BLACK GIRL DEBUT MAGIC™ - WINNER

Which album will be crowned the best?

  • Total voters
    79
  • Poll closed .
Mr.Arroz

Mr.Arroz

Staff member
he/him/his
that was part of our tie at #20....































#20

































































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Supermodel


8.808



Highest score: 11 x 1 (@Vitamin)


10 x 15 (@He, @AshleyKerwin, @Heaven on Earth, @KingBruno, @ohnostalgia, @lalaclairi_, @LE0Night, @Solenciennes, @soratami, @Remorque, @Bangers&Bops, @Jwentz, @theelusivechanteuse, @Sanctuary)

Lowest scores: 6.5 x 1 (@TRAVVV)
6 x 1 (@BML)
5 x 1 (@happiestgirl)
4 x 1 (@A&E)
My score: 10


Track background: SZA wrote “Supermodel” with The Antydote, Greg Landfair, Terrence Henderson, and Pharell Williams, the last of whom handled co-production duties with SCUM. Though not officially released as an actual single, a music video premiered exclusively on Apple Music on July 31st, 2017, before eventually landing on Youtube for wider viewing on October 27th. An alternate version of the song, which removes her mother’s intro and includes a longer, instrumental ending, was included in episode two of Insecure’s second season (“Hella Questions”) which originally aired on HBO on July 30th, 2017 as the show’s main character, Isaa, ponders the state of a relationship with her ex-partner. This version was later made available on digital streaming and download platforms, as well as vinyl and CD. You can hear it here.

SZA discusses the song with MTV:



as well as with Billboard, here.


My thoughts: Absolutely stunning, while completely soul-crushing at the same time. I remember my first time hearing this - eventually ending up in tears, because so many things present within SZA’s story and her past align with things that I’ve experienced, especially in the areas of love, self-acceptance, and rejection when we expect the complete opposite. I knew upon hearing the song for the first time, lights out in bed, trying to sleep the night of the album leak, that Ctrl was somehow going to end up meaning so much for me, and I guess it’s not surprising that wound up being true. It’s one of 2017’s best albums, but aside from that, it’s one of the best R&B debuts of recent times. “Supermodel” captures so much of who and what makes part of SZA’s story, and I’m just so glad to see how many people have tuned in to listen (and giving it the 10 it deserves)!


So, with that being said... you’ve got great taste, @Vitamin.



Your thoughts:
@TRAVVV (6.5) - I love this as an album opener. It’s a great introduction to SZA’s stream of consciousness writing style… it’s shocking, sad, a bit vulgar, and very emotional. She’s putting it all out there on TRACK ONE. It works well as an album bookend with 20 Something, as they are the are more stripped down, guitar driven moments.


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A 6.5 tho? Hmm.


@Bangers&Bops (10) - The song that got me into her in the first place. I really love this song and was really close to getting my 11. Also the inclusion of mother and/or grandmother is the perfect way to start this masterpiece of an album.

@KingBruno (10) - Now THAT’S how you do an opening track. SZA singing the sincere lyrics over that solitary electric guitar riff is true perfection.

@Kuhleezi (9) - I love how this develops as if it was a long verse that keeps growing and growing with subtle production additions.

@He (10) - this is such a great track, such a diary entry, like all of her… it’s just so sublime and intimate.

@AshleyKerwin (10) - I love the guitar.

@ohnostalgia (10) - I adore the stream of consciousness vibe and the ghostly wails in the outro.

@constantino (9) - I love how raw and stripped-back this is, especially as an opening track. It feels like an extra intimate and candid Solana moment.

@Solenciennes (10) - The lyrics and vocals are perfect, they read like a diary entry and sound like a rant to your best friend.

@Trouble in Paradise (8) - Love the production and lyrics, definitely a perfect intro to SZA. The drums really sell it in the end.



Music video/live performances:



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Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Mr.Arroz said:
@TRAVVV (6.5) - I love this as an album opener. It’s a great introduction to SZA’s stream of consciousness writing style… it’s shocking, sad, a bit vulgar, and very emotional. She’s putting it all out there on TRACK ONE. It works well as an album bookend with 20 Something, as they are the are more stripped down, guitar driven moments.
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Yet you only gave it a 6.5?! What you just described is for a 10/10 song.
 
Mr.Arroz

Mr.Arroz

Staff member
he/him/his
Annnndddddddddd the rest of your 11's...



















































#19






















































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Cold Sweat


8.821



Highest score: 11 x 3 (@AshleyKerwin, @Kuhleezi, @paperboyfriendd)


10 x 11 (@BML, @Posh Spears, @KingBruno, @lalaclairi_, @Solenciennes, @soratami, @CorgiCorgiCorgi, @Jwentz, @TRAVVV, @Vitamin, @Petty Mayonnaise)

Lowest scores: 7 x 5 (@Sprockrooster, @2014, @Sanctuary, @inevitable, @beyoncésweave)
My score: 9


Track background: “Cold Sweat” was written by Tinashe alongside Syk Sense & Boi-1da, who jointly produced the song, too. It is the third song on Aquarius. Its music video was uploaded to Tinashe’s Youtube channel on June 23rd, 2015; you can catch Popjustice discussion of it here.

Tinashe herself chats about “Cold Sweat” here.


My thoughts: I feel like, in a similar vein to the title track from Aquarius, that "Cold Sweat" embraces and runs wild with a cool, sensual energy wrapped up in a metallic, icy sheen. The use of her lower register, this time contrasted simultaneously in places with her high-pitched vocal, all riding above one of the album's sexier productions. I understand many confuse the LP's somewhat earnest, keen lyrics and soundscapes as being "basic", or even not indie/alternative "enough", but I find that she's taken many of the things that contributed to her musical identity before the album dropped in 2014, as well as a need to commercialize her output - in a very tantalizing, competent way. To see her fare rather finely here makes me smile, as her music is more than the quality that Big Pop Girl needs to offer. Get it, sis.


Your thoughts:

@paperboyfriendd (11) - THIS. FUCKING. SONG. Out all of all the albums here, Aquarius is by no means my favourite but holy hell this song BANGS. Everything about this is just too perfect. Firstly, the lyrical content is sort of mind-blowing? The world-building she does just in the first verse alone is insane, I mean she had me at “I like being alone” but I certainly did not expect a “blood on the floor” adlib from the artist behind lyrical masterpieces such as ‘Flame’ and ‘Superlove’(Also the way she just coos “complacent?” fucks me up EVERY. DAMN. TIME). Then comes the chorus which is spine-tinglingly sensual like? This is by the far the sexiest song not about sex I’ve ever heard. Do I even need to mention the outro of the song which was probably a gift from the god Apollo or something because it’s just pure perfection? Choosing my 11 for this rate was never gonna be easy but Tinashe Jorgenson Kachingwe made it that bit easier by releasing this absolute masterpiece. God bless you Tinasensual.


@AshleyKerwin (11) - The part around the bridge with the falsetto and where the song changes where it’s going is amazing.


@TRAVVV (10) - Just flawless.


@digitalkaiser (8.5) - I realize that most of this album makes me feel highly sexual but it might just be the wine talking. ALRIGHT THEN. *tinashe yell: YEEheeeEEEeeeEaaaaHHhhHhhHh*

@Bangers&Bops (8) - In these five minutes you realize just how versatile Tinashe's vocal instrument can be, as she shifts from breathy purrs to shrill FKA-twigs-like falsetto to nonchalant rapping before vaulting back to upper registers.

@KingBruno (10) - Boi-1da is really good at this stuff.

@He (8) - Moody sex jam.

@ohnostalgia (9) - Tinashe skillfully moving between sexy rasps and high pitched cooing does things to me.

@constantino (9) - This sultry anthem actually makes me want to attempt a workout and that says a lot. HOLY SHIT @ the outro. Take me there, sis.

@Remorque (8.5) - Okay, but why wouldn't I want to feel sexy telling the lessers to take a seat?

@Solenciennes (10) - ASMR queen strikes again, the layers to the vocals are brilliant and I love how well this is mixed, sounds so great through earphones. Those feather light vocals… damn.

@Trouble in Paradise (8) - The majority of the song is a solid slow jam, but she really blasts the vocals at the very end. I wish there was more time there to let it really sink in.



Music video/live performances:


























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That's it for today!

Two out tomorrow, and a mini check-in Sunday~​
 
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Kuhleezi

Kuhleezi

I knew this tag would come sooner rather than later. In a way I'm so happy it made it so far as Top 20 in a rate with such a sky-high level quality (shout-out to @AshleyKerwin and @paperboyfriendd x), yet part of me is still baffled that its brilliance is not some universally accepted truth. It felt strange not sending commentary for a song that I'd have so much to talk about, but since I've had the total pleasure to host an amazing rate recently I didn't like the idea of recycling thoughts either*. So, why not link directly to the little blurb I came up with then?

Kuhleezi said:
The moment I’d been waiting for for months. The chance to talk about one of my favorite songs ever. This beauty. This gem. There are no words to express my feelings for it, but you can be sure I’ll try regardless.


Cold Sweat makes me questions whether perfection is truly unattainable. It’s a beast. It’s a monster. It’s a bop, but that word ain’t strong enough for Cold Sweat. Most of all, it’s just unbelievable. First things first, she’s never sounded better, before or since. At times groovy, at times assertive, at times vulnerable, she coos and purrs and belts and everything in between. I don’t know if I would think she'd be able to pull something like this by listening to the rest of her songs only, but of course she does. By the way, everyone is always like “I love Cold Sweat it’s such a throwback to her mixtape days”. Where are those mixtapes you speak of that sound like Cold Sweat because I need them. Now.


And then there’s the production. When I found out Boi-1da (of Work fame) was involved you couldn’t exactly color me shocked. I still think this is one of the best produced songs ever, and there’s little you can do to make me change my opinion on that. It’s just so crunchy, so rich, such an all-round treat to the ears. The moment things switch up around 3:25 we enter pure eargasmic territory.


The lyrics are out of this world too. She delivers a narrative, as well as incredible one-liners. “I like being alone”, I mean, she had me hooked from the first line there. I don’t remember where I read someone calling it the sexiest song ever not about sex, but I put my seal of approval on that. Dealing with themes like backstabbing friends and doing your own thing, it’s quite relatable, but it presents itself in such a magnificent way, it feels so colossal, it’s pretty much a song that's impossible to match.


I talked mostly about objective facts, which is quite strange for an 11. I have no personal story attached to this song. It doesn’t remind me of anything particular. Maybe I don’t have with it the emotional attachment I have with other ultimate favorites of mine. But this song deserves a place in the upper echelons just out of sheer brilliance. It speaks for itself. “They claiming that they love me cause they realize that my time is finally coming”. At this point, Tinashe’s moment could never come. But she has given me this song, and for that I’ll always have a special place in my heart for a certain Californian girl.
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Don't think I haven't noticed some of you but let me keep it cute

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