By: Danielle Davie, Solomon Etuk, Natasha Tar, Courtney Miller, and Gabrielle McLaren
“God Save Our Young Blood” — BØRNS, Lana Del Rey
Danielle Davie: I think this song is quite enjoyable. It has a lot of elements that work really well together, and I really like the contrast between the verses and the chorus. It also has just the right amount of Lana Del Rey.
Solomon Etuk: Nice synths, pretty smoothly produced. Never thought I would hear BØRNS and Lana on one track, but they actually fit well together.
Natasha Tar: I don’t care. This song is nothing.
Courtney Miller: I mean I don’t hate this yet? It’s fairly mellow and inoffensive, tbh. Maybe I like it? It does get a bit repetitive in the middle though, but otherwise, I could be okay if this came on in public.
Gabrielle McLaren: This would play in the last ten minutes of a Grey’s Anatomy episode when they recap who died and who is angsty.
“SaySayMaley” – Olamide
DD: This song makes me want to dance. It’s neat, but I think it would be more enjoyable if I knew the language they were singing in so I could sing along (I’ll probably still sing along).
SE: Being Nigerian myself, I’m a LITTLE biased towards this track. It’s a bumpin’ track, and reminds me of the motherland, so it’s 10/10!
NT: A fun time.
CM: The rhythm is fantastic, and it’s probably better that I don’t know what’s being said. I can dig it.
GM: If this song can put a smile on my face at ass-o’clock, it’s a winner.
“You Got to Show Me” – TheColorGrey
DD: This one isn’t really my thing. The lyrics are so cheesy in the hook, I just can’t get into it. It is very catchy though, so it will probably be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
SE: Pretty repetitive. I feel like I’ve heard this instrumental before. The guitars are nice though.
NT: IT’S A SONG ABOUT THE MEME. “Do u know da wey.”
CM: ………………. How do I put this………. No………. Like it’s not awful, but life is too short.
GM: Tapping out.
“Often” – Devontée
DD: The background is really cool. I think I would rather listen to that alone than with the drums and vocals. Also, at four minutes and 16 seconds, this song seems unnecessarily long.
SE: Instrumental is very nice. The vibes of the song remind me of Future’s DS2.
NT: Hmm. Starts off very magical and dissolves from there.
CM: No. “Why don’t you come” and not use autotune to death.
GM: I liked the ad that played before the song better. The background alone would be cool as some spacey study music, but apparently we can’t have nice things.
“Only One” – Tekno
DD: This one is chill. It’s easy to listen to and is enjoyable overall.
SE: Another Nigerian artist! It’s a pretty generic Nigerian pop song, but still a head bopper.
NT: ↓
CM: I agree, it’s chill, but aside from being Nigerian, we’ve heard this track many times before.
GM: Yeah, it’s a little bit vanilla, but sometimes that’s what you want.
“Why” – anders
DD: I liked this one as soon as it started; I think the unusual sounds are really cool. Without them, I wouldn’t like it nearly as much. I also really liked the ending.
SE: Considering the content of the song, the cover art is fitting. Very catchy hook, and a nice outro as well.
NT: Eh, this isn’t that bad.
CM: What the fuck is this intro. “Why’re you so mad at me?” I’ll give you three guesses and that’s being generous.
GM: ‘Kay.
“FTW (F**k The World) – A$AP Rocky, Tom Morello
DD: I would never have thought I’d hear A$AP Rocky and Tom Morello together, but then again, I also never expected to hear A$AP Rocky and Rod Stewart together. I’d rather listen to Rage Against the Machine and A$AP Rocky separately though.
SE: Tom Morello and A$AP Rocky? Never saw that one coming. They almost blend well together in this song.
NT: Wut. At least it was a short song.
CM: I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. This is just bad, like, it’s so dissonant and trash can sounding.
GM: ?
“She Loves Control” – Camila Cabello
DD: It’s not a bad song, but it’s nothing new.
SE: This is 200 times better than “Havana.”
NT: This is 400 times worse than most songs?
CM: I agree with Solomon, except like, more emphatically.
GM: If this song was a Timbit, it would be vanilla glaze. Meh.
“King’s Dead” – Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, James Blake
DD: I like how this starts with Kendrick, and I think it’s enjoyable overall. I wish I heard more James Blake in it. A few minutes in it totally switches gears, which is cool, and it ends really well.
SE: This song slaps. James Blake should of had a bigger part, but he does the beat switch justice. Future’s verse is officially the funniest verse of 2018.
NT: How about no.
CM: No. First, I have no idea who’s who, but going off of Danielle, Kendrick Lamar just dropped fifteen spots on my list of favourite Kendricks. And again, I only know two.
GM: I’m actually at peace with this one.
“Feel The Love Go – Edit” – Franz Ferdinand
DD: I only know “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand, and this is nowhere near as good. I think the vocals aren’t mixed very well, and aren’t very strong.
SE: Makes me want to dance . . . but in a goofy way. I really like the sax at the end.
NT: It’s not a great song, but the music video is a good meme.
CM: This has that weird ‘80s vibe where the music video makes you uncomfortable because it’s just so weird and WTF.
UPDATE: There is a music video and it does make me uncomfortable.
GM: Can’t focus on the song, too busy processing the group name ‘Franz Ferdinand’ and imagining the process that leads you to name your group after the immediate cause of the bloodiest and first total war.
“London (Remix)” – Lethal Bizzle, Chip
DD: This one immediately made me smile. I can’t say it’s good, but I could see myself getting into it at a party.
SE: Some solid grime. Bopped my head viciously to the beat! Lethal Bizzle’s flow is great as well.
NT: Hmm . . . nope.
CM: That vocal run at the beginning was the best part of this song.
GM: The intro was “Disney made a movie set in a haunted house in which you had to associate with the quirky vampire” and then went downhill.
“Güz” – Güvenç Dağüstün & Ece Dağısta
DD: I can’t say I’d ever go out of my way to listen to this, but it is a nice song. It sounds like it should be in a movie.
SE: A very sweet and soft song. I love the harmony of it as well.
NT: A beautiful song to mourn how shitty this playlist was.
CM: This has that cinematic feel, where the (probably) white leads are slow dancing in a ballroom or something but everyone knows heartbreak is coming.
GM: Yes. I don’t care what they’re saying, I agree. People could ice dance to this. I love it, I love the piano, I love the guy’s voice, I’m going to go learn Turkish.
