rihanna

A Night to Remember: Linkin Park and Friends Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington

I remember exactly where I was when I found out that Chester Bennington, vocalist in world-famous rock group Linkin Park, had taken his own life. I was at a blink-182 concert at the O2 in London, and in an arena full of excited music fans, it was a strange and heavy atmosphere to be in, as I watched other people around me check their phones in shock. Anyone who enjoys rock music will have loved Linkin Park at some point in their lives, and Bennington’s death certainly affected me and millions across the world.

Anyone who enjoys rock music will have loved Linkin Park at some point in their lives

Bennington’s tragic death on 20^th July raised much awareness about depression and mental health, and inspired solidarity across the music industry, with everyone, from Rihanna and Stormzy, to Nickelback and Imagine Dragons, paying their respects to the singer. It’s only fitting that Linkin Park’s first performance since their vocalist’s passing was a titanic memorial concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, dubbed ‘Linkin Park and Friends – Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington’. The event featured over twenty guest musicians and raised money for the group’s One More Light Fund, a mental health branch of the Music for Relief charity. The band live-streamed the October 27^th concert on YouTube, allowing fans across the world like myself to watch the show.

And what a show it was; led by the band’s other frontman Mike Shinoda, remaining members Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon, Joe Hahn and Dave Farrell powered through nearly 3 hours’ worth of an extensive back catalogue, providing soaring highs and contemplative emotional lows. Early in the night, the stage was emptied save for a lone microphone stand, spotlighted, as the band’s hit ‘Numb’ played instrumentally, leaving the 17,500-strong crowd to belt out Bennington’s lyrics in an incredibly powerful moment. I’m not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two here, as I did when Shinoda later performed a new song written eight days after his friend’s passing, ‘Looking for a Answer’, alone on piano in solemn dedication. Frequent cutaways to the crowd by the camera showed I was not alone; there was barely a dry eye in the arena.

there was barely a dry eye in the arena

However, despite the heartbreak, this night was all about having fun and celebrating the life of Chester Bennington, as Shinoda himself made very clear. By bringing out stars from all corners of music, Linkin Park kept the evening fresh and exciting, giving the fans watching and attending a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Highlights included: Alanis Morrissette joining the band for ‘Castle of Glass’ and a yet-to-be-released song from her, ‘Rest’; Oli Sykes of Bring Me the Horizon belting out quintessential angsty anthem ‘Crawling’; and the aforementioned blink-182 forming a supergroup with the band to perform ‘I Miss You’ and the epic ‘What I’ve Done’. The revolving door of vocalists certainly made for a great show, but they also highlighted what a talent Bennington was, with very few performers managing to capture the same magic and power that he brought to these songs.

After an encore including collaborations with Steve Aoki, Bebe Rexha and Avenged Sevenfold, all the musical guests of the night flooded on stage to close the set with ‘Bleed It Out’, and end the musical proceedings on a euphoric high. This was an incredibly important night in music, both for memorialising a man who made an impact on so many people, and for showing that Linkin Park will continue as an icon in the industry for years to come. Rest in peace, Chester.

Album Review: Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.

Socially conscious and lyrically dexterous, Kendrick Lamar’s discography is the antithesis of the vacuous stereotype that surrounds contemporary hip-hop. The atmospheric, autobiographic Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is an American college English text. To Pimp a Butterfly, arguably the most important record of the 21^st century so far, has been placed in the Harvard Library, canonising its cultural significance. Even Kendrick’s offcuts, the experimental Untitled Unmastered, garnered universal critical and commercial acclaim. Kendrick’s latest record is no different, a mature, sonically diverse insight into the psyche of contemporary raps master artist.

DAMN sees Kendrick move in a completely new direction. Kendrick possesses a unique ability to craft a radically different sound on each new record. On the surface DAMN is a more traditionally exceptional rap album. 808 beats and auto tune replace the maximalist jazz-rap aesthetic of previous projects. This stripped back minimalism pins the records focus on Kendrick’s tight lyricism.

At DAMN’s core is a sense of vulnerability previously absent from Kendrick’s music. A record fraught with contradictions, Kendrick paints himself as detached from the usual swaggering certainty of past records. On the exterior Kendrick is modern hip-hop’s saviour, an antidote to the materialistic and artistically redundant popularity of ‘mumble rap’. But DAMN’s magnificence lies in permeating beneath this veneer, emphasising the interior fragility of hip-hop’s top dog.

At DAMN’s core is a sense of vulnerability previously absent from Kendrick’s music

DAMN is a record bound together by duality. Each track is matched by a direct counterpoint. Kendrick’s woozy hook and Zacari’s smooth, evocative singing on “LOVE” directly juxtaposes the coarseness of “LUST”. Harsh and disorientating, Kendrick plucks a pitched up sample of Chelmsford-born indie-rock newcomer RAT BOY’s 2015 mixtape in “LUST” for a brutal examination of the vices of sexual exploitation and rampant consumption. Kendrick’s anaphora on the tracks bridge delves into this fragile, internal duality, “Lately it’s all contradiction / Lately I’m not here / Lately I lust over self / Lust turns into fear”. This ‘contradiction’ is at the crux of “ELEMENT” as Kendrick’s assertive chorus clashes with the haunting, hollow piano and shuddering snares of the songs beat.

When it dropped, the record’s lead single, the bombastic banger “HUMBLE”, concerned the purists. “HUMBLE” is Kendrick’s most commercially successful single so far; debuting at number two on the US Billboard and becoming the highest charting rap song in seven years.

Kendrick has a penchant for releasing his more mainstream material as precursors to more intellectually engaging albums. The upbeat, first single from To Pimp a Butterfly “i” was radically changed on the album as Kendrick strapped on a sizeable spoken interlude transforming the “i” into an Africanist anthem. While the album version of “HUMBLE” remains untouched its infectious swagger takes on a new meaning nestled between the counterpoints of “PRIDE” and “LUST”.

Kendrick’s wordplay is viciously sharp, opening with “I remember syrup sandwiches and crime allowances” and Kung-Fu Kenny still finds space to examine the shallowness of the modern world in between hip-hop tropes, Nas references and tight polysyllabic rhymes. Always the lucid social commentator, Kendrick takes shots at Adobe airbrushing, angrily asserting that he’s “so fucking tired of the Photoshop” embracing the raw, natural body, “Afro on Richard Prior” and “ass with the stretch marks.”

Kendrick’s wordplay is viciously sharp

Kendrick’s politics are present from the onset, sampling Fox News’ derision of his infectious race rights anthem ‘Alright’ on album opener ‘BLOOD’. On “DNA” Fox anchor Geraldo Riveria’s ignorance is the catalyst that flips the beat and sends Kendrick’s flow into overdrive. Riviera’s claim that “hip hop as done more damage to young African Americans than racism” precedes the records finest moment as the instrumental’s savagely pulsating bass fuses with Kendrick’s pacey, barked delivery and visceral anger.

Continuing to hold a mirror up to the violence that to haunt African American communities on “DUCKWORTH” Kendrick recounts the epic narrative of Ducky, Kendrick’s father, who managed to cheat death by dishing out free fried chicken to Kendrick’s future executive producer and KFC robber extraordinaire Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffith.

The albums featured artists raised eyebrows when the records track list was first announced. Not even U2 frontman Bono’s crooning can ruin the shape shifting “XXX”. The track’s instrumental manages to arrive at the Irishman’s vocals through soft funk, rattling trap snares and modern hip hops most ferocious beat switch in the form of blaring police sirens and the savage mechanical roaring engines.

Superstar Rihanna brings effervescently charming vocals to the catchy “LOYALTY”. She effortlessly switches between singing and spitting bars, giving a performance that overflows with surface sheen. The tracks diced up disorientating sample of Bruno Mars’ “24k Magic” perfectly suits Kendrick’s musings on the desire for unconditional love and loyalty.

Intimate and introspective, Kendrick Lamar has crafted another masterpiece. King Kendrick remains resolutely unafraid to showcase his own vulnerability by packing DAMN with raw emotion and brutal self-reflection.

Listen Close: Ed Sheeran – ‘Shape of You’

“I’m in love

with the shape of you;

We push and pull

like a magnet do.”

Written with the Barbados-babe Rihanna in mind, Ed Sheeran’s recent attempt at a tropical-house club hit sees him swap his busker persona for a raunchy Casanova. The track was released as a double A-side with ‘Castle On A Hill’ and is currently getting white-boy hips rolling everywhere.

It’s time to tear these lyrics apart. By singing “We push and pull like a magnet do”, Sheeran utilises a classic romantic trope: he compares his attraction to the addressed girl with the forces of attraction between magnets. I suppose opposites attract. Since unlike poles are naturally brought together, he is drawn to the girl because of their differences. The alliterative /p/ of both words unites the two contrasting motions, like the love of the complementary couple bringing them together.

Simplifying and shallow, Sheeran solely seeks sex

However, the pushing and pulling could refer to the actions of sex and dancing that the music evokes, given that magnets attract and repel in a back-and-forth manner. This fluctuation of pushing and pulling can represent the conflict and struggle associated with many difficulties in relationships. From arguing but still being compelled by feelings of love, to being enamoured but playing ‘hard to get’, this seesaw of romance is clearly insinuated by the songwriter. Now those basics are out of the way, it’s time to get too deep…

Interestingly, Sheeran employs an empirical perspective to help him woo at the bar. He appeals to the natural force of magnetism in order to portray his love as another natural force that cannot be fought against. Whilst this gives power to his emotion, the metaphor and the objective realm in which it operates ultimately objectify his lover. They both are reduced to pieces of metal under the sway of physics. In particular, by declaring that he is “in love” with her “shape”, Sheeran explicitly refers to her physical body as the reason for his desire. He neglects attention to emotion and personality which reside in a subjective realm, instead focusing on the observed facts of the senses. Simplifying and shallow, Sheeran solely seeks sex.

It seems that Ed Sheeran is like the magnet of a scrapyard crane. Lumbering and pungent, Sheeran swings in on his object, picks it up with his magnetic compulsion and eventually wishes to drop it into the pile of junk with the rest of his ‘damaged goods’. Pulled in by her “shape”, Ed intends to reform and manipulate the object, similar to how scrapyards compress and reshape malleable metals. But, now as Ed has shaved his beard and become a clean commercial kingpin, perhaps a sexy Sheeran is what fans will continue to hear.

Dominating the charts right now, ‘Shape Of You’ reminds us of two lessons integral to our physics education: how magnets work and how to pull in the club.

Laura Mvula in the Live Lounge, Exeter Phoenix

One by one each of the band members step onto the stage, and we’ve got an eclectic mix: and electric cello, a harp, and a trio of grinning backing vocalists alongside the staple bassist (who doesn’t struggle at all despite wearing sunglasses inside a darkened room), female guitarist, drummer, and an array of synthesisers. Laura Mvula then graces the stage laced with attitude and a slick hairline (as well as clutching her dazzling keytar for a mobile performance), bringing her limitless sass to Exeter Phoenix as part of a Radio 1 Live Lounge session, intermingled with the incredible Radio 1 Academy which saw events, workshops and live bands all week.

HER powerful and ranging voice glides around the room

Introduced live on Radio 1 by the vibrant Clara Amfo, who, as a firmly established radio presenter always knows the right thing to say, the Birmingham born soul singer Mvula performs her feisty feminist hit ‘Phenomenal Woman’, inspired by the Mary Angelou poem of the same name. Opening with a single snare smash, alternating bassline and mysterious trilling synth chords, the audience, unsure of how to react at a seated gig on cinema style rows of seating in the main auditorium of Exeter Phoenix, become intrigued as Mvula’s powerful and ranging voice glides around the room. The backing vocals introduce the chorus with “Oh my my,” and Mvula repeats with a sharp and fierce high pitched stab at the words, the enjoyment on her face making the performance seem effortless for her. Although occasionally the words in the verse need clearer pronunciation, Mvula has a distinct style and she sticks to it like super glue, with an intimidatingly cool presence.

The song builds with whole band blasts of their instruments as Mvula tells the crowd “You! Are! Phenomenal! Woman!” and followed in again by the bassline this time returning on the second beat of the bar (which I love), and a playful repeated riff, until the song ends abruptly to great applause from the audience, and smiles all round from Mvula.

MVULA Tells the Crowd “YOU! ARE! PHENOMENAL! WOMAN!”

Amfo introduces the next song, a cover of a cover, and lets Mvula explain how she stumbled across the song. She thanks the bass player, Carl, and goes on to mimic how her brother, the cellist, introduced her to the song “Yo Laura yeah, gotta check out Rihanna’s new album yeah its sick”, and after hearing ‘Same Ol’ Mistakes’, a cover of Tame Impala’s ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’, she “basically fell in love”. Mvula tells us this is basically a dream moment for her, so she takes off. Again with a building introduction, the band create a chilled vibe with tentative bass riff and muted drums, and get really into the performance, bobbing heads and closed eyes. Although, with a music stand in front of her, it seems from the angle where I sit that Mvula is reading the words from a sheet. Despite not being familiar with the lyrics, it’s a great cover, and really gets going in the chorus, and Mvula shows off her head voice in the quieter breakdown section of the song, really making the song their own accompanied by a beautiful harp solo (not often we hear a harp solo at Exeposé Music is it?).

Mvula is gracious for the opportunity and even stays for selfies with her fans after the performance. Later in the day I spot her listening to somebody’s demo in the foyer. What a lucky musician. And what a fabulous event to come to our little Exeter.

Album Review: Sia – This Is Acting

I really became an avid fan of Sia Furler (or ‘Sia’ as she is usually known) after her 2014 release 100 Forms of Fear, and I was also particularly excited for this album due to its concept. This Is Acting is a compilation album of songs written by Sia (with a few helping hands, of course) originally intended for other artists, but the songs were rejected for one reason or another. With such big names such as Adele co-writing, and Kanye West producing as well as helping to write one of the songs on the album, it looked promising. Although, the pre-release excitement was slightly tainted due to the fact that 6 of the 12 songs (on the non-deluxe version) had already been released prior to the album’s official release date. I understand that promotion is necessary, but can artists please stop doing this? Having half of the songs already out to the public can make things a little lacklustre and disappointing. I was nonetheless excited when the watermarked stream arrived in my inbox.

‘Bird Set Free’ is the opening song on This Is Acting, and it is an extremely strong, powerful, and emotional ballad. This is something we have come to expect from Sia, and it does not disappoint. However, the lyrics sometimes become overpowered by the instrumental, and Sia’s backing vocals become distracting to the overall production. The intensely personal opening (“Clipped wings, I was a broken thing / Had a voice, had a voice but I could not sing”) gets forgotten as the song progresses, with “bird set free” and “I don’t wanna die” prevailing instead. It’s a shame here, when the song could have been so much more if the overall production had been toned down.

does this album show that Sia has come as far as she can go?

‘Alive’, a song rejected by both Adele and Rihanna, is a difficult one to get to grips with. All that seems memorable to me is the constant “I’m Alive”, and not much else. I can’t help but feel that Furler’s formulaic approach to ballad writing has been somewhat exhausted by now, as brilliant as they are. While it’s not an appalling song, it’s a testament to it’s lack of impact and originality if I say that I could write this same review about ‘One Million Bullets’, ‘Unstoppable’, ‘House on Fire’, and ‘Broken Glass’.

The flaws within ‘Move Your Body’ are not so much the song or it’s lyrics, but instead the way in which Sia performs. With the song originally intended for Shakira, she attempts to imitate a Colombian voice (a near impossible task, as her usual raspy and distinctive voice goes missing). While ‘Footprints’ is a song that builds and builds, nothing ever comes of it; ’Sweet Design’ also. It is a completely different style to anything that we have heard from Sia before, and possibly proves that there is no need to change something that isn’t broken. The fast lyrics and obtrusive beat more often-that not make the lyrics completely incomprehensible, ringing familiar bells of Jessie J’s ‘Ain’t Been Done’. But Jessie J also has the attitude, perhaps even the audacity to pull off a song like that – something which Sia does not, with her trademark wig hiding her away.

‘Cheap Thrills’ is the best track from the album. It’s one of those songs that encourages you to get out of bed in the morning, or gets you hyped for a Friday Arena (other nightclubs are available). The catchy drum hook is something that is simply irresistible to move to, making it easy to picture sung by its intended audience of Rihanna. Furler most definitely rocks it. Another rejected masterpiece from Rihanna’s ANTi, ‘Reaper’ is among the best, with profound and emotionally charged lyrics (“You came to take me away, So close I was to heaven’s gates, But no baby, no baby, not today”). It is worth mentioning that my enthusiasm for the song was recently dampened by Sia herself confessing that it was simply a “fun song”, and she was “not emotionally attached to it”. Perhaps this isn’t the best thing to declare before the release of a new album, Ms. Furler.

I hoped this album would bring something new to the table, as the compilation consists entirely of songs originally written for other artists. Instead, it seems much the same as 100 Forms of Fear. It’s full of same-y ballads, and when Furler does try and break away from the norm, such as in ‘Sweet Design’, it simply doesn’t work. At times, the entire album just feels like a continuous, similar drone – does this album show that Sia has come as far as she can go? I guess only time will tell.

A woman’s worth: Are women still being pushed to the side of the music industry?

After the phenomenal chart success of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, you could be forgiven for thinking women were equal in the music industry. But while album sales may be up for those at the top, few can reach these heights and hang onto their integrity, following Mrs Carter’s mantra dominant themes of sexual power, self-love, confidence and independence. Instead, for most female artists wanting to make it into the big time, labels encourage them to go down the route of over-sexualisation, changing their appearance to suit a male-focused market, all for one thing: sales.

There is a fine line between pushing the boundaries through individuality, and through sheer irresponsibility, a fact record bosses are clearly aware of, encouraging singers such as Miley Cyrus into crude performances all for the sake of some Twitter coverage. As much as an artist like Rhianna demands respect for her musical talents, it feels somewhat undermined when she finishes a show by prancing around in her underwear, belting out sexual innuendos.

But then isn’t this what women have been fighting for? The ability to wear and say what they want to without judgement? It’s frequently discussed amongst my peers, with some arguing that there is more pressure for women to be role models than there is for men. After all, people still listen to convicted abuser Chris Brown, whilst the ever-popular Eminem continues to write songs about raping and murdering his ex-wife. If the media are willing to except such rudimentary justifications of art from men, then why is there still one naked truth to be addressed?

Aesthetics are still one of the governing factors of success for a female artist, holding more sway over the artists success than their musical ability. Paparazzi are not shy to prey on stars in the same mannerism as a vulture stalking a wounded carrion – diving to feast on their ‘worst outfits’, ‘weight gain’, ‘bad hair days’ and the classic ‘no make-up disaster look’, and we then ridicule them senseless. But do we see any of these belittling, so-called storylines of male figures in the daily mail online? Short answer: no. Here is where the true issue lies – the general public’s media fuelled inability to view these musicians as anything else beyond their make-up artists and stylist skills. Women are still treated like dolls with a shelf like before the new model comes in.

32.2: The percentage of jobs in the music industry held by women

4: The number of women to have reached number one in 2015

Despite prominent female figures like Rihanna, Adele and Nicki Minaj, only 32.2% of music industry related jobs go to females. In 2015 so far, the UK number one spot has been taken by fifteen male artists, compared to just 4 women. Where female singers frequently appear as “featuring” artists, men dominate the titular spot.

Despite rejecting the label of being a feminist, Beyoncé simultaneously advocates gender equality and women’s rights. Her recent work received much criticism, demonstrating the turbulent nature of feminism and gender equality within today’s mainstream consumer culture. People seem to expect female artists to be role models to young girls, yet male artists consistently get away with crude and revolting innuendos within their songs… just look at ‘Blurred Lines’.

Rihanna’s video for ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ was a slick, vividly-shot film seeing Rihanna taking a rich white woman a hostage to get money from an accountant. The video was criticised for its exploitation of drugs, violence, sex and whatever else the media chose to meticulously pick out from it. Eminem’s lyrics “I’ll still be able to break a motherfuckin’ table/ Over the back of a couple of faggots and crack it in half,” are justified as creative license, with Eminem being rooted in a much darker, creative place. Instead, the public chooses to concentrate on the developing sensuality of Selena Gomez’s music videos, or the tiff that Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj engaged in at the VMAs. There are clear double standards when it comes to gender.

As far as the financial equality of men and women in the music industry goes, gender clearly plays no role. Physical and digital sales, merchandising and gig tickets are all easy enough to make money from, whether the artist is male or female. No, the discrepancy lies not with the money women can make, but instead with the fact that women are consistently pushed to the side of the music industry and subjected to a deluded concept of “beauté deviant cerveaux” (“beauty before brains”). It’s funny, isn’t it? How a simple gendered phrase in French masks the damaging potential of its true meaning? Just like a sexist lyric with a catchy beat.