the one thing Maman and Papa said you should never do to your soulmate. Charles lies.

"I met so many new people today. I don't remember who it was."

Pierre's face falls. "Oh," he says, and he sounds unbearably sad for Charles. "But..." He chews his lip, shaking his head with a deep frown.

Then, mid-shake, Pierre's expression changes to one of determination. "I will help you find them," he says, with the kind of confidence Charles can only dream of when he's not on the racetrack.

He tugs on Charles' hand - which he still hasn't let go of - and Charles is helpless to do anything but follow.

~

They don't find Charles' soulmate anywhere, of course, and then Charles has to go win his race - but Pierre makes him promise that they will find each other at the next French karting event, and Charles will tell him all about his soulmate.

Charles promises, even though the idea makes his stomach feel all funny. I shouldn't be lying to my soulmate, he thinks, guiltily.

But Pierre's soulmate timer didn't stop ticking, and... that's not how soulmates are supposed to work.

The moment he's in the car with his father after the race, heading back home, Charles asks him about it.

Papa is quiet for a long moment, then: "Are you sure there wasn't someone behind Pierre, Charles?" he asks, in his careful, kind way. "Someone who's timer stopped at the same time as yours?"

Charles thinks about it for a moment, but even the idea of that feels - wrong, somehow. Like going into a corner and knowing you braked too hard, and you're going to flip the kart.

He shakes his head decisively. "No," he says. "It's Pierre."

He hears rather than sees his father blow out a soft sigh. Charles catches his eye in the rearview mirror, feeling confused and a little shaky inside.

When Papa sighs like that, it's never good news - it's usually something about sponsorship, which is a word Charles is already coming to dread.

It doesn't make sense how this could be about sponsorship, though. It probably isn't.

Charles waits for his father to gather his thoughts, like he needs to do sometimes to make sure he says exactly what he means. (It's something Maman keeps telling him he should try doing as well, but he's not so good at that yet.)

"You know how even the greatest racing drivers make mistakes sometimes?" Papa asks.

Charles frowns, but he nods. "Yes?"

"Sometimes the universe is like that, too. Sometimes the universe makes a mistake, and stops the timers too soon," Papa explains.

Charles frowns. He hasn't heard about that before, but he guesses it makes sense. It's true what Papa said - not even Senna was a perfect driver who never made mistakes. It makes sense that the universe is the same.

"But this doesn't mean you don't have a soulmate, okay, Charles?" Papa says before Charles can spend too much time thinking about the whole thing. His voice is firmer than Charles was expecting, and he reaches up to tilt the rearview mirror to see Charles better.

"It doesn't mean you don't have a soulmate," he repeats, like he doesn't want Charles to ever doubt that. "It just means it's going to be a little harder to find them."

Charles frowns, and he can't help but be a little annoyed. Isn't the whole point of soulmate timers to make it easier to find your perfect match?

It's just his luck that his soulmate timer doesn't work properly.

"I understand," Charles says, though, because he can tell it's important to his father.

Papa nods, but he keeps watching Charles in the rearview mirror for the rest of the drive, like he sometimes does after a race where Charles crashed the kart badly and he needs to keep making sure that Charles is fine.

Of course Charles is fine. He doesn't think this is comparable to a bad race at all! It's a little annoying, yes, but it's not that bad. It's just a bit of extra work, isn't it?

Charles shrugs his shoulders, glancing quickly down at the stopped soulmate timer at his wrist.

Whatever. Racing is more important than soulmates, anyway.

~

Almost twenty years later, Charles still says that to himself almost every day, even if he doesn't believe it with nearly the same careless seven-year-old confidence anymore: racing is more important than soulmates.

It is, because it has to be.

The thing is this: his father's explanation to Charles' seven-year-old self had been true - if a little oversimplified, and painted with an overt layer of kindness.

The truth Charles knows now is that there are two reasons, two categories, for people whose timers stop when the other person's keeps running.

One is, like Papa had said all those years ago, a simple case of mistaken timing - cases where the universe or fate or whatever controls it all stopped one person's timer a little too soon, or the other's a little too late.

It's harder to find each other in those cases, but it's still quite possible.

And then there's the second category. The unrequiteds. People whose timers stopped at the right time - when they met the person who would be their perfect match - except that they are not that person's perfect match in return. It only goes one way.

It's rare, but it happens sometimes. No system is perfect, after all - not even a system of soulmates.

For years and years, Charles tried to convince himself that he fell into the first category. His soulmate timer simply stopped too early, by some cosmic accident - but it's okay, Charles insists to everyone who asks and to himself as well, because what it's done is given Charles more time to focus on his racing instead. He's not constantly glancing down at his wrist and wondering when his timer is going to stop ticking - he can just get on with the racing.

He'll find his soulmate eventually, but on his own terms. There's nothing bad about that, surely.

Charles believes that. Really he does.

Except.

Except, if it's true and Charles falls into the first category - the mistaken timing category - then it would mean Pierre isn't his soulmate.

Pierre, who kept the promise he'd made to a seven-year-old who wasn't even his soulmate (because, yes, he had found Charles at the very next French karting cup, and he'd asked to meet Charles' soulmate - and when Charles had to admit that he still hadn't found them, Pierre had hugged him and told him not to give up and that he would find his soulmate someday. Pierre had held Charles' hand and explained that his parents almost didn't find each other, but they did. So it might take Charles some time, but that was okay, because it had taken Pierre's parents some time too, but now they were happier than ever. He'd been so convincing, firm but kind and absolutely sure of himself, and he'd made Charles believe it. He also made Charles smile, genuinely and truly, when he promised he'd stick by Charles' side no matter what anyone else said or whispered about his stopped soulmate timer.)

Pierre, who kept that promise about sticking with Charles, too. Pierre who never stopped being kind, and loyal, and the best friend Charles could ask for, whether he was seven or thirteen or nineteen or twenty-six.

Honestly, how was Charles supposed to not fall hopelessly in love with him?

He tried to deny it. For years and years, Charles tried to deny it - I will find my soulmate someday and it will all make sense, he'd tried to convince himself - but the thing was, what made more sense than Pierre being his soulmate?

It was roundabout the time of Pierre's first win (when Charles was standing under the podium in Monza with an aching back but a heart soaring with joy for his best friend despite the disaster of his own race) that Charles resigned himself to the truth: Pierre is his soulmate.

He has to be. Isn't a soulmate meant to be your perfect match; the person who understands you better than anyone and makes you happier than any other person in the world?

There's nobody else who could make Charles as happy as Pierre does. Nobody, nobody. There's no point in even trying to deny it anymore.

Pierre is his soulmate. But he is not Pierre's.

And that's okay. It's okay.

It has to be.

~

It isn't okay, not really, but that's true of a lot of things in Charles' life, and he's learned how to deal with them. He can deal with this, too.

On the whole, Charles thinks he does a pretty good job of dealing with it. He gets to be Pierre's best friend, after all - isn't that just a different kind of soulmate? True, Charles might want more, but it isn't like he has nothing. He has Pierre, and he will have Pierre for the rest of their lives.

Not in the way he wants, but - at least he will have Pierre.

The one thing he tries never to think about is Pierre's actual soulmate. Because Pierre has one, he knows, and he will meet them at some point.

Charles doesn't know how the hell he's supposed to look at some soulmate of Pierre's, and smile at her, and not be hopelessly, heartbreakingly jealous.

(He will do it, though. He will learn to smile at Pierre's soulmate - for Pierre's sake. He'll do it for Pierre.)

But that's a bridge he will cross when they get there. He doesn't have to worry about it yet (or at least, that's what Charles keeps telling himself even as the months tick by, and he knows there aren't year figures left on Pierre's soulmate timer anymore. Just months now, and then... weeks.)

Charles isn't thinking about it. He's put it out of his mind completely - which is easy enough to do, thankfully, given everything that's been happening on-track this season.

That's probably why he accepts Pierre's invitation to dinner in Montreal without thinking twice about it. (Even if he had realised, though, Charles doesn't think he would have been able to say no, either. He would give Pierre everything, if he only asked.)

So they go to dinner in Montreal, and it's perfect, and wonderful, and laughter-filled, and all in all exactly what Charles needed to distract himself from the fact that he has yet another engine penalty, and the sinking feeling that the championship is beginning to slip out of his reach.

Pierre seems to realise it, because he's in even finer form than usual - teasing Charles and tickling his ribs playfully and making him laugh at every possible opportunity.

Even on the drive back to the hotel: they stop at a red light, and Pierre steals Charles' cap, and Charles is giggling and filming it while Pierre is giggling back, and he's pretty sure neither of them are thinking about it at all, until-

Until Pierre's face changes from laughter to something almost ashen. "Charles," he says, and for all the years Charles has known him, he's never once heard Pierre's voice like that. "My soulmate timer just stopped."

For a few seconds, the words don't even register in Charles' mind.

Then they do, and Charles can feel his heart drop. "What?" he breathes.

His hands shake, and he doesn't even register the fact that the light has gone green as he glances all around them, craning his neck to see if there's anyone behind the white Ferrari, or around to the side.

Just a few minutes ago, their car had been surrounded by fans on all sides, all jostling to try and get pictures of them. But now, somehow, they're all alone in the Montreal night.

(The irony of it all is not lost on him - is this how Pierre felt all those years ago, when he was trying to look for Charles' soulmate at a karting cup, but not finding anybody it could be?)

"Are you sure it stopped just now? And not earlier?" Charles asks, willing his voice not to shake.

"Yeah," Pierre whispers. He sounds... devastated.

"But," Charles says, and then he has to take a deep breath. "But there's no-one else here, Pierrot."

"I know," Pierre says, somehow even softer.

Charles' fingers clench reflexively around the steering wheel, and he's moving in blank autopilot as he puts the car into gear and starts driving forward again.

He doesn't even realise he's shaking his head until Pierre says softly, "Charles." There's something wounded about it.

Charles stops shaking his head and slams on the brakes instead, jerking the car into something he hopes is a parking space at the side of the road.

"I don't understand," he says, far more calmly than he feels. "You can't - I can't be your soulmate."

Okay, maybe he's not so calm after all. But he doesn't think... he doesn't think anyone would be calm, in this situation.

Pierre makes a sound that could almost be a laugh, except that it sounds too strangled. "Do you know," he says, "that I have spent half my life wondering if the soulmate system got something wrong in my case? Because if you're not my soulmate, then who is? Who could possibly..."

Pierre does laugh this time, shaking his head. "You know, I asked to go out with you tonight for a reason. I knew - I knew it would happen tonight, so I needed to..." He swallows. "I needed to see you, one last time. Before I wouldn't be allowed to love you anymore."

It jolts through Charles then, what Pierre is trying to say. "Pierre," he breathes, and now it's his turn to say his best friend's name in a way he doesn't think he's ever said it before.

But Pierre's not finished yet. "I thought I could have one last night with you," he says. "One last night, before I had to say goodbye to my feelings, and try to love someone else."

My feelings. Try to love someone else.

Charles Leclerc is a lot of things, but an idiot is not one of them. He knows what Pierre is saying. He's...

Pierre loves him too. All along, Pierre has loved him too.

Only, he never had the option of thinking we're soulmates, Charles realised, and his heart twists in his chest.

Because Charles, for all that he accepted his soulbond toward Pierre was unrequited - at least he'd had the option of them being soulmates. Yes, it was in a twisted way, but at least he'd had that.

Pierre didn't. And he still fell in love with Charles.

The thought hits him like a shell-shock, and it's enough that Charles can only sit there for a moment, staring blankly, as Pierre continues talking beside him.

"I meant for tonight to just be a quick dinner together, something fun but normal for us," Pierre is saying, wringing his hands. "But I lost track of time. I always lose time when I'm talking to you, Charlito, I could talk to you forever - but the point is, I forgot to tell you I need to go back. I forgot that I was meant to meet my fucking soulmate tonight, because I was spending time with you, and - "

He takes a deep breath, and then he laughs again, leaning forward to drop his head into his hands. "I felt it happen, you know? I knew exactly when my soulmate timer stopped, because I could feel it, and it's - it was when I put that fucking cap on my head, Charles."

The cap that he's still wearing. Charles' 16 Ferrari cap.

Charles' hands shake as he reaches out to touch it, just the brim. "Your soulmate timer stopped when you put my cap on," he says, because a part of him still can't believe that this is real, that he's not living in some kind of heartbreakingly wonderful dream.

Pierre straightens up so fast that Charles is left with his fingers dangling awkwardly in mid-air. "Yes," he says, suddenly looking wild, "but this doesn't have to change anything, Charlito, I promise. I will still help you find your soulmate, and I will - I'll learn how to live with an unrequited bond, it's -"

"No!" Charles interrupts, half-throwing himself across the car to catch hold of Pierre's hands. "No, no, no, no. No more unrequited bonds, Pierrot."

Pierre starts to shake his head, but then he stops in the middle of the movement. "What do you mean," he asks, very carefully, "no more?"

And suddenly, Charles feels giddy, of all things. "I mean, your timer didn't stop when mine did. So for years, I have thought that we can't be soulmates, or at least that you couldn't be my soulmate. But now your timer stopped when you put on my cap, so -"

"Stop, stop, stop," Pierre says, squeezing Charles' hands tightly. "What do you mean, my timer didn't stop when yours did?"

"Oh," Charles says, and then he winces, the weight of the only real lie he's ever told his best friend (the only real lie he's ever told his soulmate) settling onto his shoulders with uncomfortable heaviness. "Um. Well. Do you remember when we met, and you thought I already met my soulmate?"

"No," Pierre breathes, but it's not the kind of no that says "no I don't remember." This no is more like "no way."

"Yeah," Charles says, and he can't help but look down at his own wrist, where the soulmate timer has been stopped for years and years. "My timer stopped the moment I met you, Pierrot."

"You..."

Pierre doesn't look like he knows how to finish that sentence, but Charles understands him anyway. "How was I supposed to tell you? I was seven, Pierre, and your timer didn't stop. I thought it was a mistake for years."

"But?" Pierre asks, like he can tell there was a but.

Charles beams at him. "But, I realised that there was nobody else who could be my perfect match. So I thought you were my soulmate after all, but it was unrequited."

"Never," Pierre says with a fierceness Charles doesn't expect. "Charles, never. If I knew... if I thought I had even half a chance, I would have been with you anyway."

Charles tries to laugh, but it comes out all breathless. "No you wouldn't."

"Yes, I would," Pierre argues, and his voice is heartbreakingly sincere. "I don't care. I would have chosen you."

Charles hears a punched-out noise, and it takes him a moment to realise it came from him. The next moment, he's unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing awkwardly over to sit on Pierre's lap.

It's not quite comfortable, because for all its luxury, the white Ferrari does not have a lot of leg space - but Charles doesn't think either of them give a single fuck, in this moment.

"I love you," he tells Pierre, reaching up to cup his cheek. "I've always loved you, but I never would have stood between you and your soulmate."

"Funny," Pierre says, his hands coming up to grip Charles' hips, "because that's exactly what stopped me from kissing you senseless."

"Well," Charles says, and if he grinds down just a little on Pierre's lap, he'll swear to everyone who asks that it was accidental. "It doesn't have to stop us anymore."

"Never again," Pierre agrees, tightening his grip on Charles' hips. "Never."

"So kiss me senseless, please," Charles whispers, and then he adds "soulmate," and that's what does it. Pierre surges up and kisses him, wild and desperate and more than a little clumsy, but without question the best kiss Charles has ever had. His own cap digs into his forehead a little, but Charles can't even bring himself to care about that - they owe too much to this cap now, honestly.

Maybe the universe does know what it's doing after all, Charles thinks. Maybe the universe just wanted to write a good story for them. A story that goes like this:

Charles' soulmate timer stopped when he was seven years old, and he met the boy with the bluest eyes he'd ever seen.

Almost twenty years later, Pierre's soulmate timer stopped in a white Ferrari in Montreal, and Charles finally got to kiss the boy with the bluest eyes he's ever seen, the man who is his best friend and his soulmate.

The odds of it working out this way have to be... a million to one, probably, or maybe even less.

But then again, what are the odds that two boys who met at a French karting cup and became friends with a shared dream would both make it to Formula 1?

Maybe the answer is just that Pierre and Charles have always liked beating the odds.

~

(50 Romance Prompts Ask Meme) <- not currently taking more prompts, sorry!

[lestappenforever]

I’ve just watched a couple of the TPs post race reactions, as well as saw the strategies that the teams used and we can conclude a couple of things from it:

The Mercedes power unit had quiet a noticeable presence today, especially with Williams, who fun fact, also take a lot of the legal components that they are allowed from Mercedes, according to James Vowles (Zak Brown, where did you dip to now). Alex and Logan both had the pace, and could have been in points today. But the power units on both the cars, in addition to Logan’s steering wheel caused them the race. But the issues were not only in the Williams, Mercedes themselves had issues, with the batteries not working properly or dying. Mercedes, what is wrong with the power units after securing multiple multi year contracts?

You can take the man out of Ferrari but not the Ferrari out of the man (Laurent Mekies I’m looking at you). The way RB handled today’s race was actually shit. Again this team was close to points, even closer than the Williams with Yuki P11. But the way they handled the race, and especially in those last few laps, just proves that Laurent still doesn’t have the handles of how Red Bull teams work, he’s, you could say, still stuck in the Ferrari haze. The car is actually good, which we saw in testing and the data, but the team handling was just shit today, and with this, Red Bull could overlook both of them, even drop one of the 2, for Liam, who was promised (maybe even signed?) a seat for 2025.

Nico is absolutely unlucky, and that is a ghost that is hunting him down. Man had a good start, but that collision with Lance cost him his race, which he could have finished in the point. Also, that Haas has pace, it’s not so bad. Let’s see if the absence of Guenther and the presence of a more technical TP is going to impact the team.

Zhou is impressive. He gained quiet a lot, with gaining 6 places and the car is not that great. I did not know his game.

Ferrari pulled a Ferrari. That’s all that could be said. Charles was very confident yesterday. He even was visibly very upset with the fact that he got P2, to today. Like, yes we don’t know if there was something, but fucking it up to the extent that the car is dangerous to even stop. This man just signed a fucking multi year contract, don’t make him regret it.

And finally, we now understand Red Bull’s runs. The runs that were only (or mainly) on C1, C2 and C3 only. They were able to properly visualize the race. And the fact that we saw how everyone in Red Bull expected the car to be slower shows that they have cooked (Adrain Newey, looks like you did it again). And the fact that these runs of Free Practices and Testing showed correct data of this track, not really focusing on topping the time sheets or any of that shit. They put their heads down and focused on the time sheets that mattered, focusing one race at a time, as well as visualize how the car is going to be and how it will work and react, gathering the data needed for checking the car (in football terms: partido a partido).

So yeah, these are kind of my initial post race analysis. Still want to geek more, but I guess this is enough for now?

(I wasn’t going to be able to sleep until I got this off my brain or I would have been overthinking all night long)

I love this analysis so much.

The way VCARB fucked Yuki over by forcing him to let Daniel overtake and proceeding to not even being able to overtake the fucking Haas in front of him is absolutely appalling. I know Yuki has some temper issues he definitely needs to work on when he's in the car, but I fully support his anger this time. The move was completely uncalled for, and VCARB desperately need to realize that they can't put their eggs in the wrong basket. No matter what his die-hard fans say, Daniel is not the future of F1 and Red Bull.

With the exception of Max pulling a very Max race and being superior to the rest of the grid, my favorite part of yesterday's race was definitely Zhou. He did so well, and it was such a pleasure to see him finish P11. I really hope this season will be good for him because I so desperately want him to succeed.

Ferrari being Ferrari was, sadly, not even remotely surprising. But, it's only the first race of the season and Charles still being able to drag that broken fucking car to P4 is impressive as hell.

Red Bull has handled testing and the first race weekend masterfully, and their 1-2 finish yesterday was truly deserved. I have a feeling this season will be a good one for them, even if their domination might not be quite as extreme.

(I hope you've had a great night's sleep, lovely. ❤️)

[acesofspadess]

Beautiful One 2

a/n: send in any request you want to see!

summary: Acelynn Grant; upcoming singer and actress known for her role as Cleo in Outer Banks season 2 and 3 and her EP Beautiful One.......... goes on a date day with Harry

pairing: harry styles x famous!reader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

harryflorals

harryflorals harry seen out with Acelynn today in Beverly Hills

hs2 aweee he looks so happy

ace7 i know she was shitting herself

acesbeautifulones

acesbeautifulones Acelynn seen out with Harry today in Beverly Hills… GO GIRL!!!!

ace4 she’s such a baddie

hs2 i see why y’all stan her

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you stepped out of the building, back in your normal clothes, you saw the car harry said he would be in. You figured he saw you as he stepped out the drivers side of his Ferrari and met you half way.

“Hi.” he seemed almost out of breath before he was pulling you into a hug. You wrapped your arms around him fully and you swayed back and forth for a few before you both let go and walked with you to car.

“How were you’re interviews? For season 3 right?”

You looked at him from the passenger side a little shocked. “They were as good as they could be… how did you know what they for?” it was a stupid question. A lot of people knew who you were, but you really didn’t expect him to.

“Did you expect me to come on our date unprepared?” He missed the way you cocked your head to the side at his words, “Besides, a friend of mine played me your album. Grammy nominated isn’t it?”

You watched the smirk on face form when he looked at you. You shook your head with a laugh and nodded. “It surprisingly is, yes. And date?” his eyes-behind sunglasses- met yours as you pulled to a red light. He took the hand that was on the centre console and laced it with his. "I think youre really pretty Ace, and I know it sounds shallow of me to say that but, based on the short research and interviews and way you treat my fans I can't help but be attracted to you and want to know more about you." he had started driving again but he looked at you ever so often to show you what he was saying was true.

You squeezed his hand back and he smiled. "I don't think its shallow Haza," you came up with a nickname on the spot and you felt him squeeze your hand as you said it. "And I think its very clear im attracted to you and want to know the realest you." You knew he picked up on your wording as he looked at you again before parking the car and getting out making sure you were still buckled in so he could open the door.

"Such a gentlemen." You both laughed at the hidden message and he led you out the car park and into an outdoor shopping mall. You walked around and in and out of stores only bumping into a few fans when you grabbed a bite to eat.

"Oh Harry can we go in. Please?" it was a Gucci store and you knew he probably owned the whole store. He chuckled softly at your begging as he held the door open for you. It wasn't crowded in there which you expected.

Harry followed you around the store as you looked at the bags but your eyes immediately took you over the jewellery. "See something you like?" it was the man Harry had stopped and chatted to when you first walked in. Harry was looking from over your shoulder and you looked up at him. "I think this chain is nice. Simple but still me. And this ring, Ill probably get the ring though. Save the chain for another time." He nodded silently at you and you watched as he made eye contact with the person the man. You watched the man walk away to the back and you looked at Harry. "What did you just do?"

He just shook his head with a simple shoulder shrug. "I didn't even say anything." You hit his shoulder as he started to laugh. "That's the kind of power you hold Harry." You poked at him until he pointed with his free arm to the man who had come back with the ring and something else in a bag. "Here is the ring ma'am." you watched as he opened the box and placed the ring in your hand for you to slip on your self. You placed it on your left middle finger over the sunflower tattoo and marvelled at the fit and perfection that was the ring.

You payed for it at a different station and saw Harry select something and pay for it at a different station. "I did know you were buying something." you watched as he took your small bag and carried it for you. "I didn't either." and that was all he said on the matter while flashing you his signature smile.

You sang along to the songs that played on the radio softly, missing the way Harry looked at you. "Do you want to come in?" you were both standing in the lobby of your apartment. He nodded shyly and you took his hand before walking into the elevator. he squeezed your hand and layed his head on your shoulder. You felt the heat from his body on yours and smiled placing your head on his.

When you arrived on your floor you walked straight head to the one of two doors on the floor. "welcome to my temporary abode." you said flinging your hands in the air nearly missing Harry's face.

It was relatively plain considering you'd only be here for a few more months. "Temporary?" harry asked slipping his shoes off before plopping down on the couch next to you. "yeah im only going to be here until the Grammy's. Then im permanently moving from LA." you noted that he had brought in both bags, probably security reasons- you thought. "And where are you moving?" he had turn to lay along you and you ran your hands through his hair. "across the pond." he hummed a small laugh knowing what you meant.

"I feel like I was meant to be here." you whispered so softly if harry didn't feel the rumble of your voice he wouldn't have known you said anything. "Here in LA?" you chuckled softly as his accent was strong with sleep. "Here with you. It feels so right." he snuggled in closer to you before looking up at you.

"are you going to anymore shows?" you grazed his cheeks with your thumb softly. "I don't think so. I have to prep for grammy's and still have press for OBX. Theres talk about a summer tour. Lots to do." you saw his eyes deflate and you wanted to take back everything you said. "well if I won't see you for the foreseeable future, please let me do this." he propped himself up on his arms before his forehead was connecting with yours. he let one hand fall to your cheek and you placed yours back on his cheeks before pulling him, lips connecting with his.

You both couldn't help the smiles that broke your kiss. You didn't have to say anything to each other. Just looking at each other was enough. "I know you have an early flight tomorrow, I don't want to keep you- well I do- you know what I mean." you watched him giggle before pressing another kiss to your lips. "I do. I haven't even packed yet." you shook your head at him as he got up.

He pulled the bags closer to you both before taking out a rectangular box and opening it. Inside the necklace you saw at the store. "Harry you did not." you covered your cheeks with your hands in shock. "I didn't know when I was going to see you again and I wanted to get you this to remember our first date." you softly wrapped your arms around him and he kissed your forehead.

"let me put it on for you." you turned around and lifted your hair up so that he could clip it. you both sat, just basking in each other. It was eventually time for him to go so you were now standing wrapped in each other at your door. "I don't want you to go. Its been half a day and I already feel like we've known each other forever." he place his forehead on yours, something he did a lot. "I don't want to go either. You've made me feel things today that I didn't know were possible. Ill try to talk to you every day. But I-" he cut himself off squeezing his eyes shut and an angry puff slipped past his lips. "Harry, I understand, you are a very busy person, and I will be too. Im not ever going to get mad at you if you can't reach out to me constantly. All I ask Is that you check in with me at least once a day. Need to know if your alive." he smiled sadly and you kissed his pout.

He kissed you back again and again, separating before things went further. "Bye Haza" you sighed as his fingers left yours. "Not goodbye, see you later."

"See you later."

[marianne-zemo]

First race

So, I guess I'm doing it, this is the first fanfiction I've written in four years and my second time writing smut so please, bear that in mind, it might be awful 😅 Also, English is not my first language so I apologise for any mistakes. GIF not mine!

Warnings: smut, oral sex (f and m receiving), slight degradation, choking (light but still) unsafe sex (wrap it before you tap it kids!), probably bad writing, Niki being a little mean and a little ooc, cursing. Reader insert, no use of Y/N. (Also, I know nothing about racing so I'm sorry if the description of the race sucks 😅)

I think that's all, let me know if I missed something!

Standing near the entrance of the stadium, you were craning your neck, trying to find your friend in the crowd of people who came to watch the race. You weren't particularly thrilled at the idea of having to sit there for god knows how long watching the cars go by at top speed but your friend's been persistent and you've run out of excuses so you reluctantly agreed.

"Hey, there you are!" you've heard your friend's voice on your left so you turned around quickly, trying not to spill the drinks on your t-shirt. "Hey, yeah, I thought you were already up there", you said while pointing your unoccupied hand towards the seats. "Here, I bought some drinks."

"Well, I was trying to get to the trailers to see the racers but the security guard kicked me out." Your friend replied with a sour look on her face and reached for one of the cups. "Thanks for that, so, shall we?"

You nodded and started making your way through the mass of people blocking the stairs. The second you sat down you've heard one of the commentators announce that the race will begin shortly. You took out your phone to check the emails when you noticed the shirt your friend has put on. It was blue with yellow stripes and in the middle, there was an image of a young man in a racing suit. You looked at your friend and raised your eyebrow in a silent question. She blushed and quickly explained that she bought the shirt from one of the guys standing on the parking lot near the track.

"Do you even know who this guy is or did you just buy it to look like you support anyone down there?" She looked at you surprised.

"Did you do any kind of research before coming here with me?" She asked with disbelief. You just shook your head. "I told you, I know nothing about racing, I came because you asked me to."

She just sighed and quickly started explaining while watching the cars drive in their positions. "The man on my shirt is James Hunt, it's the one getting in the pole position right now," she said while pointing at the mostly blue car in the front. "He drives for McLaren and he's something of a novelty in racing. He won last year's Grand Prix so now he has a couple of points on Lauda and huge chances of winning this season as well."

She pointed at Lauda's red car just as the gun announced the beginning of the race. "Now, Niki Lauda races for Ferrari and he's a great driver but he had an accident last year and a lot of people say that this is the only reason why Hunt won that season. He's also a giant asshole, you should see some of the interviews, he changes publicists more often than James changes women." Your friend snickered and you both turned your attention to one of the screens around the stadium in time to see a black car spinning out of the track on the third bend with smoke coming from under the mask of the vehicle.

"So, Hunt is a womanizer?" You asked while the commentator explained who had to end the race and likely reasons for the smoking engine. "Yeah, he's young and handsome so fans are obviously tripping over themselves to get his attention and he gives it happily. He also invites a lot of them to the parties at his house, and, if you want to believe the rumors, more often than not at least one person gets to have a private tour around his bedroom."

Your friend explained with a small smirk and it was then that you've noticed the heels and a rather short for this kind of weather skirt that she chose to wear. "Mhm, so the way I see it, you invited me to watch the race just to ditch me, later on, to try and get an invitation to said party, yeah?"

She blushed and pretended to watch the screen while fiddling with her bracelet. "I mean, you could always come with me, a party is a party plus there are free drinks and food," she glanced at you with hope with her eyes.

"I make no promises but maybe if he wins-" you got cut off by the loud cheering that echoed around the track. Both of you looked at the screen and you were able to see Hunt's car passing the red Ferrari and beginning its third and last lap. You've spent the rest of the race listening to the commentators and throwing your comments here and there when something particularly unexpected happened.

Suddenly the whole stadium stood up screaming and cheering when the McLaren and Ferrari cars appeared on the screen, coming out of the last bend and into the home stretch before the finishing line. From the distance you couldn't make out who was leading, they were going neck and neck but then Hunt's engine whirled louder and he crossed the line a second before Lauda. The next couple of minutes were a blur, people cheering and running to the platform to meet the winner while the racers were on their cooling-off lap. You've lost your friend somewhere in the crowd but since you've decided not to go to the party, you wandered around the track, stopping next to the Ferrari, admiring its design and how well taken care of it looked.

"And what, pray tell, are you doing?" You quickly turned around and came face to face with Niki Lauda. His racing suit was slightly open, letting you see the silver medal hanging around his neck. Now, without his helmet, you were able to see where did the 'ratty' part of his nickname come from, although surprisingly enough you found him rather attractive. His eyes were a nice shade of brown and his slightly curly hair framed his face in a way that made him look almost like a little cupid. Pouty and dissatisfied but still adorable.

"I- I was just admiring your car, you take good care of it," you replied, your voice coming out somewhat shaky but you managed not to stumble backward despite his intimidating stare.

"Shouldn't you be with the rest of those screaming idiots, trying to get into Hunt's bed?" He asked, nodding his head in the direction of his opponent laughing and signing his autograph on one of the girl's cleavage.

"Hey, watch it! My friend is there," you said with indignation, slightly raising your voice. "And you don't need to be such an asshole, could've just told me to leave. Manners don't hurt you know?"

He raised his eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with your little outburst and you heard him mumble something under his nose before you could walk away.

"What was that?" You asked, expecting to hear yet another insult, this time thrown your way, however, you were surprised when he slightly louder repeated "I asked if you'd like to go for a ride, I assure you, it drives as good as it looks."

You glanced at him with disbelief noticing a slight blush on his face and, judging by the way he was avoiding your eyes, you knew you heard him correctly. You thought about this for a moment and after realizing that this is once in a lifetime opportunity, you shrugged your arms before answering him. "If you're serious, then yeah why not. But where am I supposed to sit?"

Lauda was already in the car holding up another helmet for you to put on and he smirked softly while pointing on his lap. "Well, there's a lot of space here," however, noticing your clear embarrassment he added softly "no need to be shy liebling, it's alright if you've changed your mind."

You shook your head slightly, putting on the helmet and sitting on his lap before you could change your mind. There's no way you were backing off now. It was a tight fit, the vehicle clearly not designed for more than one person but you pulled it off somehow and seconds later you've felt the engine whirl to life as Niki turned the key in the ignition.

He started slow, not wanting to scare you right away but after the first bend, you felt him press harder on the gas, speeding up and not losing the speed even on the sharp turns. The way he was driving, confident, and focused made you feel safe and you found yourself giggling with joy with every bend he took. You were still smiling when he finally parked in his trailer and took off both yours and his helmet.

"So, did you like it?" He asked with a small smile when he noticed the way your eyes sparkled with glee."Yeah, I did, thank you, Niki," you replied softly, reaching your hand to brush his locks away from his face. Something changed in his eyes at the small gesture and he pressed his cheek in your palm making you gasp and you focused on the way he quickly licked his lips, shifting beneath you. Before you could talk yourself out of this you leaned down to softly press your lips against his and he responded immediately, one of his hands going to the back of your neck while the other explored your side and the gentle curve of your breasts.

Niki dominated the kiss, making you moan and you shifted yourself, now fully straddling his lap and grinding against him. You felt more than heard the loud groan that came out of his throat, "come on, wrap your arms around me," you heard him mumble against your lips and quickly wound your arms around his neck. He stood up, somehow managing to maneuver you both out of the vehicle, and sat you down on the table while sucking hickeys on the side of your throat and making you whine.

He pulled away, admiring his work and you took that exact moment to go down on your knees in front of him and unzip his racing suit. He gave a choked moan once you've managed to pull his boxers enough to take him out and, not giving him a chance to say anything, you quickly took the tip of his cock in your mouth, humming at the slightly bitter taste.

"F- fuck, liebling, your mouth is a sin," you've heard him groan and you made eye contact while trying to take more of him into your mouth, swallowing once he reached the back of your throat. "Mein Gott, fuck!" He gave a small shout at the way you sucked him down and quickly pulled you off his cock and up to press a hard kiss to your mouth, tasting himself on your tongue. "You're something else schatz, but I need to fuck you."

He quickly got rid of your jeans while you took off your t-shirt and he kneeled in front of the table between your spread legs. Niki pulled your panties down and quickly swiped two fingers through your folds making you tremble with excitement. "Look at that darling, you're soaked. Did having my cock in your mouth make you so wet?"

You whined softly and canted your hips upwards trying to get him to touch you properly. "Niki...please," he chuckled softly and pushed his fingers inside you curling them in a come hitcher motion while his tongue started making circles around your clit causing you to moan loudly and clench around his digits. His answering groan sent vibrations through you and your hand made a home in his hair pressing him harder against your dripping folds. You've been on edge ever since that make out in his vehicle so you can already feel an intense heat spreading inside of you, making you arch your back.

"F-fuck, just like that, please baby - ah - don't stop, God, Niki!" You came with a drawn-out whine of his name, shaking and soaking his hand with your wetness. He got up with a smirk on his thin lips and put the fingers that were inside you seconds ago in your mouth and watched as you sucked on them, moaning at the taste of yourself on his skin.

Niki grabbed the base of his cock and ground against you, lubricating himself with your juices before pushing slowly inside you. You both groaned once he was fully in and he put his mouth around your nipple sucking and biting slowly while letting you get used to his size. "Mov - ah - please move", you whimpered and he slowly started moving his hips back and forth gaining the tempo with every sound you made.

One of his hands made its way to your thigh, squeezing so hard that it was sure to leave bruises but you didn't mind. His cock was hitting that perfect spot deep inside you, making you clench around him which in turn made him growl and fuck you harder. "Fuck, you feel so good around me schatz, so tight, so - fuck - so wet."

You moaned at the praise and grabbed his right hand, putting it around your throat. He looked at you surprised and gave an experimental squeeze groaning when he felt you clench around him. "Dirty girl, you like being choked? Fuck, look at you, moaning like a whore - ah - so desperate for my cock." He taunted while pistoning his hips in and out of you and squeezing your neck tighter as his left thumb made tight circles around your clit bringing you closer to the edge.

"Yes - fuck - I'm your whore Niki, please, 'm yours, just d-don't stop, plea-". He pressed his lips against yours cutting you off and growling in the kiss, "I'm not gonna last much longer Liebling, you feel too good - scheiße - gonna be a good girl for me? Come on, come around me, milk my cock like a good little cum slut".

His words combined with his hand around your throat and his thumb stroking your clit were what made you come. You felt the coil inside you snap and you let out a long moan, your back arched off the table and your legs were shaking around his waist as you let the pleasure consume you. Your heart was beating in your ears and you barely heard the way he groaned out your name, his hips stuttering and you felt his cock twitch inside you before you felt him painting your walls with his come.

Niki rested his head in the crook of your neck, panting harshly while you were coming down from your high. He looked up at you and you were surprised at the soft smile gracing his lips and he straightened himself kissing you gently and slowly pulling out of you. He made quick work of cleaning both of you up and put an arm around your waist, helping you stand. Your legs were still shaking slightly and you leaned into him for support as he pressed a kiss to your forehead looking down at you with adoration.

You felt your face heating up, not expecting to see this gentle side of him and he fished out a small card from the pocket of his suit, giving it to you with a hopeful look in his brown eyes.

"Join me for dinner tomorrow?" He asked, slightly uncertain and you beamed up at him. "I'd like that," you replied and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before making your way out of the garage. You turned around one last time catching him checking out your ass and laughed at his satisfied smirk, not even slightly embarrassed at being caught. You left the track, the card with his number in your hand and a huge grin on your face. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

[thesinglesjukebox]

LADY GAGA WITH ARIANA GRANDE - RAIN ON ME

[7.21]

A collaboration of two raining pop stars...

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: When was the last time you felt queer joy? a friend recently messaged me. It's not the only message that I've gotten like it, coming from someone reflecting on how hard it is to find love in our queer identities when the spaces and support networks we've spent our adult lives creating are no longer easily accessible. Lockdown is hard for everyone, but queer people have it especially rough. I have friends who chose to stay alone rather than return to uncomfortable family situations; friends who chose to find shelter in other countries rather than go home; friends in nominally progressive, loving environments who still feel constantly micro-aggressed against. Due to COVID, I've been forced to live with my parents for four months now, during which time we've managed to avoid a huge confrontation about my sexuality--but I still feel so lonely and unseen. "Rain on Me," however, sees me. This song is big and dumb and flawed, and probably designed as fan-service, but it is so, so gay. The more-is-more sound, the delightful camp aesthetic of the promos, the millions of memes, the outrageous Chromatica merchandise are all as extra as I wish I could be. For God's sake, at one point, Ariana literally sings the words, "Gotta live my truth, not keep it bottled in." Two of the biggest gay icons in the world coming together to sing about their traumas in the pouring rain would have been cathartic pop under any circumstances, but under these, it feels like nothing short of triumphant, torrential queer joy. [9]

Tobi Tella: For the Gay Event of 2020, that beat drop is cribbed right from 2013. The two work well together, and the result is hard not to like, but I'm also finding it hard to love. [6]

Will Adams: "Stupid Love" worked as a return to form for the maximalist Gaga of yester-decade. "Rain On Me" works even better for the sweet surprise at how much energy she injects into filter house, a genre whose recent re-emergence has often felt lifeless. The growl she adds to the "RAIN on me" that punctuates the instrumental break does plenty on its own. The presence of Grande and the alternate chorus at the very end implies that there could have been more but what was left on the cutting room floor doesn't really matter when the final 3-minute product is this electrifying. [8]

Joshua Lu: At times "Rain on Me" feels like two separate dance tracks spliced together: one with Lady Gaga's hefty vocals serving as the backbone for a groovy instrumental, and another with Ariana Grande's lithe voice adroitly dancing on the pounding synths. Either can succeed on its own, but when they mix, they hamper one another. It's most evident on the bridge, where Ariana's breathy delivery clashes with Gaga's campy deep voice, which shouldn't be used there regardless -- hearing it for an entire section makes it less powerful when it pops up as the pre-chorus. [5]

Edward Okulicz: This Lady Gaga single is okay to pretty good, but the chorus is basically just "Rain Over Me" by Pitbull. [6]

Scott Mildenhall: Not everything has to be "Telephone," but Gaga's statements about "Rain on Me"'s personal significance hit home how run-of-the-mill the song feels compared with something so conceptually walloping. The deep personal connection Gaga felt with Grande is sadly inaudible, and the boldest it all gets is with her spoken delivery of the title, an appreciably camp touch in a song that is content and perhaps correct to colour within the lines, however brightly. [7]

Katherine St Asaph: Did not expect my first thought upon hearing a Gaga song to be Shut Up Stella. This shrinks a bit after hearing Chromatica, which has more massive tracks. [6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Gaga and Ari are pop music's two greatest theater kids. Every note, every line on "Rain on Me" is perfectly calibrated to demonstrate this, to make clear their skill at acting out the role of the pop star. The musical frame of the song is sturdy enough (it's not "Fade" or "Electricity" in terms of '90s house pastiche, but it grooves deeply enough to not seem lightweight), but "Rain on Me" is driven by their performances. It's most obvious on the song's bridge, where the combo of Gaga's imperial declarations and Ari's upper register meld together in kitschy glory. "Rain On Me" isn't a perfect song-- it's a bit underwritten, and the water metaphors don't fully come together-- but it's a near-perfect performance. [8]

Ryo Miyauchi: "I'd rather be dry, but at least I'm alive." It's a hook that's surely, and most likely unintentionally, informed by post-COVID life, but it also reminds me of the apocalyptic pop that flourished about a decade ago when dubstep was in full swing. That subgenre's structure still lives on at a elemental level, with the chorus devoid of lyrics, just now swapped for a chic, Justice-style electro-house. While any hint of doom might be more the beckoning of the current time, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's eager sense of abandon taps into now as much as it does to a recent past, and I hope it will speak to us in a similar way in the future when our world seems to be collapsing again in whatever context. [7]

Jessica Doyle: The more I listen to this the less it hangs together. Is the rain heartbreak or guilt? Is Lady Gaga the victim of it or using it for her own destructive ends? (Rain can be healing; tsunamis never are.) Why does she throw that cold, commanding "Rain. On. Me." refrain into a song that's supposed to be about vulnerable acceptance? And why isn't it "I'd rather be drunk, but at least I'm alive"? (Darn it.) I'll cede some power to the image of Gaga and Ariana Grande, both wounded and relatably self-aggrandizing, stomp-dancing around together in the rain, but stripped of pop-gossip context the song won't stick around. [5]

Leah Isobel: Lady Gaga is pop Jenny Holzer. She doesn't write lyrics, she writes slogans. I'D RATHER BE DRY, BUT AT LEAST I'M ALIVE isn't quite on the level of I WANT YOUR WHISKEY MOUTH ALL OVER MY BLONDE SOUTH, but the contrast between her severe consonants and Ariana's airy open vowels provides enough scaffolding that it works anyway -- and it doesn't hurt that the bass hurtles around that line like a Ferrari. If Gaga's oeuvre is a monument to the power of sheer determination, "Rain on Me" is what happens when she wills her sadness into release, her trauma into mere prelude; it's American pop myth-making at its purest. In that sense, it's an old-fashioned kind of triumph. [8]

Oliver Maier: Lady Gaga is too much of an auteur to really relinquish control. This is why her me/us-against-the-world cowboy songs suck, because she is at her best when she rules the reality that the music inhabits. On the strongest of her imperial-era singles, desperation and desire are either crystallised into museum exhibits or performed with such dark melodrama that they feel more like elaborate theatre for which she plays both director and lead role. "Rain On Me" is about giving in and letting herself cry, but the drop hinges critically on the spoken command that opens the floodgates; it's catharsis issued with total precision. Ariana, the reigning pop queen of emotional honesty, is at home on her confessional verse and then, having run out of stuff to do, sticks to ornamentation (it's funny that she gets a "with" credit for what is very much a "feat."). There are smart decisions -- the compact runtime, the way that the aqueous filtering drives the imagery home -- and then there's the simple, house-beats-go-brrrrr monkey brain joy of dance music that sounds this sure of itself; what it's doing, where it's going, how hard it slaps. [8]

Alex Clifton: Was this designed to get me through my next run? Through the next time Louisville is pelted by rain for days at a time? Through the pandemic? I'm not sure, but I've sold my soul to Gaga and Ariana for the above reasons and am more than happy with the results. [8]

Jackie Powell: I didn't really understand how this collaboration was going to work until I remembered the similarities that Grande and Gaga share. Besides the obvious that both are Italian, both have witnessed trauma in real-time and in front of the world. "Rain On Me" is a conversation that manifests in the music itself but also in all of its accompanying media, such as promotion its Robert Rodriguez-directed video. The moment when Lady Gaga pulls the knife out of her leg is purposeful Right as Gaga forcefully hauls the knife out of her thigh, Grande begins her verse. We can't move through pain and trauma alone; that invitation into conversation and togetherness is part of the healing. The melody of "Rain on Me," which I'm assuming was written mostly by Grammy-winning Nija, was orchestrated as an internal battle-cry that is designed to be spouted out. Gaga begins singing as we expect her to, with a deep darker belt in her sweet spot. But once we hit the pre-chorus goin into the chorus, she switches into bright head voice, which is where we expect Grande to be. Ari then sings deep in her chest, around the pre-chorus and into the chorus. There's a pattern. During the bridge, they switch again, and then again in the outro. As to what's going on with Gaga and her vocal fry in that bridge and the last phrase of the chorus, some say it's just classic Gaga, The Fame Monster Gaga. While that's correct, she uses it as a tool with multiple functions. It serves as a "c'mon let's go to #Chromatica" statement, but it's also a transition that facilitates the journey. It sets up the glorious bassline that not only explodes into the ears, but was directly interpolated from Gwen McCrae's "All This Love That I'm Giving." But back to the pre-choruses: They give the listener the track's thesis and its heart. In the first pre-chorus when Gaga belts that she's ready for the rain, she's not fighting it anymore. All of that emotion is happening. The second pre-chorus is the reformation of the feeling. It's not comfortable, but we need to just let it out, let it fall, and let it be felt. "I'm ready. Rain on me." [10]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[ficsforlarry]

Fav Fics of All Time: top 20

Each and every fic on this list is absolutely fabulous and I love them all dearly and equally. I’m always so so impressed with how talented the writers in this fandom are and how much time and effort they pour into these works. This is by no means a comprehensive list, nor is it the only available list of top 20 fics in this fandom. This are just my particular faves.

(It’s not really in order at all I love them all equally)

1.  The Finish Line (Is a good place for us to start) by LoadedGunn, 

Louis Tomlinson, one-time Formula 1 World Champion, is looking forward to the 2013 season. He’s got Zayn in his garage and Liam in his ear, he’s got Cowell Racing backing him despite former indiscretions, he’s got experience and the best race car out there. Not to mention he’s the only racer they have, after Oliver dropped out late last year.

It hasn’t occurred to him that Oliver would have to be replaced by February. That is, until he finds himself at a party celebrating Harry Styles leaving Ferrari for Cowell. Harry hotshot Styles, who broke a record last year and is probably looking to make a big splash. Harry Styles, who is talented and somewhat intimidating. Harry Styles, who left Ferrari for reasons unknown and seems kind of lonely and harmless in person. Lonely, harmless, hot as fuck. Whatever.

The first thing Louis does is take him under his wing. From there it’s nine months of slow-burning romance, the past catching up to them, turning into the human puppy pile that is OT5 and a lot of feelings until, of course, reaching the finish line.

2. Perfect Storm by CherryStreet, 80k

What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.

Harry and Louis choose the latter.

3. Escapade by dolce_piccante, 146k

In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

4. Here In The Afterglow by FondLeeds, 88k

“If you hadn’t noticed, I don’t have many friends,” Louis whispers, the blossom of insecurity in his stomach unfurling and clawing its way into his throat.

Harry is silent for a long time, and then he speaks; a soft, slow uncurl that makes Louis’ stomach shake. “I’ll be your friend.”

-

1970’s AU. In a tiny town in Idaho, Louis’ life is changed forever by the arrival of a curious stranger.

5. Love Is a Rebellious Bird by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews, 134k

AU in which the boys still make music. Louis is the concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Harry is the New! and Exciting! interim conductor/ex-cello prodigy who "has made Mozart cool again" according to Esquire Magazine (Louis hates him immediately, which is definitely why he internet stalked him in his dark bedroom late at night that one time), and Niall is the best. Zayn and Liam are around too.

Don't hum Bolero.

6. Young & Beautiful by VelvetOscar, 227k

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn't stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

7. Outwit, Outplay, Outlast by dancesongsoul, lookatyourchoices, 60k

“Tommo and Harry are gonna do it. I don’t know when, but they’re gonna do it. They’ve got the mattress, the pillows, everything’s in place, and they’re gonna do it. I really wish those two the best of luck.” –Taylor Swift, "Chapera"

Or a Survivor All-Stars AU in which Harry and Louis are just in this game to win the million dollars, but they end up with something better.

Featuring Harry's yellow swim shorts, Louis in snapbacks, and OT5 shenanigans.

8. Unbelievers by IsThatYouLarry, 136k

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything.

9. California Sold by IsThatYouLarry, 123k

Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.

A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.

10. Shake me Down by AGreatPerhaps12, 208k

Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

11. Atlas at Last by louisandthealien, 83k

He doesn’t know what he had been expecting out of the road trip itself besides burping contests and too much shitty gas station food with Oli and Stan, but in the brief moment before Harry ambles up his driveway, Louis idly wonders if this is about to become some sort of Gay Coming of Age story.

Maine to California in ten days. In which Zayn’s an open-shirt hippie they meet somewhere in Ohio, Liam’s the pastor’s son running away from home, and Niall’s the number they call on the bathroom wall.

It’s 1978. Harry and Louis are just trying to get to San Fran in time for the Queen concert.

12. Like an Endless Summer by objectlesson, 87k

“You just wanna go fawn over Styles as soon as possible,” Zayn grumbles.

“I do not. Plus, he probably got ugly this year. Eighteen is an awkward time...I bet he’s got acne and one of those terrible fuckboy haircuts all the hipsters are getting these days, with the shaved sides? Just watch, the first year we’re gonna get any time together is gonna be the first year I don’t have a stupid crush on him.”

---

Or, Louis is a riding instructor at a summer camp, and Harry is a fellow counselor who he’s been successfully managing his crush on for the last two summers. That is, until Harry shows up this year leveled up and lethal, and all Louis’s formerly perfected veneer of nonchalance melts like a popsicle in the sun.

13. And Then A Bit by InfinitelyMint, 158k

“We’d like to give the fans what they want.” Magee states, placing his hand on the table in front of him and leaning forward. “We want to give them Larry Stylinson.”

Or, take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.

(aka Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.)

14. Pull Me Under by Zarah5, 140k

AU. As the first British footballer to come out at the prime of his career, it helps that Louis Tomlinson is in a long-term, committed relationship. Even if that relationship is fake. (Featuring Niall as Louis' favourite teammate, Liam as Louis' agent, and Zayn as Liam's boyfriend, who just happens to be good friends with one Harry Styles.)

15. Into The Blue by Zarah5, 117k

AU. In which Louis is Harry's scuba instructor and quite happy to provide the requested special treatment, pun fully intended. It can't be all that difficult to convince Harry that they're on the same page, right? Also, Niall and Liam may or may not be dating, and Zayn is surrounded by emotionally stunted idiots. He bears it with dignity.

16. Never Be by CherryStreet, 117k

Monica: You've got to see her again. Ross: And why do you care so much? Monica: Because! You could get to live out my fantasy! Ross: You had fantasies about Emily? Monica: No! Y’know, the fantasy! Meet someone from a strange land, fall madly in love, and spend the rest of your lives together.

The one where Harry Styles moves to Connecticut from England for nine months as a part of a study abroad program, and he just so happens to move in with Louis Tomlinson and family.

17. Do Not Go Gentle by Afirethatcannotdie, 70k

“This is all a game to you, isn’t it? Well, it’s not for me. This is a real life or death situation,” Louis says, spitting the words at him. “And I just don’t think you’re cut out for it.”

For a moment, they stare at each other in complete silence. Harry can feel his blood thrumming between his ears, can see Louis glaring at him, feels red-hot anger. And then all he feels, oppressively and desperately, is lust.

Suddenly Louis is surging up to him to press his lips against Harry’s. Harry walks the two of them backwards, pressing Louis back against the door. Louis oomphs in surprise and brings his hands under Harry’s scrub top, scratching at his lower back.

“Lock — oh — lock the… fucking door,” Louis mutters.

When Harry Styles starts his first day as a surgical intern, he expects a lot of things: to treat patients, to observe a surgery, to feel a bit overwhelmed. What he definitely doesn't expect, however, is that the handsome guy he kicked out of his bed this morning is also an intern.

A Grey’s Anatomy AU where tensions are high, Harry and Louis are hooking up in secret, and no one has time for love. Or do they?

18. Got The Sunshine on My Shoulders by HattaLove, 124k

five years ago, harry styles left his tiny home town to make it big as a recording artist. he didn't have much regard for what he left behind - a life, a family, and a husband, who woke up one morning to find him gone.

now, harry has everything he could possibly want: he's rich, famous, and adored by everyone he meets, including his boyfriend. but when said boyfriend proposes to him, he's forced to face the uncomfortable facts of his past - and louis, who's spent the last five years returning every set of divorce papers harry sent him.

(or, an au based on the movie sweet home alabama.)

19. Roots by CherryStreet, 40k

There aren’t many things that make Harry Styles nervous. He’s spent the past couple of years on and off various stages, filled with screaming fans, all chanting his name, loud and adoring. He’s done countless interviews, some even on live, national television, never faltering over his words, answers meticulously planned out, smooth and steady. He’s signed countless autographs, taken just as many photos, and even when he sat in his label’s studio, waiting to see how high up on the charts his single made it, he didn’t feel uneasy or uncomfortable. It’s all been unbelievably fun. No, there aren’t many things that make Harry Styles nervous.

Enter Louis Tomlinson.

20. Wear It Like A Crown by Zarah5, 141k

AU. As part of a team of fixers hired to handle a gay scandal in Buckingham Palace, Louis expects Prince Harry to be a lot of things—most notably a royally spoilt brat. Never mind that the very same Prince Harry used to star in quite a number of Louis' teenage fantasies.

[crystalracing]

Under the skin of the enigmatic Raikkonen

KIMI RAIKKONEN IS ONE OF THOSE BLOKES WHO polarises opinion, that people seem to either love or hate. Ironic really, considering he is the epitome of getting on with doing his own thing, not manipulating anything, staying clear of boring politics and not worrying about things he has no control over. As a private man who can be difficult to read – not to mention one who a proportion of Formula 1 followers think has passed his best –he is, as our cover suggests, F1’s enigma. Which is why Ben Anderson’sin-depth 14-page feature, beginning on page 14, is probably the best and most-balanced thing you’ll ever read about him. Based on interviews with Raikkonen himself and those around him, it properly assesses his role on the F1 grid, and in the paddock. Ferrari announced a one-year contract extension for Raikkonen on Tuesday – after the last page of our feature had gone to press – but one thing for sure is that he is closer to the end of his F1 career than the beginning, and this week’s Autosport also provides a study of a talent at the opposite end of the spectrum. There hasn’t been a buzz this big about a young British prospect since Lewis Hamilton was rising the ranks, and Kevin Turner’s chat with Lando Norris (p28)tells us all about his cracking recent F1 test with McLaren. It was good timing that the interview coincides with two more wins in the Formula 3 European Championship at Zandvoort (p40). Funny to think that Norris hadn’t even been born when Raikkonen made his Formula Renault UK debut in 1999, and was only a toddler when Kimi first raced a Formula 1 car…

“IF YOU STRUGGLE, PEOPLE SLAG YOU OFF, BUT IT DOESN’T BOTHER ME”

It is very rare that a driver comes along who challenges preconceived notions of what it takes to be a Formula 1 driver. But when a true prodigy breaks through into grand prix racing through sheer force of talent, they often create a sort of butterfly effect.The world we thought we knew before is suddenly changed, and will never be the same again. Kimi Raikkonen should go down in F1 history as one such driver. It has taken Max Verstappen’s remarkable recent ascension to motorsport’s pinnacle to further redefine the boundaries of possibility – so successful in one season of junior single-seater racing that he simply must be in F1 immediately. Since 2015, Verstappen has been thrilling fans, threatening reputations, and rewriting rules with his fearless and superlative brand of racing. Fourteen years earlier, Raikkonen laid the template –arriving with Peter Sauber’s eponymous team after a brief but highly successful stint in Formula Renault. Raikkonen had competed in fewer than 25 car races; surely he couldn’t be ready for such a monumental leap.Yet there he was – 13th on the grid for his debut in Australia, within four tenths of a second of sophomore team-mate Nick Heidfeld, scoring a point in his first GP, finishing not much more than 12 seconds behind his team-mate. Raikkonen looked immediately like he belonged – a driver so naturally gifted he could bypass F3 and F3000 completely, turn convention on its head, yet be immediately and properly competitive in F1. Truly astounding. The question with all prodigies, in any sport, is what next? Will they fully harness that ability, show the necessary will and dedication to ally proper craft to their genius, and transform themselves into a truly unstoppable force? It is this unique blend that tends to define the ultimate greatness of an athlete – whether they burn out early and fade away in the Wayne Rooney style, or evolve into an era-defining machine in the mould of Cristiano Ronaldo. Raikkonen’s stats suggest he’s something of an underachiever. This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will mark his 263rd grand prix start; only four drivers – Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso – have started more. For a driver of Raikkonen’s ability and longevity to have scored ‘only’ 20 wins and 17 pole positions, plus a single world championship achieved in fortuitous circumstances in 2007, seems out of kilter. Damon Hill would not consider himself to be the most naturally gifted driver ever to grace F1. Raikkonen could make that claim, yet Hill achieved more wins and poles than Raikkonen has, in much less than half the number of starts. And yet Raikkonen is still good enough that he is still racing for Ferrari – F1’s grandest team – at the ripe old age of 37, and Tuesday’s announcement that he will remain for 2018 means he will continue doing so for another season at least. That shows Raikkonen still has something serious to offer in the eyes of those who make the biggest decisions in Maranello. Sport is always about much more than pure numbers. Personality and style also count for as much sometimes. Raikkonen commands a strong and loyal fan base, energised by his ‘Iceman’ reputation, one he says he’s done nothing conscious to cultivate. Publicly, Raikkonen comes off as a cool, aloof, anti-hero character – a no-nonsense antidote to the clean-cut corporate image of modern racing. His ‘wild-child’ early years curry him huge favour with those followers of F1 who pine for the era of James Hunt, when drivers partied away the nights and drove by the seat of their pants in the day. But even lovable rogues like Hunt and Raikkonen are driven by a fierce competitive instinct that belies their devil-may-care reputations.We are left with a confusing picture. How to reconcile the incredible natural ability that once redrew boundaries at Sauber and McLaren, and claimed a historic post-Schumacher world championship for Ferrari, with the later seasons of struggle: bettered by Felipe Massa, outpaced by Romain Grosjean, destroyed by Alonso, now playing second fiddle to Sebastian Vettel? Herein lies the enigma of Kimi Raikkonen.

BLAZING A TRAIL AT SAUBER

Raikkonen’s first season in F1 was very strong by conventional standards for a rookie, but when you consider his fundamental lack of experience in car racing it was truly exceptional. His results were very good – four points finishes in total, twice finishing fourth (in Austria and Canada) and placing inside the top 10 in the world championship. Raikkonen made a vital contribution to what then constituted Sauber’s best F1 season, but it was his raw speed that caught the eye. Third time out, Raikkonen qualified only a tenth behind Heidfeld in Brazil, and thereafter matched his more experienced team-mate 7-7 on Saturdays. Not only that, Raikkonen performed with a calm assuredness that belied his lack of experience. “Kimi was very young [21] and not experienced at all – it was very risky,” says Sauber driver trainer Josef Leberer, who worked with Ayrton Senna at McLaren and recalls his season alongside Raikkonen with fondness. “A lot of people said, ‘I don’t understand why Sauber were doing this’. But it worked. “He’s not the kind of guy who sits days and hours on the computer. Such an intuitive driver, his instinct is incredible. This way I would say he’s one of the best. It comes naturally. No bullshit. Just wanna be fast, no excuses. “He was not spoiled, so you could talk with him and be straightforward, and he was an incredible, cool guy. Doing the massage in the morning we had to wake him up and he said, ‘Let me get an extra five minutes of sleep before the race’. I’d never seen this – the second race in Malaysia and he wanted to sleep an extra few minutes! Can you imagine being like this in your second race? “He made such an impact. We had a feeling and he was fast immediately. You could see he had the requirements to be a top driver.” Raikkonen’s extraordinary ability to drive an F1 car quickly without the educational foundation enjoyed by his peers left a lasting impression on the paddock. Renowned motor racing journalist and author David Tremayne was Sauber’s press release writer during Raikkonen’s rookie campaign. He recalls a driver aloof and reserved in public, but completely different when hidden from the glare of a camera lens. “He was very quiet, like he is now,” explains Tremayne. “You thought, ‘What is this kid like, is he going to be another Mika [Hakkinen]?’ But he clearly wasn’t in terms of the way he conducted himself – he wasn’t forthcoming. Kimi didn’t want to do any of the other bollocks. He wanted to get in the car and get on with it. “[But] at Monza I heard all this raucous laughter on top of the media bus at Sauber. I went downstairs and it was Kimi, Peter Collins, and a guy who turned out to be Kimi’s kart mechanic – and it was Kimi doing all the laughing. “It was the only time I ever saw what you might call ‘the real Kimi’– with mates, completely relaxed, no need to be protective of anything.

I think he has the ability to compartmentalise. There was a lot of fire in him but you didn’t get to see it. He’s very self-reliant. I don’t think he needs an entourage. “As a driver, he was wonderful to watch. Felipe came in the following year and he was quick but always on a different line. Kimi was just cool and calm with it – not pushing the car or wrestling with it.”So many drivers dream of being world champion, work hard to achieve that dream, but never even make it onto the grid. Others carve out opportunity but become overwhelmed by expectation or consumed by pressure. It seems Raikkonen benefited not only from exceptional natural ability behind the wheel – after all there are many drivers who share that sort of skill – but also a mental resilience and confidence that helped strip away the extra burdens that might have destroyed someone of a different character. Raikkonen never dreamed big or got carried away by the prospect of fame and fortune. It seems it was this aloof attitude, bordering on indifference, that made him so perfectly suited to thrive in F1. “It was a good team to be in; nice people – I still have lunch there,” Raikkonen tells Autosport, relaxing into his seat as we discuss the first stage of his long career in F1. “For me, it was very easy in someways because I didn’t really expect anything.“I didn’t know anything about F1. I never went to see a race. The first time I saw it live was when I was in a test myself. So for me it was like if you just go to Formula Renault [for the first time]. I had nothing to worry about – what’s the point? It either goes well or it goes bad. What can you do?” Ultimately, it went very well indeed for Raikkonen, who made such an impression that he was poached by Ron Dennis to replace retiring double world champion Hakkinen at McLaren for 2002. Even a wunderkind like Verstappen had to wait four races into his second season before earning promotion to one of F1’s biggest teams… 

McLAREN: WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN  

Some paddock insiders consider Raikkonen’s five-year stint at McLaren to be his absolute peak. His first grand prix victory at Malaysia in 2003 briefly made him F1’s youngest winner since team founder Bruce McLaren. Raikkonen won eight more times for McLaren in those five seasons, as well as taking 11 pole positions and 36 podiums from 87 starts. He quickly established himself as one of grand prix racing’s most exciting stars, but a world championship title eluded him. He was second to Alonso in 2005, but came closest to breaking through two years earlier, when Raikkonen lost out to Schumacher by just two points. “Back in those days he was massively quick,” recalls Pat Fry, McLaren’s chief engineer during Raikkonen’s stint with the team. “It’s a shame car reliability and engine reliability didn’t work for him really. If you look at him through the early 2000s, he was right up there with the best, wasn’t he? He was absolutely outstanding driving the McLaren through 2003, 2005. He should’ve won the championship in 2005.” Raikkonen was unfortunate in that his time at McLaren coincided with Schumacher’s most dominant seasons at Ferrari and latterly the brief but potent rise of Alonso at Renault. Only once during that period, in ’05, could McLaren be considered to have produced the absolute quickest car on the grid, and senior personnel admit it was too unreliable to ultimately get the job done. In this context, Raikkonen achieved much of his success against the odds. Apart from his first year with the team in 2002 – when he was paired alongside stalwart David Coulthard – Raikkonen was never beaten by his McLaren team-mate across a season. He won many admirers inside the squad for his fearless style of racing. “He was blindingly quick – sometimes the circuit wasn’t big enough to contain him in those early days, but he was pushing to the max and everyone liked it,” remembers McLaren’s chief operating officer Jonathan Neale. “He used to scare me. He scared me because he was so completely fearless. You just knew there was no way he was going to give anything less than 110%, and I don’t mean that lightly. He was just a force of nature.” Out of the car, McLaren found a “completely uncompromising” driver, whose “maverick” style didn’t always sit well with the team’s clean-cut corporate image. “We struggled to find out who he was as he didn’t say very much,” adds Neale. “[But] everybody underestimates him at their peril. He did have a fantastic sense of humour. If there were two drivers going on stage, to do a presentation or a question-and-answer session, he’d be sitting in the back and he’d do an amazing mimic. He had the voices and the phrases, all of that, so he was a sharp observer. “There was never a dull moment, but he was a great racer –somebody who is still spoken of highly in the team for what did with us, for us, and the style in which he did it, which was uncompromising. It was uncompromising in the car, it was uncompromising in the set-up, he was uncompromising on whether he wanted to be with a sponsor. It’s not always easy, but isn’t it refreshing when you find somebody who is brave enough to be candid and frank and not prepared to cower to conformity?

“He wouldn’t suffer fools. Everyone was taken at face value, no airs, no graces, nobody standing on ceremony, what you see is what get, very grounded, but enormous following with the mechanics and engineers – real loyalty. “Because that fire burns very intensely, it was kind of polarising –either you got it or you didn’t. It is quite difficult getting engineers close to him – to be able to have that rapport and reach him without being too much, too little, not a fool. “Any whiff of bullshit and you were toast! But [race engineer] Mark Slade was very good with Kimi and they had an understanding. Mark knew when to leave him alone, and when to push him and there were occasions when Mark was quite assertive with him, but because he built up that trust he could be. It is easy to be intimidated by somebody of that temperament.” Slade has worked with Raikkonen twice through the Finn’s F1 career – first at McLaren and later at Lotus. Slade responded well to Raikkonen’s no-nonsense attitude and fussiness for precision. He says the Raikkonen that drove for McLaren arrived at Woking “well-rounded” and was “massively impressive”. “He knew how to manage tyres, he knew how to set up the car – it was like working with someone who’d done it for five years,” Slade recalls. “He knew exactly what he wanted. It was not like working with a new driver. “The only aspect that was a little bit ragged early on was in qualifying, when we had to put the fuel in the car for the race, so 2003. He had a little bit of a tendency to want to be on pole regardless of the amount of fuel in the car. And there were a couple of races where he went off trying to achieve too much. “We basically banned him from watching the other drivers’qualifying laps. We just told him, ‘Go out and drive the car as quickly as it will go’. We did that for the rest of this season and he didn’t do any more mistakes.” Raikkonen is often portrayed as a lazy driver – someone who simply relies on his natural feel for the car but isn’t particularly interested in doing anything other than driving. Slade argues that’s a misunderstanding of Raikkonen’s approach. It’s not that he is uninterested, rather that he sees clear delineation in responsibilities within teams, and wants to trust those around him to do their jobs properly without interference. Slade admits this approach can compromise Raikkonen when internal politics arise.

“There were times at McLaren when things didn’t go the way they should have for Kimi and if he had been just a little bit more involved, that could have swapped things around a bit,” Slade says. “In the middle of 2005 there were certain things happening with the design direction of the car that didn’t suit Kimi and there was a lot of tension and pressure. I was having to fight Kimi’s corner, because he wasn’t really doing much himself. That was quite stressful. “He didn’t like hanging around in the office for very long. His debriefs were very short, but he gave us the important points and that was almost perfect for me, because it meant we didn’t spend lots of time talking about what was not relevant. He won’t rant about it. It’s just, ‘That’s what we need to fix’. Simple as that. “If people try to push him in a different direction, it’s not going to work because you need him on board. You need to be on board with him and he needs to be on board with you. For me, it was enjoyable to work with him, because it was logical and straightforward. “One of the biggest difficulties with drivers who are less consistent with their approach is trying to filter out this inconsistency. It becomes very difficult very quickly. If he came in saying there’s something wrong with the car, the chances are there’s something wrong with the car – even if you can’t see that on data. Ninety-nine percent of the time he’s right. “When we were doing Michelin tyre testing, they desperately wanted him to do the testing. They told us at one point that he was the best test driver that they worked with. They used to give a little array of tick boxes for different characteristics of the tyre – what the tyres were doing, what the characteristics of the different compounds were. They said there were some drivers who got most of the points correct, but he always got them all correct. “And his consistency of lap time when we tested eight different compounds – his baselines would be within one tenth, and that meant that they could properly analyse the lap time data as well as the driver’s comments.” Slade says he’s never seen anything else like Raikkonen’s “extraordinary level of sensitivity” to the car, to the point where Raikkonen could detect problems with McLaren’s traction control so aware the engineers couldn’t see in their trackside data. The chase for a ‘perfect car’ can be a real curse when too many things aren’t working correctly, but this degree of feel made Raikkonen a formidable weapon during F1’s tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin. “That played a big part of how it went,” says Raikkonen. “I was very happy to do the tyre tests. We could test 20 different sets of tyres and choose exactly what you wanted, whatever you feel is best for you. It was one extra thing that you could use.” Raikkonen does not agree with those, such as Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe, who would say his McLaren years represent Raikkonen at his peak. But he was certainly unfortunate not to win at least one world title with McLaren, and Slade recalls some truly stunning drives by Raikkonen during that period. “No doubt Michael, Fernando and Kimi were the three guys,” argues Slade, who feels Raikkonen could have won “15 straight races” in 2005 with better reliability. “Then, just slightly behind, DC, [Juan Pablo] Montoya and a few others. When it came to the driving and his racecraft, Kimi was right up there.“In the middle part of the [2005] season the car was phenomenal and he was driving phenomenally well. At Monza, he qualified fastest with the full tank of fuel [before a grid penalty]; at Silverstone, he was half a second per lap quicker than Montoya, who won the race; in France he started 13th and finished second. Japan was awesome because he came from the back and won. “One of the best races he ever did was Indianapolis in 2003, when we were on the Michelin wets and the Michelin wets were rubbish. He finished second. It was fantastic. He just drove his heart out. He didn’t win the race, but it was an absolutely phenomenal drive. “Nurburgring 2006 – the engine was terrible that year and he finished fourth. I remember him coming to the bus afterwards, sweat pouring off him, and he said, ‘I just drove 60 qualifying laps’, and you could see he had. We knew he had to drive phenomenally well to achieve that with the car we had then.” By now Raikkonen had grown increasingly frustrated with life at McLaren and reputedly made an agreement with Ferrari as early as late-2005 to join the Scuderia for 2007. “He signed with Ferrari two years before he moved to Ferrari,” confirms his then-Ferrari team-mate Massa. “I remember when I signed for Ferrari, Kimi already has his contract; the only way I stay in Ferrari is if Michael stops.” Schumacher announced his first retirement from F1 after winning the 2006 Italian GP at Monza. Thus, the way was clear for Raikkonen and Massa to usher in a new era at Maranello.

MARK SLADE RAIKKONEN’S ENGINEER AT McLAREN AND LOTUS

Does Kimi have particular traits in his driving? He’s very, very smooth, very gentle, very precise – minimal inputs into the car. He wants the car to do the work. Most drivers tend to be a bit more aggressive with inputs, which can have benefits when the tyres are hard and difficult to get into the working window. The other thing is power steering. He came to us and complained about power steering. We spent a lot of time fixing it. Then he went to Ferrari and apparently complained about power steering there. Then he came back to Lotus and complained about power steering. So the feel of the steering is very, very important. He doesn’t want any friction in it. He doesn’t want any play on the brake pedal. Also, Mark [Arnall] always carried a special cloth to clean the windscreen, because if there was a slightest finger print or scratch, we had to change it.

He says he hates understeer and you often hear him complain about the front… Even at McLaren there were occasions where we did have issues. Canada was a good one in 2005. We were slower on new tyres than on used tyres because he couldn’t get the new tyre temperature to work. The start of the lap can be a real problem if he just hasn’t got the front grip that he needs to get the car into corners. I would say that’s probably the only real weakness. There were times also that was an advantage, because he was a lot more gentle on tyres. When we won the race with Lotus in 2013 in Melbourne, he just walked away with it because he could do one stop. Those tyres were absolutely perfect for him, then Pirelli changed the tyres and that disadvantaged him unfortunately.

Why does he often seem to make mistakes in qualifying? He takes a high-risk approach to qualifying. It’s all about corner entry speed. And if you get the corner wrong you tend to drop a lot of time. Other drivers probably prioritise the exit a little bit more. He’s trying to carry speed through; that is high risk. 

WORLD CHAMPION THEN DITCHED BY FERRARI

Raikkonen’s Ferrari career got off to a dream start – pole position and victory in his first race in Melbourne, and of course he went on to claim the championship as Ferrari backed his bid to overhaul the McLarens of Alonso and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen succeeded in this mission by a solitary point when team-mate Massa moved aside for him to win the season finale in Brazil.“For me it counts much more than any others – if I had won with McLaren or with somebody else,” Raikkonen says. “Ferrari is Ferrari.I got close a few times in the McLaren. I mean yes in some people’s eyes I [could] have won three championships. I didn’t deserve it.In the end, whoever gets the most points deserves it. “Would I be happier with three championships? It makes no difference. I am happy with what I have achieved.” It felt as though F1 almost owed Raikkonen that championship– regardless of the peculiar circumstances – as payback for the disappointment and near-misses at McLaren. But although he finally conquered the world in his first season as a Ferrari driver, Raikkonen never fully established himself as the team’s number one. Raikkonen says his biggest concern before coming to Ferrari was having to adjust to Bridgestone tyres after years spent honing his car on Michelin rubber, but according to Rob Smedley – Massa’s race engineer throughout Raikkonen’s first stint at Ferrari – the tyres were “never the limiting factor” for Raikkonen during this period.“In terms of raw talent he definitely was one of the best drivers on the grid when he came to us,” Smedley says. “[But] he very much needs a particular set-up. He needs the front to work for him very positively. He turns the car in very early, a little bit like Michael, like Fernando, like Valtteri [Bottas]. They turn very early in the corner, and due to that he’s very demanding on the front-end in that phase of the corner.“He needs to start sending the car into the apex almost immediately when he starts thinking about the corner, especially in medium-speed corners. When he first came to us, it took us a longtime to understand what he wanted. “He’s the driver who, probably the most I’ve ever seen of anyone, is absolutely and entirely unfazed by rear locking at the start of heavy braking. To be able to deal with that and not to be fazed by that is something quite incredible. “We spent a lot of our time in that winter of 2007 attempting to understand how on earth he was putting the brake balance so far rearward. He was running probably 8% more rearward than Felipe and the other drivers – that’s another planet. “We were quite surprised by that, but actually what he was trying to do, in his own way, was to make the car turn as soon as he asked for it.As soon as he asked for response out of the steering, he wanted the car to turn. He had a particular way of driving the car and I think it took us a little bit of time to understand that. Once we did, we got performance from him.” But not consistently. Raikkonen was closely matched with Massa through most of 2007, but would likely have been asked to support his team-mate’s own bid for the championship had Massa not suffered a damper failure while running ahead of Raikkonen in that year’s Italian GP – and narrowly leading Raikkonen in the standings. Massa, who describes Raikkonen as “for sure one of the strangest people I’ve met”, was a fan of the Finn’s honesty as a team-mate, but rates Schumacher and Alonso higher: “Definitely Michael and Fernando were stronger – not quicker, but more complete.” The following year Raikkonen was cast into the supporting role, as his title defence fell apart amid a run of four consecutive non-scoring races in the second half of the season. Massa was unlucky not to become world champion in ’08 and was Ferrari’s leading driver through the first part of a difficult 2009 campaign too, before he suffered a terrible head injury during qualifying for the Hungarian GP. “We never were really comfortable – like if you drive and you have to try and do things that are not normal,” says Raikkonen of his first stint at Ferrari. “We never really found it and put things together. We changed the cars a little bit, but we just struggled compared to what we did in the first bit.” Raikkonen showed flashes of form in a very difficult 2009 Ferrari, which was not a strong answer to the regulatory upheaval of the previous winter. He qualified on the front row and finished third at Monaco, but he wasn’t proving so relentlessly impressive as he had done in his McLaren years– against a team-mate not rated as one of the absolute best on the grid.

“In ’08 Felipe was still in the stage of rapid improvement and overall Felipe was pretty much quicker than him, definitely in qualifying,” adds Smedley, who reckons Raikkonen’s “pure natural talent” made him better than Massa at looking after the rear tyres in races.“That was one of the things that really surprised me, because I expected him to come in and be blisteringly quick but not really manage things in such a mechanically sympathetic way, and in fact the opposite was true. One of the strengths he’s always got is that he can take the tyres further than anybody else and, wherever he goes, the team tries to exploit that.“It’s never a matter of application with Kimi – you just plug him in and he just does it. You often wonder [what would happen] if he had the level of application of others with his level of natural skill and tenacity, [but] one thing you can say about him is that he doesn’t bring any politics. The guy is absolutely apolitical.“I think that comes a little bit from not being interested in this world. The thing that is really important to him is going racing on a Sunday afternoon, qualifying, trying to be better than anybody else. And all the other periphery bits do not interest him. “And that’s kind of where he probably differs to 99.9% of the rest of us in F1. You wake up thinking about it, you go to sleep thinking about it – much to the annoyance of my wife! But that’s how we are– constantly striving to do better and be the best. I don’t think Kimi has that. I mean, he likes it here, he comes and drives his car, then he goes home, and doesn’t think about it a great deal after that.” The feeling inside Ferrari was that Massa was establishing himself as the quicker driver, and that messed with Raikkonen’s head. Raikkonen’s form certainly picked up following Massa’s accident. Kimi was on the podium at Budapest, Valencia and Monza, and beat Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India to victory at Spa. His performances were made to look all the more remarkable by how badly Massa’s stand-ins Luca Badoer (who qualified slowest of all at Valencia and Spa) and Fisichella (who took over after Spa) struggled. But it wasn’t enough for Ferrari, which elected to pay Raikkonen out of the final two years of his contract to bring Alonso on board for 2010. Raikkonen is still guarded about the events that unfolded behind closed doors at Maranello, but says he was keen to get out of F1 in any case. “I have nothing to hide really,” says Raikkonen, who originally never planned for a long career in F1. “That’s how it played out and I was happy at that point to say, ‘OK, that’s fine and I’ll go’. Honestly, somethings happen in life and I didn’t feel bad about it. Obviously, I had a contract, but that got dealt with. They obviously wanted something else at that point, and for me that’s how it goes sometimes. I wanted to do something else anyhow.”

RETURN FROM THE WILDERNESS

Raikkonen was temporarily done with F1, but F1 wasn’t done with him. Throughout his two-year stint experimenting in the World Rally Championship, proposals were made for his return. Eventually, Raikkonen realised he missed the joy of wheel-to-wheel competition so began thinking seriously about a comeback. He held talks with Williams – “I had a meeting with Toto [Wolff]; he came to my home” – and Lotus, before opting to make his comeback with the Enstone outfit.“The year before I got people asking me if I wanted to come back– there was a lot of talk but I felt if I want to come back I needed to have a current team that people will at least try to put the money into,” Raikkonen explains. “I didn’t need the money, but I wanted a car and a team that actually had some chances to do something good, rather than just being there.”Raikkonen enjoyed a superb first season with Lotus. He finished every one of the 20 races held in 2012, was on the podium seven times, and claimed a victory in Abu Dhabi – the infamous GP where he told the team to “leave me alone I know what I’m doing” over the radio while preparing for a safety car restart.Then-Lotus team principal Eric Boullier recalls a driver who was“a bit rusty over one lap” at first, but “brilliant” in the races, despite spending two seasons out of the game.“His capability and racecraft was amazing,” recalls Boullier.“The good thing for him [was] he had Grosjean near to him, and he [Grosjean] was very fast on one lap but not as good [overall].The most amazing thing about Kimi is he has a great understanding.He has a GPS in his head. He’s doing his own strategy, it’s amazing. ”Boullier recalls the 2012 Hungarian GP as the perfect example of Raikkonen’s craft, where the Finn came from the third row of the grid to beat Grosjean (who qualified on the front row) to second by saving his tyres and running longer in each stint. “You just have to guess sometimes what he wants, because he’snot the best communicator in the world,” Boullier adds. “Kimi gets quite stressed sometimes; he needs people who understand him and can handle him.“He is charismatic – actually, his charisma is strong enough to make people fans of him. What would be better would be to have more motivation to push people around him. He’s not as complete as maybe a Vettel, but he is a great driver. Some drivers need support. He’s one of the guys who can do it on his own. He’s incredibly talented.“He’s quite easy [to work with] to be honest – as long as you give him space to breathe and you’re not on his back all the time.

That was key – to let him live his life. ”Reuniting Raikkonen with Slade (who came across from Mercedes to work with Kimi again) also proved crucial in helping Raikkonen get the most from his comeback, and Lotus get the best out of Raikkonen. “When he first came back, he was really enthusiastic,” remembers Slade. “Unfortunately, he got messed around a bit on the salary side of things. That was an annoyance, but in terms of the driving, I felt he was still exactly the same. I don’t think it’s any secret that he’snot a big fan of the F1 paddock scene and the stuff that goes with it.”It seemed those two seasons of F1, racing on the most extremely fragile rubber of the Pirelli control tyre era, also suited Raikkonen’s particular skillset. Often he would score a big result by making fewer pitstops than his rivals, but Raikkonen himself reckons the design of that generation of Lotus – conceived by James Allison’s team around the Renault V8 engine and exhaust-blown downforce – made more of a difference, giving him the “pure front-end” grip he needs to drive well. Whatever, the combination gelled superbly. Raikkonen added eight more podiums to his tally in 2013, winning the first race of the season in Melbourne and finishing second six times. An unfortunate retirement at Spa that year (thanks to a visor tear-off blocking a brake duct) broke an incredible run of 27 consecutive points finishes stretching back to the Bahrain GP of 2012. “He’s relentless,” says Slade. “I’d say Fernando is the closest in terms of achieving consistent results.” But into the latter part of 2013, Grosjean began to establish himself as the stronger and generally faster of the two Lotus drivers,even though he was twice defeated by Raikkonen overall in the championship. Grosjean describes Raikkonen as “the perfect  benchmark” and says he learned a lot from racing alongside the Finn. “As team-mates we didn’t talk much – maybe three times in two years!” Grosjean says. “Everybody thinks he doesn’t give a shit; he actually does. He works. Same as Fernando – the only thing he thinks on Sunday is 2pm, how to get the car to where he wants it to go.“Once I had a rear soft spring for a race and Kimi tried it and liked it. He was pushing to get the springs. He was trying even though you think he doesn’t [care]. It was interesting that everybody thinks he [just] comes and drives the car and goes. He actually works. ”Their head-to-head record as team-mates is also skewed slightly by the fact Raikkonen skipped the final two races of 2013 – quitting the team over a financial dispute and electing to have surgery on a long-standing back injury, legacy of a testing accident during his first season in F1 at Sauber. “Unfortunately the whole thing [was] destroyed by people that, in my mind, were just stupid to be honest,” Raikkonen says. “They had a great thing on their hands. “It’s not my business, but I left there purely because I didn’t get paid. Without it, who knows? But then obviously I got the offer from Ferrari. I never had a bad feeling with them when I left, despite people thinking that. You know how people always think it will end in a mess, but they offered me a new deal and I went back.”

WHY RAIKKONEN OWES HIS SECOND F1 CAREER TO RALLYING AND NASCAR

Kimi Raikkonen’s two-year sabbatical from F1 in 2010-2011 led him to try his hand at other forms of motorsport he’d long wished to dabble in but never had the time to do so while fully absorbed into grand prix racing’s goldfish bowl. Having sampled Rally Finland in the summer of 2009, Raikkonen contested most of the 2010 World Rally Championship as part of the Citroen Junior Team, and nine rounds of the 2011 championship with a DS 3 run under his own ‘Ice 1 Racing’ banner. There were many incidents, but also many top 10s. “I always wanted to try the rally stuff, because it looks so difficult,”says Raikkonen. “I wanted to see how it would go and I was happy to have the help from Red Bull to do it. I still think it’s a great sport, it’s so difficult. The problem is that it needs time – experience counts a lot more in rallying than in circuit racing.“In rallying you have to put the same effort in driving, but you [also] have to listen to your co-driver. The most difficult thing is that you have to think about what he says and then react. That takes too much time. When that starts to happen automatically then you can go faster, then it gets easier.I was close to getting to that point,then things happened and I ended up back in F1. ”Raikkonen also travelled Stateside in 2011, to try his hand at NASCAR. He contested the lower-tier Nationwide and Truck series races at Charlotte, qualifying mid-pack for his Nationwide outing.It was this experience that refired Raikkonen’s enthusiasm for circuit racing and accelerated his F1 return. “Without that happening then I would definitely not be here today,”he says. “I would never have lasted this long if I hadn’t had a few years doing something else, trying things.

MARANELLO COMEBACK

It was during Raikkonen’s financial dispute with Lotus that he agreed a two-year deal to return to Maranello. Initially, it looked as though signing Raikkonen was the perfect insurance policy for Ferrari,which seemed in danger of losing Alonso after failing to carry the fight to Vettel and Red Bull in 2013. But despite publicly criticising the team and being admonished by company president Luca di Montezemolo, Alonso stayed put (for the moment) and he and Raikkonen became team-mates for 2014, as Massa departed for a fresh start at Williams. Raikkonen’s first season back at the Scuderia was a real struggle.The first year of F1’s current V6 hybrid turbo era was Ferrari’s least competitive since 1993. The car was bad, Raikkonen couldn’t adapt it to his driving style, and was demolished in the championship by Alonso, 161 points to 55. Jonathan Neale recalls how McLaren found its suspension development pulled “in two different directions” owing to Raikkonen’s demand for instant steering response from its cars, and Pat Fry, who was Ferrari’s chief engineer when Raikkonen returned in 2014, found his team coming up against an age-old problem – one exacerbated by stiff and hard Pirelli tyres that Raikkonen often struggled to get working for a single flying lap in qualifying. “He has a very smooth driving style – you’ve got to get rid of the understeer in the car,” says Fry. “You can obviously play around with suspension geometries and stuff like that to try and give him the feel,and sort out power-steering and all that stuff. ”The process was made trickier by Alonso’s long-standing presence as Ferrari’s number one driver, which inevitably led the team in a development direction that suited Alonso, before he departed for the ill-fated McLaren-Honda project.“In all the years I’ve worked with Kimi, the year I saw him struggle the most was that first year back at Ferrari,” says his long-time trainer Mark Arnall. “Coming from Lotus, where he had a good front-end on the car and had podium after podium after podium, it’s not like he suddenly forgot how to drive – he just couldn’t get a balance with that 2014 car.” But Raikkonen commanded the faith of technical director James Allison, with whom he worked at Lotus previously, and knew that he would have to play the long game at Ferrari to get back to where he needed to be.“I knew what I was getting into,” Raikkonen says. “With the engineers, I wouldn’t say they were bad – maybe the fit wasn’t what I wanted. It just didn’t work, I suppose, and our car was not very good.

“The front end has to be right there. If it’s not right, it’s not right,unfortunately. When it’s right things are very easy. Even when you have a good year, it’s a little percentage that’s perfect. There’s always something. There’s so many things that you have no control over.“Some days everything goes perfectly fine, and some days whatever you do it seems to be against you, but I’ve been long enough in the sport to know it. People look at you in one race and if you struggle they slag you off, but I’m used to it so it doesn’t bother me too much.“I want myself to do well and I know what I can do. That’s more important for me. Obviously, it’s not nice when you are in a team like Ferrari and the results are not coming, [but] I had no issues with them and I knew that things would turn out to be just fine with time. It just took some patience.” Raikkonen’s form has gradually improved since that annus horribilis, during which time the Ferrari senior management has changed, the technical structure has changed, the identity of his team-mate has changed, and so has his engineering group. Drafting in Dave Greenwood as his race engineer at the end of 2014 has made a massive difference for Raikkonen. “The car has been getting better and better every year, and a big part for me has been the people,” Raikkonen explains. “Dave is for sure one of the greatest guys that I have ever worked with. I would compare him with Slade – I very highly rate them. “For me it’s important that when we do something, everything has to be exactly like it should be. A very easy example: the ride height,if it’s [supposed] to be 20mm, it has to be 20mm; it can’t be 21mm or 19mm.“When everything is ‘close enough’, and you have five or six things like that, we all know in F1 how much difference small things make,then suddenly the lap time is not so perfect anymore.”Vettel has generally outperformed Raikkonen since arriving at Maranello in 2015, but their similar set-up demands and harmonious working relationship is helping drive Ferrari’s development in a single direction, and the Scuderia is now finally carrying the fight to Mercedes in the world championship – though it is Vettel leading the charge rather than Raikkonen. “Of all F1 drivers, he is probably closer to him [Vettel] than any of the others,” says Arnall, who arranged for Vettel to travel with Raikkonen on a private jet when Vettel was first in F1, and recalls Vettel’s rapid progression playing badminton against Raikkonen. “Kimi always liked Seb and I think Seb always liked Kimi. They are good friends – as much as you can be in this sort of environment. “The thing about Kimi is that he is not political at all, so I think to be a team-mate of, he is actually very easy as he doesn’t stir up any shit in the background – he is very transparent. Harmony in the team is something that is massively underrated. It makes a huge difference.”Paired alongside Vettel, Raikkonen’s own performances have steadily improved too, to the point where he has earned three contract extensions, which will keep him in F1 until after his 39th birthday.Questions about his ultimate speed and consistency remain, though, stoked further by occasional criticism from Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne, who has described Raikkonen as an occasional “laggard” in races. But Raikkonen’s pole position in Monaco proves he can still be faster than anyone when things are right, and his pernickety obsession with car set-up and tyre behaviour, plus the deep levels of valuable experience from F1’s tyre war era he can bring to bear in an age of severely limited testing, make him a valuable commodity, even if the price is the odd lacklustre performance.“I think Kimi is one of those guys that if he thought, ‘I just can’t drive one of these cars as quick as I used to’, he would stop,” reckons Arnall. “Kimi brings a shit load of experience,he’s very good with the development of the car, very non-political, an easy team-mate for people to have, so I think as an overall package,he is [still] very good.“I think his belief is that he can still compete near the top. He is very honest with himself – if he didn’t think that was the case, he’d stop.”Many would argue that he should have stopped a while ago, that his continuing presence on the grid, in such a coveted seat, is baffling when you consider he hasn’t been definitively quicker than any of his last four team-mates in F1. But what does Raikkonen himself think – does he believe he is as good a driver now as he ever was? “That’s so hard to say,” he replies. “I feel that I can drive as well as 2007 and 2001, or whatever people think has been my best ever [year]. For me, if I didn’t feel that I can drive well, or couldn’t win races or championships, I wouldn’t be here, because I don’t have interest to waste my own time and everyone else’s time. “I value my own time too much to use it on something that I wouldn’t be happy with, or that I wouldn’t think that I can actually do well. Plus, all the other people who would waste their time and money or on something that I just want to be part of. It’s not the most friendly place to be if you don’t really want to be…” That Ferrari continues to place its faith in Raikkonen suggests it feels, beyond the headline results and numbers, that he is still fundamentally among the very best drivers in the world, and that it recognises those deeper layers of style, character, substance and ability that make Raikkonen something more than the sum of his parts. He is enigmatic and mercurial, hasn’t been world champion for a decade, but clearly possesses extra qualities that F1’s biggest team finds are still worth investing in. He may lack the single-minded dedication of some of his peers,he may not be the out-and-out fastest driver on the grid anymore, he may well be too Button-esque in his over-reliance on particular car characteristics to drive quickly. He may not be as adaptable as some of his rivals, and F1 may only be a job to him, rather than an all-consuming obsession – but what’s wrong with being naturally gifted enough at your job that you don’t feel the need to take your work home with you every day?His critics will argue that’s not good enough, that Raikkonen has long outstayed his welcome. If Ferrari hands him another contract extension, they will no doubt be outraged if this enigma is given yet another lease of life. But one thing is for sure, Raikkonen will not care what they think. “I can live my life very happy,” Raikkonen says. “Obviously, my aim is to win races and I’m not happy when I’m not doing well. My biggest issue when I’m getting older is that I care too much. In the past, I didn’t care much. Now, when I have a bad weekend it’s more painful because I care more. Before it was still painful, but I got over it very quickly. “I never tried to be anything else than myself. If people like it, that’s good; if people don’t like it, that’s fine. As long as I’m happy what I’m doing, that’s my only interest. I’m not trying to please people because then I don’t live my life as I should. I live my life for myself. “I always said I have a life and that F1 is just a part of that. It’s not like F1 is all your life and then you have nothing. In my mind, I have the opposite. I mean F1, yes I love it and I enjoy doing it, but it’s not my life. My life is outside of it, and that’s how it should be.”

MARK ARNALL- RAIKKONEN’S LONG-TIME PERSONAL TRAINER

How does the Kimi of now compare to the Kimi you first knew back in 2001?

He didn’t really care too much about the PR stuff, he wasn’t interested in that glamour side of it, being famous, I think he would much rather be anonymous! Every time he got in the car all he wanted to do was drive the crap out of it. When I started working with him, I could never imagine him being a father. Now seeing him with two kids is a phenomenal transformation. He is fantastic dad. I think all drivers, everyone learns, go through life and grow; experience teaches a lot. If you look at Kimi, the PR stuff he does now and what the sponsors say, everyone is super happy with him, and he’s got a global following of fans.

He doesn’t give much away in public; is he a shy character?

I think that mysterious side to him is intriguing for people. I don’t think he is particularly shy – the whole fan side of things,he obviously understands Formula 1, knows he is a popular driver, but it is not something he deliberately tries to play to, he just tries to get on with the job and what comes with it comes with it. One area he is very good is with kids. There was a guy who come up to me in Spa once, with this charity, to say this girl has cancer and she’d just love a picture with him or to say ‘hi’, and he spent 25 minutes sitting down and talking to her.

Is he quite a difficult character to work with? He polarises opinion – some people get him and say he is brilliant,others say he is completely closed off, difficult to work with…

The nicest thing I’d say about Kimi is what you see is what you get. Zero bullshit, zero politics. Kimi’s always been his own character and will always make his own decisions. He’s got a very strong head on those shoulders, so if he doesn’t want to do something, it is really difficult to get him to do it.

It sounds like he is not too demanding, quite independent and knows his own mind.

That is quite an accurate description of what he is like. I think he is probably the opposite to what most people think. If I was to describe Kimi, it would be ‘Mr 110%’. Goes into the gym and goes 110%. If he is lying on his sofa, he’ll go 110% horizontal! When he drives anything, it would be 110%, if he goes out it is 110%. I think that is just the way he lives his life.

The public persona is the ‘Iceman’: cool, disinterested, closed-off. Is he really like that?

In most situations, he is like that, but Kimi is actually a very warm, big-hearted character, and he has got a phenomenal sense of humour, but that is not really something people see. He needs to like people as well. If he doesn’t particularly like being with someone, he doesn’t do anything other than just ignore them.There is no bullshit, if he doesn’t like someone, he is quite straight about it. I think I’ve seen all the different versions of him, but I wouldn’t carry on working with him if I thought he was an arse. I actually really like him. I think he is super genuine, superkind. That is something people don’t really see so much.

[hellohackedtechposts]

Unveil the top 11 upcoming cars 2020 in the Philippines

What are your most anticipated cars for 2020 in the Philippines?

Upcoming cars 2020 in the Philippines: What are they?

From solid introductions of new car models in the Manila International Auto Show last April to the upcoming Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit, ushering in a new era in Philippine motoring with electric vehicles, the anticipation for these new cars are reaching a fever-pitch among the local car industry and community. This year isn’t over, but car companies are now poised to introduce their contenders for the upcoming cars 2020 in the Philippines. There were some models in fact that were introduced all but suddenly the past year which were not part of our list back then and we were pleasantly surprised with their additions.

Whether a redesign, variant or all-new model, we expect these vehicles to show up for the 2020 model year or not too long later. Though we are working with the best information available, these forecasts are subject to change at any time. In other words, nothing is official until it lands in the dealer’s showroom. Based on what we already know, the early 2020s are shaping up to be an interesting year. You can call it a mid-cycle refresh, a new variant or an all-new model, these models are prime for the picking and the anticipation for these models are so hot, that people are short of picking up their pitchforks and marching over to their respective dealers for immediate release! Philkotse.com team strives to keep all the information on this list as accurate as possible but these forecasts are ultimately reliant on the car companies and are surely subject to change. One thing is for sure, though. 2020 is going to be a great year for new cars and we’re excited to give you all the information you need about these new and exciting models! No. Model Status Release date 1 Nissan Leaf EV 2020 Confirmed Q2 2020 2 Mitsubishi Montero Sport 2020 Confirmed Q4 2019 3 Toyota GR Supra GT4 2020 Confirmed Q4 2019 4 Honda Accord 2020 Confirmed Q1 2020 5 Mazda 3 2020 Confirmed Q1 2020 6 Toyota Corolla Altis 2020 Tentative Q4 2019 7 Ford Everest "Raptor" Rumored Q1 2020 8 BMW 745e PHEV Tentative Q4 2019 9 BMW X7 2020 Confirmed Q4 2019 10 Kia Seltos Confirmed Q4 2019 11 Kia Stonic Confirmed Q4 2019

#1. Nissan Leaf EV 2020

Status: Confirmed Release date: Q2 2020 The Nissan Leaf is the Japanese brand’s shot into returning to local relevance. Although EV adoption is still at its infancy in the Philippines, there is an obvious push towards removing ourselves from relying on fossil fuels for our cars. Powered by a Fully Electric Synchronous Motor, the Electric Vehicle musters 148 hp and 320 Nm of torque with an estimated range of 270 km. The beauty of synchronous motors is that all that power is not reliant on engine speed or RPM as it has none of those. You can potentially make all that power instantly as soon as you hit the pedal. Another set of good news is that Nissan Philippines has confirmed that Nissan Leaf EV to arrive on Philippine shores by 2020 and they are major stakeholders in building the local infrastructure for charging systems with the pilot run around the capital. It’s a great time to be alive!

Nissan Leaf has been confirmed to release in 2020

#2. Mitsubishi Montero Sport 2020

Status: Confirmed Release date: Q4 2019 The Mitsubishi Montero Sport is a class-leading vehicle and is proof that Mitsubishi is serious about being the leader in trucks and SUVs. The dynamic shield design creates a dynamic and aggressive front fascia that stands out from the pack in the PPV market. The Philkotse team loves the design, but then Mitsubishi released the 2019 Mitsubishi Strada came out of nowhere and surprised us with its much-improved bumper. It made us dream of the same design being slapped on to the Montero Sport. I never thought I would be so excited over a simple refresh. Multiple leaked photos of the Montero Sport doesn’t help satiate our desire for the new refreshed model as Mitsubishi cleverly camouflaged it to hide its design. It will still be powered by the same engine and produce the same power figures but color us intrigued for the upcoming release. Reports have surfaced that the model will be unveiled in Thailand this July 25th with local sales to be announced not long after. >>> Read our preview of the Mitsubishi Montero Sport 2020

Some spy shots of the Montero Sport facelift has been surfaced online while testing in Northern Sweden

#3. Toyota Supra 2020

Status: Confirmed Release date: Q4 2019 Nissan has it’s GT-R, Honda its Civic Type-R and even Chevrolet made their Corvette available for the local market. It has been a while since Toyota in the Philippines introduced a halo car to hover above all its sales leaders, but with the introduction of the Toyota Supra to our shores, they just became the top-dog. The Toyota Supra line has long retained its iconic status ever since the 90s when Bryan O’Connor smoked a fancy Ferrari F355 in the first The Fast and the Furious movie and with average prices for used Fourth-Generation Toyota Supras maintaining their premium prices, you just know that a Fifth-Gen release will bring in car buyers crashing the front doors to get their hands on a unit. Developed in partnership with BMW and based on the BMW Z4, it is powered by either a 2 liter inline-4 or 3-liter inline-6 turbocharged engine creating 255 hp and 335 hp respectively. Both models utilize an 8-speed automatic transmission and just like the previous model is in a Rear-Wheel Drive configuration. As of this writing, the Toyota Supra has now been introduced to our market and sales will begin shortly as a 2020 model.

Fifth-gen Supra will break down the doors at Toyota Dealerships >>> Refer to our full Toyota Supra Philippines price list with estimated monthly installment.

#4. Honda Accord 2020

Status: Confirmed Release date: Q1 2020 The latest iteration of the Honda Accord has long been introduced globally and has made quite a stir thanks to its Turbocharged VTEC engine and bold styling. Although the Toyota Camry beat it to the punch this year with a local release, Honda fans have been anticipating its announcement and release. Hope does spring eternal with the new model being introduced at the 2019 Bangkok International Motor Show earlier this year. Since the release of Honda Accord in our ASEAN neighbor, it is safe to say it will be available here as well. The Honda Accord available in their shores is the 1.5-liter turbo VTEC engine that makes 187 hp and 243 Nm of torque with a Hybrid option available. Honda gives you 10 forward speeds with their automatic transmission, although personally I still wish they bring the 6-speed manual version, one can dream, right? The model will also make an introduction on the 18th of this month at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show in Tangerang, Indonesia giving the Philippines hope for a late 2019 or early 2020 release.

Honda fans have been anticipating for the debut of Honda Accord 2020

#5. Mazda 3 2020

Status: Confirmed Release date: Q1 2020 Mazda has always been at the forefront of technology with the internal combustion engine. From the Wankel Rotary to the Sky-Active engine their research and development team worked tirelessly to create new ways to propel cars the way we know it. The all-new 4th Generation Mazda 3 will bring forth a new development with the introduction of the SkyActive-X engine, a combustion system where engine compression is significantly increased to burn fuel more efficiently to create more power and increase fuel efficiency and recent tests have shown very promising results. The 2-liter Sky-Active engine creates 190 hp and 280 Nm of torque, all from a Naturally aspirated engine. These figures have never been seen from an engine with similar displacement. The Mazda 3 has been announced for release earlier this year, showcasing this technology wrapped in a very sporty and attractive Kodo Design. Mazda is positioning itself as Japan’s premium car brand and it shows with the build quality and design language. A local wide release is scheduled for late 2019 to early 2020.

Mazda is positioning itself as Japan’s premium car brand >>> View full Mazda 3 price list and estimated monthly payment.

#6. Toyota Corolla Altis 2020

Status: Tentative Release date: Q4 2019 --- Update (September 9th, 2019): The all-new Toyota Corolla Altis 2020 is officially released in the Philippines! Click here to get full details. --- If the Toyota Camry beat the Honda Accord with releasing first in the Philippines, they sure got the short end of the stick when it comes to their compact sedans. The Honda Civic has enjoyed a significant lead in sales compared to its natural competitor, the Toyota Corolla Altis. This year, Toyota is gearing up for a return in a big way with the release of the 12th Generation of their iconic sedan. Featuring a radical redesign from the outgoing model, The New Corolla Altis is based on Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA) GA-C platform found in the new Prius and CH-R. The ASEAN model is rumored to be available with a 1.6 and 1.8 engine. Reports have indicated that the model will be available in the Thailand beginning August this year, and hopefully to the Philippine market not long after that. We can most likely expect a new Toyota Corolla Altis at the end of the 4th Quarter 2019.

Toyota Corolla is gearing up for a return in a big way

#7. Ford Everest "Raptor"

Status: Rumored Release date: Q1 2020 Much like the Strada and Montero Sport, the release of the Ford Ranger Raptor 2019 gave fans wild dreams of what a potential Ford Everest “Raptor” would look like. If the Everest Bi-Turbo and the Ranger Raptor’s power figures were any indication the 2-liter engine bi-turbo diesel engine pushes out 210 hp and 500 Nm of torque, beastly figures that are the best in their respective classes. You can chalk this up more in the rumor department but multiple sources from Ford have indicated that the beast does exist and a planned announcement is set for the First Half of 2020.

You can chalk this up more in the rumor department

#8. BMW 745e PHEV

Status: Tentative Release date: Q4 2019 You’ve seen the memes for these cars. With their over-sized Kidney Grill, the internet seems to be fascinated with the latest iteration of the BMW 7 Series and X7 Luxury SUV. Introduced and released internationally at the beginning of the year, 2 of BMW's flagship marques offer top-notch luxury and motoring decadence. Powering the 745e is a 3 liter inline-6 turbocharged engine with designation called the xDrive45e paired to an electric drive motor combining for a total output of 394 hp and a staggering 600 Nm of torque, the BMW 745e has a 0-100 km/h rating of a little less over 5 seconds. No one would be laughing at that over-sized grill once they get left in the dust by this PHEV. Local sources from within BMW have indicated a release for the 745e at 4Q of this year for a 2020 model year release.

The BMW 745e offers top-notch luxury and motoring decadence

#9. BMW X7 2020

Status: Confirmed Release date: Q4 2019 BMW also has its ultra Luxury SUV, the BMW X7 on the horizon, with a confirmed release for this 4Q 2019. The new BMW X7 doesn't have an electric motor to assist its propulsion but makes up for it with a 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8 churning out a mind-blowing 523 hp and 750 Nm of torque. This propels the behemoth from 0-100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds. Information about the X7 is already posted on BMW Philippines' website and we were informed of a 4Q 2019 release. It seems like we now have a new aspirational car if we do win the lottery.

The BMW X7 is surely one of the upcoming cars 2020 in the Philippines

#10. & #11. Kia Seltos & Kia Stonic

Status: Confirmed Release date: Q4 2019 Earlier this year Kia Philippines has announced that they would not be releasing the updated Kia Soul in the Philippine Market but will instead be replacing it with another model. They’ve dropped multiple hints about what it could be and even released the Kia Stinger at this year’s Manila International Auto Show to heighten our anticipation. Since being taken over by the Ayala Group, Kia Philippines has promised to streamline their model line-up and introduce new and exciting vehicles.

Kia Philippines has promised to streamline their model line-up The possibility of either the Kia Seltos or the Kia Stonic or even both have long been discussed and the anticipation has now reached its boiling point. These models are both Compact Crossover SUVs with the Stonic more appropriately sized as a Nissan Juke Competitor and the Seltos, a slightly larger vehicle but can still be bundled within that same category. The Kia Seltos is the likeliest release of the 2 cars with its focus on the Asian market but we can't discount the Stonic just yet. If Kia’s local releases this year have been any indication, their ability to surprise the market is impeccable with their aptitude to keep release dates and marketing strategies they always know how to keep us on our toes. It is expected that either one or even both of these vehicles will be rolling off Kia showrooms by the end of this year at the end of Q4 of 2019

The anticipation has now reached its boiling point So, there you have it, folks! The most anticipated cars for the 2020 model year in the Philippines. What cars are you most excited about? Read the full article

[deadcactuswalking]

I’M UPSET - THE TOP TEN WORST HIT SONGS OF 2018

The popular music in America of 2018 was somehow both chaotic and dreary and monotonous as hell at the same time. Constant album bombs and additional rule changes to the charts made the Hot 100 increasingly irrelevant – as if it wasn’t already, and to be honest, I didn���t hate as much of it as I thought I would – in fact, I have since learned to appreciate what little upbeat pop gems we had this year instead of observing it as just a dark, moody year full of mindless egotistical trap-rap... which it definitely was, for the record, I mean, there’s a reason I talk about the UK Top 40 more because the US’ charts seemed a tad painful to keep up with, just going off of exhausted recounts I’ve seen on YouTube and Twitter this whole year. Am I going to preface this with anything more interesting? No, because frankly I don’t think 2018 really deserves it. Let’s just talk about some ground rules.

I am using the predicted year-end top 125 posted in the Pulse Music forum by MikesMusicReviews to determine what a “hit song of 2018” is. Songs that made it into the top 10 during the charting year (December 2017 to November 2018) count as well.

This is the worst list, and it will be posted first. Hopefully I can get the best list out soon, and the list that will count down my picks for the top 5 best and top 5 worst United Kingdom-exclusive hit songs will be out somewhere in the first quarter of the year, I imagine, but don’t expect it too soon.

If this comes out on a Sunday, REVIEWING THE CHARTS will be postponed, obviously.

Finally, this is simply my opinion and I don’t consider myself highly as a music critic. This is just a silly little hobby of mine. Nevertheless, we’re counting down...

THE TOP 10 WORST HIT SONGS OF 2018

DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS

Now, let’s get rid of the Dishonourable Mentions first, before getting into the real stinkers, from most bearable to least bearable:

“Pray for Me” – Kendrick Lamar featuring the Weeknd – Actual Billboard Year-End Placement: #40 – Peak: #7

Yeah, I understand why a lot of people like this, and it’s really inoffensive for the most part, but that high-pitched vocalising really gets on my nerves.

“Love Lies” – Khalid and Normani – Year-End: #19 – Peak: #9

This is the worst Khalid song I’ve heard, mostly because the melody is so monotone. I like Normani on here, but ripping off the melody from a Post Malone song that was never good in the first place isn’t exactly the first thing I’d consider for my Love, Simon soundtrack hit.

“Bad at Love” – Halsey – Year-End: #27 – Peak: #5

I’m more forgiving of Halsey than I feel I should be because this one is... confusing, I guess, would be the best word for it? Maybe it’s just her vocals – I’ve never been a fan of how they sound in the first place, and they’re definitely strained on here.

“Beautiful” (remix) – Bazzi featuring Camila Cabello – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #30

Eh. Snoop Dogg and Pharrell did it better about a decade and a half ago.

“King’s Dead” – Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock featuring Future and James Blake – Year-End: #79 – Peak: #21

This song exists to remind us that our dream collaborations we hope of are probably always going to not live up to our expectations. I love all of these guys separately, but they’re clearly negative influences on each other when they’re in a posse cut like this. If you want a better trap song featuring James Blake, check out Travis Scott’s “STOP TRYING TO BE GOD” with Kid Cudi.

Here are a few songs I have absolutely nothing to say about:

“I’m a Mess” – Bebe Rexha – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #35

“LOVE.” – Kendrick Lamar featuring Zacari – Year-End: #50 – Peak: #11

“Bartier Cardi” – Cardi B featuring 21 Savage – Year-End: #61 – Peak: #14

Here are a few songs I’d rather just avoid commenting on altogether:

“This is America” – Childish Gambino – Year-End: #51 – Peak: #1

“FEFE” – 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj – Year-End: #31 – Peak: #3

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming:

“No Brainer” – DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo and Chance the Rapper – Year-End: #73 – Peak: #5

Justin Bieber saves this track, probably because he’s the only feature without some incredibly dumb lyrics.

I blow the brains out of your mind (ooh) / And I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout physically (no) / I’m talkin’ ‘bout mentally – Quavo

Oh, and Chance’s verse is probably his worst, ever, but I am concerned specifically about why this woman is trying to choose between Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and DJ Khaled’s two-year-old son.

“Boo’d Up” and “Trip” – Ella Mai – Year-End: #15 and #92 – Peak: #5 and #11

These are the exact same song and I have the exact same problems – Ella Mai is uninteresting, the chorus is mind-numbing and those 808s are out of place.

“Walk It Talk It” – Migos featuring Drake – Year-End: #43 – Peak: #10

I’m pretty sure this is like five minutes, and that’s not even the longest song I’ll be talking about in this list. Oh, yeah, and say hello to Drake because we’ll be seeing more of him soon.

“Never be the Same” – Camila Cabello – Year-End: #18 – Peak: #6

Really, this is only here because of that one part, but you know what part it is and it is atrocious.

“I Love It” – Kanye West and Lil Pump featuring Adele Givens – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #6

If this ends up on YANDHI then I think that’ll be the last straw with me in terms of Kanye. Yeah, all the Make America Great Again stuff is fine but if this ends up on YANDHI I am not sure if I can handle the betrayal.

“Roll in Peace” – Kodak Black featuring XXXTENTACION – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #31

You know, I actually really like this beat but Kodak sounds awful as always and X’s verse makes me want to punch a wall.

“All Girls are the Same” – Juice WRLD – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #41

Does this really count as a hit? I mean, I think it does, personally, and the predictions put this high enough, but the song doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page... not saying it deserves it at all.

“The Ringer” – Eminem – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #8

The phrase “chicken wang” is said twice on this song, and I’m afraid that’s about five times too many.

“Freaky Friday” – Lil Dicky and Chris Brown – Year-End: #55 – Peak: #8

I still absolutely despise this song and on my first draft of the list, this was actually in the top four, but I really do not care enough about Lil Dicky to rip into this. Also, Chris Brown was sentenced to jail for six months because he illegally owned a monkey, so I guess I get my justice in the end... although he probably won’t serve a day of that sentence.

“I’m Upset” – Drake – Year-End: #86 – Peak: #7

Man, Drake was so close to having four consecutive songs on this list. Yep, you just read that correctly, in fact:

#10

#10 – “In My Feelings” – Drake 

Produced by TrapMoneyBenny & Blaqnmild – from the album Scorpion – Year-End: #9 – Peak: #1 for ten weeks

#9

#9 – “Nonstop” – Drake 

Produced by Tay Keith – also from the album Scorpion – Year-End: #52 – Peak: #2

#8

#8 – “Yes Indeed” – Lil Baby featuring Drake 

Produced by Wheezy – from the album Harder than Ever – Year-End: #25 – Peak: #6

Listen, I don’t hate Drake at all. In fact, I think he’s very talented as a rapper, and he clearly has a lot of interesting musical visions, although he definitely needs someone like the Weeknd to fully realise them, because nobody was asking for a 90-minute, 25-track long double album from the dude, that landed all of his tracks on the Hot 100, meaning combining his album tracks as well as “Walk It Talk It” and “Yes Indeed” gave him over a quarter of the Hot 100 all to himself, which is just absolutely insane. I will be talking more about the album, and to an extent, “In My Feelings”, on my best list, but for now let’s just explain what’s wrong with these three songs, from least to most interesting, starting with what is technically a Lil Baby track, “Yes Indeed”. Now, who’s Lil Baby? Well, he tells you straight off the bat in his verse:

Wah-wah-wah, b****, I’m Lil Baby

Yeah. That’s how he ends it too, like that’s supposed to be the impressive final punchline of the verse before it goes into the hook, but it doesn’t work at all because it’s one of the weakest and most pathetic excuses for a punchline or witty line I’ve ever heard in rap. Wait, oh, I’ve misheard it?

Wah-wah-wah, b****, I’m the baby

Let’s just move on to Drake because I’m sick of this Young Thug clone (who, by the way, deserves way more success than he gets and especially way more than the two clowns that bit his style hard, whilst lacking all of the charisma and interesting characteristics and quirks Thugger had). I saw a comment on r/HipHopHeads that said the line that convinced them Lil Baby was the “real deal” was this line, from the song we’ve got on our list:

Cartier glasses, I won’t even peek at you / Yellow Ferrari like Pikachu

Does that wordplay sound any familiar to you? If it does, well...

My diamonds, they say, “Pikachu”, they say, “Pikachu” / I’m a boss, I walk through the club and just peek at you – Young Thug, “Picacho”

Yup. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about Lil Baby and in turn, the quality of this song, then I don’t know what will. Oh, and if you’re wondering about the beat to the song, I can’t tell you much about it because it’s so swamped out with bass that I can barely hear it. I’m pretty sure there’s a flute in there somewhere? I can’t really say, but what I can say is that Drake phoned this in clearly, because while he’s still better than Lil Baby, his verse transitions so abruptly into Baby. I swear, it’s like they made this in 10 minutes – and knowing rappers like Lil Baby, they probably did. Speaking of songs that are essentially just bass, I mean, that’s Tay Keith’s gimmick – he makes those simplistic bassy instrumentals that fuse trap skitters with classic Memphis rap, and he is actually pretty good at it, until you realise all of his beats sound the same, and never really work unless you’ve got the right rapper on it. Case in point, “Nonstop”. The main point of Tay Keith’s beats are that they are fast-paced, evil and menacing, hence they worked incredibly well with 21 Savage on Metro Boomin’s “Don’t Come Out the House”, especially when he brought in the whisper flow... however you cannot tell me with a straight face that Drake ever comes off in the way he intends, especially with this emotionless gangster image he’s playing up this year. Listen, he starts off the song by claiming he’s somehow original and unique for flipping a switch:

Look, I just flipped a switch (flipped, flipped) / I don’t know nobody else who doin’ this

I mean, apparently it’s about flipping from his calm and kind to his aggressive side, but that doesn’t make much sense considering the song before this one on the album is also rather a straight rapping track.

Bodies start to drop, ayy, hit the floor

Listen, man, the only body hitting the floor while you’re around is Jimmy if he accidentally steps out of wheelchair. Oh, and some of this is a subliminal Kanye diss, but their beef is confusing enough anyway, so just watch a Genius video or something, I’d rather focus on right after the verses, a Mack Daddy Ju sample comes in of just one line from one of his songs repeated and that’s apparently a chorus... yeah, no, this is immensely lazy. The only part where Drake tries here is in the second verse, and that’s not because his flow and delivery picks up and becomes Sheck Wes levels of energetic, no, it’s because he makes this corny pun that you know he’s secretly proud of.

Bills so big, I call ‘em Williams, for real

Although, we could have it worse – he could be trying too hard.

TrapMoneyBenny, this s*** got me in my feelings, yeah / Got to be real with it, yeah

The main problem with “In My Feelings” is how much it asks of the listener to take in at once without ever letting itself loose. I really enjoy glitchy and scattered music, and I think Drake and his producers are attempting to make a bounce record that is as all over the place as possible without any consideration for a cohesive melody or hook to grasp onto. It’s not like “Wonderful Christmastime” where the fact that everything is a hook makes the song endearing, but instead, the fact that everything is its own chorus makes it just irritating to listen to. Even when listening to McCartney’s trainwreck of a festive bop, you know what to focus on: that opening echoing synth line and Paul’s pathetically weak vocals. Drake? Well, he’s not sure, so he throws everything at the wall until he finds something that might stick and just runs with it – he finds three of those, and we’ll be deep-diving into what they are.

First of all, the actual chorus – everyone knows it, it’s the focal point of whatever dance challenge was involved in promoting this song. While the song seems to start minimally with a hypnotic piano line, it actually kind of tricks you and instead catapults some record scratches, aggressive vocal samples, a siren sound, 808s and Drake at you, when you’re not ready to appreciate any of it, but then Drake seems to kind of freestyle this kind of repetitive hook that he thinks is really good, but there’s these “let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” ad-libs that clutter everything, making the hook not as stable as Drake wants it to be. Remember those later. Drake soon ditches the chorus, instead going for a tension-raising verse where Drake just kind of rambles over a constantly-changing beat that just adds elements whenever they feel like it, before he starts a flow that works... until the hook just comes in again, because it’s the only thing that he can really grasp, before he gets interrupted by City Girls and their chopped-up vocals, which, admittedly, are pretty awesome isolated with just the jackhammer 808s, although then they chop up both the Magnolia Shawty sample that we heard before and the chorus at the same time and it just gets too much to keep up with. What do we focus on? Is Magnolia Shawty responding to Drake? Why is Lil Wayne here? Both of the samples kind of have an unhinged chemistry together but then Drake stops any of that from developing before the song gets too experimental, repeating the intro and letting some bongos come in or something, for no reason, until they fade out and leave just a sample from that Atlanta TV show? And that’s even cut off before it ends!

This song would work if it were an upbeat party jam but it’s just way too dark and quiet for that to work, instead it’s just an onslaught of elements that could potentially make a good song, but they’re so hastily put together that the final product is a mess of unfinished ideas, that somehow stayed at the top spot for ten weeks. Hell, this recount of the song’s events probably made no logical sense or cohesiveness because it’s way too much to reasonably keep up with and is always edging for a climax, like it’s one step closer to the edge and it’s about to break, but it just ends up repeating itself. At least this one’s kind of funny in its incompetence, unlike “Nonstop” which is painfully boring and “Yes Indeed” which is a waste of studio time. I seriously hope Lil Baby goes away next year because he adds nothing to already dystopian wastelands of instrumentals. Now we have spent way too much time talking about Drizzy. Let’s talk about someone else.

I’m just being real, my s*** look--

#7

Now, I see a lot of people bring up how the most popular artists of 2018 were “problematic” and awful people, and I mean, yeah, you’re right, but who cares? There have always been terrible and insensitive people in the music industry, because they’re going to be there in every sector of the industry, naturally. If they come to light, it’s mostly because with the Internet you have easier access than ever to someone’s mistakes, and with that becomes ever-growing popularity which, in all honesty, these people who complain about them are only perpetuating. And with that, I present to you Exhibit A:

N****s iffy, uh, blicky got the stiffy, uh

#7 – “GUMMO” – 6ix9ine 

Produced by Pi’erre Bourne – from the mixtape DAY69 – Year-End: #56 – Peak: #12

I don’t care what anyone says as a rebuttal because I am telling you a fact – the people who hate 6ix9ine are making him popular, you know it and he knows it. Sure, he may be locked up for a long time now, but that doesn’t really take away the 316 million views the video for this got off of some people legitimately enjoying this and a whole lot more of the memes. This kid ate more Skittles than his mum told him too once and starts throwing gang signs while repeating the N-word like it’s the word “the”, and since you guys thought that was funny, awful or disgusting, you are directly giving more attention and hence obviously more profit to a pedophile. It is clearly controversy and outrage that is taking this song to higher levels than just a Froggy Fresh-like situation (who, by the way, never charted this high, or at all), and I wouldn’t be complaining if the song was any good, but it really isn’t.

I’ve liked some of Tekashi’s stuff before, hell, I’ve even tried to defend my fondness towards tracks like “STOOPID” and “KIKA” on my weekly chart review show, but the reason those tracks work is because of how the production backs up 6ix9ine’s screaming or yelling delivery, with his simplistic flows being intensified due to how the instrumentals build up (also they have features to break the monotony). I may not be a fan of “TATI” or even “WAKA” all that much but even in songs like those you can tell he has a grip on this kind of sound and how he can make his aggressive and rough voice more tolerable against less intense but still powerful and propelled production. Since this is early in his career, however, he doesn’t yet understand how you cannot simply scream profanity and violent lyrical content over a Playboi Carti type-beat and call it a day. It doesn’t fit his style at all and I don’t get why at any point he could get this beat from Trippie Redd DM’ing him and think, “yeah, I can just yell over this and the beat will totally correlate!” The beat starts with a pretty hellish intro where 6ix9ine echoes before some gunshots, the classic “SCUM GANG!” catchphrase, and eventually the beat starts, with this high-pitched child sample saying “I’ll see y’all water, suu-woo!” – seriously, why can none of these rappers do an intro well this year? Oh, and the lyrical content is pretty disgusting, in fact, too disgusting for me to really put here, although, can we stop kicking women out of doors?

Man, that’s really all I use her for, then I kick her out the door

We don’t have any evidence to really believe this as parody or exaggeration, and Tekashi says this in a handful of other songs, so it’s safe to assume this is just violent and misogynistic, right? Sigh... Let’s just thank God this dude can’t release music for a while, unless, of course...

You know you like a n****’s Schmoney dance, you gon’ love a n**** when I swerve out – Bobby Schmurda on 6ix9ine’s “STOOPID”

Oh, no. Please, no.

Scum Gang...

#6

Oh, speaking of misogynists, here’s three dudes without a Wikipedia page and their more popular counterparts making a reggaeton song, and let’s naturally try and get rid of the language barrier here, by using a translation, but if I get any details wrong, I apologise, translations are never perfect. I don’t apologise for hating this lazy trash heap of a song though.

#6 - “Te Boté” (remix) – Nio García, Darell and Casper Mágico featuring Bad Bunny, Nicky Jam and Ozuna 

Produced by Young Mvrtino, Kronix Magical and Shorty Complete – Year-End: #81 – Peak: #36

This isn’t the last time you’ll see Latin pop on this list, but it’s definitely the last time you’ll see most of these names in your life because, seriously, who knows or cares about these guys? Ozuna, Nicky Jam and Bad Bunny make sense for the remix, but do you know who Darell is? After I tell you who he is, will you really still know who he is? Anyway, this song is six minutes and fifty-seven seconds of pure hell, although the most irritating part other than the beat is the 10 minutes at the start where every single one of them has to get their adlibs in, including Bad Bunny just spouting utter nonsense out of his mouth whenever possible, right before we get to the devil himself, Ozuna, who always, with no exception (trust me, we’ll get back to him later), sounds like a nasal child with a blocked nose who was told he had to make a reggaeton song in five minutes, so he just came in the booth and whined. We have a few sparse piano notes before the beat (that never really changes throughout all seven minutes, by the way, except for when it briefly drowns itself in reverb and has what sounds like an Audacity phaser effect on it for a few seconds each verse) and Ozuna really kick in. Unlike Trippie Redd’s more dynamic, flip-flopping style, Ozuna sticks to one perfect note and pitch for the whole chorus, honestly putting me on edge whenever he appears.

Hell, everyone gets to perform their own chorus, and you can just tell how much care was put into each performance just from that. Bad Bunny sounds tired but at least he’s putting effort into it. Darell is so bored and quiet that they put people loudly speaking over him in Spanish to help us not fall asleep, Casper the Friendly Ghost is autotuned to the point where he’s beyond human and instead he’s a cyborg whose owner bought the Spanish DLC, Nio Garcio barely exists and Nicky Jam is... actually okay. Yeah, him and Bad Bunny bring out pretty good choruses here, and I kind of appreciate Ozuna’s too, but instead of skipping right to the next song as if the last minute or so of just all six dudes talking and making ad-libs and gun sounds doesn’t exist, shall we look into what the translations of the lyrics have to say?

But I know that I kicked you out

Oh, come on, Ozuna—

I kicked you out of my life, and I kicked you out

So, from what I can gather, Ozuna broke up this woman and is phrasing it like it was a drug addiction and he’s kicking the habit. That’s kind of a cool concept, how is everyone else going to add to this unique story? Will they use different perspectives in the story, like acting as friends of the guy who’s dumping this woman? Ooh, I have an idea – will they all use a different drug to act as their metaphors in each verse? Now, that would be cool, but sadly, of course we’re not getting that. These people probably don’t have enough skill to wrap their arms around a concept anyway, and they wouldn’t care enough to go through with it anyway. Instead of going through all of these dudes individually, let’s just appreciate some lyrical highlights.

Baby, life is a cycle / What doesn’t serve me, I don’t recycle

You are the past and the past never comes back / Go to Hell (whoa), my body doesn’t need you (no)

Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you how bitter and melodramatic these dudes are, seriously, they have so much bile for their respective exes that it’s almost a joke. Like, I can’t take anything they say seriously to the point where I start to think it’s satire, but it feels genuine enough, even if they put “to hell you went” in the hook.

Bad Baby’s chorus is so mean, though, it pulls no punches and just insults the girl non-stop.

I kicked you out, I sacked you and let you go, I let you go / I sent you to Hell, I sent you / And I nailed your friend, I nailed her

Jesus... we don’t even know what any of these women do for all seven minutes and the only rapper who really tries to elaborate for more than a vague one-liner is Darrell, surprisingly, who tells us pretty clearly what happened.

With you, putting a condom on is a must / But I posted up in half-court, baby, like Rondo

I understand why there’s such an issue now, because Darrell has accidentally had a baby with this woman and is angry because...? Yeah, actually, why is he angry at her, specifically? He’s the one who didn’t put on any protection; surely you should be showing some respect. What, is Darrell angry that he’s not seeing his kid enough? You know, that’s fine, though, because it shows some kind of primal frustration at the woman, while as the song goes on, you realise that all these recounts are from the same person’s perspective, and they’re irrational before, but eventually, once we get to Nicky Jam’s verse, he’s just reminiscing on the good times and moving on.

I lie if I say I don’t miss it when I touched your skin / I lie if I say I don’t miss it when you called me at dawn

See? Maybe this song isn’t as awful as I thought – I mean it’s unlistenable, but much like “Freaky Friday” at least effort was put into making it interesting lyrically and focusing on storytelling, you know? I actually really like the gradual increase in maturity.

I take the chance of the remix with Ozuna to send you to Hell

...Never mind then.

Ra-ta-ta-ta!

#5

I really love how Young Thug uses his voice. I think he pushes himself to vocal limits whilst somehow sticking to the meter of the trap beat and it always works because he’s just off the beaten track enough for it to be weird and interesting but he never steps his foot outside of the comfort zone because when he experiments, well, he can make some grave mistakes, such as that hilariously awful song that samples “Rocket Man” by Elton John... but guys, what if we had two Young Thugs who didn’t push themselves vocally and don’t have any intriguing quirks, but somehow they got more popular and use the most basic, badly-mixed trap beats to ever be produced?

Run that back, Turbo

#5 – “Drip Too Hard” – Lil Baby and Gunna 

Produced by Turbo – from the album Drip Harder – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #4

I’d say, “Where do I even start with this?” but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a lot to talk about, because there really is not anything I can say that I haven’t said before about Lil Baby, and Gunna is essentially the same person. Listen, every song these dudes make, on their own or on their collaborative mixtape, is just them pathetically flowing, often slightly off-beat, in their monotone and nasal delivery – with Lil Baby often preferring a falsetto over Gunna’s smoother, reverb-drowned voice – without having any interesting lyrics or actually good bars or punchlines. Typically, they don’t even have more than one notably awful lyric per song, so you always know what to expect from both the beat, usually either a simplistic piano melody or dreary guitar strumming under way too much bass and the typical skittering trap percussion, and the performers themselves.

Let me put it this way: this song is about 113 BPM but it feels like it goes half as fast, because of how the beat never changes or has any adjustments worth speaking of, Lil Baby drags on his autotuned bars like curtains in the morning (which is probably a better comparison than this guy could come up with) and Gunna is empty space on the track; seriously, the dude’s white noise except for the one line.

I feel like a child, I got boogers in the face

In fact, the lyrics are dumber but actually some of the most unique these dudes have come up with, although it does seem rather controlling throughout, if that makes any sense. Lil Baby takes that rap persona to the extreme and portrays himself as some nigh-unbeatable force that has everyone and everything doing only what he wishes them to.

Whenever I tell you to come, she comin’

Soon as I come back, she gettin’ slayed

Yeah, he uses very imperative, demanding words when it comes to providing for these women sexually, but he also gives her luxury as if it wasn’t anything to him.

You can get the biggest Chanel bag in the store if you want it

This wouldn’t be anything special if they weren’t so forceful about it in such an otherwise calm and, dare I say, ambient song? It just kind of fits into the background until Lil Baby gets oddly aggressive in his offbeat ramblings, especially in the chorus, where he threatens those who copy his style... oh, come on.

Every other night, another dollar gettin’ made

If you make a dollar every two days, you are in poverty. Oh, and I believe Gunna kind of tries to make some statement about racial issues briefly.

I don’t want your chain, young Gu-wunna not a slave

Dude, you’re wearing like four chains in the video, so I’m not sure if your point is valid here.

TSA harass me, so I took a private plane

Are you trying to say that you take a private plane because you’re being racially profiled by the TSA? I mean, they just perform more thorough checks on people with heavy loads of money and jewellery, is that the punchline? I’m not sure because he clearly uses “harass” to make it appear violent. It might be a stretch, but if there is any attempt at racial commentary here, it fails incredibly, as I’d expect from these two talentless hacks. Hopefully, this duo sinks into complete irrelevancy by 2020. It’s not like they care, as he says himself, they don’t read comments.

Do this all the time, this ain’t no surprise / Every other night, another movie getting made

Blech.

#4

This year (and last year to an extent), a lot of popular artists who made music that wasn’t rap or hip hop “flopped” for lack of a better word – essentially, pop icons failed to gain much chart longevity with either songs or albums in the past few years, making way for newer artists to stack up hits on hits, mostly because of how streaming is more important now than ever. I’ve listened to the full album by one of the former pop icons that fell this year, and I can tell you that most of it is fantastic, albeit perhaps unintentionally. Love songs dedicated to Justin Timberlake’s flannel are just kind of my thing, I guess.

#4 – “Filthy” – Justin Timberlake 

Produced by Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Danja – from the album Man of the Woods – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #9

So this starts out as a rock song, and it’s kind of awesome, actually. That guitar riff is undeniable and pretty heavy, with Justin Timberlake’s vocals, although way too back in the mix for my liking are fitting, and we get this incredible build-up with the drums continuing to increase in speed and intensity. It’s insane, and we have no idea what will be at the end of it. It’s like a rollercoaster but you’re entirely blindfolded, so you expect a drop but where? When? Instead of the rollercoaster actually going down, however, you’re just pushed off the carriage very lightly and fall onto a cushion.

Yeah, that’s how the squelchy elastic robot-funk “wub-wub” synth bass wobble feels here. They’re so ugly and almost, wrong, if that makes any sense. Like they’re not supposed to sound like that. It reminds me of my own music that I make where I Paulstretch and add echoes to nonsense samples until it sounds disgusting enough, but this is a professional recording and hence, it’s a lazy excuse for making any interesting synth sounds as the main instrumental hook. Oh, yeah, and there’s not enough to really drown it, we just get a few searing siren synths, heavy female breathing and Justin himself, who is pretty awful, as I expected, vocally, because he just kind of talks rhythmically? I can’t call it rapping but it’s definitely not a real melody. The main thing that annoys me about this song is for the last minute and half, it’s a fantastic song. It finally lets itself go insane, as the searing siren synth starts to glitch out, you can barely hear Justin under the pitched-down echoing backing vocals (some of which sound like Eminem, honestly), and the wobble bass kind of dissipates, instead leading with that chopped-up guitar from earlier, before calming down and slowing down, fading out into a strong bass backing up a tropical landscape for uncredited vocalist Jessica Biel to speak over. It’s actually really cool for a brief period of time... but the song’s five minutes.

If you know what’s good...

He repeats this in the rock sections as if it’s leading up to something but it just ends up being an incomplete sentence as it abruptly goes from him screaming that to him “rapping” this line:

Haters gon’ say it’s fake... so real

This means nothing. Haters are going to say Justin Timberlake is fake, so you respond with “So real”. Isn’t that just a non-sequitur? Hell, it’s not even a sentence. Are you missing a “but it is” or “but I am”? Justin, actually, what’s with all the pointless rap references?

I guess I got my swagger back

Yeah, that’s from JAY-Z.

Your friends, my friends, and they ain’t leaving ‘till six in the morning

And that’s from Snoop Dogg, clearly. Is Justin trying to appeal to the modern teenage crowd who are into hip-hop by mentioning... old rap songs from aging rappers who are having an equally hard time trying to stay relevant? Man, and I thought Timbaland could help you, hell, he’s been working with Ski Mask the Slump God recently. Yeah, sorry, I love a lot of Justin’s other stuff and even Man of the Woods appealed to me in an odd way, but this is just a clunky, dated mess. That last 90 seconds should have been released as the lead single, even though it wouldn’t have been played on the radio – not like this was, anyway, and I’m glad it just came and went.

Look closer, through the trees. Do you see it?

#3

Now, let’s get into the true stinkers, the top three worst hit songs of one of the most dreadful years in pop music history I’ve ever experienced. All three of these songs are borderline unlistenable, so I might as well introduce them all at once, but, no, let’s go in on them one-by-one, starting with the last trap song that’ll end up on this list, and it’s by a guy who I’ve actually loved a lot of material from this year. You’ll see him twice or more on my best list, and I think he is a really talented singer and songwriter, with a knack for really catchy melodies, but... man, this song really fell apart, didn’t it?

#3 – “I Fall Apart” – Post Malone 

Produced by Illangelo – from the album Stoney – Year-End: #39 – Peak: #16

I like Post Malone, I really do, but when he’s at his worst, he is unbearable, especially because of how grating his voice can be when he warbles whilst drowned in both autotune and the immense reverb that he decides to use, in fact, I’m pretty sure all of his songs are 70% reverb effects – and lucky me, this song is basically just him moaning for painful stretches of time drowned in reverb, because that’s the chorus. It starts with multi-tracked Post Malones crooning the title before a slight piano comes in that is only there for seemingly no reason before the actual verse and guitar comes in, where Post Malone just kind of yells over a heavy acoustic guitar lick, with “yeah” ad-libs that make me think my headphones are broken with how far they are back into the mix. All the lyrics are just pure melodrama, but the pre-chorus where he’s “taking these shots like Novacane” show my main problem with the song. It tries to be an intense, heartbroken track, but it’s too quirky to work like that.

His diction is pretty bad, so he’s mostly strangely mumbling his shouted lines in a way that makes it able to hear but also painful because of his high-pitched, obviously very immature voice, and then the chorus comes in, with him shouting “oooh, I fall apart” over a way too upbeat drop, with rapid 808s that are deep and cover out any of the trap skitter, making any dark ideas with the drum pattern irrelevant and just completely inaudible, mostly because of the chirpy pitched-up vocal samples being sprayed over Post Malone’s simplistic melody with a reverb-coated delivery that is hard to listen to. Oh, and these light gliding pianos come in for the second verse, and then, we kind of find the main point of the song in that verse:

Feelin’ like I sold my soul / Devil in the form of whore, devil in the form of whore

This song is bipolar, and it’s not as intentional as it initially seems – you see, this primal release right here should be powerful because it is Post Malone at the breaking point, where he gives up trying to reason with himself, disregarding his ex after the break-up as the devil because of how heartbroken he is... it doesn’t work when the song is happy. The instrumental is chirpy and actually just kind of pretty, especially for 2018, with those nice kicks and the piano melody and vocal sample being way too high-pitched and light to really give off any “depressed” or “broken” vibe. It’s just an unfinished instrumental for Post Malone to whine over, and you know what, that could have been beautiful, but since we have no reason to believe this bipolar song structure is on purpose other than the bridge (which, admittedly, is actually pretty cool, but not enough to completely retcon my theory), we’re just here to observe Post Malone being a bit of a jerk towards someone we don’t know anything about. Like “Te Boté”, all we know is that they broke up and we’re supposed to feel sorry for the man. Yet “I Fall Apart” had kegs full of potential, and that outro with the swirling chiptune-like synth really should have been happening throughout the song, as that’s where the intentional juxtaposition is evident. Otherwise, it just sounds really unpleasant, but, hey, at least Post Malone isn’t that much of an awful human being. Sure, he’s said some stuff that turned me off him at first in a couple interviews, but overall he doesn’t seem too bad...

#2

Disclaimer – Some more sensitive topics will be touched on in this segment. If you feel like you will not be okay reading about you-know-who and his abuse charges, skip to #1 – skim-read if you wish, but definitely do not click the page I have linked in my explanation of why I do not like this song.

Okay, now, listen, I know people have been awful in the music industry before and I brought this up while talking about “GUMMO”. There have always been untalented, racist, sexist, problematic and insensitive people in any industry and there have been for decades, and they are now just becoming common knowledge because of how easy it is to spread information nowadays. I know I sound like an old crony saying that, but that’s how I feel looking at charts when I see names like Quando Rondo, Flipp Dinero and Calboy show up on the bottom half, like, who the hell are these people and why are they blowing up now? Well they’re all trap-rappers, of course, and they’re using the innovative musical platform laid down by people like 2 Chainz, Future and Travis Scott, and later SoundCloud rappers like Lil Uzi Vert, to finally get their time in the limelight, but they’re watering down that genre to the point where I believe we have reached “peak trap” and slowly with people like Playboi Carti I think we’re moving into an era of post-trap due to the oversaturation. I remember way back in 2016 when this dude first charted with this nonsensical title and I searched him up and found out he was, uh, well...

#2 – “changes” – XXXTENTACION 

Produced by John Cunningham – from the album ? – Year-End: #94 – Peak: #18

Yeah, okay, well, first of all, rest in peace to Jahseh Onfroy, okay, I was never a fan of him or his music but nobody showing potential and talent deserves to die that early, alright? Now that all that is out of the way, let’s talk about the song itself, which makes my blood boil. “changes” has a lot in common with a Bad Bunny track, “Amorfoda”, mostly in the fact that it’s just four piano notes being repeated and that’s the beat. There’s no drums, there’s no guitar, it’s just that and briefly some strings. “Amorfoda” is even more minimalistic as it’s just simply piano and Bad Bunny (as well as his ad-libs). On the track, Bad Bunny’s lyrics are oddly poetic, and his performance is constantly changing with his flow and delivery never really staying in one place throughout the one pretty long verse. This is helpful as it keeps the track interesting, as otherwise it’s just a barebones piano ballad with an above average vocalist singing a mumbled hook and an excruciatingly long, unintelligible verse. “changes” is just that, except there’s no verse... there’s just a bridge, which is one line repeated six times. The hook is four lines long, the beat is only two notes this time around, the one addition to the droning immature vocals from X and PnB Rock’s boring crooning is some weak, barely noticeable fake strings. Piano ballads work when there’s legitimate power, and the closest we get to that is X and PnB’s harmonised humming that still would have sounded better if you got Kid Cudi to do it. Seriously, if you ever need someone to hum on your song, get this dude.

So, we’ve established it’s cheap, lazy and pointless, as well as mind-numbingly repetitive. There’s only five lines that are repeated for all two minutes and two seconds. The song concept is clearly there but they have no idea how or where to run with it so they just keep on saying the lyrics they have for a while and release it as a lead single (without PnB Rock credited, I may add). If you’re wondering if I’m downplaying the song and there’s more to it, no, don’t kid yourself. It’s both of these dudes moaning over piano that X probably didn’t even play. Now, what about those five lines?

Mmm, baby, I don’t understand this / You’re changing, I can’t stand it

Can I have a “get out of talking about a dead man’s domestic abuse charges free” card, please? Okay, so, let’s not pretend he wasn’t an abuser, he admitted to “F’ing her up” in an audio recording that Pitchfork discovered, as well as, you know, stabbing nine people, as you do. This song is about how Geneva, his ex, is making it hard for HIM despite him being the one beating her. X doesn’t understand why Geneva is changing opinions and attitudes towards him after he injured her to the point where she needs a GoFundMe for surgery (pictures of her eye are out there!) whilst carrying a child, and he has the gall to play a victim complex, and of course it works on his gullible young fanbase.

My heart can’t take this damage

“My heart can’t take this damage”? Miss me with that sadboi poetry nonsense. Ugh. Let’s move on before I pop a blood vessel.

Mmm, baby, I don’t understand this

Good riddance.

#1

“changes” was my definite choice for #1 for a long time. If you recall when it showed up on the UK Top 40, I quite literally didn’t review it at all, and got someone else who loved the song to talk about it, in both respect for XXXTENTACION as he recently passed away at the time and to not spoil my list. At the end of the year, though, a song was released and I came to a conclusion: I can listen to “changes”. It is lazy, aggravating, has irritating lyrics and sounds unfinished... but I can hear it all the way through and not be all too bothered by it. Same goes for “In My Feelings” and “Freaky Friday”, they’re not long and they’re interesting enough, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re any good, and the reason why songs like “Te Boté”, “Drip Too Hard” or “Filthy” didn’t top this list is because there are parts I actually really appreciate in that song, and if anything I can laugh at it, even if they’re too long and they’re pathetic excuses for popular music. My #1 barely counts. It was in the top 40, sure, but at the tail-end of the year, and if anything, this is premature as it’s probably going to make 2019’s year-end list, but screw it, I have to get this out now. The worst hit song of 2018 is “Taki Taki” by DJ Snake featuring vocals from Ozuna, Cardi B and Selena Gomez.

#1 – “Taki Taki” – DJ Snake, Ozuna, Cardi B and Selena Gomez 

Produced by DJ Snake – Year-End: N/A – Peak: #11

Now, “changes” makes my blood boil but really, at a musical standpoint, it’s competent enough. They’re on beat, both dudes can kind of sing, and the instrumental is inoffensive. “Taki Taki” is thre minutes and 36 seconds of absolute torture. We start with that hellish flute loop, which fades in at the start of the song and doesn’t change for the rest of the whole song, staying in the background for the track constantly, only getting pitched up in the chorus or “drop”, for added annoyance. The flute loop itself is painful and I don’t think I can really describe how much it gets on my nerves in words. It sounds like a rabbit with cavities playing a recorder, if you can picture that horrible image. Oh, and remember Ozuna? Well, he’s worse here. Not only does he sound like he recorded his own audio in his kitchen, but his nasal voice is aggravating. Something about the way he says fricatives makes me want to strangle a dolphin – which is fitting because that’s what he sounds like when he repeats the hook, “Taki Taki, rumba!” If you’re wondering what “Taki Taki” is, it means nothing. It means absolutely nothing. It is a nonsense word, but it does rhyme with several other words that Ozuna pronounces awfully, such as... well...

Booty explota como Nagasaki

The booty blows up like Nagasaki. Dude, how did this get through the executives? It reminds me of a Hoodrich Pablo Juan mixtape I heard where in the second track he just spurts out that broke people are gay or something and I question how the hell everyone in his label and heard that and thought, “yeah, that’s okay”. I know it’s Gucci Mane’s label in that case, so they don’t care, but this “Taki Taki” song was a major-label release by four of the biggest mega-stars in their own respective genres. How did this insensitive yet actually kind of hilariously awful reference to the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombings slip through the cracks, man? Maybe it’s because Ozuna makes any person with sense’s skin crawl, so they just skipped his part. That’s reasonable – and understandable, I mean, I would to.

Hi Music Hi Flow

What’s with the producer tag for the dude who didn’t produce the song, Ozuna? What is the point of tagging this onto the drop? Oh, and Cardi B’s on here, and don’t get me wrong, I like Cardi but she is so non-descript on here.

I said, we should have a date / “Where?” At the Lamborghini store

How is this in any way a clever or unique punchline? This is just filler, and I don’t blame her – hell, I like Cardi for her delivery too but she’s not even that loud or energetic here so she needs something to back it up and, yeah, she just doesn’t. Someone on Twitter brought to my attention that it interpolates another Cardi B and Ozuna song, “La Modelo”, which is much better and leaves absolutely no reason to willingly listen to the song.

Oh, and in typical “Taki Taki” fashion, Cardi’s awfully mixed. What a surprise. It just sounds like Cardi DM’d DJ Snake a video of her rapping the verse with her kid Kulture crying in the background, so he took the audio from that and put it in Audacity’s “Noise Remover” function in order to remove the crying, making there a lot of awkwardly mixed moments that just sound like amateur hour, which DJ Snake shouldn’t be able to replicate at his level of stature and fame... but Selena Gomez’s verse? Oh, honey...

Careful when you come through my way

Is Selena Gomez trying to be intimidating? Because, uh, no. It’s not working, and never will.

My body-ody know how to play

Ugh, I’m not a fan of stuttering or repeating syllables to fill the meter, especially when they’re weak lines like this. It just feels so lazy, and Selena does it more than worse in her short verse.

And I-I-I know you need a taste

Oh, and why does she self-censor these three lines?

When I (OOH), you’re fallin’ in love / Give a little (OOH-OOH), get it well done / Dancing on my (OOH), make your girl want to run

Does Selena Gomez need to keep a squeaky-clean image? She had a video last year where she sensually chowed down on some lipstick, while a song called “Fetish” played. She can’t go back to the innocent Disney image after that, like, come on. If we cancel that out, then why isn’t Cardi censored? She gets away with saying stuff like this:

My piggy bank is hungry, my n****, you need to feed it / If the text ain’t freaky, I don’t wanna read it / And just to let you know, this punani is undefeated, ayy

Yet there’s not much that could really fit there. I figured the first bit was “shake my hips” or something, but does it have to be the same amount of syllables as the “ooh” that replaces it? If so, then that means the second “ooh” line is just nonsensical, unless it’s “hump-bump” or “bump-grind” because Selena Gomez wanted to reference R. Kelly or something. “When I...” What? Trip? Dance? Slip – as in slip off the panties? I don’t know, but seemingly none of these options seem worthy of even censoring, so I think we can call this lazy songwriting instead.

The “subtle” integrations of Spanish throughout her verse are pitiful, by the way.

Porque I am the party, yo soy fiesta / Blow out your candles, then have a siesta / They can try, pero no-one can stop me

I did barely a month of GCSE Spanish and I could write better Spanish bars than this. Also, what’s that last one?

They can try, pero no-one can stop me

Who’s stopping you from partying... or being the party, actually, as you specify?

I am the party, yo soy fiesta

If you’re wondering what “yo soy fiesta” means, it’s just essentially “I am the party” again. Yeah, if you don’t have a good line that rhymes, just give up and say it in Spanish. The worst line is easily the last one, though.

What my Taki Taki wants, yeah, my Taki Taki gets, uh

So, does this explain what “Taki Taki” is? Is it lust? Selena Gomez is supposedly so hot that she can get whatever her instinct is... that’s actually kind of a cool concept, so why is he said completely out of context in the chorus? Does it mean “My instinct is to dance” when they say “Taki Taki, rumba!”? “Rumba” is a dance, so it’s safe to assume that, right? Why are they making a reggaeton song feel like English comprehension? To be fair, however, Selena’s chorus does its job and is actually pretty decent, but then Ozuna comes in to ruin it all anyway, so who cares?

The reason this is above every song on this list is because it reeks of incompetence and is probably the song here that just sounds the worst all throughout its runtime, and all of this nonsense happens over a grating, neverending shrill flute loop, and, yeah, that pretty much explains why this song is the worst hit song this year, at least in my opinion. Hopefully that best list is coming soon, but for now, thank you for reading my incessant rambles about pop music and I’ll see you tomorrow on REVIEWING THE CHARTS. Bye!

Hi Music Hi Flow / Taki Taki / Taki Taki

deadcactuswalking

[goodgreycious]

How to Succeed in Fangirling Without Really Trying

[Insert nervous laughter here]

I guess we should start with the basics like introductions and the more important things you need to know about me. Hi, my name is Grey. I am a person of the adult-ish variety who is, more importantly, a fangirl. Very soon, I will be graduating from college with a degree in history. And yes, just history. And no, I do not want to be a teacher. (This is important to the overall narrative I’m trying to create here, but we’ll get to that later.) I am a Hufflepuff and I take almost as much pride in that fact as I do about my remarkable ability to eat and drive at the same time (my friends might say otherwise, but they’re lying to you). My idea of a “lit” night is when the light radiates from my Netflix account. I love a good book and a bottle of dry, red wine. Preferably together. If there is one other thing I know for sure about myself at the ripe age of “almost-22,” it’s that being a fangirl is all I really know how to do. Maybe through this blog, I can take people on a journey they can relate to. Maybe if I share my story, it can help someone else who is out there feeling the way I’m feeling. Maybe they’ll even start a blog. It’s what I did.

To kick off this shindig, there is a little bit more you need to know about me. Like where and how my story starts. From a young age I was encouraged to be the best I could be. Not the best out of everyone, but my parents knew what I was capable of and they wanted me to do well for me, not anyone else. However, I was an awkward kid. No matter what my parents say. Isn’t everyone? Throughout my K-12 education, I somehow managed to stick myself right in the middle of the herd. I guess the more appropriate description would be “average.” I played one sport in my four years of high school, so I was not jock material. I was in choir, but not a soloist. I was in the musical, but felt more comfortable being part of the stage crew. I spent most of my lunches in my school’s library. The average high school student will experience some form of bullying and I was no exception. Not to the extent that others were, but it was enough to scar me so that my goal for that part of my education was just to get through it with as few waves as possible. So, I adapted and figured out that being stuck in the middle of everything is what made me happy. I didn’t want to be the center of attention. That would’ve been my worst nightmare. I hated myself back then and I had already given people enough of a chance to hate me in my earlier years. It might not have been bad, but it was enough.

I, also, might not be able to remember all the details, but I can pinpoint the moment I knew I was a fangirl. I was in 6th grade and I held in my meaty little hands a copy of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I read the opening part of the first chapter entitled “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher” and it is, to this day, the closest thing I can equate to finding myself. Tiny little me, reading a book about a kid not much older than her who feels it in every fiber of his bones that he is different and can’t do a damn thing about it at that moment, it just felt like coming home. I inhaled the words on those pages. I injected them into my bloodstream once every month. No other book could ever compare as I reread it over and over and over again. It was Wonderland and I was Alice, falling, falling, falling down the rabbit hole and but with no intention of ever stopping the free fall. And as I grew older and wiser, and my tastes expanded, I started to realize that I had always been like that. Disney movies were (still are) the pinnacle of my movie tastes. I wouldn’t watch anything other than animated movies until I was well over the age of 12. My mom begged me to play outside as a kid when all I wanted to do was sit down and watch Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or the Disney Channel. Percy Jackson and his journey finally put it all into perspective for me. And I’m still spiraling. I started to consume knowledge about Greek Mythology more than my studies. I read anything fantasy based that I could get my hands on. Harry Potter, Fablehaven, Peter and the Star Catchers, Oh. My. Gods., House of Night, the list is as endless as it is ongoing. As I grew, my tastes expanded. I got into anime, sci-fi, comics, crime, true crime, literally anything that took me away from the normal life I was leading. What I wanted more than anything in the world was to be there.

All of these things carried me through my high school career, but not in the way I was expecting. I loved my stories, my otherworlds, more than I ever loved the real world, but it beckoned. Not so much like a siren’s song, more like the annoying alarm clock in the morning that you just perpetually want to turn off, but somehow end up hitting SNOOZE so it keeps waking you up every few minutes. High school was a time where the answer to the question “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?” was finally starting to be the most important question you could answer. I’ll give you three guesses as to what girl never, ever had the answer to that question and the first two don’t count… Yup, t’was me. I’m pretty sure every time someone asked me that, my answered changed. The only thing I really knew, at least at that point, was there were two things I loved. History and what I’ve come to now realize is my all-encompassing, heart-stopping, soul-crushing love for the creative process. Everything in this world that is created has a story that I need to know. I fawn over fan art just as much as Picasso or Van Gogh. I think fanfiction and their authors can sometimes be written better than the original. I have music on at all times during the day. If I am not reading, I am watching something. If I am not watching, then I am trying to hone my own creative processes. Everything about being a fangirl appeals me like a drug. Where bullying knocked me down, I bathed myself in fantasy and used it as my armor. When the only thing I wanted to do was just get through, my fandoms taught me how I should live. Whenever I felt like I wasn’t loved or good enough or whatever enough, somehow, some way, fiction would wrap its arms around me, remind me that I was, and lift me up to carry me home.

Sounds like a wonderful thing to make a career out of, right? But if bullying had taught me anything, it was that I wasn't good enough. I was never going to be a content creator. It was always going to be my destiny to be a content consumer. I could never be J.K. Rowling, Chris Hardwick, Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Lin Manuel Miranda. If I could go back and tell my younger self anything, it wouldn’t be any of the clichés like ‘it gets better’ or ‘just stay strong.’ I’d tell that little punk to stick it to whoever told her that what was making her feel whole wasn’t worth making a life out of. I would tell my younger self to be brave enough to prove them all wrong. I was constantly told that I could not make a sustainable career out what I loved.  So, I did what I do best and adapted. History was the only other thing I really loved. It was the real stories, the non-fiction that inspires fiction. If I couldn’t create the stories, I would learn everyone else’s. That would surely solve that problem? It’d be a good enough substitute, right?

While I love history, it was like going from Ferrari to a Honda. The Honda will most definitely get you from Point A to Point B, but more so because you can’t afford a Ferrari in the first place. Which kind of brings me to where I am now and the whole reason I started this blog in the first place. Here’s me, about to graduate college with a degree in a field I love (even though it doesn’t sound like it) feeling like I’m doing nothing more than staring into a deep, vast, dark thing called The Void of Adulthood when the only thing I really want to do is take a nap. Or curl up with a good book or a new TV show. Forget the horror genre, adulthood, or the precipice of it, is the scariest shit I have ever encountered. And I am looking at this Void, wanting to take a ForeverNap™️,  neck deep in a big-girl-full-time job search, wearing a Captain America shirt, Prisoner of Azkaban clutched in one hand, sonic screwdriver in the other, screaming my throat raw about how I am just not ready.

But getting back to the present. I mentioned that my degree in history would somehow be important to the overall narrative I’m trying to weave here. This is why. It goes back to being too scared to do what I really wanted to do. While I love history, it just doesn’t compare to the other thing. But, I was also too scared by real life to ever do anything to change it. I was too scared to tell everyone: “DAMN THE CONSEQUENCES AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR COLLECTIVE ASSES, I’M GOING TO DO THIS.” I never wanted to shake it up, challenge the status quo, and now I’m kicking myself for it. History was a safety net I didn’t realize was there until it was too late. All this suddenly came into perspective because I found my dream job. Given the chance, it would be one that I would be really, really good at… but I can’t get it. I don’t have a degree in a relevant field, I don’t have the job experience. I’m not prepared. And it sucks royal hippogriff.

And that, dear readers who have stuck with me all the way to this point, is why I am here. I started this blog to finally break out of my shell. I am no longer content with being a consumer. I want to be a creator. I want to contribute to the discussions. I want to write things that matter and that people can relate to. I want to be fully qualified. If writing this blog and finally, finally being able to contribute something to the worlds that have loved me when I thought no one else did is the only way I can give back and get experience, then so be it. If it is the only way I can be apart of the things I love right now, then I’m going to do it. This is how I stick it to those people who told me I couldn’t. This is how I throw it back in the faces of people who tore me down. I hope that I can take people along this journey with me. I have some fun things planned. And if there are people out there who are listening to the voices of negativity in whatever forms they take, I hope I can help you realize that you are strong enough to face those demons and win. I hope that together we can find a way to forge our own paths. I don’t want anyone to ever feel like I felt. No one deserves to feel like that.

Hi again, I’m Grey. Welcome home. Here, you will always be encouraged. Here, I promise to help you in whatever way I can. Here, you are safe. And here, above all, you are seen and you are loved.

[haload701]

Gta 5 Immersion Mods

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Immersive Pickups is a total overhaul of Grand Theft Auto V's pickups system for, as the name implies, immersion. Did you miss GTA IV's Pickups System? Or simply looking for a different, more immersive experience than what the game offers by default? Look no more, because this mod is tailored for you. SUMMARY OF FEATURES: Organized all pickups.meta files and documented the main. The goal of this mod is to bring about more action oriented events and eventually callouts that are more in the spirit of Grand Theft Auto. This initial release features 5 calls: Active Shooter Ambulance Hijacking - Chase down a hijacked ambulance.

Gta 5 Immersion Mods 2

Gta 5 Immersion Mods Mod

Gta 5 Immersion Mods Free

Cars are basically the core and soul of GTA V.

Grand Theft Auto V ditched this top-tier wanted level, but this mod puts it back in place. Get five-star notoriety and you’ll be pursued by the nation’s finest. Get five-star notoriety and you.

But now it's time to get serious, and talk about the mods which take elevate GTA V to a new level of immersion and realism. Sure, there's plenty of fun to be had in firing vehicles from a cannon.

But there just seems to be something missing whenever you look at the car roster that the game has to offer. There are some fantastic cars in the game, no doubt about it. But some of the world’s best and most famous car models can make a massive difference when cruising in the streets of San Andreas.

I’ve compiled a list of mods that fully changes the way you’ll see cars in Grand Theft Auto V.

Most of these mods are cars that you can add to the game, but I’ve also threw in a few mods that change certain car mechanics and visuals to make driving more realistic.

Download one, two, or all – it’s up to you how much you wanna ball out!

30. Real Wheels Pack

This fantastic mod adds plenty of new wheels to the game, mainly using the assets of the Forza Horizon games.

It introduces plenty of new rims as well as aesthetical modifications to some of the vanilla wheels in GTA.

The mod also introduces custom tires and even real-life brands to the game, which fits in perfectly with basically everything else listed below.

Combine this mod with any of the cars here and you’ll have quite a customizable selection of rides to pick from in your GTA playthrough.

29. Porsche Gauges

As its name suggests, the Porsche Gauges mod simply changes the way gauges look in the game to make them look like they belong on a sports car.

And let’s be honest, in a game like GTA we all want that look.

This is a fantastic mod if you want to get some fancy sportsy whips in your game. And even more so if you’re a fan of Porsche rides.

It’s a very simple mod, but just the thought of having these gauges makes it earn a spot on my list.

28. 2016 Honda NSX

Honda has some beautiful sports cars on the market. And the NSX 2016 has managed to make its way to the GTA universe with this fully customizable mod.

You can take this baby to any garage that you want and have it recolored to your taste. And those of you who like to play in first person will also be able to enjoy the interior of the car, which is also custom made and dope as hell.

This is the same model used in Forza Horizon 3 which is why it looks so great.

You’ll find that many of the car mods in this list are conversions from Forza games, as they fit perfectly into GTA5.

27. Maserati Ghibli S

The Ghibli S is the first Maserati in my list(yes, there will be more than one).

And even though the modder hasn’t managed to make it fully breakable, the beauty of the car and the perfection added to the model makes it a quality addition.

The Ghibli S with custom interior shows the manual transmission stick, and truly makes you feel like a millionaire while you drive.

The windows of the car are fully breakable, though. And even though the paintjob damage is not as good as it is in other mods, it’s still a brilliant car worth testing out.

26. Hummer H1

Take a trip down memory lane with the Hummer H1 in GTA V.

Remember a few years ago when everyone wanted one of these bad boys?

Well I might be a few years too late with this one, but this H1 mod will allow you to ride this beastly truck in ways you’ve always dreamed of!

The interior is fully customized and I absolutely love the way the engine looks. I’m sure you’ll love it as well if you’re a Hummer fan.

Overall it’s a very well-made car that it fits right into the GTA universe.

25. Mercedes Benz CLS 6.3

A fully customizable Mercedes Benz in GTA is the stuff dreams are made of.

This might not be one of the fanciest sports cars on the list.

But this car can be tuned to your taste at any auto shop in the game.

The Benz drives as you’d expect and with no bugs thanks to the constant work and updates from the mod creator.

The CLS is a beautiful car and you’ll be able to see its interior in excruciating virtual detail.

24. 1967 Chevrolet Camaro

No GTA V car mod list can be complete without including one or two classics.

And the ‘67 Camaro mod is surely one that should be in a spot here.

This traditional car looks absolutely beautiful in GTA V given its history in America. And I have to say, it does seem like the type of car that Franklin would love to drive. He looks pretty slick in the driver’s seat.

A Camaro never really gets old. And with this mod it’s finally time for you to give it a try!

I know you’ll love it once you hear that engine purr. It’s hard not to love this thing with how detailed this mod is.

23. 2013 Lamborghini Veneno

If you’re into these types of sports cars then you definitely need to give the Veneno a try.

What a fantastic model from any Lambo(and there are plenty!)

Not to mention how well it was implemented into GTA.

All of the car doors (including the trunk) work just like they do in the real-life model, which makes the immersion of the Veneno far greater than what you get in other cars.

The reflections of the car are truly realistic as well. The creator did an amazing job with this mod and it’s worth a gander even if you test it and uninstall afterwards.

22. 1967 Shelby Mustang

Fans of old cars rejoice.

The classic Mustang makes its way to GTA in one of the best car mods ever created.

The maker of the mod has made sure to fully map the interior or this Mustang and make it look as close to reality as possible.

Many similar colors have been used to create the most natural feeling for the car from all angles. And the ride itself feels much like any other car in GTA.

This bad boy allows you to install plenty of car parts on it as well – including some that are often seen in traditional cars such as hydraulics and even audio systems.

21. Ferrari 458 Italia

I could never finish this list without a Ferrari.

And the 458 Italia is by far one of the best models from this manufacturer.

It resembles some of the vanilla sports cars, but this one just looks fantastic. The interior is identical to the one of the real car and you can see the Ferrari logo in the center of the steering wheel.

The car looks and handles like a custom ride since the design was fully imported from Forza.

Gta 5 Immersion Mods 2

The creator of the mod did a lot of work with the retextures, though. And it shows in the way the car looks – both on the inside as well as the outside.

20. 2017 Rolls Royce Dawn

Even though there’s already one car in the game that looks like a Rolls Royce, there’s nothing better than seeing the actual brand in the game.

Sometimes we get picky, you know?

This fantastic car mod is fully customizable and comes with a 3D engine which breathes life into this classic ride.

The different paint jobs that you can do also make it quite interesting to customize, including one of the pre-designed paint jobs which gives off a wooden feeling like no other car in the game.

19. Mercedes Benz G65

I know that many of you are here mainly because of the sports cars. I’m kinda here for that too.

But let’s face it: plenty of us love Mercedes.

The G65 allows you to have an in-depth experience thanks to the realism of the collisions of its parts, and the way the car interacts with mud(very well mapped).

It might not be the car to take you from 0 to 220 mph in 10 seconds. But it’s still a beautiful car that seems to fit Michael more than any other character.

18. Range Rover Evoque

These SUVs are fantastic, and people from all over the world who can afford them seem to be getting them now more than ever.

The popularity of these SUVs is helped by the fact that they’re developed by Land Rover, and the quality of the vehicle and the beauty of its design are undeniable.

As such, adding it to GTA V seems like a no-brainer. And this mod practically requires no brains to get it installed, too!

This mod adds the Range Rover Evoque to the game with a fully custom interior, and fully HD interactions between the glass windows and the lighting outside.

17. Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R 2017

This two-seater is one of the latest beauties created by Mercedes.

And if you’re still playing GTA V you’ll absolutely want to see how it looks in your game.

The vehicle is textured using HQ images which makes it look insanely realistic in every part of the game.

This is one of those cars that you’ll want to have a custom lighting mod to try out, as it makes the ride look even better the way it reflects its surroundings.

16. 2017 Nissan GTR

Now here’s another one of the car mods on this list that was originally converted from Forza, which means you can expect a high-quality interior as well as fine textures all around.

The creator of the mod has made sure to make the Nissan 2017 fully capable to be tuned, as well as compatible with first-person driving thanks to the details on the wheel and the inside of the car.

Worth trying if you’re a GTR fan but totally one you could skip as well. But it’s also a more “conservative choice” for rides, which I think deserves a higher spot. We don’t all want Ferraris!

15. 2015 Koenigsegg Agera

This fantastic model is made to have some of the most realistic collisions that any car of this list is able to present.

Sure, Koenigsegg might not be as popular as Ferrari or Porsche. But this luxury sports car is by far one of the most beautiful designs that made their way to GTA(with modding, of course).

There’s been a lot of care placed into the development of this mod. You can see this in how you drive with your hands on the wheel, and everything seems to be well-made to scale.

Scale is often the most difficult part of modding any car for a game, so the creator of this mod hit the nail on its head with this one.

14. Porsche Cayman GT4 2016

A Porsche with dirt effects, breakable glass, a high-quality model, and a custom interior that allows you to play in first person?

Sign me up.

The Cayman GT4 2016 brings the traditional Porsche look to the universe of GTA V with a fantastic car mod that uses HD textures.

The scale of the car is perfect, and the mod has been updated to work with the latest GTA patch too!

13. 1970 Dodge Challenger RT 440

Being the highest-rated classic model in my list, the 1970 Dodge Challenger meets expectations with a fantastic car design.

This really does take you back to the good old days of the 70s.

The model passed the test of time and remains a fantastic vehicle to be used in today’s modern world, as well as one that looks good in the hands of a tough guy like Trevor.

12. 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder

The exterior of this car is just beautiful, but the interior is just so well done that you’ll struggle to find another car with one as fantastic as the 918 Spyder.

Some modders really take a step beyond to make sure that their creations are superior to the rest.

And the 918 is close to making one of the top 10 spots on my list because of this exact reason.

11. 2015 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4

Worry not friend: there are still a couple of Lamborghinis left.

And the 2015 Aventador could never be missing from this collection.

The car is completely destroyable for those of you that need that car damage to feel realistic in GTA. And the model of the car itself is of a fantastic quality.

Lambos are particularly difficult to map, but they’ve done a fantastic job with the Aventador on this mod.

10. 2015 Ford Mustang GT

What, you thought I wasn’t going to mention a Mustang GT on this list?

Being one of those cars that everyone seems to have wanted at some point in their lives, the Mustang GT comes to GTA and you can try out how it feels to drive it in the virtual world Rockstar has created for us.

This is another one of those cars with a fantastic interior too, so first-person players rejoice!

9. 2015 BMW i8

Probably not as aerodynamic as the rest of the cars listed here, the 2015 BMW i8 brings something unique and modern to the table.

Gta 5 Immersion Mods Mod

This car is not as destroyable as I’d like them to be, but the design is fantastic and seems to fit right into the taste of most GTA fans. The textures are extra HD as well so that’s a nice touch.

Gta 5 Immersion Mods Free

But if you’re looking for an even cooler BMW then check the next mod link.

8. 2015 BMW F82 M4

Custom spoilers, tires, and add-ons.

The BMW F82 seems to have it all in the world of car mods in GTA.

It’s a fantastic model with HD textures, which can look even better if you download one of the GTA graphic enhancement mods that we’ve covered.

I may never get a BMW in the real world but I can still ball out with this GTA alternative.

7. Bugatti Veyron

The Adder is clearly a copy of the Bugatti Veyron in GTA V. But if you’re tired of seeing it instead of the original car in the game then give this mod a try.

The Bugatti Veyron mod is fully customizable and allows you to incorporate one of the world’s most expensive cars into the game: fully functional, crushable, and destroyable!

6. 2013 Lamborghini Aventador

Another one of the Aventador models makes far up in this list, this time with the 2013 version of the car.

The rear window of the car can be lifted and the vehicle itself is fully tunable, as the modders have made sure to add many custom parts in the game to be compatible with the Aventador.

If you’re a fan of Lambos then give this one a try. It’s sure to please!

I also love the details of this car, too. It comes with an interior like the ones you see in modern racing games, which does make everything feel right in place if you like to do your GTA first person style.

5. 2014 McLaren P1

Much like the Adder is clearly the Bugatti Veyron, the T20 is basically a version of a McLaren sports car in GTA V.

Progen, the manufacturer of these cars in the game, is basically McLaren in the world of GTA.

However if you wish to try out a real McLaren in the game, then the 2014 P1 might be the first mod you’ll want to download.

It allows you to put carbon and chrome textures on it, and the engine of the vehicle is fantastically detailed to boot.

It’s an overall amazing car with an amazing modder and I fully recommend it to any McLaren lover reading this.

4. 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari

As far as single-car mods go, this 2015 Ferrari is the highest rated in our list.

This fantastic adaptation of the classic Ferrari look fits right into the game, and does a much better job at fulfilling the needs of many players who just want a clear sports car feeling.

The flaps on this ride are fully functional, the car is fantastically well mapped, and the details that it has make the immersion great. This is true of both first person and third person alike so it’s really just a brilliant car to add into your next playthrough.

3. Vanillaworks Extended Pack

Sure, it’s nice to have a ton of real vehicles added to the game.

But not everyone likes to break the vanilla feel of GTA vehicles or to push the lore too far.

In fact, to many players the brands of the GTA universe are part of what makes the experience such a unique one.

But the variety of models still leaves a lot to be desired – even with the many vehicles that come in the vanilla game. Hence this fantastic add-on to GTA 5.

The Vanillaworks mod adds countless new vehicles to the game, all of which are “manufactured” by the same companies that appear in GTA V.

It adds dozens of new cars to the game while keeping in line with the story too. This provides some much-needed variety that is sure to make even the oldest veteran GTA player feel like the game is brand new again.

2. GTA IV Vehicles in GTA V

Are you missing those classic rides from GTA IV and wondering why no one seems to have imported them to San Andreas?

Well, this mod basically does that. For free, I might add!

Imagine that a shipping container with the best GTA IV rides came to San Andreas and the cars from the previous game started being sold around the city. Then you can jack ‘em and ride them around yourself.

With this mod installed you’ll be able to drive some of your favorite classic GTA IV rides in the newest installment of the game.

1. Realistic Driving Mod

Now this mod was in development for over three years, and the quality definitely shows in the final product.

Realistic Driving is a rework of every single part of the driving mechanics in the game.

It makes cars move far better, handling is easier, and every car also feels unique. The creator of the mod really made sure to spend time developing driving mechanics for each car individually.

Now you can probably see why this took years to finish.

Even the roads and surfaces where you can drive all feel more realistic.

Basically if you want to completely overhaul the driving experience in GTA 5, you’ll want this mod in your stack.

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What makes sneakers special is that they empower kids to own a piece of their favorite athlete’s greatness. By slipping on a pair of Air Jordans, you can, to some degree, “Be Like Mike.” And as an adult, a new pair of sneakers can connect a person with fond memories from their childhood.

Yet as sneakerheads mature — as do their disposable incomes — more “adult” objects like furniture and cars often take a front seat to the fleeting nature of fresh kicks. It still doesn’t make owning a hard to find, next-level expensive, vintage Ferrari (say, MJ’s 550, which inspired the Jordan 14) any more likely, but as streetwear evolves, its references to the newfound interests of its customers must, too. That’s just business. In 2020, there’s a way for these more adult shoppers to scratch that itch for both cars and clothes, thanks to a new wave of auto-inspired fashion from the likes of Aimé Leon Dore, Supreme, L’art De L’automobile, and Period Correct.

The connections between streetwear and car culture are undeniable. In Supreme x Lamborghini, which dropped in April of 2020, you see the same kinds of things you’ll find at a cars and coffee meetup on a Saturday morning in Scottsdale, Arizona: The instant visual signifiers of taste via logos, the one-upmanship, and the desire to collect rare, hard-to-find things. Beyond that, there’s the fact that both cars and clothes can be aesthetic extensions of their owners. The guy who loves vintage Patagonia fleeces and J80 Land Cruisers evokes different sensibilities than the man who rocks Saint Laurent and drives a Lamborghini Urus. And while both are items built primarily as commercial pieces, with the right combination of passion and taste, they can ascend to the level of art. Engineering, materials, and performance are all critical factors in both clothing and automotive design, whether it be the latest Air Jordan or Aston Martin.

Bryan Calvero, who founded the car-inspired label Period Correct (itself a reference to the various parts and pieces of a certain model) in 2013, puts it simply: “If you like good design, you’ll like cars.” He calls cars “the best form of art,” and in 2018, collaborated with McLaren on a collection to honor the brand’s F1, which debuted in 1993 and held the record for fastest production car in the world for over a decade. The things that make it great — its timeless design, its center driving position, the fact that it was the first fully carbon fiber body ever made on a car, and its 24K gold engine lining — are the same kind of innovations that sneakerheads or fashion obsessives glorify in new collections.

Calvero represents the guy who’s a fan of both worlds, and demonstrates how loving style and cars can spawn out of a similar sensibility. At the same time Calvero was developing a love of cars, he was also getting into Polo (he proudly calls himself a ‘Lo Head), and cites Ralph Lauren — one of the world’s greatest designers and greatest car collectors — as an inspiration for how to mesh the two passions together.

“I appreciate the level of detail in his collections, and I saw that we have so much in common,” he says, claiming how throughout the years, he’s even spotted his idol at the world famous Pebble Beach Car Show. Lauren lives the aspirational lifestyle that his collections evoke, and that lifestyle doesn’t stop with clothes. Living the Ralph Lauren way means bringing that love of The Good Life into every corner of one’s existence, including the home they live and, of course, the car they drive.

Similarly, Dunhill, the British menswear label that was founded in the late 19th century by creating accessories for new motorists, is interested in tapping into the 360 degree visual identity of car enthusiasts. Its Spring/Summer 2020 collection, titled “Automotive,” was conceived by creative director Mark Weston to honor the brand’s heritage and enhance the lifestyle of who he perceives to be The Dunhill Man.

“It is more about building an identity. I work a lot with what I kind of call design codes, which are references that talk to either a certain material or whether it speaks to a certain item or piece,” Weston says. In other words, because cars can become such a part of a person’s lifestyle, they serve as useful references when trying to discover who an ideal customer is.

But because not everyone can emulate Ralph down to his fleet of Ferraris, clothing that simply references this lifestyle is now a viable alternative as well as more readily available, thanks to the rise of streetwear. And his influence on people’s love of clothes and cars can be felt in collections of some of the hottest labels today. Take Aimé Leon Dore, which in February 2020 collaborated with Porsche on both a capsule collection and a one-off, Loro Piana and Schott leather-lined 964 Carrera 4, are a 2020 update to the kind of 360 degree brand experience that Ralph Lauren ushered in. While ALD’s taste level is arguably unmatched, it allows its customers to buy into its love of cars without expecting them to drop $100,000 on a vintage car, but rather through an embroidered logo on a coach jacket or a T-shirt that gets right to the point, i.e. “Porsche / Aime Leon Dore / 964 Carrera 4.”

Then there’s Paris-based L’Art De L’automobile, which since 2017 has taken the cars x clothes lifestyle to a literal level, operating as both a clothing brand and a high-end dealership for rarified, expensive models. Having a fleet of old Mercedes and BMWs shows people that L’Art de L’automobile’s founder, Arthur Kar, is not just an enthusiast, but a real-life collector. That authenticity is imparted upon graphic T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps. Kar explained in a recent interview that at the heart of his label is a desire to combine authentic car culture and fashion, even if he doesn’t see himself as a designer per se. In a world where fans are constantly looking for a reason to call bullshit, that kind of honesty only helps his cause.

Despite the quick-hit nature of a T-shirt with a manufacturer’s logo, being a label that references cars in 2020 doesn’t necessarily translate to the simple formula of automaker logo plus garment equals hype. For its Fall/Winter 2020 runway show, Off-White used split-in-half-cars placed vertically to look like they were growing out of the ground as set pieces. Goodfight, an LA-based contemporary label whose Spring/Summer 2020 collection is titled “My other car is a Singer,” is inspired by cars, but expresses it in a much more metaphorical way.

“You don’t see any logos, per se, because when it came to silhouettes and everything, I was thinking more on the level of how the car is put together,” says designer Calvin Nguyen, who in his daily life drives a Subaru WRX. “I was more interested in what kind of materials they use, how they’re put together, as opposed to the overall aesthetic of the car.” Still, the resulting collection of modern suits, baseball shirts, coach jackets, and other minimalist staples, signal how automotive design can cross over into the world of fashion in less obvious ways.

To a certain extent, streetwear and fashion are constantly on the hunt for new niche cultures to reference, and cars are just the next in line. But nostalgia often informs those references, and right now, with streetwear’s earliest adopters entering their 30s and 40s, it’s the perfect time for car references to take center stage. There’s no denying that these beautiful, expensive, somewhat dangerous objects have a unique way of captivating the soul — and why, like sneakers, they tend to stick with us from the time we’re children. There’s also a sensory experience that comes with cars, and the fact that they (quite literally) move you. And thanks to movies and Hot Wheels and the Internet, we can tap into that nostalgia for cars even if we’ve never driven them or seen them in person.

“Whether it is the sixties, seventies, eighties — I think people have a connection, whether you see it in iconic films, […] something like Steve McQueen in Bullitt, when you’ve got a Mustang there and there’s a real sense of […] character from it… or it’s The Thomas Crown Affair,” says Dunhill’s Mark Weston. And these clothes, whether they reference a model or maker we love, or simply have that automotive touch baked into their fibers, remind us of that roller coaster feeling we had in our dad’s convertible, a poster on our wall, or a time when things were simpler.

Ultimately, what connects fashion and cars boils down to some combination of yearning for the past, engineering interest, and cars’ potent ability to do a lot of a brand’s world-building for it. Cars evoke cool, and allow a brand to leverage that in infinite ways, both through overt references to specific makes and models as well as tapping into what being a car-lover means. Even though enthusiasts still aspire to own their dream car, for almost all of us (especially those living in cities like New York), it’s probably not going to happen. But buying clothes that allow us to feel closer to that dream than ever is a viable alternative — at least for the time being.

[generouslyteenagealpaca-blog]

state farm auto insurance get a quote

"state farm auto insurance get a quote

state farm auto insurance get a quote

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Please reply its a Car Insurance question?

Please Give Me A link , Of telling how much is car insurance i am using Toyota Yaris I want to book Car Insurance For My car because My previous One is Finishing I want to get a New one I am searching on the internet to find any car insurance which is up to 800 pound's but i am unable Pleae i'll be gratful to you if u give me the correct Link for car insurance not the website thanks hope u undersatnd what i mean""

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Good motorcycle insurances?

I just got a new dirt bike and I can't race with it at the track without insurances, what are a couple of cheap motorcycle insurances. I called this one place before and they wanted to charge me 700$ a month""

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I am 17 years old i've had my license for 5 months without an accident, what would the average cost be for low coverage auto insurance for a 88 chevy v8 4x4 truck on an adults insurance? Im just looking for a close estimate.""

Does car insurance get cheaper after my teen years?

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I am wondering if anyone knows what insurance would cost on a Mustang V6 for a 16 year-old female in Tennessee?

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""Which costs more, Motorcycle insurance or Car insurance ?

I just got my Drivers License earlier this second quarter and I'm going for my motorcycle within the next month or two. My birthday is in February and I am currently 23 years of age.

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My car is a 1994 Lexus ES300 with 125,000+ miles on it. I would say it is in good or fair condition, the leather seats are cracking badly and it has a few scrathes, etc. I'm just wandering if it is in my best interest to repair this car or for it to be totaled out. The estimate for repairs in $3500.00, which could always go up once repairs start for unseen damage. I'm just not sure the car is worth repairing for that amount considering its condition. The damage is to the drivers side rear panel which is now rubbing something when I turn either way or go over any kind of bump in the road. The estimate does not consider repair for that since that could not be seen by looking at the vehicle. They are also saying the paint can't be matched perfectly because of the fading caused by sun and weather over the years. With everything considered my resale value is not good. I did want to sale this car at some point and get newer car.""

Do they let you take insurance?

hi does insurance companies in US,let you take life term insurance if you have HIV..""

How does health insurance work?

Forgive me for being financially illiterate, but I've never had anyone to teach me these things even in school. I don't really understand how health insurance works, like, at all. I am sick, and I rely on family health insurance to pay for my treatment, which my dad pays for. But eventually I will have to pay for my own health insurance. What I've gathered from what I've read about it is that you are usually not eligible for many types of health-insurance if you have a pre-existing condition. What does this mean, though? Does that mean that because of my illness, I will not be eligible to get insurance? How do other sick people get insurance? Forgive my stupidity, no one has ever tried to teach me these things.""

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""I want to drive into Mexico, but don't know much about car insurance...any help??""

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How many percent state farm increase insurance premium for 4 points in new york state?

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state farm auto insurance get a quote

state farm auto insurance get a quote

Cheap Car Insurance For 17 yr old?

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What is the cost of insurance for a bugatti?

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Can i pay Car Insurance with cash without using bank account? (or any other methods?)?

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Is it possible to switch car insurance?

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state farm auto insurance get a quote

state farm auto insurance get a quote

Car Insurance Renewal?

Dear Mates I have been driving for a year,The car that I have got is Micra 1 litre. Just received a letter from my current Insurance Provider. Letter says that my car insurance is 1807 for this year, if I pays Monthly. Which is about 300 more than last year. Even this year, I have got 1 year No Claim Bonus. What you guys think, is that OK or is it too much on this car? How much do you pays at the moment? Many Thanks""

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How much will my car insurance go up?

I already pay $270 a month for car insurance for my truck. If I were to buy a 1992 Jeep Wrangler, how much more will it go up?""

What is the best and cheapest insurance when renting a car in America?

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Why are my car insurance quotes so high?

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Accident damaged my car how much will insurance give me?

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""Hi all, does any 1 no where i can get multiple car insurance quotes instead of searching 1 by 1?""

i would like 2 enter my details and have multiple companies offering insurance, instead of doing it 1 by 1 does any 1 no where i can search for multiple insurance quotes thanx all""

Insurance for a 1994 camaro?

I am 16 and have had my liscnse for almost 7 months now and have had no accidents. I want to buy a 1994 camaro but not sure what insurance will be. It is a v6 3.4L. About how much will insurance cost me? What about if the car is under my parents name?

Suggestions on cheap home insurance?

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Does anyone know of cheap car insurance for over 50s?

Does anyone know of cheap car insurance for over 50s?

If i use third party Car insurance do i build up an insurance record?

Hey, i'm looking at buying a first car, however quotes for Comprehensive insurance are up over $2,000, but i want to build up an insurance record. Does using third party cover build me up an insurance record, or do i need comprehensive insurance? cheers""

Unemployment Insurance California?

I have been recently laid off after working for a company for 13 years. I filed for unemployment, but was denied benefits because I am currently employed by another company. However, it is a commission only position (Loan Officer) and I am learning the trade and have not made any sales, hence I have not been paid. I feel I should be able to get unemployment benefits until I actually get paid. Do I have a case for an appeal?""

How much would insurance for a16year old male driving a 97 camaro?

V6 97 camaro 170xxx In Oklahoma what would it cost

No insurance on car used to drive child around in?

How can one go about handling the possibility that a child's non-custodial parent is driving their child in a car with no insurance. Recently, a friend of mine told me that if a parent has a car accident and a child in injured in a car with no car insurance, medical insurance won't cover expenses. Is this true? If it is, how do you suggest the custodial parent go about asking for proof of insurance from the other parent. The parents don't get along very well, and the non-custodial parent doesn't like to talk details with the other parent, even when she tries. My only thought was for her to give him notice of this policy and should something ever happen, try to hold him responsible for all expenses. Still, this does not handle the safety issue at hand. Any ideas? Simply asking the non-custodial parent to show proof would not work. His style would be I don't have to show you anything.""

What insurance do i need?

I am buying an house I know i need buildings insurance and insurance to cover for if we are out of work, but the life insurance I take out do I HAVE to take out with critical illness to be able to go forward with my mortgage.???""

Why cant i get cheaper insurance?

i have a fiat 500 1.2 with a tracker in my car which is there to stop me driving between 11pm and 5am and im still being charged 2000 a year for my insurance, last year i was paying 2008 a year i have 1 years no claims and no convictions WHY AM I BEING PUNISHED????""

""Wat types of car insurances are there for a 18 year old in Canada, how much do they cost?""

Wat types of car insurances are there for a 18 year old in Canada, how much do they cost?""

How do I talk to my dad about paying insurance for a car?

I'm a high school senior, preping to head off to a 4-yr. I'm trying my best to save my family money; for example: -AP classes and tests for college credit -Scholarship searching -Spending only $100 on clothes for the last 2 years -Watching my utility/electric use by not watching TV (except the Olympics!) -Taking spring/summer college classes for transferable credit (in fact, I could have graduated and received my HS diploma at the end of my Jr. year). -Getting decent grades (had a 4.2gpa this past year, my Fr. and Soph. years were not that good) So, if you add it up, I think it would be a few thousand $ that would have been otherwise spent on tuition, some amount of utility bills, and some amount on clothing. For my senior year, I plan on doing a lot of extracurricular activities so I can get into a decent university, my plan is UC Davis. I'm a cross-country runner for my HS, I plan on doing a hospital volunteer program, I am in my HS's Mock Trial team. So, I would be out and about for most of the week going to different activities. I feel I need a way of transportation instead of relying on my brother and parents. Speaking of which, my brother has a car because he goes to a community college (and for that reason, he is mature?). Now the problem: my dad feels that I am too young for a car and does not feel that I am responsible and mature enough to handle one alone without supervision. My mom is willing to buy a car for me, with a reasonable price range. But my dad does not want to pay for car insurance. My parents are divorced, and I do most of the communication between them, especially when it comes down to needing money. I have brought up the aspect of working part-time. But my parents tell me that I should focus on school. My dad tells me I should focus on school instead of a car, but I need that car so I can get to where I need to be. My dad works from 9am-7pm, so I have no way of getting to 5pm practice or getting to school at 6am unless I rely on my dad. I understand how much stress my dad goes through supporting 4 children, two of which are about to go to college... It hurts when I have to ask him for money, even to pay for SATs and AP tests... Although essential, they still cost a lot of money, and money is tight now. With $65 per college app and college apps coming up in November, I'm going to be applying to nearly 10 schools, so over half a thousand dollars thrown away as my dad states it when I asked him to pay for my second SAT. My dad will pay for my academic needs, but he won't be happy about it. It feel as though my academic potential is being held back by how much money we have. I feel bad when I succeed now, basically. So I try my best to save money, like I gave examples of above. But now, I am only 1 step away from getting being independent, transportation-wise. All I need is my dad to agree to pay for my car insurance, which is probably about $200/month. Is that selfish of me? If not, how do I talk him into paying that $200/month, or to show him that I am mature enough to drive myself around? By the way, this was a long rant because I have been thinking and stressing about this all summer.""

What kind of car insurance for a adapted van?

Ok I have a 1993 Dodge Caravan. I am disabled so it has a ramp that is let out and brought back in. It has disabled hand controls and a drivers seat that raises and lowers and turns around.. just a bit more than your average seat does now-a-days.. this van was adapted when it was made.. so i have no receipts on the modifications or anything.. i could get an estimate from a local store that deals in strictly handicapped equipment.. how do i properly insure this van? I need to make sure that if it is ever totaled that i dont get just blue book. since i have to have a adapted van (i live in a rural area and there is no dependable handicapped public transportation) i have the permanent general insurance now, with a $1000 on the custom equipment. but i worry thats not enough or maybe even doesnt cover my handicap adaptions. the agent with them was snappy, rude, and didnt know anything.. ugh! what company should i go to? what do i need to have in my policy? help! i keep getting all this bad advice from the insurance companies because no one knows what to do!!!""

Is there a way for me to figure out how much insurance would cost me with different cars?

I'm 16 now, and shopping around for cars. I was wondering if there is any type of tool on the internet that would allow me to see how much I would pay for insurance with different cars? Say, a Civic compared to a 3000GT/Supra or something sportier.""

How much is the average insurance on a mustang v6 for a 16 year old?

How much is the average insurance on a mustang v6 for a 16 year old?

Will I be covered by my car insurance?

I am buying a new truck, and I am getting full coverage insurance on it. If I let somebody drive my car that has no car of their own and no insurance, will they still be covered by my insurance if they get in an accident since I gave them permission to drive my truck?""

Life insurance?

has anyone every heard of national benefit life insurance company of ny ny? i got this letter from them in the mail and im a bit scheptical of it... lemme know so i dont pour all this money into it and end up with nothing kthanks xoxo

Why is my car insurance quote cheaper?

My insurance ends this month so last week i just did a quote out of curiosity claiming i had a 1 years no claims bonus which i should get end of this month, which said it would be 10 cheaper. I did it last night but this time i put i had NO no claims bonus and it came up saying its 40 cheaper! I went for that one but does it matter that i havnt put in my bonus? I havnt got one yet anyway cause i needed to sort it out asap""

Why the difference in Insurance availability between developing countries vs. industrialized nations?

Why has insurance traditionally been more common in industrialized nations, and why is it uncommon/not possible for people in developing worlds to have insurance? At first I thought it was simply because insurance is not affordable by people in developing countries, but maybe there are other reasons?""

state farm auto insurance get a quote

state farm auto insurance get a quote

Disability Insurance in Vermont?

Does anyone know if it's legal in the state of Vermont to employee people without disability insurance? I know it's illegal in New York. I'm out of work due to pregnancy complications for 3 weeks or so and I can't collect disability for this or my maternity leave because they said they don't have disability insurance. I called a lawyer, but haven't heard back from them yet. Just curious if anyone knows the answer to this question. Thanks""

Which car insurance should I get--First Timer?

My first car--and I haven't a clue about what car insurance to get. At the website they ask questions and I'm not sure what they mean... This is what I want: I want my car to be covered in an accident, I want some money if I get hurt. If I get sued/it's my fault, I don't want to pay a lot out of pocket. Is that so much to ask? Thanks for your help!""

What happens when the insurance company totals your car?

What happens when the insurance company totals your car?

What would be a good FIRST CAR?

i'm a 15 year old who has a birthday a little ways away, but i'm trying to get a good idea of what i might get for my first car. my preferences: -nothing the cops would pull over late at night for suspicion of younger driver. i plan on sneaking out, and my city has a curfew, for everyone 16 and under. -i would LOVE for it to be rear-wheel drive. this isn't really needed, but i'd love for it to be. -my parents are spending no more than $10,000 on the car, and it'll be have to be used. -airbags. (parent requirement.) -insurance can't be too high. as in, not sporty. nothing like a mustang or anything along those lines. -it can't be BMW, jaguar, infiniti, cadillac, lexus or anything like that. my mom said they're snobby or grandma cars. -no SUV. (also parent requirement.) -i'm not a hatchback fan. -GOOD GAS MILEAGE!!!!!!! cars i had in mind were: nissan altima mitsubishi lancer mazda3 ford focus honda accord i'd like for you to mention the year of the car, too, if you know it.""

Life insurance for young people?

Hi there, Does someone knows what kind of insurance I need for 11 years old boy ? What company I should choose ? Little boy is doing lots of sports so I thought the best would be if he have a insurance. Insurance must cover overseas too. Any help will appreciate. Thank you, Ed""

""Where can I find good, inexpensive Life Insurance?""

Where can I find good, inexpensive Life Insurance?""

""On average, how much does groceries cost for 2?""

My friend and I are creating our budget plans for our first apartment. So far I've factored in rent, utilities, car insurance, and gas. If you know of anything else I should be aware of please let me know. Thanks!! (Btw, I'm in Arizona)""

How much is your car insurance?

I don't want to sound personal but I am wondering what everyone pays in car insurance. I happen to live in Michigan which has the highest car insurances rates in the country. I am planning to move soon and was wondering how much people are paying across the country. Please don't feel a need to give me the exact number, a range is fine. Also, please tell me the car type because I know that matters. Again with car type you don't have to tell the car. Example if you drive a 911 Porsche you could say, 2 door, luxury sports car. Any other information would be greatly appreciated, thanks!""

Can I get a driver's license without a car or insurance?

I'm older than 24 and never got around to getting a driver's license because I went to college at a young age. Now I have an opportunity to use my mom's insured car for a couple months, and I want to practice and get a driver's license, just so that I'll have the driving test out of the way (and won't feel so weird being this old without a license). However, I still don't plan to have a car, I'll be moving somewhere that I don't need a car, etc. I don't want to have to pay any insurance for having the license. Can I just get a permit and practice and take the driving test and get a license, without ever buying a car or auto insurance? And then I won't use the license, I'll just have it until it so happens that I might need to drive (perhaps use the insurance that you can buy along with rental cars, if I need to rent a car?). Also, I'm not sure if I'll be covered under my mom's insurance for permit driving because I am older than 24. I really don't know much about this. I just started looking into it about an hour ago. I've had an illness for a couple years that prevented me from driving but I'm getting better and thought maybe I should learn to drive now.""

""Can I cancel my Health insurance at work, because it is too expensive?""

We enrolled for Health insurance thru my husbands work,and we were not told how much the payments would be. We were told to wait and see what they took out of his paycheck, and that would be the payment. Now we are paying over $500 a month, for a family of four, and on only one income. We are unable to pay our bills like water, and electric, and have to make considerable cuts in our grocery shopping. We decided to cancel our insurance, and get our kids on the state program, but when my husband asked the HR department about cancelling insurance due to financial hardship, they told him he would have to wait 6 months until it was open enrollment. We can't wait that long. Are they allowed to do this?""

HELP : ( I need dental coverage but I am a temp.Can anyone recommend insurance?!?

I'm having a really hard time finding an insurance company that are available to temps. Unfortunately I make too much to be eligible for medicaid, which is ironic because I don't make a lot of money! lol So any suggestions!? I really need to go to the dentist asap, I'm in a lot of pain :'(""

Best car insurance companies...?

I am 18 and need to acquire insurance ... what are the best deals around?' I live in California ... Thanks!

What is the Average Car insurance cover for UK Provisional driver?

I need one and looking at most covers, they are hell of a lot costy. But I have an eye of one which is about 2.81 per day. What do you think of that? Above/below average? Good/bad cover. Any suggestion will help. Cheers.""

Need help understanding some insurance terms and policies.?

What is a HYBRID health insurance plan? Has anyone used this type plan?, specifically NEW HEALTH CHOICE, GOOD HEALTH. Beyond this...does anyone know of a good, affordable insurance for TEXAS. I really need help understanding this type plan. Sound too good to be true therefore it usually is.""

Is Mercedes expensive to maintain?

im 18 just got myself first car 05 c320 4matic. my parents are paying for gas and insurance which is 350$ a month but i will pay for the car payments with a part time job and maybe repairs do you think it will be too much for me?

Does anyone know of cheap insurance?

I just recently found out I have a nodule on my thyroid but I have no medical insurance. Its causing me relationship problems. I need help quick. I had a lung removed three years ago due to a cancer scare the doctors all thought it was cancer. The first place thyroid cancer matastisies to is the lung now Im afraid.

""What is the best learner motorcycle, cheap on insurance and good quality?""

I am looking to learn how to ride a motorcycle and am looking for a bike that is easy to learn, cheap to run, cheap on insurance and a good ride. Are older bikes cheaper? Are some brands better on insurance than others? Thanks.""

How does a foreigner to the uk get car insurance?

My husband is NOT a uk resident but i am. He is living here in the uk and currently applying to be a uk resident. We are struggling to find car insurance for my husband as main companies like churchills say he has to be a U.K resident. It could take us quite a few years before he becomes a uk resident. Surely business people or visitors to the uk get car insurance or do they all only use car hire? Any advice greatly appreciated.

Is it true that you don't need insurance on a car registered in New Hampshire?

A friend of mine went to college in New Hampshire. She told me that in New Hampshire the state motto is live free or die and insurance on a car is optional but not required. I'm from New York where people pay out their ears for insurance on cars. I can't imagine that this is true. Is it?

How much money do you typically get back from your insurance company if your car is totaled in an accident?

I was at fault, my car is the only one totaled. No one was injured...""

How much is motorcycle insurance in michigan?

I know it is hard to get an exact quote without knowing all the information, but I just need a range. I am looking at a 196cc 5 speed dirtbike that has been made street legal, and just need ~3 months of insurance. Would this be in the $100-200 range? Higher? Lower?""

""I wanna buy a 2008 car, how much would i pay for the insurance?

i am 30 years old and i just got my driver's license

Why did my car insurance get higher?

My car insurance is going up over $100 per 6 months *shocked face* I am curious. Is car insurance in general getting much higher? Or would this increase be due to a wreck I had in January? (It was totally not my fault, but the guy who hit me wasn't insured.) p.s. If it makes a difference, I use progressive insurance. I spent over a month calling around - they had the best offer for me last year. But now I guess it's time to see what else is out there.""

Should i tell my car insurance?

i got 3 bans but now legal and got a new job as a delivery driver should i tell my insurance company and would it make my insurance cheaper

Insurance change after marriage?

i am american and i got married in canada. my husband does not have insurance and i am covered under my mothers insurance. since i got married in canada will they see here in the us that i am married or will they know and i wont be covered anymore? i have not changed my last name to my husbands. if i still keep using my mothers insurance could i get into trouble if they found out i was married?

state farm auto insurance get a quote

state farm auto insurance get a quote

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-car-insurance-rate-change-ethan-leonard/"

[soyoureviewhiphoptoo]

Soundtrack of the Week 11/08/2017

It is time for the Soundtrack of the Week, the SYRHHT blog segment where I discuss latest music releases and other projects that I listen to over the space of 7 days. So, here is a slightly different Soundtrack!

ALBUM

Frank Ocean- Blonde Released August 20, 2016 Label: Boys Don’t Cry 

There is a list of albums that we, fans of hip-hop and music in general, wait for in anticipation but it is likely it will never be released. Dr Dre’s Detox, Kanye West’s Good Ass Job, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V, any album by Jay Electronica are just a few of many albums that we waited for eagerly. For a long while, the sophomore album by Frank Ocean was in this class. Following the release of the 2012 album, channel ORANGE, fans of Ocean waited for him to release more music. Despite being slated for a July 2015 release, the project known as “Boys Don’t Cry” would be delayed for another 13 months. Then one day, Frank Ocean released the visual album Endless, making everyone question if this was the project they had been waiting four years to listen to. In a cruel twist of fate, Frank would use Endless as a means of satisfying his record deal with Def Jam, independently releasing one more album the very next day. This album was Blonde

Boys Don’t Cry but, lyrically, this album is sad and depressing; I commend anyone who listened to this and did not shed any tears. Blonde shows a radical change in the demeanour and artistry of Frank Ocean. Gone were the unconventional yet exuberant alternative RnB style of channel ORANGE and enters a much more introverted, sombre style which experiments with a variety of sounds from techno, psychedelic-pop, soul, RnB and so much more than my feeble mind can not comprehend. On this album, Frank Ocean shows an intense level of introspection, openly discussing experiences of love, heartbreak and self-loathing that really takes you on a ride. I feel like it is hard to take songs out of this album to listen individually only because each song plays a part in the bigger story and experience that Ocean is portraying. This album is a full dive into the intense feelings of a melancholy man trying to understand himself following numerous instances of bad times in his life and it personally resonated with me. Blonde is a disjointed masterpiece that I openly recommend.

RATINGS

Concept: 4.8/5 Production: 4.5/5 Lyrical Content: 5/5 Flow and Delivery: 4/5 Repeatability: 4/5 Did I enjoy this project? Yes, I did Songs to Recommend? Nikes, Solo, Pink + White, Self Control, Nights and White Ferrari

Final Rating: 4.5/5

Frank Ocean- Solo Personally, I found it difficult to pick just one song to place here, as any song on this album can be easily recommended but I decided to pick this song. Solo is a long-standing double entendre, with Frank Ocean singing about feelings of embracing being alone while deep down, he feels “so low” and needs some kind of high to feel better about himself. This was one of the first songs that immediately resonated with me as I can fully relate to this cognitive dissonance of feelings

ALBUM

Kid Cudi- Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ Released December 16, 2016 Label: Wicked Awesome Records and Republic Records

 I will start by saying that prior to the release of this album, I had never listened to a full Kid Cudi project. While I had heard a few songs from him and his features on Kanye West projects (Welcome to Heartbreak is an amazing song by the way), I had never been drawn to him (this seems like a recurring theme on this blog). In 2016, Kid Cudi found himself in a very strange place. He went on a twitter rant of Kanye-proportions, calling out Drake and the aforementioned Mr West, immediately calling them out for having ghostwriters despite their constant bragging of being top 5 artists. This would lead to a harsh response from Kanye during one of his many on-stage rants, saying  "Don't You Ever Mention Ye name, I birthed you." (Drake also responded...it was wack. It does not even deserve a reference). All of this “drama” would come to an abrupt halt when Cudi would admit himself into rehab a few weeks later for depression and suicidal urges. (Drake would then release the diss track Two Birds, One Stone while Cudi was in rehab...which is also wack). All of this happens to him and strangely, I found myself drawn to him. A weird combination of sympathy, disappointment in two of my favourite artists and the release of the lead singles of Frequency and Surfin’ drew me in and I decided to give Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ a shot (that is an amazing name by the way).

Seeing as I had never heard a full project by Cudi, my expectations were naturally low but I can openly say that I was completely blown away by Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’. This album is lazily labelled as a hip-hop album but it is so much more than that. Cudi utilises the use of multiple instrumental sounds that generates a completely immersive experience. What is even better is Kid Cudi’s use of vocals and sounds he makes; throughout the project, he varies from rapping to singing to even humming. I do not think I have ever enjoyed a person hum more than I did when I heard Kid Cudi do it for at least 30% of the album. Aside from the stellar production, it is the lyrical content that helps set this album apart. In this album, Kid Cudi openly discusses his mental health.

These illusions in my head, ohh (I never wanna leave) Hallucinating, flying through air, ohh, so long To the demons in my head, ohh (No more misery) Hallucinating, flying through air, ohh, so long Free, free

Taken from ILLusions

Nightmares kept a nigga from closing his lids Since a kid, I've been haunted by visions of death Such a trip, now it's normal, I customed the grip

Taken from Baptized in Fire

You could try and numb the pain, but it'll never go away You could try and numb the pain, but it'll never go away

Taken from Swim in the Light

These lyrics only scratch the surface of the larger picture that Cudi is painting. He has spent seemingly a long time, consumed with these thoughts and feelings and while he goes out of his way to find ways of numbing this pain or blocking these thoughts, usually through drug use and sex, he is ultimately unable to overcome. The album starts out sombre and bleak, making you feel as if he will be unable to get out of this unfortunate situation however as it ends, Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ changes its tone; becoming lighter and more positive. This shows me that there is hope for anyone who is going through any form of mental illness, showing that with the right help, you can cope and get better. We do not get a lot of music in hip-hop discussing the toll of poor mental health and Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ is a hopefully the first of many.  

Ratings

Concept: 5/5 Production: 5/5 Lyrical Content: 5/5 Flow and Delivery: 4/5 Repeatability: 4.5/5 Did I enjoy this project? Yes, I did Songs to Recommend? Frequency, Surfin’, Swim in the Light, Baptized in Fire, ILLusions, Kitchen, Rose Golden, All In and By Design

Final Rating: 4.7/5

Kid Cudi- Frequency The opening song of the album and the beginning of this tale. He is with a lot of women, doing drugs as they all try to tune into the same frequency. To me, this track shows Cudi trying to numb the pain he is experiencing mental with menial things like taking shrooms and having sex. (Which is supported with the next song on the album Swim in the Light, for which the opening lines are above)

ALBUM

SZA- Ctrl Released June 9, 2017 Label: Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records

This is the first album of the First Lady of T.D.E and the label’s first RnB act. The label, best known for Black Hippy members, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and ScHoolboy Q, the New Jersey singer SZA has found herself in a position to be one of the premier artists of her label. Long-suffering with label issues and album push backs, SZA finally treated the world with her debut album, Crtl. I’ve only heard her 2014 EP, Z and I can say that this album was a complete departure from the older project, showing a maturity in her singing style and a different range of lyrical content.

Spending time listening to the somewhat negative vibes of Blonde and Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’, Crtl was a nice change of pace. In terms of production, the album presents a hybrid of RnB, hip-hop, soul and indie rock sounds that bring about an overall upbeat sound. What I appreciate about this album is the lyrical content. SZA is completely transparent about her past experiences of love and relationships. The album opens with the song Supermodel where she openly mentions she was having sex with her ex’s best friend after he dumped her on Valentine’s Day (messy...). She would go on to spend the album speaking of past love, loveless sexual encounters and a yearning just to love again. Although I’m not a woman so I cannot attest to all the experiences here, Crtl feels down to earth and ultimately relatable; her recent surge of popularity only makes sense. This is a great album to vibe to whether you are by yourself or with a loved one (I imagine it is a great thing to listen to during a breakup too).

Ratings

Concept: 4/5 Production: 4/5 Lyrical Content: 4.5/5 Flow and Delivery: 4/5 Repeatability: 4.5/5 Did I enjoy this project? Yes, I did Songs to Recommend? Supermodel, Drew Barrymore, Love Galore, The Weekend, Broken Clocks and Garden (Say It Like Dat)

Final Rating: 4.2/5

SZA- Drew Barrymore One of the calmer songs on the album and the lyrics are a reflection of this. The song shows the low self-esteem and insecurity generated in her mind from a bad relationship. While SZA is questioning herself and wondering if the relationship is even worth it, she still yearns for the affection of her lover.

ALBUM

J.I.D- The Never Story Released March 10, 2017 Label: Dreamville Records, Spillage Village and Interscope Records

It only makes sense to end this soundtrack with a rap album. So I decided to listen to another debut album, only this time it is an artist I have seen gain a lot of love and yet I had never heard of before. The Atlanta M.C. J.I.D seemingly popped up out of nowhere and had the hip-hop community talking about his debut project. The latest signee of J Cole’s Dreamville Records, J.I.D comes in as a perfect fit for the lyrical rapper style record label.

The Never Story is a very interesting debut for J.I.D. In this album, he immediately sets himself apart from his contemporaries, especially those from Atlanta who are mostly trap-rappers. He is not mumbling, he is not rapping about all the drugs he sells, he is not talking about going to the strip club every day, he is just rapping... J.I.D makes it very clear that he has a very solid rap ability and a unique flow that is complemented by his high-pitched voice and southern cadence.

Even before grades, going to my brother court dates And I asked my momma bout what he did but they'd never tell me Then I figured he killed a nigga or got caught for some dope he selling Kinda close but no cigarillo, he was armored up, that's a armadillo

Taken from General

J.I.D spends a large portion of the album discussing past experiences, growing up in East Atlanta but he is able to tell his stories in such an interesting way that keeps you hooked and makes you want to listen multiple times over. Production wise, the beats feel crisp and pristine yet they also have an underground feel that perfectly complements his rap style and his hood stories. J.I.D is certainly an artist to look out for and I am waiting for him to do songs with his fellow Dreamville artists (more specifically Cole)

Ratings

Concept: 3/5 Production: 4/5 Lyrical Content: 4.1/5 Flow and Delivery: 4/5 Repeatability: 4/5 Did I enjoy this project? Yes, I did Songs to Recommend? General, NEVER, EdEddnEddy, D/vision, Underwear and LAUDER

Final Rating: 3.8/5

J.I.D- Never The lead single of this album and his most well-known song to date. J.I.D speaks of times of struggle, being impoverished, unable to afford certain luxuries but what he switches this around almost immediately, saying he values his morals and would not ask for handouts or go for quick ways of making money like committing crimes.