Hello!
Welcome to week two of Fronseat, where I (@karloctagon) bring you updates, reviews, recommendations and more from pop’s delicious news cycle. So much new music and many big headlines charted the roiling seas of pop since last Friday — let’s jump in!
And if you haven’t yet:
URGENT! HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING
Megan Thee Stallion continues her trek to the top with the release of Cardi B-assisted ‘WAP’ today. After the massive success of the ‘Savage’ Remix with Beyoncé and her collab with Nicki Minaj on the very Meg-branded ‘Hot Girl Summer,’ Meg is front-and-center once more. The Houston rapper carries the song, in my opinion. It’s very raunchy and incredibly fun, but I’m not obsessed. Stream it here. Meanwhile, the video includes cameos by Kylie Jenner (?!), Rosalía, Normani and Mulatto — interesting. Watch the absurdly censored video here.
Ellen DeGeneres is… bad. Who knew!? A ton has come out about a history of mistreatment of those who work on Ellen’s show, and who has come to her rescue? Mega celebrities, including (sad face) Katy Perry, whose clownery is now far more real than just new album theme regalia. In her tweets, she tells fans that she has only had ‘positive takeaways’ from her time with Ellen or on the show. There is nothing quite like major celebrities coming to the rescue of perpetrators of abuse when the harm in question was never directed at them! It reminds me of Kim Petras defending Dr. Luke as the lawsuit with Kesha was still in headlines; Petras said at the time that she ‘wants to express sympathy for any and all abuse victims’ after having already told NME in an interview that she ‘wouldn’t work with someone she believes to be an abuser of women.’ She’s also tweeted about only being able to speak about her ‘positive experiences’ with him. ??? That is entirely unproductive, unfortunately. Ellen’s friends in high places are sticking out their necks for… what, exactly? The issue at hand has nothing to do with them, and the people who are alleging the abuse should be the voices we are hearing right now.
Tinashe wants to abolish genre. Despite Twitter greatly misconstruing Miss Nashe’s words, as expected, the independent artist was actually making salient points about the music industry and how we consume music. How genres were created and how they function has a lot to do with race, she tells Rolling Stone’s Charles Holmes, and she speaks about how she was labeled as a ‘new R&B girl’ when she really felt like her music belonged in the radio pop realm. The pop formula favors white popstars, sees them as more marketable and more worthy of Top 40 success, and this reinforces the gap in exposure and notoriety. For Tinashe, who says she falls in a gray area genre-wise, genres (as they regulate talent in the industry) are a significant barrier to success.
The internet’s second-most annoying blonde villain behind Ellen, Jake Paul, is really fucking stupid! But that’s not new. The FBI raided his Calabasas house, which people of the internet immediately believed to be a result of all of the firearms displayed in various social media posts/videos of his. TMZ says that ‘law enforcement sources’ stress that the FBI search warrant raid was *not* due to seeing guns in his house beforehand. In the ABC7 report (linked in the third sentence of this bullet), the raid was connected to Paul’s appearance at a riot at an Arizona mall from the height of national tensions after George Floyd’s murder. Hmm…
The Victoria Monét album is here! She first caught my attention with her vocals on the Ariana Grande track, ‘MONOPOLY.’ Little did I know, she’d released two entire projects before teaming up with Ariana, and her writing credits include smashes like ‘Be Alright’ and ‘thank u, next’ by Ariana and recent hit ‘Do It’ by Chloe x Halle. I’ve become a bit obsessed with her lately; Monét’s singles in promotion of her new album, ‘JAGUAR,’ have been incredible. Whether it’s the down-tempo song about doing squats to make her ass bouncier, ‘Ass Like That,’ the slicked-back smoothness of ‘Dive,’ or the certified bop that “highlights and celebrates Black joy,” titled ‘Experience,’ with support from Khalid and my new favorite producer SG Lewis, Monét comes forward with a refined sound and impressive versatility. ‘JAGUAR’ is groovy, sensual and rich; I love it. I’m disappointed, though, that the album is only nine tracks; four are already released singles and two are interludes, so we only really get three new songs. If you like ‘JAGUAR,’ especially ‘Experience,’ listen to Tayla Parx track ‘Dance Alone.’ Parx has written a bunch of Ariana songs, ‘High Hopes,’ ‘Love Lies,’ and many more.
FOR WHEN YOU...
… are living your early aughts Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes movie fantasy and you are at the climax of your post-breakup angst (yet you’re reclaiming your sense of self and are almost ready to move on), treat yourself to Care by Beadaboodee:
… want to imagine (or relive, if you were lucky) a gay summer night of lust and delight, listen to the pulsing new single, ‘Rager teenager!’ from Troye Sivan:
… are in a creative flow state and you want to spill your intellectual guts into your laptop with a no-lyrics, head-bobbing electronic track that sounds kinda like Toro y Moi, check out ur2yung by Machinedrum:
TWEET OF THE MOMENT
SWEET AND SOUR CANDY
SWEET - Cultural critic Safy-Hallan Farrah self-published an illuminating piece on the aesthetics of white girl pain, the Tumblr sad girl and the issues with the Lanas, the Lena Dunhams and the Caroline Calloways of the world branding their melancholic likenesses as revolutionary. A great read! Find it and subscribe to her newsletter here.
SWEET - Robyn is back, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. The reigning queen of the dance floor has teamed up with SG Lewis and Channel Tres to take chorus honors on ‘Impact,’ which is incredible. Listen here.
SOUR - Kylie Jenner’s being in the ‘WAP’ video irks me!!! There are still weird vibes for me around what she was doing with Meg and T**y L*nez that night.
SWEET - Kylie Minogue’s video for her ‘Disco’ lead single, ‘Say Something,’ is here, and it’s sparkly, cosmic and so much fun. Watch here.
SWEET - New Glass Animals album is funky. It feels oozy; titled ‘Dreamland,’ their sound tumbles over Dave Bayley’s enchanting voice and warped, psychedelic production. I’m a fan! Listen here.
SOUR - I’m just sad that we have to wait awhile for Succession season 3. It’s stuck in pre-production due to the world being the way it is. That’s all.
I AM WAITING RESPECTFULLY (what’s to come)
Dua Lipa announced her remix album, Club Future Nostalgia, is coming at the month’s end. She’s officially announced the ‘Levitating’ remix with Madonna and Missy Elliott and the ‘Physical’ remix with Gwen Stefani produced by Mark Ronson, but rumors are swirling of the full track leak which includes an iconic collection of pop icons such as: Kylie Minogue, Charli XCX, Charlie Puth, Jorja Smith, Zara Larsson, MØ and several bonus tracks (including the Normani collab). Like…. wow!
Rico Nasty, who was just on a Kali Uchis collab released today, is dropping a new track next week produced by the hot-right-now Dylan Brady (of 100 gecs). The song, called ‘IPHONE,’ has been making its rounds on TikTok.
That is it for edition #002, thanks for riding! If you liked this, share it with a friend so we can carpool!