BLACK GIRL DEBUT MAGIC™ - WINNER
- Thread starter Mr.Arroz
- Start date
Wowwwww. No.
Sad about Soda, but my 11 lives to see another day!
Pretty hard for me to be upset at anything leaving now that we are in the top 10 of all this damn talent!
Pretty hard for me to be upset at anything leaving now that we are in the top 10 of all this damn talent!
Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
Just to be clear and hoping I do not make things worse, but a 5 in my book is a score that is not below average. It simply is a song I wouldnot skip while listening, but rarely seek out to listen on it's own.
Not all of this over a 7 ddd
Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
Mr.Arroz
Staff member
he/him/his
#7
Prom
9.167
Highest score: 11 x 1 (@ufint)
10 x 18 (@Petty Mayonnaise, @Sprockrooster, @2014, @constantino, @Sanctuary, @Vitamin, @paperboyfriendd, @TRAVVV, @theelusivechanteuse, @Jwentz, @CorgiCorgiCorgi, @Solenciennes, @LE0Night, @inevitable, @lalaclairi_, @ThisIsRogue, @Heaven on Earth, @1991)
Lowest scores: 7.5 x 1 (@KingBruno)
6 x 2 (@BML, @kermit_the_frog)
My score: 9.5
Track background: Produced by Carter Lang and the Antydote once again (who also wrote the track with Solána, “Prom” is Ctrl’s fifth track. Upon release of the album in mid-2017, it was critically adored, being named as the album’s highlight by Pitchfork:
“The album’s finest moment arrives with “Prom,” a meditation on the existential worry of youthful aging—“Fearin' not growin' up/Keepin' me up at night/Am I doin' enough?/Feel like I'm wastin' time”—that sounds like it was pilfered from The Forbidden Love EP-era. ”
And one of Rolling Stone’s top 25 tracks of the year.
SZA would later tweet about the song in October 2017:
My thoughts: So tea, but this was our winning track for the first 15-20 voters… and I was lowkey pissed, ha. Considering what I know about PJ, I should’ve known better. I definitely overscored this, looking back, as I was truly caught up (like basically the entire forum) in how instant it seemed to me in company of the more dense, layered tracks on Ctrl. The poppiest of the songs on the album, this hit me first simply because its hooks were so infectiously easy to assess and absorb:
but, like everything else on the album, its lyrics also really hit me hard:
But even thinking about it now, I could extend my brief analysis just a bit further - extrapolating on the other “proms” that we endure in life (which is perhaps further than how SZA intended for the song, but...). Unlike high school, maybe college…sometimes the steps and paths that we carve out aren’t so simple or “passed” onto us; we have to find our own way, our own self-determination. We have to remember to call our parents, because now, just like them… we’re getting older. We have our own responsibilities. We gotta start (sometime) buying Christmas gifts for others…instead of expecting them ourselves; doing things selflessly rather than the opposite - for ourselves. We too, have to face our demons alone when maybe our family is hundreds, or thousands of miles away. We have to face our own need to “adult”, but in doing so, we end up realizing very consciously our own mortality. The world is very different when seen through the eyes where innocence has been lost. It is indeed integral to the narrative offered by Ctrl, but in retrospect, some of the other songs might outshine it, even if not reflected in the scores we’ve assembled here.
And also, tea, …but she really struggles to sing it live, especially that second line. Kii.
Your thoughts:
@ufint (11) - It was so difficult trying to pick my 11 out of all these fabulous songs. In the end it had to be Prom. This is one of the best songs I’ve heard all year. SZA sounds magical and otherworldly. The intstrumental combined with the main vocal is fucking out of this world and those harmonies shits on everything else. Fucking queen. This probably won’t win the rate, but it sure would have deserved it.
@Sprockrooster (10) - Iconic. Brilliant lyrics. Great vibe from a song all around. An 11-contender and also a song looking strongly to be part of this year's top 20.
@TRAVVV (10) - The Oz references make me oh so happy.
@Jwentz (10) - This song fucking ruled my summer during a breakup. It's amazing the type of emotions she can jump through just in a single line. Queen of emoting.
@Bangers&Bops (9) - This is an out-and-out pop triumph, built from The Police-like muted guitars and teen angst. Serve me that high school gutted feelings, queen!
@ohnostalgia (8.5) - This feels like a PJ drama post. What’s her account?
@constantino (10) - In an album full of supposedly ‘inaccessible’ songs, here we have a light, summery and catchy pop song. It has hooks for days, vocals for weeks and production for months - how anyone can listen to this song and NOT worship the ground Solána walks on is beyond me.
@Solenciennes (10) - The soundtrack car ride feel to Prom falls on the joyful side of the line rather than cheesy, probably solely down to the strength of her voice.
@Trouble in Paradise (8) - This was the first song that gave me Frank Ocean vibes which is HIGH PRAISE!
More PJ praise:
It was certainly loved here, as well as by PJ overall. A true bop.
Live performances:
Prom
9.167
Highest score: 11 x 1 (@ufint)
10 x 18 (@Petty Mayonnaise, @Sprockrooster, @2014, @constantino, @Sanctuary, @Vitamin, @paperboyfriendd, @TRAVVV, @theelusivechanteuse, @Jwentz, @CorgiCorgiCorgi, @Solenciennes, @LE0Night, @inevitable, @lalaclairi_, @ThisIsRogue, @Heaven on Earth, @1991)
Lowest scores: 7.5 x 1 (@KingBruno)
6 x 2 (@BML, @kermit_the_frog)
My score: 9.5
Track background: Produced by Carter Lang and the Antydote once again (who also wrote the track with Solána, “Prom” is Ctrl’s fifth track. Upon release of the album in mid-2017, it was critically adored, being named as the album’s highlight by Pitchfork:
“The album’s finest moment arrives with “Prom,” a meditation on the existential worry of youthful aging—“Fearin' not growin' up/Keepin' me up at night/Am I doin' enough?/Feel like I'm wastin' time”—that sounds like it was pilfered from The Forbidden Love EP-era. ”
And one of Rolling Stone’s top 25 tracks of the year.
SZA would later tweet about the song in October 2017:
My thoughts: So tea, but this was our winning track for the first 15-20 voters… and I was lowkey pissed, ha. Considering what I know about PJ, I should’ve known better. I definitely overscored this, looking back, as I was truly caught up (like basically the entire forum) in how instant it seemed to me in company of the more dense, layered tracks on Ctrl. The poppiest of the songs on the album, this hit me first simply because its hooks were so infectiously easy to assess and absorb:
but, like everything else on the album, its lyrics also really hit me hard:
Kii.
Really tho dddd, I also take it as evoking how "prom" as an event during high school is meant to be a watershed moment in identity and growing up; moving to the next stage, whatever that might be. And how that period is also always full of promises (half or not) that we make to ourselves and those watching us with their own expectations. Lowkey one of my favorite songs here.
But even thinking about it now, I could extend my brief analysis just a bit further - extrapolating on the other “proms” that we endure in life (which is perhaps further than how SZA intended for the song, but...). Unlike high school, maybe college…sometimes the steps and paths that we carve out aren’t so simple or “passed” onto us; we have to find our own way, our own self-determination. We have to remember to call our parents, because now, just like them… we’re getting older. We have our own responsibilities. We gotta start (sometime) buying Christmas gifts for others…instead of expecting them ourselves; doing things selflessly rather than the opposite - for ourselves. We too, have to face our demons alone when maybe our family is hundreds, or thousands of miles away. We have to face our own need to “adult”, but in doing so, we end up realizing very consciously our own mortality. The world is very different when seen through the eyes where innocence has been lost. It is indeed integral to the narrative offered by Ctrl, but in retrospect, some of the other songs might outshine it, even if not reflected in the scores we’ve assembled here.
And also, tea, …but she really struggles to sing it live, especially that second line. Kii.
Your thoughts:
@ufint (11) - It was so difficult trying to pick my 11 out of all these fabulous songs. In the end it had to be Prom. This is one of the best songs I’ve heard all year. SZA sounds magical and otherworldly. The intstrumental combined with the main vocal is fucking out of this world and those harmonies shits on everything else. Fucking queen. This probably won’t win the rate, but it sure would have deserved it.
@Sprockrooster (10) - Iconic. Brilliant lyrics. Great vibe from a song all around. An 11-contender and also a song looking strongly to be part of this year's top 20.
@TRAVVV (10) - The Oz references make me oh so happy.
@Jwentz (10) - This song fucking ruled my summer during a breakup. It's amazing the type of emotions she can jump through just in a single line. Queen of emoting.
@Bangers&Bops (9) - This is an out-and-out pop triumph, built from The Police-like muted guitars and teen angst. Serve me that high school gutted feelings, queen!
@ohnostalgia (8.5) - This feels like a PJ drama post. What’s her account?
@constantino (10) - In an album full of supposedly ‘inaccessible’ songs, here we have a light, summery and catchy pop song. It has hooks for days, vocals for weeks and production for months - how anyone can listen to this song and NOT worship the ground Solána walks on is beyond me.
@Solenciennes (10) - The soundtrack car ride feel to Prom falls on the joyful side of the line rather than cheesy, probably solely down to the strength of her voice.
@Trouble in Paradise (8) - This was the first song that gave me Frank Ocean vibes which is HIGH PRAISE!
More PJ praise:
It was certainly loved here, as well as by PJ overall. A true bop.
Live performances:
The outro is the best part of Prom. It's melodically gorgeous and wistful and tantalising and there's something so right about it being so fleeting. You barely have time to hear it before it's drifted away..
I love Prom. I am so happy that you guys got it into the top 10, so a big thank you to all of you.
My 11's winning.
Bow down!
