Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
BLACK GIRL DEBUT MAGIC™ - WINNER
- Thread starter Mr.Arroz
- Start date
Any person that doesn't list LMK as number one can go ahead and throw those in the trash! hehe
However I will accept Drew Barrymore or 212 as winners if I must.
The top 10 is pretty special innit
Tea.
10. Waitin
9. Onanon
8. LES Artistes
7. 2 On
6. Prom
5. Frontline
4. LMK
3. 212
2. Soda
1. Drew Barrymore
9. Onanon
8. LES Artistes
7. 2 On
6. Prom
5. Frontline
4. LMK
3. 212
2. Soda
1. Drew Barrymore
Solenciennes
Staff member
Hoping for an order that goes something like this but to be honest any of the top 7 would be a great winner for me.
10. Waitin
9. Frontline
8. L.E.S. Artistes
7. Prom
6. Onanon
5. Soda
4. 2 On
3. Drew Barrymore
2. LMK
1. 212
10. Waitin
9. Frontline
8. L.E.S. Artistes
7. Prom
6. Onanon
5. Soda
4. 2 On
3. Drew Barrymore
2. LMK
1. 212
Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
#10
Waitin
9.013
Highest score: 10 x 15 (@Posh Spears, @Kuhleezi, @KingBruno, @ohnostalgia, @R92, @inevitable, @soratami, @TRAVVV, @paperboyfriendd, @Vitamin, @Sanctuary, @constantino, @Sprockrooster, @Petty Mayonnaise)
Lowest scores: 7.5 x 3 (@Trouble in Paradise, @ThisIsRogue, @ufint)
7 x 2 (@kermit_the_frog, @CorgiCorgiCorgi)
My score: 10
Track background: Produced by Jam City, Ariel Rechtshaid & kwes., “Waitin” is track two on Take Me Apart, and was written by Kelela, Mocky & Dean Bein . It was also the third song to be heard from the record, having been released on October 3rd, 2017, after an initial tease earlier that same day.
My thoughts: Our first song to break into the 9+ average range, rather fitting for the TALENT that’s present here in our top ten, is another Kelela track. This one, though, took more time to grow on me, especially after how hard-hitting both “LMK” and “Frontline” were. To me, this was far less sturdy, less serious… almost inconsequential. But as time passed:
it really/finally opened to me, as I’d also closely paid its lyrics attention (realizing they were deeper than I'd first thought) but I also better understood its place within both narratives on the album. After “LMK”, it’s definitely the bop of the LP. It did damn well here.
Your thoughts:
@Sprockrooster (10)- That beat is so damn lush and her angelic vocal use is magnificent here.
@Bangers&Bops (9) - This tropical dance jam that conjures “Pleasure Principal” Janet Jackson and deploys trunk-dragging bounce to score a post-breakup collision is fucking amazing.
@KingBruno (10) - This well-composed track shows off how amazing crunk can be.
@Posh Spears (10) - My favorite on Take Me Apart. So sweet and smooth and delicious. I wish it lasted longer, but I guess that’s what the repeat button is for!
@ohnostalgia (10) - “We’re getting looks but they can say what they wanna say, if they ask me I’ll tell them straight away.” Gals! Being Pals! The Song!
Sidenote, I love that not only did @Mr.Arroz inspire my next rate idea, he’s giving me all this sapphic material to digest. Icons only.
@Mr.Arroz sidebar:
YES, SIS.
@constantino (10) - The album REALLY takes off here, let’s be honest. It has this fabulous 90s flair without sounding dated; it’s a welcome flash of nostalgia in what is a current and fresh autumnal R’n’B banger. This is quintessential Kelela; an ode to the past with a futuristic twist.
@Solenciennes (8) - Love how subdued this starts out, it’s a journey, highlight is the “falling into the…” bits, bit of an earworm.
@Trouble in Paradise (7.5) - Love the pulse of this song. The production and lyrics work so great to capture the overall theme of the song "Winter's always warmer when you're around" is one of my fav. lyrics of the whole album
Live performances:
:P
Waitin
9.013
Highest score: 10 x 15 (@Posh Spears, @Kuhleezi, @KingBruno, @ohnostalgia, @R92, @inevitable, @soratami, @TRAVVV, @paperboyfriendd, @Vitamin, @Sanctuary, @constantino, @Sprockrooster, @Petty Mayonnaise)
Lowest scores: 7.5 x 3 (@Trouble in Paradise, @ThisIsRogue, @ufint)
7 x 2 (@kermit_the_frog, @CorgiCorgiCorgi)
My score: 10
Track background: Produced by Jam City, Ariel Rechtshaid & kwes., “Waitin” is track two on Take Me Apart, and was written by Kelela, Mocky & Dean Bein . It was also the third song to be heard from the record, having been released on October 3rd, 2017, after an initial tease earlier that same day.
My thoughts: Our first song to break into the 9+ average range, rather fitting for the TALENT that’s present here in our top ten, is another Kelela track. This one, though, took more time to grow on me, especially after how hard-hitting both “LMK” and “Frontline” were. To me, this was far less sturdy, less serious… almost inconsequential. But as time passed:
it really/finally opened to me, as I’d also closely paid its lyrics attention (realizing they were deeper than I'd first thought) but I also better understood its place within both narratives on the album. After “LMK”, it’s definitely the bop of the LP. It did damn well here.
Your thoughts:
@Sprockrooster (10)- That beat is so damn lush and her angelic vocal use is magnificent here.
@Bangers&Bops (9) - This tropical dance jam that conjures “Pleasure Principal” Janet Jackson and deploys trunk-dragging bounce to score a post-breakup collision is fucking amazing.
@KingBruno (10) - This well-composed track shows off how amazing crunk can be.
@Posh Spears (10) - My favorite on Take Me Apart. So sweet and smooth and delicious. I wish it lasted longer, but I guess that’s what the repeat button is for!
@ohnostalgia (10) - “We’re getting looks but they can say what they wanna say, if they ask me I’ll tell them straight away.” Gals! Being Pals! The Song!
Sidenote, I love that not only did @Mr.Arroz inspire my next rate idea, he’s giving me all this sapphic material to digest. Icons only.
@Mr.Arroz sidebar:
YES, SIS.
@constantino (10) - The album REALLY takes off here, let’s be honest. It has this fabulous 90s flair without sounding dated; it’s a welcome flash of nostalgia in what is a current and fresh autumnal R’n’B banger. This is quintessential Kelela; an ode to the past with a futuristic twist.
@Solenciennes (8) - Love how subdued this starts out, it’s a journey, highlight is the “falling into the…” bits, bit of an earworm.
@Trouble in Paradise (7.5) - Love the pulse of this song. The production and lyrics work so great to capture the overall theme of the song "Winter's always warmer when you're around" is one of my fav. lyrics of the whole album
Live performances:
:P
Saw this at number 10 and it fucked me up
I tried
ohnostalgia
Staff member
She/her
Sigh.
Not Mariah making the exact same expression as your avatar at the end of that gif
Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
I'm gonna have to ban you.
Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
Last one :)
#9
Frontline
9.026
Highest score: 10 x 15 (@Sprockrooster, @Sanctuary, @theelusivechanteuse, @Jwentz, @digitalkaiser, @Remorque, @soratami, @LE0Night, @inevitable, @beyoncésweave, @ohnostalgia, @Kuhleezi, @Posh Spears, @Heaven on Earth)
Lowest scores: 7.5 x 1 (@1991)
7 x 1 (@happiestgirl)
5 x 1 (@Trouble in Paradise)
My score: 10
Track background: As with “Blue Light”, “Frontline” as well was premiered at Afropunk in late 2016
before making the opening space on the singer’s long-awaited debut release. It was produced by Jam City, and written by Kelela with Jeremiah Jerry, Sam Dew &Will Boston. It was also named “Best New Track” by Pitchfork upon release which followed its premiere on episode seven of Insecure’s second season, “Hella Disrespectful, which originally aired on September 3rd, 2017.
See Kelela discuss “Frontline” below:
My thoughts: This freaked me the fuck out the first time i heard it, which was during a really fragile/insane moment on Insecure, where Issa, the main character, finds herself in a nearly identical place to that which Kelela describes between both this track - and “Waitin”. I recall looking over at my roommate, amazed by the scene (which I won’t spoil, considering I want anyone who hasn’t seen it, to lap it up), and then, as Kelela’s vocal bled in, looking him dead in the eye and saying “this is Kelela, isn’t it!?”. I was blown away, not only because of how my ridiculous number of plays of “LMK” had already burned her tone’s inflections in my mind, but how much different - but just as good - that “Frontline” sounded. I keep mentioning it, but the reasons why I love Take Me Apart so much as a complete package is how much more relatable the music and themes, as well as the coherent narrative all are for me. I think we’ve all been in a place where we’ve realized that there aren’t always solid answers, and in finding that, we have to make our own decisions - we have to act on our own. There’s no one to hide behind, to shield us from the pain we might inflict or cause. This song perfectly encapsulates doing/being that, but in the unique but familiar space of a crumbling love. Been there, done that. But how this song illustrates that long, arduous process is spellbinding, as is its production... and to have it as an opener? Bold, daring… and almost shocking. I can’t remember a time that it wasn’t troubling the top ten, which says a lot about how everyone else here also warmed to the song too. Good job y;all.
Your thoughts:
@Sprockrooster (10) - What a start to this album.
@Jwentz (10) - A monster of a song, the 'you'll always deny that we're going in circles' bit never ceases to come out of no where for me.
@Bangers&Bops (9) - This is perhaps the best representation of the album as a whole, a viscous, sinewy R&B song that nails each of its hooks with radio-worthy precision.
@KingBruno (9.5) - Damn that rumbling.
@Posh Spears (10) - My favorite album opener in this rate, and y’all know that’s saying a lot!
@ohnostalgia (10) - God, she’s such a storm. I want to get caught in her path.
@constantino (9) - This didn’t really click with me until recently - it works better as an album opener and tone-setter, rather than a standalone song. Unfortunately, I just think it’s a bit too long; I like my openers to be shorter and punchier.
@Solenciennes (9) - There’s a lot going on here but it’s all held together by Kelela’s vocals, strong album opener.
@Trouble in Paradise (5) - Nothing about this song catches in particular. It gets way too dense for any hooks to happen. Not a huge fan of a lot of the production choices.
@Mr.Arroz sidebar:
Live performances:
Y'all are cruel.
#9
Frontline
9.026
Highest score: 10 x 15 (@Sprockrooster, @Sanctuary, @theelusivechanteuse, @Jwentz, @digitalkaiser, @Remorque, @soratami, @LE0Night, @inevitable, @beyoncésweave, @ohnostalgia, @Kuhleezi, @Posh Spears, @Heaven on Earth)
Lowest scores: 7.5 x 1 (@1991)
5 x 1 (@Trouble in Paradise)
My score: 10
Track background: As with “Blue Light”, “Frontline” as well was premiered at Afropunk in late 2016
before making the opening space on the singer’s long-awaited debut release. It was produced by Jam City, and written by Kelela with Jeremiah Jerry, Sam Dew &Will Boston. It was also named “Best New Track” by Pitchfork upon release which followed its premiere on episode seven of Insecure’s second season, “Hella Disrespectful, which originally aired on September 3rd, 2017.
See Kelela discuss “Frontline” below:
My thoughts: This freaked me the fuck out the first time i heard it, which was during a really fragile/insane moment on Insecure, where Issa, the main character, finds herself in a nearly identical place to that which Kelela describes between both this track - and “Waitin”. I recall looking over at my roommate, amazed by the scene (which I won’t spoil, considering I want anyone who hasn’t seen it, to lap it up), and then, as Kelela’s vocal bled in, looking him dead in the eye and saying “this is Kelela, isn’t it!?”. I was blown away, not only because of how my ridiculous number of plays of “LMK” had already burned her tone’s inflections in my mind, but how much different - but just as good - that “Frontline” sounded. I keep mentioning it, but the reasons why I love Take Me Apart so much as a complete package is how much more relatable the music and themes, as well as the coherent narrative all are for me. I think we’ve all been in a place where we’ve realized that there aren’t always solid answers, and in finding that, we have to make our own decisions - we have to act on our own. There’s no one to hide behind, to shield us from the pain we might inflict or cause. This song perfectly encapsulates doing/being that, but in the unique but familiar space of a crumbling love. Been there, done that. But how this song illustrates that long, arduous process is spellbinding, as is its production... and to have it as an opener? Bold, daring… and almost shocking. I can’t remember a time that it wasn’t troubling the top ten, which says a lot about how everyone else here also warmed to the song too. Good job y;all.
Your thoughts:
@Sprockrooster (10) - What a start to this album.
@Jwentz (10) - A monster of a song, the 'you'll always deny that we're going in circles' bit never ceases to come out of no where for me.
@Bangers&Bops (9) - This is perhaps the best representation of the album as a whole, a viscous, sinewy R&B song that nails each of its hooks with radio-worthy precision.
@KingBruno (9.5) - Damn that rumbling.
@Posh Spears (10) - My favorite album opener in this rate, and y’all know that’s saying a lot!
@ohnostalgia (10) - God, she’s such a storm. I want to get caught in her path.
@constantino (9) - This didn’t really click with me until recently - it works better as an album opener and tone-setter, rather than a standalone song. Unfortunately, I just think it’s a bit too long; I like my openers to be shorter and punchier.
@Solenciennes (9) - There’s a lot going on here but it’s all held together by Kelela’s vocals, strong album opener.
@Trouble in Paradise (5) - Nothing about this song catches in particular. It gets way too dense for any hooks to happen. Not a huge fan of a lot of the production choices.
@Mr.Arroz sidebar:
Live performances:
Y'all are cruel.
I need 2 On or Soda to go tomorrow to make up for this disaster today.
Solenciennes
Staff member
I can think of another list of 10 guesses I wish I'd gotten right on the forum tonight instead