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oh-meow-swirls · 2 years

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Yo-kai Watch 1 But I Rewrote It - Chapter 1

so as i'm sure y'all following me will know by now, i've been rewriting 1 over on ao3. for anyone interested, you can find it here.

to summarize briefly: it's a rewrite of 1 where the main difference is that it's in katie's continuity n she has her yo-kai sensing ability from nyanderful days. also jibanyan moves in with her (though that's irrelevant for now).

i decided to upload this to tumblr too, so here we are! i'm planning on making an index with all the chapters for quick access, but that's not made yet so um. sorry about that ksldfjfksldsfd- though chapter 2 can be found here. but anyways!

Chapter Summary: While catching bugs for her summer project, Katie encounters many odd occurrences... including one that would change her life forever.

Chapter 1 - An Average Day

Katie had always had an odd ability, her whole life. There were always odd, unexplainable things your average person couldn't see or hear or otherwise perceive...

But Katie could. She'd always been able to - why and how, she wasn't sure. Neither of her parents had it, nor did her grandparents from what they were aware.

It gave her a slight interest in the supernatural. Particularly in Yo-kai - mischievous spirits invisible to the naked eye. But, her bigger interest was in bugs - Springdale had lots of them, and lots of kids at her school had at least some interest in them.

Speaking of her friends, Katie was hanging out with her best friends - Nate, Eddie and Bear - at Triangle Park, a small and fittingly triangular playground many kids hung out at.

They were simply chatting about random things before Eddie said he had something to show them, digging through his bag until he pulled out a wooden box with glass on the front, with bugs pinned inside - not just common cicadas, either; there were butterflies, and even a couple of rare beetles. "Ta-da!"

"Whoa!" Katie and Nate both exclaimed.

"Did you catch those all yourself?"

"Yep! My yard attracts a ton of rare bugs," Eddie explained.

"I caught some when he got too squeamish," Bear chimed in before getting elbowed by Eddie, "hey!"

Katie and Nate both chuckled before Eddie turned to face Katie. "Hey, Katie, you're catching bugs for your summer project, right?"

"Erm... yeah," she nodded. In all honesty, Katie hadn't even started - she'd been too distracted with the books about Yo-kai she'd gotten from the school library. Her ability had gotten stronger recently - she kept seeing a small, bipedal red cat with markings walking around, who would always disappear before she could get another glance. A nekomata, it seemed to be, given the signature two flaming tails.

"I bet you haven't even started," Bear teased.

"Yeah. Have you even taken your net out at all this summer?" Eddie chimed in, also teasing.

"Hey, you two aren't being very nice," Nate defensively butted in, "leg pulling or not, it's not very nice."

There was a pause before Eddie broke the silence. "We should all be heading back home now. Seeya guys later!"

"Bye!"

"Seeya!"

Katie waved her friends off before sighing. Eddie and Bear had been right that she hadn't started her summer project - their teasing wasn't even meant to be too cruel, they just ended up taking it too far too often. Part of her had been considering making her summer project about Yo-kai... but the teasing made her determined to finish her bug-catching!

She quickly made her way home, explaining to her mom that she was going out to catch bugs for her project - not before getting scolded for not writing in her summer diary, though.

Once upstairs, Katie grabbed her bag and put in her bug net, a few small plastic bug containers, her diary, and a notebook. The notebook had a few doodles and notes on Yo-kai, both from her books and from her own sightings. She figured she'd bring it just in case she saw something strange.

"Alright, first stop, Triangle Park," she muttered to herself, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. She said bye to her mom before heading out to the playground.

Katie set her bag on the bench, pulling out her net and some of the plastic bug cages. She made her way to one of the trees, which had a few cicadas resting on the trunk; with one foul swoop, she caught a green cicada and quickly put it in the container. It didn't put up a fight at all, oddly enough, while the other cicada had flown away.

Katie managed to catch another cicada before she looked around again. "Guess that's all that's here..."

As she was putting the cages in her bag, she felt an odd aura from the green cicada who hadn't struggled, and saw it glowing. "Whoa... this must be a rare one!" Or something else...

Quickly, she made a note of it in her notebook (odd aura from glowing cicada) before placing the cage back in her bag.

"Hmm... where should I look next," Katie thought for a few seconds, "oh, the school janitor always talks about his bug collection! I should ask him."

She walked over to the schoolyard, waving to a few of her classmates before finding the janitor. "Um, Mr. Janitor? Where's the best place to find bugs."

"Hm... well, I'd say it's probably Mount Wildwood," he answered, "if you're going bug-catching, take some of these," he handed her some containers of what looked to be a black syrup of some sort, "bugs love this syrup - slather some in your net and they'll be more likely to stay caught."

"Thanks!" Katie smiled, putting the syrup containers back in her pocket. She received a "good luck!" from the janitor before heading to Mount Wildwood.

There were many steps leading up Mount Wildwood; allegedly there were ninety-five, and climbing all of them would give you a good education. It was a tiring trek, and Katie took a break between the flights of stairs until she finally reached the shrine.

Mount Wildwood was serene and calming. For the most part, it was still in its natural state - the shrine on top and the abandoned mining tunnels further up the trail were the only industrialization as far as Katie was aware.

"Alright," she muttered, holding her net tight as she went down the stairs to the right of the shrine. There were a few trees she could access - and a fence, which behind it had a giant tree. It was sacred - Katie wasn't fully sure why, but didn't question it, "guess I'll see what I can find around here!"

She slathered some syrup on her net and in the empty containers - it helped her catch more cicadas, though some of them realized what Katie was doing and managed to escape. By the end, she'd caught around five cicadas in total - three green ones and two red ones.

Speaking of green cicadas... Katie pulled out the cicada who had an odd aura. She still sensed the aura, even stronger than before now... it wasn't only from the cicada now. Katie looked around, her eyes catching on the fence that had previously been a barricade from the Sacred Tree - it glowed the same odd glow the cicada had, and had a much stronger aura... and then, it vanished, as if it had never been there in the first place!

"What the..?!"

Katie looked around, putting the cicada back in her bag. Seeing as no one was there...

"Well... guess a little look around wouldn't hurt!" Katie thought out loud, grabbing her net and again hoisting her bag over her shoulder.

She walked into the outcove with the giant tree, looking around. "Hmm... if I were a rare bug-" or a Yo-kai... "-where would I be..."

Katie's thoughts were cut off as she approached the tree - she hadn't quite realized how tall it was from behind the fence. "Whoa..."

But what caught her eye more was the base of the tree - there sat a gachapon machine, which looked very old. "What's this thing doing here-"

It had an aura.

She simply stared at it for a second. "What in the..."

Then a voice burst into song.

"Feed me, feed meeeeee..."

"What?!"

"Feed me, feed me, feed me now!"

Katie was caught off-guard and was hesitant in her next actions. I guess I should... put a coin in?

She searched through her bag for some change, finding some and approaching the gachapon machine. Quickly, Katie shoved the coin in and backed away, shielding her eyes... nothing happened yet, at least.

She cranked the dial on it a few times and a capsule popped out. It looked like it was made of rock, but did have a defined top and bottom.

Katie screwed off the top, and was launched back by the force of... rings made of some sort of light coming out? Through the spiraling rings, Katie could make out... a silhouette?

"Why hello! I'm Whisper - I'm a Yo-kai butler, at your service. Pleased to meet you. Charmed!"

#puppy's yw1 rewrite #yo-kai watch #yokai watch #youkai watch #ykw #yw #yw1 #(guess i'll finally tag human characters. it's a christmas miracle. a halloween miracle-)#katie forester #nate adams #eddie archer #bear bernstein #(< those two don't have tags)#whisper #whisper yw #there's others but they're not important enough #puppy rambles

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victortalkingmachine · 2 months

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"put a song for every letter in your url and tag the amount of people in your url"

thank you @eeuwigestilte for tagging me in this ^_^

you will notice quite a bit of artist repetition:

violin concerto in a minor (kolja blacher & cologne chamber orchestra)

i'm simply crazy over you (sam ash & louise macmahon)

come josephine in my flying machine (ada jones & billy murray)

they start the victrola (billy murray)

oui oui marie (arthur fields)

rhapsody in blue (leonard bernstein & columbia symphony orchestra)

the honeysuckle and the bee (belle davis)

after the ball (george j gaskin)

les amants de paris (édith piaf)

k-k-k-katy (billy murray)

i'm afraid to come home in the dark (billy murray)

narcissus (victor concert orchestra)

glüwürmchen idyll (will kalinka & paul godwin orchestra)

margot coeur gros (édith piaf)

an der schönen blauen donau (andré rieu & johann strauss orchestra)

cri du coeur (édith piaf)

he'd have to get under—get out and get under (billy murray)

i'm goin' to settle down outside of london town (billy murray)

non, je ne regrette rien (édith piaf)

eden blues (édith piaf)

20 tags: @ahotjanuary @bumblingest-bee @busg @crescentmp3 @dilbobloggins @drinkthemlock @dualclock @freddiegoesmetal @koiketto @locomotivefan @magnoliae @orangegloom @porciaenjoyer @riddled-forensic @spring-heeledjack @strangestcase @thereddenedking @troyandabedsnewapartment @verae @wiredalienvampire

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dear-indies · 5 months

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full list of biden letter 2:

Aaron Bay-Schuck Aaron Sorkin Adam & Jackie Sandler Adam Goodman Adam Levine Alan Grubman Alex Aja Alex Edelman Alexandra Shiva Ali Wentworth Alison Statter Allan Loeb Alona Tal Amy Chozick Amy Pascal Amy Schumer Amy Sherman Palladino Andrew Singer Andy Cohen Angela Robinson Anthony Russo Antonio Campos Ari Dayan Ari Greenburg Arik Kneller Aron Coleite Ashley Levinson Asif Satchu Aubrey Plaza Barbara Hershey Barry Diller Barry Levinson Barry Rosenstein Beau Flynn Behati Prinsloo Bella Thorne Ben Stiller Ben Turner Ben Winston Ben Younger Billy Crystal Blair Kohan Bob Odenkirk Bobbi Brown Bobby Kotick Brad Falchuk Brad Slater Bradley Cooper Bradley Fischer Brett Gelman Brian Grazer Bridget Everett Brooke Shields Bruna Papandrea Cameron Curtis Casey Neistat Cazzie David

Charles Roven Chelsea Handler Chloe Fineman Chris Fischer Chris Jericho Chris Rock Christian Carino Cindi Berger Claire Coffee Colleen Camp Constance Wu Courteney Cox Craig Silverstein Dame Maureen Lipman Dan Aloni Dan Rosenweig Dana Goldberg Dana Klein Daniel Palladino Danielle Bernstein Danny Cohen Danny Strong Daphne Kastner David Alan Grier David Baddiel David Bernad David Chang David Ellison David Geffen David Gilmour & David Goodman David Joseph David Kohan David Lowery David Oyelowo David Schwimmer Dawn Porter Dean Cain Deborah Lee Furness Deborah Snyder Debra Messing Diane Von Furstenberg Donny Deutsch Doug Liman Douglas Chabbott Eddy Kitsis Edgar Ramirez Eli Roth Elisabeth Shue Elizabeth Himelstein Embeth Davidtz Emma Seligman Emmanuelle Chriqui Eric Andre Erik Feig Erin Foster Eugene Levy Evan Jonigkeit Evan Winiker Ewan McGregor Francis Benhamou Francis Lawrence Fred Raskin Gabe Turner Gail Berman Gal Gadot Gary Barber Gene Stupinski Genevieve Angelson Gideon Raff Gina Gershon Grant Singer Greg Berlanti Guy Nattiv Guy Oseary Gwyneth Paltrow Hannah Fidell Hannah Graf Harlan Coben Harold Brown Harvey Keitel Henrietta Conrad Henry Winkler Holland Taylor Howard Gordon Iain Morris Imran Ahmed Inbar Lavi Isla Fisher Jack Black Jackie Sandler Jake Graf Jake Kasdan James Brolin James Corden Jamie Ray Newman Jaron Varsano Jason Biggs & Jenny Mollen Biggs Jason Blum Jason Fuchs Jason Reitman Jason Segel Jason Sudeikis JD Lifshitz Jeff Goldblum Jeff Rake Jen Joel Jeremy Piven Jerry Seinfeld Jesse Itzler Jesse Plemons Jesse Sisgold Jessica Biel Jessica Elbaum Jessica Seinfeld Jill Littman Jimmy Carr Jody Gerson

Joe Hipps Joe Quinn Joe Russo Joe Tippett Joel Fields Joey King John Landgraf John Slattery Jon Bernthal Jon Glickman Jon Hamm Jon Liebman Jonathan Baruch Jonathan Groff Jonathan Marc Sherman Jonathan Ross Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Tisch Jonathan Tropper Jordan Peele Josh Brolin Josh Charles Josh Goldstine Josh Greenstein Josh Grode Judd Apatow Judge Judy Sheindlin Julia Garner Julia Lester Julianna Margulies Julie Greenwald Julie Rudd Juliette Lewis Justin Theroux Justin Timberlake Karen Pollock Karlie Kloss Katy Perry Kelley Lynch Kevin Kane Kevin Zegers Kirsten Dunst Kitao Sakurai KJ Steinberg Kristen Schaal Kristin Chenoweth Lana Del Rey Laura Dern Laura Pradelska Lauren Schuker Blum Laurence Mark Laurie David Lea Michele Lee Eisenberg Leo Pearlman Leslie Siebert Liev Schreiber Limor Gott Lina Esco Liz Garbus Lizanne Rosenstein Lizzie Tisch Lorraine Schwartz Lynn Harris Lyor Cohen Madonna Mandana Dayani Mara Buxbaum Marc Webb Marco Perego Maria Dizzia Mark Feuerstein Mark Foster Mark Scheinberg Mark Shedletsky Martin Short Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mathew Rosengart Matt Lucas Matt Miller Matthew Bronfman Matthew Hiltzik Matthew Weiner Matti Leshem Max Mutchnik Maya Lasry Meaghan Oppenheimer Melissa Zukerman Michael Aloni Michael Ellenberg Michael Green Michael Rapino Michael Rappaport Michael Weber Michelle Williams Mike Medavoy Mila Kunis Mimi Leder Modi Wiczyk Molly Shannon Nancy Josephson Natasha Leggero

Neil Blair Neil Druckmann Nicola Peltz Nicole Avant Nina Jacobson Noa Kirel Noa Tishby Noah Oppenheim Noah Schnapp Noreena Hertz Odeya Rush Olivia Wilde Oran Zegman Orlando Bloom Pasha Kovalev Pattie LuPone Paul & Julie Rudd Paul Haas Paul Pflug Peter Traugott Polly Sampson Rachel Riley Rafi Marmor Ram Bergman Raphael Margulies Rebecca Angelo Rebecca Mall Regina Spektor Reinaldo Marcus Green Rich Statter Richard Jenkins Richard Kind Rick Hoffman Rick Rosen Rita Ora Rob Rinder Robert Newman Roger Birnbaum Roger Green Rosie O’Donnell Ross Duffer Ryan Feldman Sacha Baron Cohen Sam Levinson Sam Trammell Sara Foster Sarah Baker Sarah Bremner Sarah Cooper Sarah Paulson Sarah Treem Scott Braun Scott Braun Scott Neustadter Scott Tenley Sean Combs Seth Meyers Seth Oster Shannon Watts Shari Redstone Sharon Jackson Sharon Stone Shauna Perlman Shawn Levy Sheila Nevins Shira Haas Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Tikhman Skylar Astin Stacey Snider Stephen Fry Steve Agee Steve Rifkind Sting & Trudie Styler Susanna Felleman Susie Arons Taika Waititi Thomas Kail Tiffany Haddish Todd Lieberman Todd Moscowitz Todd Waldman Tom Freston Tom Werner Tomer Capone Tracy Ann Oberman Trudie Styler Tyler James Williams Tyler Perry Vanessa Bayer Veronica Grazer Veronica Smiley Whitney Wolfe Herd

Will Ferrell Will Graham Yamanieka Saunders Yariv Milchan Ynon Kreiz Zack Snyder Zoe Saldana Zoey Deutch Zosia Mamet

#fc help #rph #rpt #banned fc #zionist fc

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girlactionfigure · 9 months

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It was an “emotionally wrenching and heart felt” performance.

“Surrounded by burning candles, performing on a grand piano and accompanied by a small orchestra of violins,” his rendition of this famous song “spoke to many of us who were suffering from the terrible tragedies in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.”

It was just days after 9/11, when Neil Young performed the iconic song, according to a site dedicated to Neil Young News.

Although the song was banned from radio in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, “because envisioning a world where we all got along was at odds with the public demand for bloody justice,” according to Consequence, Young believed it was the right song to sing.

Pulse Magazine wrote that Young's performance of "Imagine" on the Benefit telecast was "one of those moments you never forget."

“When disaster strikes, musicians respond the way they know best: with song,” wrote Katy Waldman of Slate. “As composer Leonard Bernstein said three days after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, ‘This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.’”

“In times of trouble and grief, there is one song that millions of people turn to for inspiration and solace: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Imagine’,” according to writer Martin Chilton.

The “Imagine” album was released on September 9, 1971, touching “the world with its hopeful message about the need for global understanding,” wrote Sari Rosenberg.

This is a new story on the Peace Page.

~~~~~

“For nearly 50 years, credit for this song - "Imagine" - has gone to one writer - John Lennon,” according to NPR.

That changed in 2017, after Lennon himself admitted his wife Yoko Ono should receive co-credit. Lennon explained in 1980 “a lot of the lyric and the concept came from Yoko.”

“Ono's 1964 book of conceptual poetry, ‘Grapefruit,’ contained verses like, imagine clouds dripping and imagine goldfish swimming across the sky. She also contributed to the song's theme of a world without borders or religion pulling people apart,” according to NPR’s Neda Ulaby.

In an interview with David Sheff, shortly before his death in December 1980, Lennon also shared that Dick Gregory had given him and Ono a Christian Prayer-book which had inspired him to write the track. “The concept of positive prayer…If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion – not without religion but without this my God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing – then it can be true.”

“When ‘Imagine’ was released, John Lennon said that the world was too focused on trivialities and ‘the thing we should be talking about is the violence that goes on in this society.’ It reached No. 1 following Lennon’s murder in December 1980 and entered the UK charts again in 2012 after Emeli Sandé recorded a cover for the 2012 London Olympics,” according to writer Martin Chilton.

“Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ is arguably the most loved song of all time,” according to writer Joe Taysom. “The track captures Lennon crying out for a fairer world . . . As the decades go on, ‘Imagine’ has morphed into a tragically appropriate tonic to whatever travesty is currently tearing the world apart.”

“It’s not surprising that musicians turn to this particular work in the aftershocks of tragedy,” according to Waldman. “For one thing, ‘Imagine’ is a song that musicians continually turn to, period: The Broadcast Media Inc. found it to be one of the most covered songs of the 20th century. Its simple, versatile structure has seduced and inspired hundreds of artists, among them Lady Gaga, Emeli Sande, Etta James, Davie Bowie, Pink, Eva Cassidy, and The Persuasions.”

More than 200 artists have performed or covered the song, including Joan Baez, Elton John, Diana Ross, Peter Gabriel, Melissa Etheridge, Dave Matthews, Dolly Parton, Seal, , India.Arie, John Legend, and Julian Lennon.

“The ritual arguably began on Dec. 9, 1980, when Queen covered the song at the Wembley Arena, one day after Lennon died. Stevie Wonder played it during the closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics to honor lives lost in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. . . . In 2004, Madonna joined the ranks of “Imagine”-eers when she reinterpreted Lennon’s ballad at an aid concert for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.”

“Though the song was banned from radio in the immediate aftermath of 9/11,“Neil Young recognized its potency, singing it at a memorial concert, ‘America: Tribute To Heroes’”, according to Chilton. “Coldplay performed a version after the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015. Following discord around North Korea in 2018, ‘Imagine’ was the natural choice for a group of Korean musicians to perform at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.”

“It’s now become the go-to song when it comes to grief or mourning,” wrote Taysom. “This is down to the tangible sense of hope that rings out from ‘Imagine’ and an overriding feeling that everything will eventually be okay.”

~~~~~

“It returns to us most bittersweetly when something bad happens, when we are casting about for answers and consolation,” wrote Waldman. “The writer John Blaney called ‘Imagine’ a ‘humanistic paean for the people,’ a kind of secular prayer. Rolling Stone described it as ‘22 lines of graceful, plain-spoken faith in the power of a world, united in purpose, to repair and change itself.’”

“The song also derives considerable power from its historical context. Lennon, shot down before his time, reminds us that the universe can run ramshod over idealistic people. That knowledge makes ‘Imagine’’s plea for peace and brotherhood all the more poignant. On the other hand, the fact that the song persists, even though Lennon is gone, speaks to the enduring strength of his fantasy. If ‘Imagine’ captures the fragility of our hope after a violent or destructive event, it also reveals its tenacity.”

The legacy of the song was most perfectly summarized by President Jimmy Carter, who noted: “In many countries around the world — my wife and I have visited about 125 countries — you hear John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ used almost equally with national anthems.”

After Neil Young completed his rendition of “Imagine” after 9/11, reports were he “appeared to be on the verge of tears.”

Chilton says, “Decades after its original release, this popular music masterpiece, a model of simplicity, continues to inspire people of all races and creeds, offering the listener a momentary respite of hope in a troubled world, especially in the beautiful lines:

‘You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope some day you’ll join us

And the world will be as one.’”

~ jsr

[Image, courtesy of Noam Galai]

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

#9/11 #Imagine #John Lennon

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garadinervi · 10 months

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«Rampike», Vol. 21, No. 2, 'Poetics – Part Two', Edited by Karl Jirgens, Windsor, 2012 [UWindsor Institutional Repository, University of Windsor, Windsor. room 3o2 books, Ottawa]

Contributions by Michael Winkler, Leonard Cohen & Judith Fitzgerald, Charles Bernstein, Susan Gold & Mike Dyer, George Bowering, Frank Davey, Katie Solbeck, Terry Trowbridge & Alexander Brown, Richard Kostelanetz, Peter Jaeger, Jesse Ferguson, Cathy Wagner, Tim Atkins, Amy De'Ath, Brenda Francis Pelkey, Richard Parker, Marcus Slease, Edward Nixon, Christian Burgaud, Susan Holbrook, Louis Cabri, Brian Ang, Harvey L. Hix, Kevin McPherson Eckoff, Stephen Remus, Eric Schmaltz, Travis Kirton, Kelly Mark, bill bissett, Judith Copithorne, Gregory Betts, Hallie Siegel, Matt Donovan, a.rawlings, derek beaulieu, Steve McCaffery, bill bissett, Cyril Dabydeen, Babar Khan, Norman Lock, George Elliott Clarke, tENTATIVELY a cONVENIENCE, Denise Desautels & Norman Cornett, Amanda Earl, Nick Power, Lindsey Bannister, Paul Lisson, Raquel Torres, Camille Martin, Stephanie McKenzie, Justin Langlois, Robert Anderson, Andre Narbonne, Tray Drumhann, Eric Zboya, Mat Laporte, Nico Vassilakis, Robert Dassanowsky, rob mclennan & Sachiko Murakami, derek beaulieu, & Ottarormstad, Britt-Marie Lindgren, Michael Basinski

Front Cover Art: Reed Altemus Back Cover Art: Andrew Topel

#graphic design #typography #art #poetry #concrete poetry #visual poetry #magazine #cover #magazine cover #rampike #karl jirgens #reed altemus #andrew topel #uwindsor institutional repository #room 3o2 books #2010s

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katietheweirdgirlinclass · 7 days

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Welcome to the multiverse. Look! Here’s a universe where flowey from undertale is eating soup with barnaby Bernstein!

"Dear, what are you even talking about...?"

Wait, Undertale is a real universe? Flowey is real!?!

Katie, are....are you ok?

....no, now I'm scared.

#yokai watch #yo kai watch #yokai au #yo kai #katie #katie adams #katietheweirdgirlinclass #nate #nate forester #natetheshykidinclass #yo-kai watch #flowey #flowey undertale #flowey the flower

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pop-pop-pop-popculture · 1 year

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MY 2023 Met Gala Guest List :)

(previous // there will be new people and old people as well as some changes)

Anya Taylor-Joy

Zendaya

Sadie Sink

Elle Fanning

Dakota Fanning

Margot Robbie

AnnaSophia Robb

Sarah Hyland

Lily Collins

Madelaine Petsch

Camila Mendes

Saoirse Ronan

Noah Schnapp

Melissa McCarthy

Florence Pugh

Rebecca Ferguson

Halle Berry

Keke Palmer

Miranda Cosgrove

Madison Pettis

Millie Bobby Brown (the so-called "boyfriend” stays at his own house!!!)

Awkwafina

Amy Adams

Jessica Alba

Jessica Chastain

Phillipa Soo

Lupita Nyong’o

Gal Gadot

Anna Kendrick

Blake Lively

Jessica Biel

Ariel Winter

Winona Ryder

Zoe Saldana

Charlize Theron

Natalia Dyer

Nicole Kidman

Emilia Clarke

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Idina Menzel

Viola Davis

Emily Blunt

Sofía Vergara

Meryl Streep

Anne Hathaway

Amanda Seyfried

Constance Wu

Elizabeth Olsen

Ana de Armas

Karen Gillan

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Madelyn Cline

Hugh Jackman

Daveed Diggs

Jared Leto

Finn Wolfhard

Tom Holland

James McAvoy

Leslie Odom Jr.

Regé-Jean Page

Ryan Reynolds

Chris Hemsworth

KJ Apa

Idris Elba

David Harbour

Bebe Rexha

Caleb McLaughlin

Bill Skarsgård

Alexander Skarsgård

John Krasinski

Dua Lipa

Stanley Tucci

Charlie Heaton

Robert Downey Jr.

Taron Egerton

Selena Gomez

Ariana Grande

Beyoncé

Rihanna

Halle Bailey

Chloe Bailey

Alessia Cara

Alicia Keys

Céline Dion

Taylor Swift

Lady Gaga

Ciara

Cassie

Elton John

Madonna

The Weeknd

Lily-Rose Depp

Cara Delevingne

Taylor Hill

Elsa Hosk

Josephine Skriver

Romee Strijd

Jasmine Tookes

Lais Ribeiro

Sara Sampaio

Heidi Klum

Candice Swanepoel

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Behati Prinsloo

Miranda Kerr

Jacopo Venturini (CEO for Valentino since 2020)

Adut Akech

Paloma Elsesser

Kaia Gerber

Adriana Lima

Alessandra Ambrosio

Gisele Bündchen

Valentina Sampaio

Karlie Kloss

Gigi Hadid

Bella Hadid

Kendall Jenner

Lily Aldridge

Soo Joo Park

Paris Jackson

Daphne Groeneveld

Blanca Padilla

Sophie Turner

Nick Jonas

Jennifer Lopez

Ben Affleck

Billie Eilish

Billy Porter

Zoë Kravitz

Tiffany Haddish

Dakota Johnson

Kerry Washington

Mindy Kaling

Donatella Versace

Anna Wintour

Vera Wang

Tory Burch

Benedict Cumberbatch

Serena Williams

Kasey Musgraves

Katy Perry

Frank Ocean

Julianne Moore

Michael B. Jordan

Jordan Peele

Janelle Monáe

Ashley Graham

Mary-Kate Olsen

Ashley Olsen

Jennifer Connelly

Irina Shayk

Christian Bale + Mrs. Bale

Diane von Furstenberg

Gabrielle Union-Wade

Jeremy Scott (designer for Moschino)

Katie Holmes

Emily Ratajkowski

Gwen Stefani

Julia Garner

Angelina Jolie

Alicia Vikander

Lizzo

Adwoa Aboh

Jourdan Dunn

RuPaul

Solange Knowles

Billie Lourd

Daisy Ridley

John Boyega

Emma Stone

Eddie Redmayne

Bri Larson

Rita Ora

Dua Lipa

Naomi Scott

Law Roach (March 15, 2023: I would still invite him despite his decision to retire, but it’d be understandable if he chose not to attend.)

Kate Moss

Victoria Beckham

David Beckham

Mila Kunis

Natalie Portman

Zoey Deutch

Halsey

Michelle Williams

Winnie Harlow

Kiernan Shipka

Rachel McAdams

Florence Welch

Danielle Bernstein (@weworewhat on Instagram)

Grace Elizabeth

Joey King

Dan Stevens + Mrs. Stevens

Christian Siriano

Jeremy Scott

Alessandro Michele (designer for Gucci)

Miuccia Prada

Elie Saab

Iris Van Herpen

Han Chong (designer for Self-Portrait)

Maria Grazia Chiuri (designer for Christian Dior)

Anthony Vaccarello (designer for Saint Laurent)

Silvia Ventura Fendi

Giambattista Valli

Zuhair Murad

Virginie Viard (designer for Chanel)

Elaine Welteroth

Nina Garcia

Imaan Hammam

Sara Paulson

Julia Roberts

Brandon Maxwell

Pierpaolo Piccioli (designer for Valentino)

Yara Shahidi

Gemma Chan

Laverne Cox

Lucy Boynton

Naomi Campbell

Penelope Cruz

Salma Hayek

Gwyneth Paltrow

Rami Malek

Sienna Miller

Aurora James

Carey Mulligan

Charli XCX

Alexa Chung

Stella Maxwell

Sofía Sánchez Barrenechea

Dapper Dan

Aquaria

Timothée Chalamet

Normani

Camila Coelho

Deepika Padukone

Tommy Hilfiger

Violet Chachki

Nasiba Adilova

Shailene Woodley

Joe Jonas

Megan Fox (MGMK stays home.)

Laura Haddock

Orlando Bloom

Willow Smith

Jason Sudeikis

Ewan McGregor

Coco Rocha

Ralph Lauren

BTS - Jungkook, V, Park Ji-min, Jin, Suga, RM, J-Hope

Blackpink - Jennie, Lisa, Rosé, Jisoo

Doja Cat

Sam Claflin

Kiera Knightley

Sebastian Stan

Alexina Graham

Rachel Zegler

Sophia Lillis

Sam Smith

Mimi Cuttrell

Aubrey Plaza

Adam Driver

Kate McKinnon

Aidy Bryant

Thomasin McKenzie

Evan Peters

Maddie Ziegler

Colin Farrell

Kristen Bell

Idina Menzel

Michelle Dockery

Chris Evans

Peter Dinklage

Luke Evans

Amy Poehler

Liam Hemsworth

Robert Pattinson

Christian Louboutin

Stuart Weitzman

Nicola Glass (designer for Kate Spade)

Michael Kors

Manolo Blahnik

Alberta Ferretti

Kim Jones (designer for Fendi)

Viktor Horsting

Rolf Snoeren

Richard Madden

Giorgio Armani

Isabel Marant

Nicky Zimmermann

Simone Zimmermann

Gimmo Etro

Abigail Breslin

Lana Del Rey

Natalia Dyer

Molly Ringwald

Adele

Giambattista Valli

Tamara Ralph

Michael Russo

Isla Fisher

Anastasia Soare (founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills)

Charlotte Tilbury

Allan Avendaño

Danielle Priano

Pier Gelardi (founder of Refinery29)

Aubrey Plaza

Philippe von Borries (founder of Refinery29)

Christene Barberich (founder of Refinery29)

Justin Stefano (founder of Refinery29)

Sara Moonves (editor-in-chief for W Magazine)

Arnaud de Contades (CEO of Marie Claire Magazine)

Anne Fullenwider (editor-in-chief of Marie Claire Magazine)

Lauren Conrad

Miles Socha (editor-in-chief of Women’s Wear Daily)

Jay Penske (CEO of Women’s Wear Daily)

Jessica Pels (editor-in-chief for Cosmopolitan Magazine)

Rob Zangardi

Mariel Haenn

Michael Fassbender

Jason Bateman

Elliot Page

Betsey Johnson

Jonathan Groff

Anna Faris

Sabrina Carpenter

Meryl Streep

Brie Larson

Renée Elise Goldsberry

Jasmine Cephas Jones

Cindy Crawford

Nicholas Hoult

Jennifer Garner

Zac Posen

Taraji P. Henson

Joan Smalls

Samira Nasr (editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar Magazine)

Lily James

Thandiwe Newton

Ciara Bravo

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Phoebe Dynevor

Allison Janney

Daniel Levy

Claire Foy

Lisa Eldridge

Kale Teter

LaQuan Smith

Lacy Redway

Alexandra DiRoma

Alex White (fashion director for Elle Magazine U.S.)

Carine Roitfeld (founder and editor-in-chief of CR Fashion Book)

Carine Backoff

Zoey Grossman

Tyler Shields

Joy Sunday (’Bianca’ in Wednesday)

Greg Williams

Cass Blackbird

Kacey Musgraves

Owen Gould

Tobi Henney

Marc Eram

Charlotte Prevel

Romy Soleimani

Rebecca Minkoff

Joseph Altuzarra

Gabriela Heart (designer for Chloé)

Hedi Slimane (designer for Céline)

Phoebe Philo (designer for Céline)

Jonathan Anderson (designer for Loewe)

Saweetie

Kelsey Deenihan Fisher

Lorde

Harry Styles

Demna Gvasalia (designer for Balenciaga)

Anok Lai

Precious Lee

Michelle Yeoh

Storm Reid

Jennifer Hudson

Maisie Williams

Tom Ford

Iman Abdulmajid

Ella Emhoff

Regina King

Amandla Stenberg

Eiza González

Stella McCartney

Edward Norton

Vittora Ceretti

Leslie Grace

Cynthia Erivo

Alton Mason

Mary J. Blige

Carey Mulligan

Ming Xi

Donald Glover

Brooke Shields

Tracee Ellis Ross

Maya Hawke

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Symone

Chiara Ferragni

Ewan McGregor

Laura Dern

Anthony Mackie

Barbara Palvin (Dylan stays at home!!!! He does not need to be at every single event with her.)

Pharrell Williams

Frank Ocean

Dove Cameron

Daniel Craig

Queen Latifah

Jason Wu

Shawn Mendes

Camila Cabello

Jenna Ortega

Olivia Rodrigo

Emma Myers (‘Enid’ in Wednesday)

Tyler Doohan

Christina Ricci

Ke Huy Quan

Demi Lovato

Kristen Stewart

Hailee Steinfeld

Anyone who works in corporate fashion, is a fashion designer, a makeup artist, fashion stylist, fashion model, or hairstylist is invited. There’s just SO many of them, though... . Also, significant others are an automatic +1 unless I said they are not invited :)

NOT Invited

Justin Bieber

Hailey Baldwin

Austin Butler

Pete Davidson

Cole Sprouse

Lili Reinhart

Kim Kardashian

Ansel Elgort

Khloé Kardashian

Kris Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner

Miles Teller

Kylie Jenner

Emma Chamberlain

Addison Rae

Percy Hynes White

Charlie D'Amelio

Dixie D'Amelio

James Charles

Cardi B

Nicki Minaj

Miley Cyrus

Priyanka Chopra

Jeffree Star

ALL social media influencers (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram)

Lena Dunham

John Legend

Chrissy Teigen

Kanye West

Doutzen Kroes

Ezra Miller

Johnny Depp

Amber Heard

Armie Hammer

Travis Scott

Emma Roberts

Tom Cruise

Henry Cavill

Alida Morberg (Bill Skarsgård’s problematic “girlfriend��)

David Dobrik

Madison Beer

Domenico Dolce

Stefano Gabbana

Lil Nas X

Olivia Wilde

Alexander Wang

Justin Timberlake

Adam Levine

Machine Gun Kelly

21 Savage

French Montana

Chloë Grace Moretz

Chris Pratt

Bella Thorne

Scarlett Johansson

Jennifer Lawrence

Emma Watson

Vanessa Hudgens

Sacha Baron Cohen

Dylan Sprouse

Sarah Jessica Parker

Olivia Jade

Kid Cudi

Channing Tatum

Paris Hilton

Nicky Hilton

A$AP Rocky

Jeremy O. Harris

John Mulaney

Olivia Munn

Elon Musk

Chris Brown

MGMK

▪️ March 1, 2023 ▪️

#text #personal #2023 #pop culture #met gala #met gala 2023 #fashion industry #fashion

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ephrom · 2 years

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Are Lily Orchard's Stalkers In The Room With Us Right Now?

Lily Orchard has a surprising amount of stalkers. Not only that, but she's really good at determining who is and isn't a stalker on the spot. Here is her declaring two anonymous people on her tumblr stalkers in the last week--because they both called out her constant mention of vague "stalkers" as the reason everything bad happens to her in life.

Now, I'm not going to say that Lily Orchard has never been stalked. However, Lily has such a vague definition of "stalking" that the term is basically meaningless. Back in the day (notice how I am admitting this was years ago), she used to label ForNoGoodReason a stalker--make no mistake, he was a dumbass and a creep, but not a stalker--for the crime of making videos talking about her. However, making videos on somebody--even obsessively and constantly making videos on somebody--is not stalking. Under that definition, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were stalking Richard Nixon by covering Watergate for The Washington Post. This is a behavior Lily began engaging when I stopped watching her, and has only gotten worse since. Take this video Orchard posted three months (notice how I am very clearly saying when this video came out) at time of writing.

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In this video, she lists six people as stalkers--none of whom she says by name, by the way. Yeah, despite this video serving the purpose of "drawing attention to her stalkers," she doesn't actually allow people to know who these people she wants to draw attention to are.

I'm still fairly new to the Lily Orchard drama sphere all things considered, so I'll break this down the best I can by telling you what she names these people and who they really are.

Karen is @britts-galaxy-brain

Carol is both Jess and Zena

Katie is @segasister

Ellie is Lizzy Orchard, her ex-fiancé

Skylar is Patchwork Hearts

Val is Cypher from @whyyoulyinglily

Mark Twain once said that no man has a good enough memory to be a liar, and Lily is such a liar she is unable to remember her own story from paragraph to paragraph. Within the same minute, Segasister I mean Katie I mean Segasister hates Lily both because she said Voice of Reason was wrong regarding My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and because she called out pedophiles in the brony community. Jess and Zena I mean Carol I mean Jess and Zena are grifters trying to content farm her one minute, and the next they're nothing more than aggressive Vaush fans.

Of course, if anybody knows even the basic facts about these situations, we can find that Lily is just lying at various points. For example, the content farming Jess and Zena I mean Carol I mean Jess and Zena were engaging in actually amounted to two videos before this came out.

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Meanwhile, Brittiany I mean Karen I mean Brittiany is so transphobic that when they were friends Brittany was actually encouraging Lily to pursue a transgender identity despite fears that actually becoming a woman would be unrealistic. Oh, also, Brittiany began talking about her experiences with Lily between five and six years ago--I'll admit, I can't remember exactly when--not eight years ago, I know, I was there when it happened.

This isn't even getting into the number of claims she makes without the slightest amount of evidence--again, because the nature of the video demands she not use any or else risk shining a light on the people she made this video to shine a light on. For example, she claims out of nowhere that she has a hunch that Patchwork Heart I mean Skylar I mean Patchwork Heart was celebrating her being raped in 2018. If this claim were true, that would make Patchwork Heart I mean Skylar I mean Patchwork Heart a terrible human being--and Lily just throws out this guess without giving it any kind of support. (For reference, I have since talked to Patchwork Heart and she does not seem like the kind of person who would celebrate somebody being raped.)

However, what have these six stalkers done with all their years of harassment? Not much, according to Lily. You see, despite being obsessed with her to the point where they want to show up to her house, Lily has to admit that these people have done nothing to her other than stress her out. She even says she can't sue them for defamation because they haven't done enough damage to her. Remember, it wasn't one of her stalkers who found her address, it was a fan who did that to send her a Nintendo Switch.

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Side note: This video is great because Lily spends basically the last seventy five percent complaining about her stupid and obsessive her fanbase is. We all know that if her critics acted like this, she would talk about this constantly. Meanwhile, the people who criticize her are supposed to be the biggest sources of stress in her life?

In fact, can we just talk about how Lily talks about her fanbase in this video more generally? This is a topic for another post, but Lily saying her fans "can't take no for an answer" just shows you what kind of community she fosters. Lets not forget that this is the same woman who said that she told her fans she was fine with NSFW art of her OC because she thought that would mean they'd make less of it.

This should go without saying, but if you have to play reverse psychology regarding sexual boundaries--that's not exactly a good thing. Again, why is it that Lily keeps talking about the damages her critics keep doing--which she admits are basically non-existent--when her fans are doing shit like this?

In another post, she says that her fans are morons who cannot do the most basic forms of critical thinking and expect her to figure things out for them.

It's funny that in that video, she says that online cults cannot form. Even ignoring the fact that this is just wrong, it seems like a good chunk of her fans want a cult leader.

Anyway, I have no idea how to end this post--so here's a funny tweet from Nezziemonster, somebody with a very funny Twitter that you should follow.

#lily orchard #fornogoodreason #Youtube #jess and zena #segasister #lizzy orchard #patchwork hearts #cypher #voice of reason #vaush #britts-galaxy-brain #nezziemonster

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inshelliesworld · 9 months

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Oracle Talk

I really love today's cards!

Question: "What do I need to believe in more?" Decks: Spirit Animal Wisdom - Katie-Jane Wright; Super Attractor - Gabrielle Bernstein

#oracle cards #daily pull #tarot

3 notes · View notes

therepublicblogs · 9 years

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You may not know Amit Raіzada’s name, but some of KC’s wealthy won’t soon forget it

On December 26, 2012, Amit Raizada drove his wife, Amanda Raizada, to the office of his estate-planning attorneys. Amanda was presented with several large binders filled with documents and instructed to sign where indicated.

“Amit told me that I needed to sign the documents and to trust him because everything he did was for the good of the family,” Amanda later stated in a sworn affidavit.

Amit Raizada was, and still is, CEO of Spectrum Business Ventures, a private investment firm that was headquartered then on Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza. Personal financial statements at the time valued the couple’s estate at $90 million.

Seven days earlier, Amanda Raizada had signed an amended postnuptial agreement. Amit Raizada and his attorney Pete Smith, of McDowell Rice Smith & Buchanan, have since argued in court that Amanda voluntarily signed the postnuptial agreement; Smith has supplied evidence of a monthlong correspondence between him and Sheldon Bernstein, who served as Amanda Raizada’s legal counsel for the postnup, prior to her signing the agreement.

But Amanda Raizada alleges — and e-mails introduced into the couple’s divorce proceedings confirm — that Smith chose Bernstein to serve as Amanda’s counsel. Smith wrote to Amit on November 5, 2012: “Attached is Sheldon Bernstein’s business card. Amanda needs to contact him. He has the agreement and all the documents. I met with him to provide the background.” Four minutes later, Amit forwarded Smith’s e-mail to Amanda and wrote, “Please call the guy and set up the next available appointment.”

Could Bernstein serve as an independent and disinterested legal counsel for Amanda Raizada, given that opposing counsel Smith handpicked him and met with him prior to Amanda’s even knowing his name? That question is at issue in the couple’s ongoing divorce proceedings, due to what Amanda discovered a year later, after she and Amit separated. (Bernstein declined to comment for this story.)

By signing the postnup, Amanda had cleared the way for a reshuffling of the Raizadas’ estate plans — plans that, upon execution, resulted in the transfer of 70 percent of the assets on her side of the couple’s financial statement into irrevocable trusts for their children and Amit Raizada–owned entities.

“Ms. Raizada’s 22% ownership interest in the Raizada Group, LP, rather than providing $16 million in assets, resulted in a projected $237,000 tax liability for her in 2013,” say her attorneys, Bradley Manson and Katie McClaflin, of Manson Karbank Burke. “Mr. Raizada … not only directly undermined the value of the parties’ assets, but actually divested Ms. Raizada of the vast majority of her wealth, leaving her with hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential tax liabilities every year for the rest of her life.”

“Amit exercised complete control and made all decisions regarding estate planning during our marriage,” Amanda stated in an affidavit. “My husband did not ask me what I wanted to do with my assets, or explain to me what he was planning with his attorneys.”

Amit Raizada did, however, discuss some details of the arrangement with Michael Gortenburg, who was a principal at the time at Spectrum Business Ventures. According to Gortenburg, Amit Raizada walked into his office one day in a cheery mood and informed him that Amanda had recently signed the postnup. Gortenburg asked if Amanda had a lawyer. Raizada responded that she did but that he had told her that he himself had “read the agreement, it was fine, and the lawyer’s objections were just an attempt to run up big fees.”

According to Gortenburg, Amit Raizada said he had convinced Amanda to sign the postnup by telling her that Gortenburg and Scott Asner (another of Raizada’s business partners at Spectrum Business Ventures) would not do business with him unless she signed it. Gortenburg responded that he had never said such a thing nor had he heard Asner say such a thing.

Raizada shrugged his shoulders and said, “I can’t believe she signed it,” according to Gortenburg.

By just about every account, Amit Raizada is a savvy businessman with a talent for structuring deals. Amanda Raizada is a stay-at-home mother of three with almost no business background. And she trusted her husband.

She’s not alone. In alleging that she is the victim of financial trickery orchestrated by Amit Raizada, Amanda Raizada joins a growing chorus of individuals, locally and across the country, who say Amit duped them. Unlike Amanda, though, many in this group had extensive experience in the business world.

None of that experience seemed to prepare them for making deals with Amit Raizada.

Amit Raizada moved to Miami last year, following a decade spent building his fortune in the Kansas City area. He did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Born in India in 1976, Raizada was brought to the United States when he was about 18 months old. He attended high school in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and college at Michigan State University and Cornell University, according to a 2004 deposition. After college, Raizada moved to Florida and met Amanda; the two took up residence in Michigan, where she finished her degree at Michigan State, and he opened three Nextel wireless retail locations in Grand Rapids. In 2000, Raizada sold the Nextel stores, and the couple resettled in Olathe. Amanda is from the area and graduated from Olathe North High School.

Raizada’s first Kansas City–area business venture was Cellular 4 Less, a chain of authorized Cingular Wireless retail outlets with locations in St. Joseph, Lawrence, Mission, Shawnee, Lenexa and Bonner Springs. Cellular 4 Less also operated kiosks inside local Wal-Marts.

On July 8, 2002, Raizada stopped in at a US Bank in Olathe to make a deposit for Cellular 4 Less. While waiting for one teller to process his deposits, he handed another teller roughly $2,000 in cash and asked her to change it into higher bills. The teller asked for Raizada’s ID and Social Security number. At that point, a dispute broke out. Several bank employees swore under oath that Raizada called the tellers “fucking whores” and “fucking bitches.” He also allegedly spit on the bank supervisor and punched her in the chest. Raizada stated in a subsequent deposition that he felt he was being discriminated against by the US Bank employees because of his race. He later sued US Bank and settled out of court.

Raizada was arrested and charged with two counts of battery and one count of disorderly conduct. He later agreed to a 12-month diversion program and undertook an anger-management class. Raizada also paid a settlement to one of the tellers after she filed a civil suit against him.

Representing Raizada in these legal actions was Phillip “Chuck” Rouse, of the law firm Douthit Frets Rouse Gentile & Rhodes. During this period, Raizada moved his office into the same building as Rouse’s firm: 903 East 104th Street, near Holmes Road and Interstate 435. According to Kansas business filings, Rouse and the other partners in the firm still retain ownership interests in some of Raizada’s businesses. The firm, which now has its office in Leawood’s Park Place district, declined to comment for this story.

After the US Bank episode, Raizada was involved in rolling out T-Mobile stores in California, and with rehabbing and reselling local real-estate properties through a company called Kansas City Real Estate Investors Inc. In 2005, he changed the name of the latter company to Spectrum Business Ventures. Joining Raizada at Spectrum were Asner and Gortenburg, two local real-estate investors specializing in multifamily housing. The company evolved into an investment firm and capital venture that aimed, marketing materials read, “to bring exclusive opportunities to create and preserve wealth — while trying to minimize risk — to family offices, high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors.” Raizada moved to Mission Hills in 2006.

Raizada, Asner and Gortenburg had done well on their own prior to Spectrum Business Ventures, but what took their joint operation into the financial stratosphere was a series of investments tied to online payday lending.

As The Pitch has been reporting for more than a year, many wealthy Kansas Citians doubled and tripled their net worth over the past decade by investing in online payday-lending operations, which are notorious for charging borrowers interest rates of several hundred percent and hidden fees.

As a software provider, eData Solutions offered the technology to filter loan applicants, process transactions, and purchase defaulted loans from customers for third-party resale to debt-collection agencies. The company grossed $30 million in 2007, $37 million in 2008, $38 million in 2009 and $54 million in 2010, according to documents obtained by The Pitch.

To expand eData, its founder, Joel Tucker, sought increased financing in 2008. Spectrum Business Ventures was ready to help him.

In 2011, Spectrum Business Ventures owned 17 percent of eData and, according to several sources, owned significantly more in 2012, when the company was sold to the Wyandotte Nation, an American Indian tribe, for $277 million. (Forging alliances with Indian tribes is a common strategy in the payday-loan industry. Because tribes enjoy sovereign immunity, businesses that claim to be based on tribal land are more difficult to regulate and prosecute.)

At the height of the online-lending boom in Kansas City’s business community — 2007–13 — investors such as Spectrum Business Ventures were enjoying annualized rates of return as high as 40 percent. If you knew the right people, you could turn $500,000 into $700,000 in a year. Raizada was one such person. And while the low-income borrowers of these payday loans watched helplessly as online-lending operations drained their bank accounts via hidden fees and exorbitant interest rates, people such as Raizada were living large — very large.

Receipts obtained by The Pitch, as well as court depositions, document nights of stunning excess. In August 2012, Raizada racked up a $94,000 tab in a single evening at a Las Vegas club called XS Nightclub. The following day, he spent $40,000 at Encore Beach Club. On a trip to Chicago in November 2012, he spent $20,000 at a nightclub called Board Room, and another $41,000 at a venue called Paris Club. In his divorce case, Raizada testified under oath that “spending $100,000 or $200,000 in an evening at a club entertaining was normal and ordinary business.” (Some of these expenses are being contested in court by former business partners.)

The payday party ground to a sudden halt in 2013, when the federal government implemented what has become known as Operation Choke Point. The Department of Justice began sending subpoenas to banks and payment-processing firms that facilitated online payday loans, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. began auditing banks suspected of processing Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments involving lenders under suspicion. Those banks and processors, fearing financial and regulatory penalties, treated their former clients like hot potatoes: Virtually overnight, online payday-lending operations found themselves without the ability to drop money into — and, more essentially, out of — borrowers’ accounts.

As Amit Raizada’s divorce filing puts it: “The incoming stream of his [Raizada’s] personal cash flow has been severely curtailed given that the Raizada Group had significant investments in payday lending industry entities which involves an industry that is in a state of flux resulting in a significant reduction in the amount of cash flow that flowed through Spectrum Business Ventures and then to him [Raizada].”

It’s easy not to ask too many questions when big checks are rolling in. It’s only when the cash machine stops spitting out bills that people have a tendency to become a little more detail-oriented. When the golden payday yacht sank, Raizada’s business partners began wondering about their money. Many are still waiting for answers.

In the past year, five lawsuits have been filed by former business associates of Raizada’s, alleging that he defrauded them of large sums of money. Multiple sources confirm that still more have either settled with Raizada out of court or are in the process of doing so.

For the most part, these individuals are not complaining because Raizada or Spectrum Business Ventures irresponsibly sank their money into payday funds that tanked when the government went after that industry. Much of the fraud that he is accused of is instead similar to what Amanda Raizada claims in her divorce pleadings: sneaky, complex financial manipulation and self-dealing relating to back-office shuffling of corporations and limited liability companies.

Asner and Gortenburg know what she means.

By 2013, Spectrum Business Ventures had moved its operations from its 104th Street office to a tonier space on the second floor of 420 Nichols Road, on the Country Club Plaza. In the middle of that year, Asner and Gortenburg, then principals at the firm and partners with Raizada and Rouse in dozens of operating companies and real-estate projects, were tipped to suspicions of foul play in Raizada’s business dealings. They soon found evidence that, through an entity called Spectrum Management LLC, Raizada had been improperly invoicing a variety of personal expenses to various other entities in which Spectrum Business Ventures had invested. Asner and Gortenburg also say they discovered that Raizada was misrepresenting financial information related to entities in which they were investors, and misrepresenting the price he paid to acquire certain entities.

Not exactly the stuff movies are made of. Still, Raizada’s transgressions were serious enough that Asner and Gortenburg moved out of the Plaza office. In resolving the dispute, Raizada relinquished control of 12 companies in which he, Asner and Gortenburg shared an interest, and paid Asner and Gortenburg a $4 million settlement in November 2013.

In 2008, Raizada and a business associate he had met in Mexico, Richard Houghton, began pitching Mexican land deals to local investors. Houghton already had a record of unscrupulous behavior. He and three other self-proclaimed movie producers agreed in 2002 to pay $18.5 million in penalties and restitution for selling bogus securities via a boiler-room-like operation in California. The premise was that the investments would finance two upcoming Hollywood films: a drama starring Ben Kingsley, called American Peacekeepers, and a children’s movie called Treasure Hunt. Investment returns of 400 percent were promised. In reality, neither film existed, and more than 200 investors lost all their money.

It is believed that Raizada met Houghton on a business trip to Mexico; Houghton had taken up residence on a yacht in Tulum following the California lawsuit. Documents and correspondence obtained by The Pitch strongly suggest that Raizada and Houghton then conspired to defraud investors by inventing a story that would attract capital investments. For example, Raizada sent the following e-mail to Houghton on January 10, 2009, in advance of David Vittor’s visit to consider investing with Raizada. (Vittor is the former president of Major Brands, the largest alcohol distributor in Missouri.)

“Story of Rich [Houghton],” Raizada wrote to Houghton. “Sold Venture Capital Company for several hundred million out of La Jolla, CA. Moved to Mexico west coast. Saw that all opportunity was on East coast (Tulum). Have made LOT of money in Tulum by buying land, zoning it, dividing it up into sections and selling it.”

Raizada went on: “Ask him [Vittor] behind my back what I’m getting besides my lots for upside. Tell him he is surprised that I’m not making the lots up or asking for some of his upside. Tell him he must have a good relationship with Amit, because if I were Amit I would never show anyone the goldmine we hit.”

Vittor — as well as Steve Sobek, a local real-estate broker; Ed Schifman, former CEO of Interconnect Devices Inc.; Steve Grewal, a local homebuilder; Asner; and Gortenburg — invested several million dollars in the Mexican land deals, according to documents obtained by The Pitch. In 2011, Raizada reported to investors that Houghton had embezzled the Mexican real estate. Their money was gone.

Vittor, Sobek, Schifman and Grewal either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment about whether they had reached an out-of-court settlement with Raizada over the Mexican deals. But Asner and Gortenburg are pursuing financial restitution over Mexico, alleging that Raizada diverted their investment money into his personal accounts.

“There is no clear or logical story that has emerged regarding the Mexico land deal,” Dan Blegen, who represents Asner and Gortenburg in the Mexico suit, tells The Pitch. “Amit has told different stories to different people at different times. His explanation of the timing of the deals makes no sense, and his pleadings make no sense and are internally inconsistent. We have no idea if anyone’s investment in Mexico was actually legitimate. At this point, it does not appear that Amit ever had the land investment in Mexico that he sold to people. It was just a way for him to take money from people. He essentially sold people nothing.”

An investment involving the sale of wireless stores in St. Louis provides perhaps the most easily grasped representation of how Raizada’s opponents say he did business. Two separate lawsuits, both filed in 2014 in Jackson County, charge that Raizada approached a group of investors in 2009 about purchasing four distressed Verizon Wireless stores in St. Louis for $1.4 million. What actually happened, these investors allege, is that Raizada bought the stores for $400,000, through an entity he created called Cellular Management LLC. He then waited two weeks and sold the stores to the investors for $1.4 million — essentially creating $1 million out of thin air.

“He lied to everybody,” says Blegen, who is also the attorney for spurned investor Efraim Gershom. “And even after the purchase, we believe there was additional malfeasance and self-dealing in his management of the stores.” (Gershom’s lawsuit also alleges that Raizada misrepresented the value of some Arkansas subdivision lots that Raizada sold to Gershom.)

The other group of investors that has brought suit against Raizada over the St. Louis Verizon stores includes Terry Van Der Tuuk, who founded and took public Graphic Technology Inc.; Jon Staenberg, a techie venture capitalist from Seattle; and Dan Becker, a senior vice president at Waddell & Reed, the prestigious Overland Park asset-management firm.

Becker was also an investor, through Raizada, in eData Solutions. Documents obtained by The Pitch indicate that Becker had a percentage interest in eData in 2010, via his investment vehicle Badger Capital LLC. Was Becker investing Waddell & Reed clients’ money in eData or other online payday-lending entities? “No comment,” Becker tells The Pitch.

(Becker and Sobek, who was also an eData Solutions investor, share financial-victim status in a separate alleged scheme. Both invested with Brenda Wood, the Leavenworth businesswoman accused of running a check-kiting scheme on a downtown Kansas City real-estate deal. Becker has sued Wood for $6.1 million.)

A revocable trust in Vittor’s name was one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in early 2014 in Miami against Raizada. The lawsuit centers on Adore, an opulent Miami club opened by nightlife mogul Cy Waits (best known as Paris Hilton’s ex-boyfriend) and bankrolled in part by Spectrum Business Ventures. The plaintiffs claimed that Raizada interfered with the development of the club, diverted its funds to Raizada-affiliated entities, and charged inappropriate expenditures to Adore’s books.

The parties have since resolved their differences. “The air has been cleared,” Raizada said in a press release last August. “After bringing in independent forensic accountants and completing a thorough review of project documents, we have shown there were no improprieties of any sort by my firm, our staff, or myself.” Adore permanently closed the same month, after only four months in business.

Resolution on the other lawsuits brought against Raizada remains elusive. Of those, Raizada’s attorney Pete Smith says: “Out of over 100 transactions, people were upset that five transactions lost money. Overall, the track record was great, but there seems to be a lack of realization that high-return investments carry commensurate risk, and when risky transactions go awry, the loss does not result from fraud.”

Spectrum Business Ventures today lists a post-office box in Lee’s Summit as its headquarters. Asner and Gortenburg took over the former SBV headquarters, at 420 Nichols Road, as part of the process of severing their professional ties with Raizada. They now operate a real-estate investment firm there called Eighteen Capital.

In the southwest corner of the space — where windows overlook Sperry, Cole Haan and other high-dollar retailers — is Raizada’s former office. It contains a large desk, mahogany molding, a large TV mounted on the wall — and little else. Nearly a year and a half after Raizada’s acrimonious departure, his office remains unoccupied, an odd vacancy in an otherwise vibrant business environment. The mention of Raizada’s name to former SBV employees in the office induces not just frowns but also traces of trauma.

“Amit is a really bright guy,” one former SBV employee said in December. “He could have done really great things here.” The employee shook his head and got back to work.

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alphst · 1 year

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Shake Shack Inc Class A (SHAK) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Shake Shack Inc Class A (NYSE: SHAK) Q1 2023 Earnings Call dated May. 04, 2023 Corporate Participants: Annalee Leggett — Director of Investor Relations and FP&A Randy Garutti — Chief Executive Officer and Director Katie Fogertey — Chief Financial Officer Analysts: Jeffrey Bernstein — Barclays — Analyst Michael Tamas — Oppenheimer — Analyst Jake Bartlett — Truist Securities — Analyst Drew…

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cyarskj1899 · 2 years

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YEAR IN REVIEW

The 100 Best Songs of 2022

Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Steve Lacy, Pharrell, and Quavo and Takeoff were just some of the artists whose songs this year we won't forget

BY ROLLING STONE

DECEMBER 5, 2022

WHAT MADE A great song in 2022? Was it an irresistible beat and a sense of humor? An introspective, bittersweet dream? An absolute dance floor banger? Was it lo-fi, high-res, loud, soft, twangy, poppy, sleek, distorted, hugely anthemic, or perfectly tiny? The answer was yes — all that and more. Or maybe it was a song that imperiously declared any and all doubters to be a bunch of munches. You’ll have to listen to all 100 songs here to be sure.

Find this playlist on Spotify.

100

Lainey Wilson, ‘Heart Like a Truck’

LAINY WILSON/YOUTUBE

It sounds way too on-the-nose for Nashville: a country singer spending three minutes comparing the state of their beaten-down heart to the weathered engine of their beloved pickup truck. And yet, fast-rising country newcomer Lainey Wilson sells the premise of this mid-tempo rocker as convincingly as any single on country radio this year. By the time she shifts into vocal high gear for the chorus — “runs on dreams and gasoline” — it’s impossible not to buy into the classic Music Row premise. What makes the song work so well is Wilson’s stunning voice, which moves from near-whisper to muscular phrasing to operatic belting throughout. As Wilson sings: “There ain’t no breaking when I throw it in drive.” — J. Bernstein

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Chronixx, ‘Never Give Up’

Back in 1973, the Wailers raised consciousness and mobilized the masses on their quintessential protest anthem “Get Up Stand Up,” with their simple yet dramatic exhortation: “Don’t give up the fight.” Nearly 50 years later, Jamaican sing-jay Chronixx has adapted Bob Marley and Peter Tosh’s classic directive as the anchor of “Never Give Up,” produced by Inflo, whose numerous credits also include work with Adele and Little Simz. “Never Give Up” replicates the legendary trio’s early-1970s reggae sound, incorporating a rock-solid bass, loping guitars, and soulful backing vocals. But unlike The Wailers’ incendiary call to action, Chronixx utilizes “never give up the fight” as a calming, chanted mantra. — P.M.

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Plains, ‘Problem With It’

PLAINS/YOUTUBE

Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, as they say, doesn’t miss these days. To follow-up 2020’s stellar Saint Cloud, she linked with kindred spirit Jess Williamson and formed Plains. The duo offered both singers a place to dig into their foundational love of Nineties country, and debut single “Problem With It” embodies their mutual affection for that era (and highlights how great their voices sound in harmony). But as much homage as there is on this brisk, bristling song, it’s also just vintage Crutchfield. Evocative and vivid, pulling poetry from reality, she sings, “I drive fast on high alert/Pass the Jet Pep and the Baptist church/On the county line, I’ll be a songbird softly heard.” — J. Blistein

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Hurray for the Riff Raff, ‘Saga’

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF/YOUTUBE

Alynda Segarra has spent their career writing one chilling anthem after the other, from 2014’s “The Body Electric” to 2017’s “Pa’lante.” But they’ve never written a song quite as viscerally powerful as “Saga,” the slow-burning tale of an abuse survivor coming to terms with past trauma as they work to move forward. Segarra is a master in using structure and form to deepen the story they’re telling, and “Saga” is a masterclass. The triumphant chorus — “I don’t want this to be/The saga of my life” — runs up against the reality of the song’s haunting outro refrain: “Nobody believed me,” Segarra sings, still trailed by the crushing weight of feeling alone, gaslit, and doubted over what happened to them years ago. — J. Bernstein

Camilo ft. Grupo Firme, ‘Alaska’

CAMILO/YOUTUBE

Tubas, accordion, and Eduin Caz’s distinct vocals transformed Colombian pop star Camilo’s “Alaska” into a banda banger filled with pure desmadre — in a way only música mexicana greats Grupo Firme could. The cheeky wordplay throughout the song serves as an ode to drinking as they tease “me voy pa’ Alaska/Pero a las cantinas pa’ olvidarte.” (“I’ll go to Alaska/But a las cantinas to forget you.”) And the track works as a successful crossover between Camilo’s sound and Firme’s. —T.M.

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Ingrid Andress, ‘Yearbook’

INGRID ANDRESS/YOUTUBE

It’s the intense specificity in Ingrid Andress’ music that makes her one of the best rising lyricists in country. “Yearbook” is the perfect example of that. Backed by simple production and the strums of a guitar, Andress sings about a couple that “stayed together just because they wrote forever on the inside of the cover by their names.” Andress wrote this song after observing her own parents’ and other people’s parents’ relationships, channeling the taboo associated with getting divorced. “The last day they were on the same page was in the yearbook,” she croons. — T.M.

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Jack Harlow, ‘First Class’

JACK HARLOW/YOUTUBE

The Kentucky-bred rap star’s odes to his own freshly-minted fame can sometimes come with a patina of fratty awkwardness (see “Dua Lipa”), but the fluttering beat and ascending background vocals of “First Class” radiate a sense of dream-like wonder at his own success that’s hard to hate on: ”They say, ‘You a superstar now,'” damn, I guess I am.” Yep, buddy, we guess you are too, and the sound of patting oneself on the back rarely sounds this endearing. — J.D.

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Psy feat. Suga, ‘That That’

PSY/YOUTUBE

On “That That,” the lead single of the first album released under his own label, Psy fuses the renegade spirit of a cowboy with his classic showman chops. Fueled by a Mexican horn riff that chugs exuberantly on a dance beat produced by BTS’ Suga, the track is an endless celebration of liking whatever the hell you want. As a foil to Psy’s good vibes, the Bangtan producer-rapper offers a fiery tongue-twister verse that encourages “lightly slapping” your haters and ends with a cheeky reference to Nineties K-pop. Paired with winning choreography — featuring both shoot-out gestures and the “shoot” dance — the song took its place as the latest in Psy’s string of global hits. — M.H.K.

Dead Cross, ‘Reign of Error’

“Who’s the problem? ? We’re the problem!” vocalist Mike Patton cuts quickly and deep on Dead Cross’ stinging, furious “Reign of Error.” The metal-punk supergroup, which includes current and former members of Faith No More, Slayer, and the Locust, thrashes its way through an indictment of modern civilization’s failure to act on climate change in less than two minutes, blending caustic riffs with Patton’s and bassist-vocalist Justin Pearson’s invective. “We are a factory of turds, noxious gases, empty words,” Patton screeches, “We speak, we leak like a building covered in rust.” They even find space for a mosh breakdown before Patton sums up his disgust: “Welcome to the Reign of Error.” — K.G.

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Ethel Cain, ‘American Teenager’

ETHEL CAIN/YOUTUBE

Ethel Cain’s “American Teenager” captures the disillusionment of growing up fooled by the specters of Christianity and patriotism. Depicting the murkiness of the so-called American dream, the song’s palette is a regional mish-mash, combining the triumphant Eighties rock of Bruce Springsteen, the Midwestern emo guitar of American Football, and the intimate pop melodies of Taylor Swift. Even though Cain’s lyrics are tinged with isolation, as she sings of crying on the bleachers and seeing caskets return from war, she uses it to propel her self-determination. “I’m doing what I want/And damn, I’m doing it well/For me,” she sings at the song’s end, revealing that if there’s one thing she believes in, it’s herself. — M.H.K.

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Gladie, ‘Nothing’

GLADIE/YOUTUBE

The lead single from Gladie, the new Philly-based band from former Cayetana lead singer Augusta Koch, arrived this fall as the most thrilling three minutes of turbo-charged pop-punk garage rock from this past year. The song masks its vulnerable portrayal of cautious self-improvement in massive power chords and Koch’s whipsmart one liners: “I keep seeking advice,” she sings, “that I must have forgotten.” — J. Bernstein

Guided by Voices, ‘Alex Bell’

It’s easy to take Guided by Voices’ triumph of a song “Alex Bell” as a straightforward tribute to late Big Star co-founders Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, but it’s only loosely that. Robert Pollard isn’t that literal. The first half of the song does have a certain Big Star-ness, a bombastic, Seventies rock aura that feels like driving a beater down an open road. At the end, though, Pollard veers us off that highway and down a lonely road — “I see you around every time there’s a ghost in town,” he intones, reminding us that memories are just that and good times aren’t forever. — B.E.

(G)I-dle, ‘Nxde’

(G)I-DLE/YOUTUBE

(G)I-dle’s music seems to gain new layers of depth and meaning with each release. Just when we thought “Tomboy” couldn’t be topped, (G)I-dle dropped this groundbreaking track, based on the powerful lyrics and arrangement of the group’s leader, Soyeon. You might expect a song called “Nxde” (pronounced “nude”) to be a sexy, sultry one, but they redefine the word to emphasize the idea of being one’s truest, barest self. With a melody taken from the 1875 opera Carmen and references to Marilyn Monroe in the lyrics and the video, “Nxde” addresses the objectification of women in a way that’s rare for a K-pop girl group. — K.K.

The Weeknd, ‘Take My Breath’

THE WEEKND/YOUTUBE

On the second-highest–charting synth-pop song ever made about loving someone to the point of asphyxiation (after Berlin’s Giorgio Moroder–produced “Take My Breath Away,” of course), the Weeknd sings wistfully about his girlfriend asking him to strangle her gently. “You’re way too young to end your life,” he croons to her over an Italo-disco–influenced beat that owes a debt to Moroder. “Girl, I don’t wanna be the one who pays the price.” But since the dance-floor-ready beat, crafted with two of his “Blinding Lights” cowriters, throbs with lust, and the Weeknd makes it clear in the chorus that he’s into the same kink (“Take my breath away,” he sings, “and make it last forever, babe”), the song became an instant pop classic. — K.G.

Nayeon, ‘Pop!’

NAYEON/YOUTUBE

The pressure was on for Nayeon’s solo debut as she became the first Twice member to go solo after seven years as a nine-piece act — but the group’s oldest member exceeded expectations and served vocals, rap, outfits, and choreo with “Pop!” With all the makings of a pop hit, Nayeon leaned into Twice’s classic bubblegum sound and made it her own. “You’re under my control,” she sings, summing up the chokehold she and Twice have on candy pop. — K.K.

Bill Callahan, ‘Coyotes’

RICK KERN/GETTY IMAGES

Bill Callahan has one of the most striking voices in all of music, a conversational baritone that’s at once grave and reassuring, a perfect fit for the worn, graceful rusticity of his music. “Coyotes” is a devastating evocation of the space between love, freedom, and dread, sung from the perspective of a new father. The coyotes in the lyrics represent freedom. They also represent terror, which is about as American as it gets — a feeling as ancient the frontier and as modern as the dread that comes with letting your kid go to school every morning. — J.D.

Protoje feat. Lila Iké, ‘Late at Night’

PROTOJE/YOUTUBE

The Jamaican reggae veteran Protoje teams up with rising star Lila Iké for an insinuating reggae groove that feels like it mixes up decades of soul tradition, updating the smooth flow of Seventies R&B and the romantic yearning of Eighties lovers’ rock. It takes off from “Children of the Night,” a 1972 slow-jam classic by legendary Philly soul stars the Stylistics. But it’s a totally modern vision of urban violence, with Lila Iké singing the hook, “Late at night/When everybody’s caught up in their dreams/That’s when the city screams.” It’s a deceptively gorgeous ode to dread. — R.S.

Blood Orange, ‘Jesus Freak Lighter’

LARRY BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES

In the time since Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes released “Angel’s Pulse” in 2019, the musician has kept busy composing his own classical works, creating film and TV scores, collaborating with other artists on various remixes and features, and supporting Harry Styles for a string of shows in NYC. In the middle of that 15-night stint, Hynes made a welcome solo comeback with his Four SongsEP. The lead single “Jesus Freak Lighter” kicks off with a few seconds of fuzzy distortion, but what breaks through the haze soon after is a sharp, propulsive, free-fall of a track. “Falling, falling/Got carried away/Living in my head,” he sings, with distant and dreamlike vocals suspended over a swift drumbeat. His lyrics, tinged with a sense of yearning melancholy, leave a decent amount up to the listener’s interpretation, a buzzing undercurrent that flows through the remainder of the EP. — L.L.

Camila Cabello feat. Maria Becerra, ‘Hasta Los Dientes’

CAMILA CABELLO/YOUTUBE

One of only two songs from her album Familia where Camila Cabello sings completely in Spanish, “Hasta Los Dientes” expertly combines Latin pop, reggaetón, and Eighties disco. On the Ricky Reed-produced track, Cabello sings about an obsessive, jealous, overwhelming love over a danceable beat. “When you kiss me, I get depressed/Knowing you’ve kissed someone else just like this,” she intones, before being accompanied by Argentinian reggaetón singer María Becerra, whose voice fits here perfectly.—T.M.

Charli XCX and Tiësto, ‘Hot in It’

CHARLI XCX/YOUTUBE

Charli XCX abandons all humility on “Hot in It,” her dance banger collaboration with Tiësto that acts as an ode to her own hotness. You can almost hear the pout on her lips as she sings of casting aside a boy and interpolates *NSYNC — a throwback to the 2000s, when celebrity culture was defined by unrelenting vanity and Paris Hilton’s “That’s hot” was a collective mantra. Borrowing from that era’s DGAF energy, she launches into the power hook about “rocking it, dropping it/Shake my ass, no stopping it,” making for a pop anthem that inspires self-confidence. — M.H.K.

Daddy Yankee and Bad Bunny, ‘X Ultima Vez’

DADDY YANKEE/YOUTUBE

After telling the world that he was planning to retire from music this year, Daddy Yankeepromised to release one last album calledLegendaddy. The project represented a tough task: It had to be a grand finale that not only preserved the best of his 30-year career, but that also sounded fresh and modern. He achieved just that on “X Ultima Vez,” a nostalgic track featuring dreamy co-production from Tainy and verses from Bad Bunny. The song feels like Daddy Yankee is handing over the mantle to a new star as the two of them trade verses about what it means to say one last goodbye. — J.L.

The 1975, ‘Part of the Band’

THE 1975/YOUTUBE

“Part of the Band” first sweeps you up in its survey of contemporary culture — this morass of delivery apps, online fantasy, Xanax, cigarettes, and masturbation both physical and intellectual. Lines about “Vaccinista tote-bag chic baristas” are funny as hell, and as sharp as Jack Antonoff’s punchy production. But “Part of the Band” isn’t just meme-bait. There are shades of the Clash’s “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” here: cultural critique mixed with a songwriter’s excavations of his own hubris. Matty Healy is no longer the “all-night drug-prowling wolf” — he counts his days sober in the final lines — but he is wondering if he’s “just some post-coke, average, skinny bloke/Calling his ego imagination?” Like Joe Strummer, Healy has the brains and the bars, and enough humility to admit he’s not sure if he’s totally full of shit. — J. Blistein

Rauw Alejandro and Baby Rasta, ‘Punto 40’

KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES

Last year’s spangly hit “Todo De Ti” taught us that Rauw Alejandro isn’t afraid to go full-on disco-pop, but the Puerto Rican artist is still pretty committed to the reggaeton sounds he grew up on. He revisits them on “Punto 40,” a single from his latest album, Saturno, that quickly took over TikTok and also revived the magic of Baby Rasta Y Gringo’s Nineties hit “Tengo Una Punto 40.” Rauw’s version doesn’t just honor the original, it brings back both Baby Rasta and the song’s venerated producer, DJ Playero — a reminder of how reggaeton’s past is still informing its future, no matter how poppy the genre might get. — J.L.

Florence + the Machine, ‘Choreomania’

THEO WARGO/GETTY IMAGES

As Florence Welch was beginning to think about her follow-up to 2018’s High as Hope, she became interested in the “dancing plague” that burned through Europe in the sixteenth century. “I started writing it in 2019, and very strangely, in the prescient ways that songs do, the ones that seem the most pandemic-y were written before the pandemic,” she said earlier this year. This Dance Fever track shares a name with the ancient European craze, and it’s full of feral musical abandon as it builds to the chorus. But it’s the bridge that steals the show, a swelling exhale where she bellows “You said that rock & roll is dead/But is that just because it has not been resurrected in your image?” — B.S.

Saba feat. Day Wave, ‘2012’

SABA/YOUTUBE

“Two students that had each other back in a world against ’em” is the kind of opening line that promises to open up a whole universe, and Chicago rapper Saba delivers with this vivid reminiscence of love and friendship, set against a backdrop of dangerous subway rides, cheap candy, and basement hangs on busted couches. “Music’s our common interest, we ramblin’ about Kendrick and Kid Cudi/I’m tryna put her onto shit that she missin’/But she had everything, I mean everything I was listing,” he recalls over the elegiac track, offering a heart-rending reflection on those times when the right sounds and the right people come together to remake a scary world. — J.D.

Le Sserafim, ‘Antifragile’

HYPE LABELS/YOUTUBE

Le Sserafim earned their spot on a list like this with their debut track, “Fearless,” but they really upped the ante with this wildly catchy single. “Anti-ti-ti-ti-fragile, fragile” is the refrain that’s been ringing in our ears all year (especially after the deepfaked-yet-iconic Drake version made the rounds on TikTok). “I really liked it as soon as I heard it,” member Huh Yunjin told Rolling Stone earlier this year. Same. — K.K.

Alvvays, ‘Pomeranian Spinster’

BURAK CINGI/REDFERNS VIA GETTY IMAGES

Alvvays excel at perfectly sketched vignettes with each bittersweet jangle and subtle irony in its place — but on the best song from their third album, they let chaos rule. Babbling madly as the guitars race forward, singer-songwriter Molly Rankin unloads a lifetime of imaginary regrets from a wallflower who’s finally had enough: “Mine, should’ve been mine/Had I just said something/If I wasn’t polite.” “Maybe it’s a shy person talking to themselves in the mirror,” Rankin told RS, adding that the wild vocal was a first take: “Nothing I ever did after that had the same vibe, so we ended up keeping it, even though there’s some gibberish in there.” — S.V.L.

Big Bang, ‘Still Life’

BIG BANG/YOUTUBE

After four long years, Big Bang finally returned to grace us with this soft-rock hit. It’s not a party song like some of Big Bang’s classic fan favorites — it actually couldn’t be further from that in terms of sound. But “Still Life” has most of the other elements that make up a great Big Bang song, from G-Dragon’s lyricism and soft-spoken voice to T.O.P’s heavier raps and Taeyang and Daesung’s vocals (which, while both strong, are easily differentiated). In the group’s first song as a foursome, the members reflect on their careers, which started in the 2000s, before K-pop became the global force it is today. Although Big Bang sing “Goodbye now to my beloved young days,” we’re surely nowhere near ready to bid them farewell. — K.K.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, ‘Blacktop’

LORNE THOMSON/REDFERNS

During the no-skips dance-party-for-end-times that is Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Cool It Down, “Blacktop” is the point when the lights seem to dim, the moody synths kick off, and everyone is ready to break open their hearts to confess their most horrible fears and deepest desires as Karen O’s voice hopefully pleads to “hold on ’til the love is gone.” When she’s the one asking, that’s easy. — L.T.

NCT 127, ‘2 Baddies’

SMTOWN/YOUTUBE

Cars are fixtures in the music of NCT 127, who use these sleek machines as symbols of futurism, masculinity, and technological progress befitting of their experimental electro-hip-hop production style. On their latest hit, “2 Baddies,” the Porsche is their muse, as the nine-member group brag about their success over rubbery bass lines and twinkling metallic percussion. Between fluid raps about “cutting the line” and charismatic outbursts — “Now you wanna ride these wheels?” leader Taeyong growls — the group reveals their determination to keep racing toward their goals on an “open road covered in white.” As Haechan and Doyoung sing in the climatic bridge: Their next destination is the moon, then infinity and beyond. — M.H.K.

Guitarricadelafuente, ‘Mil Y Una Noches’

GUITARRICADELAFUENTE/YOUTUBE

On “Mil Y Una Noches,” the Spanish newcomer Guitarricadelafuente never goes where you’re expecting. His fragile voice spills out over a muted, slightly alien arrangement, and then the whole thing goes absolutely haywire, exploding with synths that sound like they’ve been struck by lightning, haunting vocal loops pitched up all the way, and ripples of distortion. The song, which opens Guitarricadelafuente’s excellent debut album, La Cantera, is just one example of the brilliant experimental thinking that blossomed when he teamed up with the Spanish producer Raül Refree. It also showcases just how promising Guitarricadelafuente’s career is. — J.L.

Meghan Trainor, ‘Made You Look’

MEGHAN TRAINOR/YOUTUBE

When her old hits “No” and “Me Too” went viral on Tiktok earlier this year, Meghan Trainor realized she didn’t need to reinvent the wheel to make good music. “Made You Look” led Trainor’s album Takin’ It Back by tapping into the pop-meets-doo-wop, self-empowering energy of her debut album, Title. TikTok ate “Made You Look” up, thanks to Trainor’s natural ability to connect with an audience on the app, and because of the song’s unforgettable lyrics and catchy production. —T.M.

Jin, ‘The Astronaut’

HYPE LABELS/YOUTUBE

Jin of BTS teamed up with Coldplay’s Chris Martin for “The Astronaut,” which was released as a message to fans ahead of Jin’s upcoming mandatory enlistment in South Korea’s military. The lyrics capture how BTS make their fans feel: “When I’m with you/There’s no one else/I get heaven to myself.” Fans will surely be listening to Jin’s strong vocals and heartfelt message in “The Astronaut” for years to come, especially while they miss Jin’s presence as he completes his service. — K.K.

Maren Morris, “Circles Around This Town”

GARY MILLER/GETTY IMAGES

When Maren Morris arrived in Nashville in the early 2010s, she was determined to break into the country-music mecca’s songwriting game. A decade later, her bet on herself has paid off beautifully, with songs like the resolute “The Bones” and the loose-limbed “My Church” giving much-needed butt-kicks to the genre’s establishment. The lead single from Morris’ luminous third album, Humble Quest, traces Morris’ journey from hungry young upstart to proven hitmaker, although this swaying showcase for Morris’ potent voice shows one thing hasn’t changed: She might be one of country’s biggest names, but she’s still “tryin’ to say somethin’ with meanin’/Somethin’ worth singin’ about” in her songwriting. — M.J.

Residente, ‘This Is Not America’

RESIDENTE/YOUTUBE

Residente didn’t hold back much this year (remember his savage J Balvin takedown?), but he brought a particular fury to “This Is Not America,” his track featuring the French-Cuban duo Ibeyi on backing vocals. In the lyrics, the longtime Puerto Rican provocateur blasts U.S. imperialism, exploitation, and commercial greed while challenging what’s represented by the very word “America” — an arrogant name that he’s long felt erases the rest of the hemisphere. “America is not just U.S.A., papa, this extends from Tierra del Fuego to Canada,” he raps. An intense video he released with the song drives his message home with blunt force. — J.L.

Aespa, ‘Girls’

SMTOWN/YOUTUBE

“Girls” captured Aespa’s signature sound with its strong bass and synth sound, blending hip-hop with touches of hyper-pop and EDM. With a music video whose sets and costumes were more reminiscent of a high-budget blockbuster film, the Korean group unveiled more of their storytelling — this time, the girls and their digital avatars are continuing with their pursuit of defeating the evil Black Mamba. You don’t need to know that to enjoy a hit as catchy as this one, though. “Bow down” to these girls. — K.K.

Fontaines D.C., ‘Jackie Down The Line’

FONTAINES D.C./YOUTUBE

Think the world has run out of different ways for post-punk bands to sound? Well, you’re wrong. Because here comes an Irish version of Joy Division. “Jackie Down the Line” is some ominous stuff. “Come on down to Sally’s boneyard/See her spirit in decline,” singer Grian Chatten invites. Yet they shake through the darkness with a sexy beat, some tightly-coiled guitar heat, and even some Pavement-y “sha-la-la” backing vocals. Cryptic, mordant, and lyrical — James Joyce and Ian Curtis would both be proud. — J.D.

Joyce Wrice and Kaytranada, ‘Iced Tea’

JOYCE WRICE/YOUTUBE

Joyce Wrice‘s collaborations with Kaytranadawere a highlight of her 2021 debut album, Overgrown. This year, she wisely teamed up once again with the modern-day super-producer to create the ideal introduction to her latest EP, Motive. On “Iced Tea,” Wrice flexes her confidence while delivering an empowering message. Go ahead and dance your way to liberation while her soothing vocals draw you in. Just remember who told you first when you hear “Iced Tea” mixed in with some of your favorite dance records of all time next year. — D.G.

U.S. Girls, ‘So Typically Now’

Meg Remy has been turning feminist critiques and anti-capitalist broadsides into propulsive pop music for years. So it’s no big surprise that she came up with an irresistible dance-pop anthem about the Covid-era real-estate bubble. On “So Typically Now” Remy breathily sounds off on loans, condos, and abandoning Brooklyn in favor of roomier upstate locales, tongue at least somewhat in cheek, it would seem. Her catchy delivery and the ferocious synth groove render the song darkly seductive, like a not-quite-affordable house beckoning you despite your better judgment. — C.H.

Marina, ‘Pink Convertible’

CHELSEA GUGLIELMINO/FILMMAGIC

Rule of thumb: Never ignore a beloved artist’s deluxe-edition deep cuts. Months after releasing her album Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, Marina (formerly Marina and the Diamonds) delivered “Pink Convertible,” a sonically dreamy, lyrically dystopic pop song about a not-so-far-away future where rich people “drive in the sunshine” and ignore “how fucked up our planet” is. Sound familiar? The cult-pop princess delivers that sentiment with uncanny, unsettling power. —T.M.

Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Because I Liked a Boy’

SABRINA CARPENTER/YOUTUBE

Sabrina Carpenter knew she had to write a song like “Because I Liked a Boy.” Carpenter sings about the extreme judgment and name-calling she faced from the public after she dated a guy with a famous ex: “Now I’m a homewrecker, I’m a slut/I got death threats fillin’ up semi-trucks/Tell me who I am, guess I don’t have a choice,” she sings on the ballad-turned-banger, co-written with JP Saxe and Julia Michaels. Carpenter naturally taps into a vulnerability and brutal honesty that showcase her maturity. —T.M.

Taylor Swift, ‘Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve’

BETH GARRABRANT*

“Would’ve,” “could’ve,” and “should’ve” are normally the three of the most irritating words in English, but Taylor Swift adds nuance to them on this Midnights bonus track, as she parses how a teenage romance with a much older man (possibly the same guitar-face dude from “Dear John”) has affected her personal identity as an adult. Over a lightly new-wavey track she wrote with the National’s Aaron Dessner, she sings, “Lord, you made me feel important/And then you tried to erase us.” Even though she didn’t let the weight of that relationship break her, she’s still making sense of who the other Taylor who didn’t date that guy might have been. On the track’s most cutting line, she sings, “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first.” — K.G.

Gorillaz ft. Thundercat, ‘Cracker Island’

GORILLAZ/YOUTUBE

There’s something oddly comforting about the fact that Gorillaz unveiled one of 2022’s most sublime existential party anthems 21 years after the release of their iconic debut. The lead single off the ever-shifting collective’s eighth album, “Cracker Island” benefits from Damon Albarn’s decision to invite Thundercat into the fold. His gloriously propulsive bass line provides the backbone for all the funk delights that follow — glistening hi-hats, wah-wah guitars, irresistible call-and-response choruses. “Where the truth was auto-tuned,” muses Albarn’s distorted vocal line, as the world’s most endearing virtual band revels in sweltering dancefloor fever. — E.L.

Flo Milli, ‘Conceited’

FLO MILLI/YOUTUBE

When Flo Milli strutted onto our screens recreating an infamous Flavor of Love scene as Tiffany “New York” Pollard a year ago, we learned she could bring a little drama — but “Conceited” is where she showed she could translate those theatrics to into a monster of a song. Flo feels like a million different people in just two verses here, playing with her delivery of razor-sharp barbs in all the right ways. “You can talk like this when you’re really that bitch,” she says. Agreed. — M.C.

Stray Kids, ‘Maniac’

JYP ENTERTAINMENT/YOUTUBE

K-pop never gets old because groups are always experimenting with new sounds and genres, and Stray Kids’ “Maniac” deserves recognition for the way it pushes that envelope. The group’s sixth EP, Oddinary, is all about “odd” people breaking “ordinary” social norms; this song’s harsh, twitchy electronic production makes that theme real. Felix’s repeated “Maniac” in the chorus will have you “spinning, going crazy,” as intended. — K.K.

Pillbox Patti, ‘Eat Pray Drugs’

Pillbox Patti, the artistic guise of country songwriter Nicolette Hayford, sings about rural America like any artist narrating the bleakest aspects of street life. Driven by a menacing bassline and swampy dobro, “Eat Pray Drugs” is a chilling look at the trifecta of opioids — food, religion, narcotics — in small towns where hope doesn’t come in large supply. Pillbox Patti’s characters roll up to church with glazed-over eyes, watch friends get hooked on the harder stuff, and meanwhile the town video store’s still stocking VHS tapes like it’s 1988. “Only three things to do ‘round here/Ain’t a honey hole or a movie theater,” she sings, delivering her lines in a coolly dispassionate manner that’s equally riveting and unsettling. — J.F.

King Princess, ‘Let Us Die’

KING PRINCESS/YOUTUBE

Mikaela Straus described the explosive finale to Hold on Baby best when she referred to it as her “big-girl song.” It’s a cathartic stunner — with the chorus “Drive the car right off the cliff and let us dive” — that was made possible by the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who contributed to the track shortly before his death last year. “Taylor wasn’t only down to play on the song, but he was also the most encouraging and wonderful presence during that session,” Straus said. “I started sobbing at one point and Mark [Ronson] couldn’t stop smiling. I have never felt so lucky. Taylor made this song what it is.” — A.M.

IVE, ‘After Like’

STARSHIPTV/YOUTUBE

2022 was quite a year for girl groups in K-pop. IVE, although they officially debuted in December of 2021, had a first year full of hits, and choosing between “Eleven,” “Love Dive,” and “After Like” was a struggle. Three iconic bops stood before us; “After Like” made it out on top. From its disco-pop beat to the Gloria Gaynor sample to the dance break to the fireworks scene in the music video, “After Like” gets better and better with each listen. — K.K.

Syd feat. Smino, ‘Right Track’

SYD/YOUTUBE

Syd’s most far-reaching achievement this year may have been her writing and production contributions to Beyoncé’s “Plastic Off the Sofa,” but the songs she kept for herself deserve acclaim too. “Right Track,” accompanied by the uber-creative Smino, is the apex of them. A highlight of Syd’s R&B stunner Broken Hearts Club, an album chronicling the rise and fall of an immense courtship, the song captures the early thrill of the talking-stage — before the titles, the troubles, and even the intimacy. “Maybe you should stay the night,” Syd lilts. “Promise it’ll change your life.” — M.C.

Soul Glo, ‘Coming Correct Is Cheaper’

If you crank the volume loud enough when “Coming Correct is Cheaper” starts, you can hear the “hoo” and “yeah” samples that run through Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two” — which they sampled from Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It)” — and the messages of both songs are kind of the hidden keys to Soul Glo’s stellar Diaspora Problems track. The group’s frontman, Pierce Jordan, screams, “I try to listen the way I want to be listened to” until heavy-metal guitar comes crashing in. In three minutes, he lambastes capitalism, racism, and political sleight of hand over infectious Suicidal Tendencies–like grooves: “The true consumption is that of the rich/And I don’t mean on no trendy left shit.” Soul Glo’s message? Listen up and show respect — it takes two to make a thing go right. — K.G.

CONTRIBUTORS: Jonathan Bernstein, Jon Blistein, Mankaprr Conteh, Jon Dolan, Brenna Ehrlich, Jon Freeman, Dewayne Gage, Andre Gee, Kory Grow, Christian Hoard, Maura Johnston, CT Jones, Michelle Hyun Kim, Kristine Kwak, Ernesto Lechner, Julyssa Lopez, Leah Lu, Angie Martoccio, Michaelangelo Matos, Patricia Meschino, Tomás Mier, Mosi Reeves, Rob Sheffield, Brittany Spanos, Lisa Tozzi, Simon Vozick-Levinson

IN THIS ARTICLE:

Bad Bunny,

best songs of 2022,

Beyonce,

Harry Styles,

ice spice,

Taylor Swift,

Year in Review

MUSIC

MUSIC LISTS

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