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Tag: SZA SOS

  • Your Weekend Playlist: New Music To Listen To This Friday

    Your Weekend Playlist: New Music To Listen To This Friday

    When commuting to work, I do a lot of people watching. Call me creepy, but in New York City, there’s not much else you can do besides be hyper-aware of your surroundings. And that includes taking note of the three main different types of commuters.

    There’s the insufferable worker: has a classic novel folded as they lean against the subway rails, barely cognizant of the fact that they could be launched onto their neighbor at any moment. Yes, they’re waiting for someone to ask them if they truly enjoy the discourse of the Charles Dickens book they’re toting.

    Then there’s the head down, hating-the-world commuter who just needs to get to their destination in one piece. Do not make eye contact, you’ll turn to stone.

    …And then there’s me: the off-duty DJ. At any moment, I’m hoping someone stops and asks me what song I’m listening to for their TikTok’s. I’m bobbing my head, there’s a little skip to my step, and I’m rocking out at all times. I like to think of myself as the pedestrian version of Baby Driver.

    Music gets me out of bed and helps me hype myself up for work. It’s the background noise as I get ready to go out each weekend. It’s also part of my job. I should have a black card Spotify membership at this point.

    So, as we know, I spend the week gathering up all the new music that’s released every Friday and compiling a playlist that is so irresistible you’ll spend the weekend replaying it. If you’re looking for new music, well, you’ve come to the right place.

    We’ve got another week filled with fresh tracks you won’t wanna miss. Without further ado, let’s get listening!

    “Saturn” – SZA


    GRAMMY award winner, SZA, is fresh off her SOS album: a thrilling sophomore addition to her no-skips, no-miss collection of music. She’s gearing up to release the deluxe reissue of the album titled, Lana, and “Saturn” is her first submission. It’s your classic, dreamy SZA sound with ethereal beats and longing vocals.

    Singing about how she doesn’t belong on this planet, how life is better on Saturn – where none of this matters. It’s about the sheer feeling of escapism that overwhelms you from time to time…and it gets us excited for what comes next.

    “Planet” – Aidan Bissett 

    Aidan Bissett has a unique way of combining rock and pop to create an earworm-worthy single. Alongside his EP, Supernova, Bissett releases “Planet” – a song about finding inspiration in the most unlikely places. Written after being ghosted, he touches on real-life experience to produce yet another banger in his already impressive discography.

    Begging for someone to “come back down to this earth”, Bissett bursts into the chorus lamenting how he’s wasting his time and unable to understand his partner…so she must be from another planet. It’s a softer edge to Bissett that works just as well as his upbeat songs.

    “Proud” – SERGIO 

    When interviewing SERGIO a while ago, you could tell he was someone who had two things figured out: his sound, and how he wants to stay true to making music he loves. You can see this reflected in his new song, “Proud”, which emphasizes all the hard work he has put in to get to where he is now.

    SERGIO’s voice is smooth, clean-cut, and soothing, gently guiding you throughout the song filled with catchy pop sounds and passionate lyrics. “Proud” is a perfect example of how SERGIO can make a song both relatable and unique all in one.

    “All I Want” – Simi 

    Simi is a star in her own right: an actress, a songwriter, a singer, and a performer. She owns her own label, Studio Brat, which is where she’s releasing her next single, “All I Want” – and it’s every bit as fulfilling as the rest. An upbeat, encouraging song that is dedicated to finding love, Simi makes it all feel possible with this new single.

    “All I Want” is her follow up to last year’s ballad, “Stranger”, which is an exemplification of her vocal range and songwriting ability. It’s rare to have someone who can do it all, but Simi seemingly does it with ease.

    “Believe” – USHER

    Fresh off a Super Bowl Halftime performance, USHER has had himself a year. An extended Vegas residency that draws A-list crowds (my roommate sat next to the Kardashian’s table), and now new music as the cherry on top of it all. “Believe” is everything you love about USHER: his traditional R&B sound, littered with vocal runs and sensual sounds.

    “Believe” is your reminder that USHER isn’t going anywhere, any time soon. He looks as good as he did when he was performing “Somebody To Love” with Justin Bieber, and he sounds even better.

    Jai Phillips

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  • SZA’s “Kill Bill” Remix With Doja Cat Opts to Further Elaborate on (Literally) Attacking “The Other Woman”

    SZA’s “Kill Bill” Remix With Doja Cat Opts to Further Elaborate on (Literally) Attacking “The Other Woman”

    In these la-di-da times, it’s increasingly less “kosher” to “come for” “the other woman” in a cheating scenario. Or a scenario in which one is left for another woman before the infidelity occurs (as if). But Doja Cat seems determined to remind women, including SZA, that it takes two to tango, and, regardless of feminism (“or whatever”), the puta involved can very much be held accountable…in addition to being a source of piled-on contempt. While this mode of behavior has been out of fashion for a while as a result of something like “obligatory female solidarity” (i.e., “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”), Doja Cat bringing it back may very well be a sign of society’s overall regressive attitude toward women at this moment in history. At the same time, who amongst “the women” hasn’t fallen prey to the incensed flames of jealousy that burn eternal whenever thinking of “that bitch” who took “their” man? As though anyone can truly be owned like so much property. But that’s a story (/anti-capitalist rant) for another assessment.

    The latest example of such a case of “the catfight” making a comeback was the flare-up between Hailey “Bieber” (but really Baldwin) and Selena Gomez. One that was initiated by Kylie Jenner and Bieber as a result of the former posting a screenshot of her and Bieber’s eyebrows from a FaceTime call three hours after Gomez announced to TikTok that she felt her own eyebrows looked too laminated. In terms of “gauntlets thrown,” it’s utterly innocuous, and also passive-aggressive child’s play compared to the shit that Joan and Bette used to get into. But such is the way of our repressed present, where feigning politeness is firmly billed under the category and as an offshoot of wokeness. But it is not woke at all anymore to exhibit hostile behavior toward “the little bitch” whose pussy redirected your man’s attention away from you. Except in the instance of “Kill Bill,” during which SZA casually mentions by the end, “I just killed my ex/Not the best idea/Killed his girlfriend next, how’d I get here?”

    Doja Cat, re-teaming with SZA after 2021’s runaway hit, “Kiss Me More,” chooses to elaborate in more detail on the murder of that new girlfriend via the remix. Which explores the idea of killing said woman in front of her ex for optimal sadism cachet (even though Doja claims it was unintentional to do it in such a manner). Markedly different from the start for wielding Doja Cat’s new verses instead of doling them out in the middle, as is usually the norm for remixes, what truly sets the song apart is Doja’s chipper rehashing of how she ended up killing her ex’s new girl prior to the ex himself. Told over the course of about fifty-five seconds before SZA enters the song to sing her usual chorus, Doja begins, “I know it’s not a really good occasion to be bargin’ in/I couldn’t help but watch you kiss her by the kitchen sink/I swung the door farther open, tippy-toed farther in…” From there, things escalate rather quickly as, per Doja, the other woman turns out to be an uppity bitch about the whole thing, instantly freaking out instead of trying to talk to Doja rationally. And, evidently, the ex stepped out of the room for a moment to add to the other woman’s fear quotient. So it is that Doja continues to describe, “She saw me standin’ by the TV and she wouldn’t stop screamin’/So I tried to be discreet and told her, ‘Calm your tits.’”

    Of course, that’s the last thing the emotionally dainty other woman feels like doing, with Doja elaborating, “She grabbed the kitchen knife so I pulled out the blick/Ain’t got it all the time, so thank god I did for this/‘Cause she was seein’ red, and all I saw was you/It happened in a flash when she charged at me/Y’all crisscrossed, saw her fall to the floor/Then you paused there in horror/But that shot wasn’t for her (was it?).” That parenthetical “was it?” arrives as SZA starts to sing, “I might…” This “subtle” question serving to intimate that yes, maybe all along, the shot was as much meant for the new bia as it was her ex. Because, in her mind, it is this other woman who drove the wedge between them. She’s the one who is really keeping them apart. After all, by naively believing this, a girl like Doja or SZA can go on insisting that there’s still hope for her and her ex to be together again.

    By blame-shifting most of the responsibility onto the other woman, the Doja or SZA of the equation can therefore conserve some semblance of their “loving feeling” for the philandering cad in question. Even if those feelings of murderous rage tend to linger when an “armistice” is reached after he “acts up” (a.k.a. egregiously betrays her). And yes, we all know Beyoncé still has them despite “forgiving” Jay-Z. Unfortunately for her freedom of expression, such a “beacon of feminism” can’t take it out too overtly on “the other woman,” save for thinly-veiled digs like, “He better call Becky with the good hair.”

    Even when fellow “feminist light” Taylor Swift was ultimately denigrating the other woman in 2008’s “You Belong With Me,” it was cloaked behind self-deprecation—talking shit about herself by seeing an apparent lack in what she had (physically) compared to the other girl. Hence, lyrics like, “She wears high heels I wear sneakers/She’s cheer captain, and I’m on the bleachers.” So it was that Taylor played up the vacuous mean girl trope (*cough cough* Hailey Bieber) for her own benefit as well, but through an obfuscated lens.

    On “Kill Bill,” both the original and remix editions, SZA and Doja Cat refuse to play that game. Openly maligning the other woman and unleashing a torrent of rage upon her (“casually delivered” though it may be). Some might call that regressive, while others might be relieved that the floodgate has been reopened to hate on the proverbial other woman. Even if both Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber were too chicken shit to fully capitalize on that “sanction” when the opportunity presented itself.

    Genna Rivieccio

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  • SZA’s “Kill Bill” Video: A Sequel, of Sorts, to the Equally Tarantino-Influenced “Shirt”

    SZA’s “Kill Bill” Video: A Sequel, of Sorts, to the Equally Tarantino-Influenced “Shirt”

    By now, paying homage to Quentin Tarantino movies in music videos and songs has been done to death (no pun intended, or whatever). Among others, there was Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s “Telephone,” Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora’s “Black Widow,” Aminé’s “Caroline” (also featuring the lyrics, “Let’s get gory/Like a Tarantino movie”) and Rob $tone’s “Chill Bill” (complete with what has become known as “the Kill Bill whistle” a.k.a. the Bernard Hermann-composed theme for 1968’s Twisted Nerve). Being that Tarantino himself is the king of delivering postmodern pastiche, he likely isn’t (/can’t be) vexed in the least by all this constant “homage” (often a polite word for stealing someone else’s shit and trying to make the public assume it’s your own). Especially not SZA’s latest, “Kill Bill,” which not only goes whole hog on a Tarantino reference in the song title itself, but also in the music video that goes with it.

    Of course, no one who watched the Dave Meyers-directed “Shirt” video (that was also heavily influenced by Tarantino) can be surprised by the tone of its “follow-up,” of sorts. Granted LaKeith Stanfield isn’t the one to betray her trust in the trailer modeled after Budd’s (Michael Madsen) in Kill Bill: Vol. 2. This time directed by Christian Breslauer (known for videos like Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby,” Tyga and Doja Cat’s “Freaky Deaky” and Anitta’s “Boys Don’t Cry”), SZA spares no detail on really driving the (Pussy Wagon) point home that this is all about showing love for a Tarantino classic that itself shows nothing but love for the idea of killing an ex.

    And, like Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman), SZA only feels obliged to exact that kind of revenge because her erstwhile boyfriend tried to kill her first. In matters of love, that usually tends to be more metaphorical. But by making it literal, SZA (de facto Tarantino) emphasizes how fragile the heart can be. Particularly when handed a note by one’s boo that reads, “I wish it didn’t have to be this way, really I do, but sometimes in life we have to protect our own heart, even if it means ripping it out of our chest. Au revoir mon amour.” In other words, he’s trying to say that 1) he has to be callous now and 2) he’s only hurting himself more than he’s hurting her by deciding to leave—and then summoning a bunch of his goons to shoot up the trailer. Such sentiments echo Bill’s delusions before aiming his gun at Beatrix, assuring her, “I’d like to believe that you’re aware enough even now to know that there’s nothing sadistic in my actions… No Kiddo, at this moment, this is me at my most masochistic.” And then—bang! He thinks he’s killed her.

    The same goes for SZA’s ex thinking she’s been left for dead in that trailer. But no, she emerges semi-triumphant and determined to take down the bastard who would presume to do such a thing to her as she sings, “I’m still a fan even though I was salty/Hate to see you with some other broad, know you happy/Hate to see you happy if I’m not the one drivin’.” This last line conjures the image of Beatrix herself driving to get to Bill’s house as she vows to the audience, “I am gonna kill Bill.” In a scene that Thurman had to fuck up her back and knees for in order to give Tarantino the shot he wanted. But surely Tarantino would shrug that off as a “hazard of the trade.” And besides, he might add, look at not only the great art it created, but the great art it’s still spawning. Ah, the director when his “ego” is stroked in such a way—with imitation being the sincerest form of allowing one to believe in their continued relevance.

    To further accentuate her commitment to the film, SZA even drags out Vivica A. Fox, who played Vernita Green a.k.a. Copperhead, to serve as her driver (and flash a scandalized look when SZA mellifluously croons, “I just killed my ex/Not the best idea”). The one taking her from her trailer to the dojo where she can quickly practice some swordplay techniques but mainly show us how her tits look in her version of Beatrix Kiddo’s iconic yellow moto jacket and matching pants. Breslauer then cuts to her riding a motorcycle through a tunnel (just as Kiddo did), after which we suddenly see SZA in the same House of the Blue Leaves-esque setting where Kiddo took on the Crazy 88s. This then segues into Breslauer including a scene that mimics the same anime style of Kazuto Nakazawa in Kill Bill: Vol. 1, used when even Tarantino thought the gore would be too cartoonishly over the top, so he actually made it into, well, a cartoon.

    For SZA’s purposes, it was likely less burdensome on the budget to display her taking her final revenge on the man who broke her heart in animated form. And she does so in such a way as to throw the words he used in his note right back in his face by tearing his heart out of his chest. Which we see dripping with blood in “real-life” once she’s extracted it (by briefly making him believe she wants something sexual instead of violent to happen) in her animated guise. Parading it in her hand with calm blitheness, she then licks it—something that, to be honest, feels pulled out of the Jeffrey Dahmer playbook rather than the Beatrix Kiddo one. But hey, creative license and all that rot when reinterpreting someone’s work.

    Which SZA did not only visually, but cerebrally. Specifically by claiming of Bill’s motives, “I feel like he doesn’t understand why he did what he did. He’s void of emotion, but he loved The Bride so much that he couldn’t stand her to be with anyone else. That was really complex and cool to me. It’s a love story.” But there’s nothing “complex” or “cool” about it (which speaks to how Tarantino has normalized psychopathic behavior by making it seem, let’s say, “slick”). What’s more, Bill himself breaks down his straightforward “reasoning” for killing her (or so he thought) by admitting to Beatrix what he was thinking at the time of concocting her murder: “Not only are you not dead, you’re getting married to some fucking jerk and you’re pregnant. I overreacted… I’m a killer. I’m a murdering bastard. You know that. There are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard.” In this scenario, SZA wants to be the murdering bastard. Just as Kiddo did after suffering the “slight” that went on during the Massacre at Two Pines.

    In the end, though, SZA does feel obliged to provide her own little (rope) “twist” on the narrative. Having commenced the video with a snippet of “Nobody Gets Me” (which provides similarly possessive lyrics such as, “I don’t wanna see you with anyone but me/Nobody gets me like you/How am I supposed to let you go?”), SZA closes it with one from “Seek & Destroy.” And all while offering Armie Hammer his wet dream on a platter by featuring a scene of herself tied up in a shibari rope harness. Does it mean she’s the masochist now for having killed her ex? Maybe. Or perhaps this is just how she celebrates a satisfying kill.

    Genna Rivieccio

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