In this episode of BBB RADIO, Ricardo and I review the Oscar-nominated coming-of-age drama “Licorice Pizza”, the first season of the “The Suicide Squad” spin-off series “Peacemaker”, the first third in the Kanye West-themed docuseries “Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” and the video game-to-animated TV series “The Cuphead Show”. In addition, I review the second episode of the Trinbagonian superhero series “Batchack Man: Peacemakers” and Ricardo talks about the video game-to-live action feature film “Uncharted”.
For my 99th Fiverr review (one more and I get my first Play Button! YESSSS!!!), I’ll be covering “Ludovicus”, the sophomore album from Providence, Rhode Island rapper Deja Lu and a follow-up to his 2020 debut “Lucid Dream”. On his previous album, Deja Lu presented himself as a lyricist first and entertainer after, with a seemingly endless supply of dense, witty bars in his arsenal and the occasional willingness to step out of his comfort zone and try something different – like his oddly charming love song to a pizza (yes, P-I-Z-Z-A) via the single “Bae”.
And while he isn’t afraid to be silly or tongue-in-cheek like on the song “Paisonics”, a BRILLIANT, Italian-American slang remake of Big L’s classic track “Ebonics” (Feel free to pause reading this review and listen to the song on Deja’s YouTube channel. Don’t worry! I’ll wait), he’s also ballsy enough to challenge certain collective beliefs and perceptions within the rap industry, like on the track “Crap God”, a scathing critique of Eminem’s post-2000s output and current GOAT status.
With this new record, what intrigued me from the jump was its title. Sure, it’s a clever, Roman history-inspired play on his stage name, but if you’re a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” (i.e. THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE – in my humble opinion), you’ll realize it’s also a reference to the Ludovico Technique, a psychological conditioning procedure designed to curb the devious, violence-inducing impulses of the human brain. Deja himself states that “Ludovicus” is about his “perception of life and how it has changed over time”. And in a way, you can view this album as the end result of his own philosophical ‘conditioning’ thus far, set to some of the most versatile and cinematic production he’s ever worked on.
This cinematic vibe is established in the instrumentation of the opening track “See and Wait”, which is handled by Sentury Status, one of two producers on this album. Its epic, arena rock sound has a noticeable, Imagine Dragons flair to it, particularly with its dramatic handclaps and female vocalizing. Deja Lu approaches this beat from the viewpoint of being enlightened, delivering these grandiose, thoughtful lyrics (“The day I leave this world, I’ll be in the company of Valkyries” is, hands down, one of the best lines on this album) as he walks down this bright, visible pathway through life. This enlightenment is heightened to the extent that he doesn’t need any societal voices telling him what to think, feel or believe, and as he informs his detractors on the superb, choir-based hook, “There’s no wait and see….you just see and wait”.
On the next cut “Good Morning”, Sentury Status comes through with one of the best beats on the entire album, a boom-bap reworking of the whimsical song of the same name from the soundtrack to one of the greatest musical films ever made – “Singin’ in the Rain”. Despite the beat’s evocation of the lively, danceable, couch-tipping (if you’ve seen the film, you should know what I’m talking about) mood of the original song, Deja is at his most down-to-earth (literally) and flat-out sarcastic on this track as he details his weekly, 9-to-5 grind. He even syncopates his flow to the beat on the pre-chorus as he sings – to a hilarious degree – about how his survival rests on his day job, even though it’s clear he’d much rather focus on his rap career full-time.
Zobian Beats, the second beatmaker on this album, provides production to the two subsequent tracks “Soulride” and “Circles”. The former features some prominent sampling of the iconic guitar strums of Link Wray’s “Rumble” (if you’re a “Pulp Fiction” fan, this song should be right up your alley), which Deja puts to good use with this one-verse wonder and hook focused on literal and figurative soul-searching. “Circles” features this sinister, horn-assisted beat that would make for excellent entrance music for a cold, calculating movie villain, and lyrically, Deja sounds like he is that character, exposing the fallacies and lies of a society hesitant to label him a ‘criminal’.
Sentury Status returns with a one-two combo of fantastic instrumentals, resulting in two of the best songs on the album. The first is for “Same Day” whose infectiously sunny, 90s R&B and G-funk-inspired beat sounds like the type of music you’d listen to on a Friday morning as you prepare for a weekend devoid of work. Speaking of work, this track feels like a thematic continuation of “Good Morning”, but instead of the 9-to-5 grind, Deja addresses the routine of day-to-day life and how one can feel stuck in an endless cycle (points for this song’s placement after “Circles”, by the way) of monotony. Guest crooner Domenico Antonio, who collaborated with Deja on the love song “We” off the “Lucid Dream” album, comes through with a delightful, catchy-as-hell hook that matches the throwback vibe of this track. The lead single “Say-Ance”, however, is a different beast entirely, as Sentury uses the opening melody of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” theme song to craft a boom-bap, horrorcore-esque beat. Admittedly, this track did take a while to grow on me, but the more listens I gave it, the more I enjoyed Deja’s animated, ‘spooky’ vocals and the song’s ridiculously over-the-top premise involving Deja channeling the spirit of a deceased rapper (I could be wrong but I suspect it’s Big Pun. If you listen to the second verse in particular, you can hear bits of his legendary, rapid-fire cadences) who vows to take revenge on all wack rappers.
On the following tracks “Pathalogical” and “Eyes”, Zobian Beats delivers two of the album’s moodiest instrumentals, the first with this ethereal, mind-expanding soundscape that sounds like you’re on some uncharted mental plane, and the second which brings the high down with its hazy, piano-driven production. Lyrically, these are two of the headiest songs on this record, with Deja bringing his philosophical perspectives to the forefront via a series of dense, esoteric lyrics centered on understanding life, seeking the truth and deciphering fact from fiction.
Afterwards, Zobian Beats delivers what is easily the BEST instrumental on “Ludovicus”: a menacing, trunk-rattling BANGER of a beat with “Final Form”. Deja tag-teams with guest rapper Rob Whiskey (who appeared on the “Lucid Dream” closing track “Nike”) and together, they unleash a slew of cocky, braggadocious bars which, given the album’s main theme of enlightenment, sound like both rappers are on ‘god mode’ compared to their haters. We then get the second and final rap collaborative track on the album with the Zobian Beats’-produced “Goodfelons”, where Deja and guest rapper Siciliano deliver a passionate and genuinely heartfelt tribute to the forefathers who helped shape the Italian-American community. Its instrumental alone is guaranteed to put a smile on the face of ANY fan of Martin Scorsese’s gangland masterpiece “Goodfellas” with its sampling of the downbeat Derek and The Dominos track “Layla (Piano Exit)”.
The album draws to a close with a trifecta of warfare-themed, Roman history-inspired tracks, beginning with the Zobian Beats-produced “Battle” whose tense, war drum-like percussion sounds like the sonic backdrop to a Roman general version of Deja (think Russell Crowe’s Maximus from “Gladiator”) riding off to battle. Deja sounds laser-focused on this beat, spitting words of caution to the audience (or in the case of this track, his troops) to always keep their heads on a swivel whilst navigating their way through this battlefield called life. The war continues on the track “Triarii”, which is technically the first time in rap history the word “triarii” (i.e. a section of veteran soldiers in early Roman military legions) has been used in a chorus and as a song title. Over a heart-pounding, anthemic instrumental from Sentury Status, Deja finds himself in the middle of said battlefield, using his insight on life as both a sword and shield.
Lyrically and sonically, the Sentury Status-produced final track and second single “Lubicon (Alea Iacta Est)” sounds like the outcome of that aforementioned “battle” with its trap-flavored beat laced with these string sections that sound lifted from some melodramatic period drama. Using the phrases “The die is cast” and “crossing the Rubicon” as inspiration, Deja heads forward in life with an increased awareness of the world around him and a deeper understanding of who he is. However, the campaign is far from complete, and you can picture him (especially on the hook which, similar to “Triarii”, I can easily assume is the first time the phrase ‘Alea Iacta Est’ has ever been used in a rap song) leading his war-weary army into the next battle.
As a whole, “Ludovicus” is an ambitious, audacious and well-executed follow-up to “Lucid Dream”. Both Zobian Beats and Sentury Status should be commended for their STELLAR production throughout this project, the entirety of which bring out the best out of Deja Lu and his guests. Also commendable is Deja’s detailed, oftentimes coded, wordplay that, admittedly, will fly over listeners’ heads upon first listen, but will become more clear, insightful and impactful with every subsequent listen given to this record. If you’re looking for knowledge, truth and meaning in your hip hop, “Ludovicus” is absolutely worth checking out!
OVERALL RATING: 8 out of 10
Now available on Spotify, Apple Music /iTunes, Amazon, Tidal, YouTube and Deezer.
In this special, Superbowl Sunday-recorded episode of BBB RADIO, Ricardo, Ashton Menzies, CC Lilford, Tracy Hutchings and I discuss the first trailers for the upcoming Universal Pictures releases “Jurassic World: Dominion” and “Nope”, the 2022 Oscar nominations list, the Best Picture Oscar-nominated “Nightmare Alley”. the HBO MAX release “KIMI”, Season 2 of Netflix’s “Raising Dion”, the first 3 episodes of the Peacock TV series “Bel-Air” and a SPOILER review of Disney Plus’ “The Book of Boba Fett”.
For my first R&B-based Retrospect Review, I celebrate the 25th anniversary of Erykah Badu’s magnificent debut album “Baduizm” with North Carolina singer/songwriter E Smitty of The Soul Powers.
For my 98th Fiverr review, I’ll be discussing “Reminiscent”, the sophomore album from Bay Area, California-residing rapper/singer-songwriter/producer VxT and a follow-up to his debut album “Holding”. On that debut, VxT showed off his vocal (particularly with his rather impressive singing) and production chops with a combination of moody R&B/hip hop songs and vibrant EDM bangers. And while it was a solid debut (I listened to it in preparation for “Reminiscent”, by the way), I will admit the sequencing of tracks from R&B to EDM to EDM remix – ‘cuz yeah, there’s quite a few on that album – could’ve been improved.
On this album however, VxT decided to put the EDM away for a bit and go full R&B/hip-hop. With only two albums under his belt thus far, this is quite an intriguing artistic decision, as I felt his skills in electronic music were effective in separating VxT’s style and sound from the rest. Admittedly, there is a noticeable wearing of Drake influence on VxT’s sleeves from his mostly heartbreak-themed songs to his hazy, nocturnal instrumentals which do sound like the type of production Drake usually hops on. Though that influence is carried over into this new record, VxT wisely works around it with the main theme of reminiscence.
“Reminiscent” kicks off with “Stop”, whose accompanying music video was one of six that were dropped on the day of the album’s release. And speaking of music videos, I must give credit to the purposeful casting of actors of Asian descent in five of these six videos (“Way Too Long” relies a lot on silhouettes, so technically it doesn’t count. More on that song in a bit). On “Stop”, we get the first in a number of tracks focused on this relationship that has clearly run its course to the point of bordering on toxic. Over the track’s bluesy, trap-flavored beat, punctuated with some whimsical whistling, VxT raps about an all-too relatable scenario of giving everything you can to a relationship, only to be broken down constantly by your significant other.
We then get the banger “Brown Boy Flow” whose instrumental alone, with its incorporation of traditional Indian music (a clear reference to VxT’s Mumbai roots), is a true highlight on the album! Topically, this track is quite strong as VxT raps about his migration to the United States at a young age, constantly feeling like he’s not in the right place and charting his own artistic course. I can’t help but be reminded of Jaden Smith’s “ICON” every time I listen to this, as that track, back in 2017, introduced audiences to a new voice and a unique sound in hip hop.
“Brown Boy Flow” transitions nicely into the downbeat, piano-driven “Hey Dad”, an emotional track where VxT addresses his absentee father on the lack of priority he gave him during his childhood and his stifling of VxT’s aspirations during the early years of his music career. The line “I wasn’t meant to be a doctor though, but rap is where I put my heart and soul” really stood out to me, as I am somewhat familiar with the desire of parents in the traditional Indian household to see their children become doctors. But still, this is easily the most cathartic song on the album, as you can really feel years of pent-up rage and regret being released throughout its runtime.
We then get a trifecta of breakup tracks, starting with “Got What I Wanted” which features this deceptively bright and colorful beat. Here, VxT raps about his laid-out plans and expectations going into a relationship falling apart thanks to his now-ex leaving him for someone else. There’s a great section near the end where the beat stops and a distorted, sluggish, warped instrumental loop plays throughout the song’s final seconds. VxT sounds appropriately depressed in this section, spitting these short, direct lines laced with regret and confusion.
On “Way Too Long”, VxT feels the need to put the blame on his ex for his current depression, but comes to the realization that it stems from years of unfulfilled aspirations in love. The hazy instrumental fits well with VxT’s vocals, and you can picture him as one of the abovementioned silhouetted individuals in the song’s music video walking away from this broken relationship and into the unknown. But of course, VxT finds difficulty getting over this breakup and on the hypnotic “Nobody Else”, he tries to persuade his ex to leave her new boyfriend and get back with him. His frustration over not having her results in him pushing her away as he sings on the second verse (“Wish I could die, burn me alive / No, I….don’t need your help / I’m better by myself”).
The despondent vibes continue on a bit longer with “Worth”, another album highlight thanks to its self-assessing and introspective subject matter. Still in a depressive funk on the album, VxT looks inward and asks himself if the pain he’s endured in life in the pursuit of his dreams was worth it. Thankfully, there is a moment of respite that follows with the track “All I Wanted”. Primarily a pop song, this is the closest thing to EDM that we get on the album with its glistening, oscillating synths that show up as a drop before the second verse and throughout the hook near the end of the track. Thematically, this is the ‘miss the water ‘til the well runs dry’ moment where VxT begins to appreciate the time spent with his ex when they were together.
The following track “Free” is easily the most Drake that we get on the album, from VxT’s flows and hook to his superbly dark and spacey instrumental. Here, VxT finds himself unable to emotionally let go of his ex, even though his re-evaluation of their previous relationship on the track shows how he unintentionally brought it to ruin (his “Sorry if it’s getting too nihilistic” line is one, I imagine, that will stay with me for the rest of this year). The final verse is another shining moment on the album, as VxT goes into this intense, soul-baring rap, wondering why it’s so ‘easy’ for his ex to move on and difficult for him to do so.
The album’s penultimate track “Paint a Picture” touches on the loss VxT – and to an extent, his ex – feels after their relationship ended. Heartbreak is never something you can simply get over, and VxT conveys this brilliantly with his low-key, disenchanted instrumental and memory and regret-filled lyrics. And on the album closer “First Love”, he delivers a genuinely heartfelt tribute to his ex and the love she showed him during their relationship. This track boasts some of the strongest writing on “Reminiscent”, and it’s made even better with the inclusion of this unexpected, “I Used to Love H.E.R.”-esque sub-theme where VxT raps about his unbridled passion for music (Get it? “First Love”?) It’s easily my favorite track on the album, and having it end the album was such a great decision!
Overall, “Reminiscent” was a well-written, well-produced and well-performed album, and the mere fact that VxT achieved these on his own is quite admirable. While there weren’t any sequencing issues in this album to speak of, I do wish that we get a bit more thematic variety going forward. And while I can’t say if VxT will return to EDM or not, his current foray in R&B/hip hop is a great fit for him. I guess in due time, we’ll see where his “brown boy flow” will take him, but for now, “Reminiscent” is well deserving of your time and worth checking out!
For my 97th Fiverr review, I’ll be discussing the new instrumental album from Sacramento, California producer, composer, pianist, poet and music teacher Old Man Z called “Collected Shorts”. Described as his first lo-fi album, “Collected Shorts” finds Old Man Z making his own beats and loops from scratch, so to speak, and modifying and processing them to sound like they were lifted from vinyl records. If you listen to all 20 tracks of this album carefully, you will notice a vinyl crackle placed to the back of their respective mix. Assisting him on this album are trombonist Kari Anne Estrada, percussionist Trevor M. Hall, DJ Mike Colossal and veteran Sacramento rapper Mr. P. Chill.
Speaking of Mr. P Chill, I covered his 14th studio album “L.I.F.E. – Living in Fragile Environments” which was one of my favorite records of 2021. What intrigued me from the jump was P Chill’s appearance on one track on “Collected Shorts” and Mike Colossal, who added some stellar scratches on the songs “Millions of Militants” and “Subliminal” off the “L.I.F.E” album, appearing on five tracks. Matter of fact, P Chill is the sole rapper on this album, and on the opening track “Keep It”, he delivers some conscious, introspective bars about being grateful for his blessings despite his failed attempts at acquiring his own ‘pie in the sky’.
Old Man Z himself called “Collected Shorts” a “COVID-19 pandemic passion project”. Save for two spoken-word pieces, it’s easy to look at this album as a mere beat tape, with the type of instrumentals you expect to find when you do a YouTube search for “beats to relax/study to”. But the more listens I gave “Collected Shorts”, the more it became clear that this album is a vehicle for Old Man Z to express his thoughts and emotions on this pandemic era of human history. And similar to other instrumental albums I’ve covered in the past, this is essentially a mood piece where you can incorporate your own perceptions onto each beat whilst immersing yourself into the music being presented.
One of the biggest strengths of “Collected Shorts” is its sequencing. After every four tracks, we either get a musical interlude or spoken-word piece which divides the tracklist evenly into four sections. The interludes, titled “Interlude I” and “Interlude II”, are easily the most experimental moments on the album with their similarly spacey, eerie and ethereal soundscapes.
But it’s the spoken-word pieces (the mid-point track “Contact” and the outro “Collapsing”) that add so much depth and meaning to the album. Performed by Old Man Z himself, “Contact” touches on the rather fascinating yet unfortunate fact that Americans have far less physical contact with each other compared to other countries, and the politically-charged “Collapsing” delivers a scathing yet genuine critique of the slow downfall of American society.
Going back to sequencing, you can consider “Contact” and “Collapsing” as verbal indications as to how you should feel listening to the preceding instrumentals or what’s being ‘addressed’ sonically. But for me, I think these beats speak for themselves as they exhibit a consistently reflective, self-aware and oftentimes melancholy vibe. You can imagine these songs as sonic expressions of a particular mood or emotional reaction to the world around us that we all feel on a day-to-day basis.
The abovementioned “Keep It” sounds like someone stopping for a brief moment to appreciate bestowed blessings that could easily be taken for granted. Old Man Z’s beat may sound a tad bit forlorn but it does establish a calm soundscape for P Chill’s thoughtful rhymes to flow through. Like his other appearances, Mike Colossal’s low-key cuts add this subtle, oddly optimistic vibe to this song. The following track “The Far Future” sounds like the theme for the modern everyman turned loveable loser; someone who plays by the rules and struggles to attain some level of success, only for life to place obstacle after obstacle in that person’s path, eventually resulting in failure and regret.
After that, we get two of the album’s best tracks: “Solarium” and “Fire All Around”. The former features this gorgeous, tear-inducing piano melody and measured boom-bap drum pattern, while the latter brings Kari Anne Estrada’s trombone and Trevor Hall’s percussion to the forefront, resulting in a track that serves as a poignant summary of the chaos and uncertainty this decade has offered us thus far.
Uncertainty is a recurring theme on this record, as even on quieter, more laid-back and relaxing songs, there’s still a level of unease that lurks within them. Take the track “Call of the Spirits” with its sinister keyboards and guitars, both of which beckon the listener over to this dark, dangerous world outside one’s comfort zone, or “Round Midnight”, which certainly lives up to its title with its nocturnal tone, established mainly by its hypnotic bass line and bluesy keyboard solo. Even on the chilling “A Stitch in Time” (whose piano alone will stay with you long after the track ends), the uncertainty of what’s to come seems to hover over this beat like a dark cloud.
There’s also the dark, foreboding “Son of Sleep” whose title I felt was inspired by Nas’ famous line from “N.Y. State of Mind” (“I never sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death”). On this track, you get the sense that even in sleep, you’re still susceptible to some internal or external life-threatening force. I love how the beat pauses and you hear this piano melody play for a bit (the complete version of it plays during the track’s closing moments) and then the drums come back in!
But that’s not to say there aren’t any moments of emotional disarming or respite on the album. There’s the track “Goodnight” whose pleasant, dreamy pianos and percussion, along with Mike Colossal’s sampling of the iconic “Ah yeah” phrase from Run DMC’s “Here We Go”, make for a beat that would fit perfectly in a music to relax and/or sleep to playlist. “ReThinking”, with its hazy instrumentation and periodic, slightly distorted sax solo, feels like another ‘moment of clarity’ similar to the opening track. But compared to the sunny-ish demeanor of “Keep It”, this track sounds nocturnal, as if someone is deep in thought instead of being fast asleep. Additionally, we get the tracks “Sidestep” and “One Thousand Worlds”, both of which feature relaxed piano melodies and retro-sounding synth leads. The latter is easily one of the album’s most optimistic tracks, exhibiting a warm and radiant vibe throughout its runtime.
On the album’s final quarter, which starts after “Interlude II” and ends before the abovementioned “Collapsing”, a new day begins and the everyman must face the world yet again. “Down to the Wire”, with its jazzy pianos, occasional cuts from Mike Colossal and a delightfully haunting flute solo, sounds like you’re in the headspace of someone desperately trying to complete some task before night falls (perhaps for the last time if you want to look at the album from an existential lens). By contrast, “From Here” sounds significantly hopeful with its combination of Old Man Z’s smooth and somewhat romantic piano and Kari Anne Estrada’s complimentary trombone.
To me, the penultimate beat “To the Clouds” is the sonic equivalent of picking yourself back up, dusting off your shoulders and moving forward in life. You can imagine Trevor Hall’s rhythmic snares, which sound great over Old Man Z’s despondent piano, as part of this mental marching band the everyman hears and needs for support just to get through the day. And the final instrumental “Infinite” brings the album to an achingly bittersweet (with a large emphasis on ‘bitter’) note with its sparse, gloomy production. If the previous track is about moving forward, “Infinite” feels like the cold realization that nothing will ever change and the issues affecting today’s society will continue on without end, which would explain Old Man Z’s appropriately sardonic viewpoint on “Collapsing”.
As you can tell, there’s a lot to digest from “Collected Shorts” and I imagine with every subsequent listen I give this album, there’ll be some new perspective or emotion I’ll pick up from it. Admittedly, I fear that some listeners will dive into this album for the beats and avoid the spoken word pieces altogether. However, I’d make the argument that those tracks – and even the opening song “Keep It” – add so much detail and character to the music itself, it’s near impossible to not reflect or ponder on the messages being presented while listening to these beats. As a whole, “Collected Shorts” is a moody, ambiguous and altogether entertaining collection of lo-fi instrumentals that will please fans of that style of hip hop production and give the casual listener something to contemplate on during its 40-minute duration. I have the feeling that given these turbulent times, a “Collected Shorts II” is imminent. Here’s hoping Old Man Z has some fresh food for thought prepared for us to consume when that record eventually comes out.
For my third track review of 2022, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on “Mirror Mirror”, the latest single from Vancouver, BC singer-songwriter/producer Pondertwn. This is the lead single from his upcoming debut studio album which is promised to draw inspiration from real-life experiences and the COVID-19 lockdowns of the past couple years, the latter of which is reflected in both a relatable and sardonic manner on this track.
With “Mirror Mirror”, Pondertwn continues to develop his distinct fusion of dark pop and alternative R&B, while incorporating elements of classic pop of the 40s and 50s. Thematically, this track centers on a woman whose attention-seeking attempts at maintaining her beauty leaves her entrenched in a hall of mirrors. Pondertwn sets the stage for this brief character study with a bouncy, upbeat electropop instrumental that has the feel of a runway song and yet can be imagined as the type of beat you’d hear in an online fashion and beauty video.
Putting the obvious “Snow White”-themed song title to good use, Pondertwn cleverly sings from the perspective of the Magic Mirror, tempting the ‘Evil Queen’ (more of a ‘lonely’ queen, given the song’s pandemic subtext) to make herself up, so to speak, to become the fairest of them all. I really appreciated the wolf whistle that appears on this song, as it simply and perfectly sums up the way she expects to be viewed by the world. Immediately, it’s revealed that the Magic Mirror is just one of the many mirrors present in this aforementioned hall, making the song’s protagonist the host and audience of her own show. In other words, all she sees is herself and though she may not see the hopefully-large amount of people praising her looks in real life (i.e. literally outside her house) or on social media, her self-approval matters the most to her.
Upon first listen, the second verse did feel a bit out of place, with Pondertwn utilizing a Halloween “trick or treat” motif instead of the initial mirror-based theme. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how incredibly clever this verse is. Here, the protagonist is in ‘costume’, expecting a response from anyone who finds her visually appealing. The verse itself features these intentionally simplistic and gratifying lines like “Welcome to your fantasy” and “Satisfaction guaranteed”, and you can almost imagine the protagonist walking through the Magic Mirror and winding up into what she thinks is reality, albeit in a COVID-19 world. The true irony is how ultimately fleeting her time spent in that reality is, even if it’s captured in a seemingly timeless fashion like a selfie or a TikTok video.
Pondertwn delivers a terrifically grand performance on “Mirror Mirror”, capitalizing on the song’s sordid, fantastical subject matter with his rather impressive tenor, lively vocal inflections, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and ridiculously catchy hook. On the one hand, you’re not supposed to take this track too seriously (case in point, a hilarious moment when Pondertwn sings “She gon burn this whole muhfucka down”) but on the other, it brings to light something so commonplace, it’s oftentimes hard to see how toxic it can be in the long run.
Overall, “Mirror Mirror” succeeds as an immensely entertaining pop/R&B fusion track, a literal mirror being held up to COVID-impacted society and an appetizer for what we can expect on Pondertwn’s upcoming album. If you like your dance music with a helping of pomp and darkness, by all means, give this track a listen!
In this episode of BBB Radio, special guest Sommerleigh Pollonais talks about the first season of the Netflix-released, South Korean zombie horror series “All of Us are Dead”, and discusses with Ricardo and I the immersive Severin Films documentary “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror” and “Scream”, the fifth entry in the beloved meta-horror franchise. Additionally, I share my thoughts on the fourth season of Netflix’s hit series “Cobra Kai”, and Ricardo and I review the new Warner Bros./DC animated movie “Catwoman: Hunted”.
BBB RADIO 