You can tell a song won’t be remembered in 5 years when Todd can simply hit random keys and nobody realizes he’s just playing random keys until he points it out
It’s amazing how regardless of Drake’s level of talent, he could get anyone to write his songs for him and perform on his records, yet he sounds so awful. He doesn’t even care enough to curate better talent.
Okay, it should be stated that Honestly Nevermind was a house album as a tribute to Virgil Abloh, a highly prolific graphic and fashion designer who was friends with Drake and who passed away last year. Virgil was a huge house fan and frequently played it at DJ gigs he had. Album still isn’t good though.
As a gay man, I thought your comparison of Taylor vs. Beyonce appealing to their gay fans was spot on. I loved Break My Soul, hated You Need To Calm Down.
I'm generally more of a metalhead than a pophead, but I'm a queer dude and have to agree. imo, "You Need to Calm Down" is faux ally trash that centers itself on two alloromantic cishet people (and doesn't even get the "allyship" right, when it pretends that queerphobia only comes from hicks-as if there aren't queer people in the country, and as if the affluent care a shit if they see a hate crime), "BREAK MY SOUL" is a great song that gives Big Freedia a major spotlight.
Drake is basically just a brand at this point, an unspectacular yet predictable and reliable standard that people set as their default simply because it's always available. In this analogy, this dance album would be Drake's New Coke... no one was asking for a change, and within a few years it will be nothing but a memory and a punchline.
I heard rumours about Drake dropping a THIRD Scary Hours EP. Considering the previous two Scary Hours EPs had some of the hardest bangers of late-period Drake era (SP1 had God's Plan, SP2 had What's Next & Wants And Needs), Scary Hours 3 might be, let me extend the metaphor, Drake's Coke Classic.
But Drake and his stans somehow believe that the haters "don't get it yet" and it's gonna reach some classic territory in a few years. Nah. This was trash at the time and it always will be. I'm a big Eminem fan and even I knew that Revival was trash immediately and didn't try to dunk on the haters. Drake stans are a whole breed of clueless.
This is why I love Todd so much. He'll avoid discussing new pop songs for a long period of time, skipping over MASSIVE albums from people (this case being Kendrick, Harry, Harlow, Bad Bunny, etc.), and then start a music rivalry that no one knew they needed until now
You want to know the real way in which Drake’s song and album failed: I completely forgot Drake even released an album this year. Maybe it helps to prove Todd's theory from the Katy Perry TrainWreckords about the "Delayed Flop" where it's more the failure of the album before that spearheads the failure of the current one. With Drake, maybe Certified Lover Boy was the sign that things were going downhill for him and his schtick was getting old, and Honestly Nevermind is feeling the aftershocks of that.
I see it. I don't have anything against Drake but I don't see him being as popular in a few years. I really do think he's dropping off, which is sad, because I feel like he'd have a lot of potential if he were to explore it instead of trying desperately to make music that doesn't have his voice in it. It's a unique voice, I can see him making some really good vocal work in a variety of genres. But he just doesn't really branch out at all, and when he does, it's... well... this.
I might compare it more to with Eminem released Kamakaize unexpectedly after everyone hated Revival. ...except everyone hated the suprise album to, LOL.
Beyoncé is going for 90's House, Drake is doing 2010's-2020's House (produced by Black Coffee), The Weeknd (who is the elephant in this video's room) is kinda mixing 80's synthpop with 2000's House
Yeah, I get the feeling The Weeknd's a huge Synthwave and Vaporwave fan (especially since he's been working a lot with one of the pioneers of Vaporwave, Daniel Lopatin, from 2020 onward).
Nah, Drake's track is essentially "Can You Feel It" by Larry Heard. Nothing to do with Synth Pop and 2000's house: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tFuujExs03A.html
I can say that Big Freedia is a LGBTQ+ icon. I was introduced to her music over a decade ago, and have rarely gone to a LGBTQ+ bar that *didn’t* play one of her songs. Also, she was featured on a Drake song (“Nice for What"), another connection between Beyoncé and him!
@nemo pouncey not referring to a person as “it”… it would’ve been so easy for you to just not comment and move on. No one here is concerned with genitals when we’re discussing music and cultural impact.
You made me want to listen to the Big Freedia's cover of Judas by Lady Gaga. She did it for the 10th anniversary of the "Born this way" album and it's amazing.
there's that one quote from ... i think it's dear white people but i could be wrong ... that's like "drake's entire career is him overcompensating for the scene on degrassi when he couldn't get it up"
I mean Beyonce could step into the place left vacant by Cher and just make catchy dance themes for the gays. There will always be a market for that and she's very over qualified to do it.
I’m sorry but Beyoncé has way too much talent to just be the next "old gay pandering icon". Her album will pay tribute to ball room culture and the gays yes but the next album will be something completely different, she always changes her sound from album to album
At the very least it’d be better she did that instead of just becoming a normal artist, because normal Beyoncé is just Alicia Keys, and I don’t really care for her stuff.
This video just makes me realize that Janelle Monáe would create the perfect house club track, but hasn't since they know there's no going back from it.
what do you mean by there's no going back from it? Also I don't think Janelle Monáe is doing music at the moment, if I remember correctly the last thing Janelle was doing was acting
I have a theory that the most popular music of each era is directly correlated to how easy it is to produce. As an example, 80s glam metal became a very dominant force in pop culture primarily because guitarists were using very simplified versions of Eddie Van Halen's shred techniques, like easy versions of his tapping runs and simple scale runs that were easier to play versions of classical scales that were more influenced by the blues scales used by Led Zeppelin.
Each decade is obsessed with the decade 30 to 25 years prior. The 80s were obsessed with the 1950s and early 1960s (see: Uptown Girl, Back to the Future, Hairspray, Stray Cat Strut, Come On Eileen), the 90s were obsessed with the late 60s and 1970s (see: Boogie Nights, Groove is in the Heart, Dazed and Confused, most Rap samples), etc. This is just a continuation of that.
@@browngirlinaclownworld2077 I have a theory on that as well. It's more-or-less that the revival movements gain traction easier in European countries due to the smaller album sales required to chart, and then that fame tends to translate to success in the US. So, the Stray Cats might have been carried to relevance by the small community of people into the genre, but once they got big hits through pandering to that community they became celebrities. So, let's say there's a small community of boomers still interested in 90s shooters. That community is large enough to get, say, Civvie 11, a RU-vidr primarily focusing on 90s shooters to get his reviews of popular shooters like Quake and Postal to trend on RU-vid. People will inevitably go "Wow, look at those numbers," and imitators will follow, and the community will grow because people will realize the commercial potential of the community, which will lead to a revival of 90s shooters.
@@browngirlinaclownworld2077 Meanwhile, 90s grunge is dead as most of the frontmen. I assume because post-grunge poisoned the well and made the whole genre seem sour, whiny, and meatheaded.
Why did one song succeed and the other fail? Hm, I wonder why... Beyonce: "YOU WON'T BREAK MY SOUL! YOU WON'T BREAK MY SOUL!" Drake: [mumble mumble, whine whine, whine-autotune flick-whine, mumble mumble]
I'm not a Beyonce fan, but her voice is perfect for the House type dance music. Drake is a good singer, but he doesn't have the strongest voice for that kind of thing.
You’re telling me that Drake did something flashy but empty, then immediately got bodied by a significantly more talented artist doing the exact same thing a hundred times better?
There was a story some years back of someone working on a video with Beyoncé and they went to do Beyoncé’s make up…. When they got to her dressing room Beyoncé was just sitting at the vanity crying… they asked if she was ok and she responded “I’m just soooo tired” the make up artist then ask if she wanted them to leave and Beyoncé looked in the mirror, whipped her tears and said…… no….. I’m fine let’s go to work. Break my soul reminds me of that story whenever I hear it…
Beyonce is a workaholic and absolute perfectionist. She works herself to the bone every time. It's admirable but sad sometimes. Imagine always being in a competition with yourself.
Reminds me of the clip of her and her mom in an elevator (I think) and Beyoncé sighs as she leans back on the wall. Her mom says “tired?” And Beyoncé replies “No” and I think they both chuckle bc they know she really is 😆 No one could ever say she doesn’t work hard
I am here to say, after the release of the Beyoncé album that, no, she didn't turn into a regular person. She is still a larger than life figure. But the album is REALLY GOOD. She throws back to past dance music genres including house, disco, funk, whatever Prince was doing in the 80s, 80s hip hop, etc. And she looked at current dance genres like afrobeats, trap, hyperpop, and dancehall. I feel like the difference between the two is one was done with a lot of effort and forethought and the other was done out of boredom and on a whim. And we should have expected it. Whether you like or dislike Beyoncé, it is hard to deny that she is hardworking and focuses on the details. That may rub people the wrong way. But I would rather hear a singer sing than hear a rapper than has never taken any singing lessons sing. The effort/ennui is what set the singles apart and what has set the albums apart.
Agreed, two separate but closely related genres (the musical equivalent of siblings if you will). Both originated from the Disco bust of 1979 and black house parties in Chicago and Detroit.
@@gametrashstuff2312 hmmm nah its definitely still house. singing and this kind of bassline alone are things you dont really hear in techno. but yeah its bordering on it.
I'd argue Formation and Hold Up were definitely huge hits, but I agree Beyonce has been more of an album artist from 4 onwards, and it's largely a good thing. If "Break My Soul" gets a music video it's definitely exploding. A halfway decent remix featuring anyone of relevance and double that
Beyonce's the Will Smith of music. She's done it all, there's nothing left to do but make the kind of music she loves, and occasionally, chase awards. Well, the Will Smith of last year.
@@yobruddah8920 They are hits in the sense that both are extremely good songs with extremely good music videos that most people know. Everyone knows the yellow dress Bey worse. And most of people will know the chorus melody of Hold Up. They aren’t on a Crazy In Love level ofc but they are definitely well known hits.
@@MD-ow3nc Yeah. Decently successful. I didn't say they bombed or were only known to a niche crowd. They were on the level-ish as 'My Future' by Billie Eilish or 'Cardigan' by Taylor Swift. Most people were aware of them at the time and a good amount of people liked them (at least enough to debut in the top ten if not make it to the year-end list) and their fame wasn't at all nothing. Most up-and-coming artists would kill to have a song that big. But you know what he means by hit when he mentions his fence sitting. He very much means the 'Crazy in Love,' 'Irreplaceable,' 'Halo' stuff, which she hasn't had on her own since, arguably, Sasha Fierce. He's not wrong. Which to be clear isn't a bad thing. Kind of Todd's point is that Bey doesn't really care about getting hits like that anymore. If she wanted to she probably could make a 'Levitating' or a 'Save You Tears' and chase another 'Independent Women'-sized hit but she's not really into doing that.
You're not wrong about that falsetto voice. It's even funnier than the intentionally funny falsetto voice Grover Fischoeder had when singing his "I'm Not Evil" song from the Bob's Burgers movie.
I actually love that Beyoncé’s career went into the direction of being an album artist now because she doesn’t really need hit singles anymore, she has plenty already and so it gives her a chance to really craft every album she releases and ensure the flow and production are flawless. As a long time fan I can easily say I enjoy her last few albums so much more because it’s genuinely an experience listening to her records while at the same time the tracks hold up on their own too if you’re not listening to the entire album at once. I also feel like most artists can easily make a hit single at least once in their career but it takes an exceptional artist to put out an entire record that slaps from beginning to end. I’ve always hated when I love a single so I listen to the rest of the album and it turned out to be the only good track on the entire album. Artists like Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Taylor swift … don’t have the usual album cycles, they have entire eras of work.
@@SeanStrife yes! Totally agree. You can also see it just from the sheer volume Drake puts out that it’s always been quantity over quality just shoving out tracks without taking the time to let it ruminate and edit it down I to a version you’re genuinely proud of. And it sucks because i actually do think he’s really talented and could make some really great stuff if he tried. He has enough money so it’s not like all his releases have to be so commercial and mainstream to appeal to the broadest audiences.
“Almost every Beyoncé song you could listen to and tell immediately you are listening to one of the most famous people alive” Which is why her being Nala in The Lion King 2019 wasn’t a great idea from pretty much every aspect except getting more butts in seats
i was watching a youtuber talk about a movie she was in (i forgot what it was called but i know it also had idris elba in it) and she was mentioning how beyonce delivers her lines like she’s about to break into song
I think it goes back to the two categories of pop stars Todd talks about. People listen to Beyonce because they love Beyonce and respect her as an artist. People listen to Drake because they think his music is catchy. When they fall out of love with the music, people will ignore Drake, just as is happening now.
I dunno, Drake stans go pretty fucking hard. I suspect even when he's not debuting at #1 with every new project anymore, there'll still be a big contingent of people that care about what he's doing.
A Vs Pop Song Review from Todd in the Shadows? That’s something that I have never seen in a long time. And it goes without saying, the Beyoncé song is waaaaaaaaay better than whatever Drake song is.
Last VS pop review he uploaded was hello/hotline bling, tho it was (re?)uploaded in 2019 while both songs are from 2015. Other than that, Better Now vs Lucid Dreams in 2018
@@streamsos explain one dance, controlla and passionfruit being some of his biggest records worldwide. His diversity may not always be executed well but it’s still always been part of who he is
As someone who is really into electronic music, I have a slightly different theory on what exactly Drake was trying to do. Around the second half of 2000, the electronic fandom split into two warring factions. Trance music had been pretty rapidly gaining popularity since 1997, and it seemed inevitable that it was going to become the dominant subgenre of electronic soon. Because of that, all of the labels that had been desperately trying to crowbar house into mainstream music started switching over to trance, and with that came the likes of Alice Deejay, DJ Sammy, and Amber. While the amount of success these labels had in making popstars was similarly lacking, they got newfound success in getting the trance community as a whole to accept the attempted pop crossovers as a worthwhile part of the genre, whereas other genre communities had rejected those attempting mainstream success as soulless industry plants. As trance grew in popularity, house DJs began to grow concerned that trance's willingness to incorporate label-mandated sounds into the genre would cause the industry as a whole to start pushing the more unique aspects out of every subgenre in the pursuit of pop appeal. As DJs like Danny Tenaglia started advocating that those who make other grnres start actively resisting the spread of trance music lest they be assimilated, a new subgenre called dark progressive house began to gain popularity in anti-trance circles. Dark progressive house, as a genre, was designed with the goal of being as different from trance music as possible. Trance was built around a single melody, had high-energy synths, and an optimistic mood, so dark progressive house had muted synths, almost completely abandoned melody as a concept, and developed a very pessimistic sound. It became one of the most anti-commercial movements in music history, to the point where even having lyrics in your song was considered a sellout move. By design, the genre never managed to have anything even resembling a hit from its inception in 2000 until its death alongside trance in 2005. And, this, for some reason, is the genre that Drake, the biggest popstar in the world, decided to emulate for his dance album. It took me a while to figure out why Drake tried to make an album like this, but I think I have an answer. Drake has to know that he's starting to lose favor with the public. By CLB, a consensus was beginning to form that he was mindlessly rehashing his older successes while having nothing left to say, and it seemed that people were only still listening out of a sense of obligation. So, if your career is dying of overcommercialization, it makes sense to go in the complete opposite direction. The problem is, Drake doesn't know how to write anything that isn't a pop song. What went wrong becomes clear if you compare it to the John Debo and Steve Porter remix of the song Marscarter, which I think is the ideal version of the sound Drake was going for. First of all, the genre literally has progressive in the name, but Massive and Ties That Bind seem to be the only songs that noticed that. The mastering is so flat and the synths have so little thought put into them that instead of sounding sparse, the songs just sound empty. Drake also seems to have confused electronica's lower standards for lyrical quality for a free pass to make his vocals sound low-effort, when that lower standard really exists to maximize how good the vocals actually sound. While I did not particularly like Break My Soul, if you compare it to the idealized version of its sound (the Boys Own remix of Perfect Motion), you can tell Beyoncé at least knows what genre she's supposed to be making and what it needs to sound good, while Drake clearly doesn't.
This was fun. Sincerely. I didn’t realize how heavy everything felt today & I sucked up your comment like it was a root beer float in a heat wave. Thanks, ‘ta!
I love a good social media comment essay. Most of them are stupid people saying a lot of words trying to sound smart. But, the good ones, from people who actually have something to say, are fantastic.
break my soul feels like it’s coming from such an authentic place of appreciation for what house music is. honestly nevermind is a dance album that doesn’t experiment or cement itself in the genre bc it doesn’t have anything relevant to say. break my soul sounds like it has research and collaboration behind it. the renaissance credits came out yesterday and there are house legends that she has interpolated, featured or sampled on this project. honestly nevermind sounds like drake listened to half a house song and asked 40 to make them something that wouldn’t get them copyright striked.
Me, 2021: "I'm not exactly hip to the modern pop charts, just a nerdy thirtysomething who mostly listens to niche genres no one cares about anymore; like cheesy house music from the early 1990s and weird goth rock by artists like Kate Bush." Pop charts, 2022:
Me, 2021: ""Dang, Hounds of Love is an amazing album! You could honestly release it right now and it would fit right in with other solo songwriter albums." Pop charts, 2022:
I'm a sucker for a good throwback too...and Break My Soul is soooooo good, it just hit so right. I was jawed and loving it from the first moment. Good to see you Todd! Thanks for the video! ✌
Break My Soul sounds like a dance club remix without being a remix at all. It's pretty fascinating to me she was able to pull that off and put that out into the mainstream.
I was JUST thinking the other night that Drake feels more like an R&B artist at times than a rapper. The songs of his that immediately come to mind wouldn't be too out of character for Jason Derulo or Usher to cover. This might be a spicy take, but Drake is basically Maroon 5 if Maroon 5 appealed to anyone who isn't a middle aged white woman nowadays. Moody man singing about being in a bad relationship but the sex is soooo good. Edit: Got 15 minutes in and I guess "bad falsetto" is another thing they have in common now.
He's also similar to Maroon 5 in how he's stagnated and basically exists as a brand at this point. Not to the same degree, mind you, but I see some similarities.
@@larissabrglum3856 That's true-I don't follow Drake as closely as Maroon 5 (I'm a fan of their first four albums and they put the nail in their grave with "Red Pill Blues"), but Drake seems to be the subject of criticism these days. My brother's tweet about Drake making Wii menu music made it into a Keemstar video.
I feel it’s very important to say that, because Todd did this review, I had to immediately check out Beyoncé’s song, and fell in love with it. And then, because of that, I had to add it to my playlist for a fanfic project (yes, yes - I know) and then went down a rabbit hole trying to research what other house music and music from the Harlem Ballrooms might have influenced this song, and that lead me to a whole playlist of a BUNCH of music that was some artists or songs I recognized (George Michael was on there more than once) but the biggest one was KSFM’s “Love is the Message” (the 12” album version) and it is now a formative song for me, I REALLY love it. So, Todd - thank you. I credit you for all the cool, weird things I found, and are also on that fanfic playlist now, it has changed so much!
Excellent point about the relative anonymity of house artists. Nerdy tangent: old episodes of Top of the Pops are regularly shown in the UK, and a while back they were on the very early 90s and the house artists, although making incredibly catchy music at times, often had zero stage presence. That era was a bit of a low for the programme, and that was a reason why (at least in part - there were also awkward reshuffles and revamps, and a generally naff reputation). In that respect, the rise of Britpop was something of a godsend for them, with acts who had true personality and star power
Someone pointed out, during financial recessions, dance/happy music trends it's highest. Post-2008 saw Lady Gaga, LMFAO, BEPs, Katy Perry, Keshia, Pitbull, etc. All do massive numbers. I think we'll see way more positive/dance tracks for the next few years as the economy declines...🤭😮💨
Fun fact most people are lucky never to know: the Jewish papers were all so fucking excited that Drake’s newest video featured “a Jewish wedding.” Meanwhile polygamy has been forbidden in Judaism since Rabbeinu Gershom’s takkanah over a thousand years ago, and in any case nothing about the wedding in the video was Jewish in any realistic way (no ketubah reading, no sheva berakhot etc) so it ended up being less of a Jewish wedding and more of a cartoon of a Jewish wedding drawn by a non-Jew who was also low-key an antisemite. I’m thankful that the song bombed for that reason alone tbh
Just a random shiksa here but definitely was WTFing at the bizarre caricature of a Rabbi with a wedding that was clearly not Jewish. I got distracted by everything else that was wrong, but it was blatant!
I hadn't heard Falling Back before this video, but when Todd was playing that intro, I thought, yep, that's 120% a Drake song, I could tell even without vocals. So Todd revealing that he was completely riffing it is so funny to me because that just shows how predictible Drake's sound is (and also how good Todd is at impersonating his sound, like damn)
2 года назад
I don't think I've ever hear an entire Drake song, not even the meme one. I'm always caught by surprise whenever people say how huge he is in music history.
Part of it is that he's apparently, somehow, hugely popular in Britain, with stuff like One Dance apparently being notorious for how overplayed it was.
Drake's Image is also not helped by most of gen-z genuinely hating him. At least on tiktok and twitter drake has garnered an awful reputation and most of what I've seen people consider him to be a predator.
And not for good reason. His pretty sus "friendship" with Millie Bobbie Brown has been well reported on but he's had another girlfriend in the past that he "just happened" to start dating three weeks after turning 18. If he gets R Kelly'd in ten years, I won't be surprised.
@@naialain9731 All Billie said was That they’ve texted about music and stuff .The fact that she was 17 at the time made people immediately assume the worst like he was tryna fuck. Even tho she also said other artists like Travis Scott, kid cudi, Adam Levine and someone else all Did the same thing and yet they didn’t get any side eyes whatsoever. What did he say about her?…
I'm late millenial (1999), and I didnt know about Drakes predator allegations and I dont care. All I know is I've always kind of disliked him and thought he had a nauseating mediocre douche aura and music to match. I dont mean that personally though.
The idea for Falling Back video feels like it was an idea meant for a CLB song, it would’ve fit with the album art. Why he didn’t do it then is a mystery, I assume it was either COVID related, or because no song it’d fit became big on streaming. Though it doesn’t fit much with Falling Back either
There just isn't really a joke to it - but there's probably a way to make the concept work somehow. Maybe have the models get hitched to some of Drake's famous friends, have his mother marry Lionel Richie (there's a line in his leaked Usher collab "Slow Motion" about how he wants to set her up with "someone rich and single...is Lionel Richie single?"), have the guest rapper be the best man...but alas this is what we get
Beyoncé and Drake are doing very different styles of House here. Bey's being more rooted in 90s House and Drake's being more South African House with production by Black Coffee. Drake would've benefited from singing less and getting actual vocalists to help bring some dimension to the album. One other thing: Beyoncé has a bit more experience with House music than ppl think. As a member of Destiny's Child they often recorded House music versions of their hit songs (remember DC debuted in 1997, she's been doing this for a while).
I legit thought when I saw the brides in the "Falling Back" MV it would be about Drake's fears his marruage wouldn't last and he'd be off to another marriage and repeat again and again. Not a minute later and I was wrong.
He buried the lead in the story. Check the charts position for Drake. He's being outdone by Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", a song that's 37 YEARS OLD!!!
"BREAK MY SOUL" is now the biggest song in America, according to Billboard. Drake also got a #1 hit from this album cycle, but it sure as shit wasn't "Falling Back".
Todd, thank you so much for your brilliant timing. I've been fired from a job, gotten the news a family member died, and now, I'm being kicked out of an apartment by a bigoted roommate, and you've been there with a new video to make things a little bit brighter.
Same. Admittedly I don't keep up with pop music very well, but I'd at least seen Break My Soul getting radio play when I'm in the car. I didn't even realize Drake had released anything.
Big Freedia is a major icon! My cynical side won't stop screaming "Pride month cash grab!" every time I hear Break My Soul, but I don't want to be a fun-hater. But stillll... as Bob The Drag Queen says, "you'll know you really made it when they offer you a job any month other than June."
Even though I'm a complete philistine when it comes to music, american pop especially, but my immediate reaction to Falling Back was insta-snooze and Brake My Soul was immediate "OH YEAH THIS IS MY SHIT!"
I'm pretty sure this is just me, but as someone who hasn't listened to either of these songs before watching this review, the first thing that I noticed about Break My Soul is that, for some reason, it reminded me of Rather Be by Clean Bandit
Drake's house forays on More Life and this album came from kwaito, a South African genre which can accurately be described as "house for straight men." It's dripping with cisgender Christian woes. It makes sense why he would latch onto that sound rather than deep house from Detroit.
Honestly, ska is currently in a pretty good position. Lots of variety, nice local and global scenes, I don't think it going mainstream again would actually do it that much good.
Yea, at best they'll be a ska hit from an established local band thats a bit of a fluke indie hit inbetween the big hits that todd will, of course, not review until its already fallen off the charts by the next Bieber or Ariana or something
skatune network got an album on the charts based off of his popularity so a semi popular scene like midwest emo where its just below the surface is a real possibility
Oh wow, a Pop Song Review, that thing that made me subscribe. Honestly, One Hit Wonderland and Trainwreckords are enough to hold me over, so it's always a pleasant surprise when something popular is enough for Todd to make a video for.
Given how few pop reviews Todd has done this year, you can tell the best/worst lists for 2022 are gonna be rough. Been a mostly unremarkable year for 2022.
I hope it’s on his best list. Then again is there 10 songs good enough to make a best list in 2022? Or even a worst list? It feels like we haven’t been getting any new hits
Oh hell yeah, Todd's pushing for a ska comeback! I knew I like him so much for a reason. A Todd after my own heart. Don't know if I have to recommend him to you, but Jeff Rosenstock just surprise released a ska redo of his last surprise release album No Dream in April, and it's sooo good
my only gripe with break my soul is that show me love has been sampled sooo many times its boring to me atp when i hear it sampled, theres so many great house tracks to sample and im hoping for some fresher stuff on her album but im still super excited for it!! also i highly reccomend wax motifs honestly nevermind remixes (esp massive which imo was already pretty good) they give exactly what drake thought he was giving💀
Honestly if it wasn’t for the Big Freedia sample, the song would be a pretty boring rip-off of Show Me Love. But Bey’s vocals and Big Freedia yelling “RELEASE YA JOB” makes the song pretty freaking fun.
Time has been so hard to track as of late. Spending a ridiculous amount of time at home and then sudden changes in life. Watching one Todd in the shadows video every couple of months helps keep track of life and time. Thanks Todd
As an occasional Deep House producer, I think Drake’s Sade-drenched Sophisto-Rap wanted some of that old Larry Heard revival money that the UK EDM scene seem to produce right now at the heels of Disclosure but also the 2010s Outsider House scene. Drake is a known UK-phile, so trying to get on that is beyond plausible.
good to see you're still doing these double pop song reviews. however, i wanted to see you review first class by jack harlow and big energy by latto since they're both toping the summer charts yet i feel them unappealing. big energy pretty much gives me the all summer long by kid rock vibes but in a bad way and first class gives me the ice ice baby vibes, gimmicky and morbid.
@@Frosting1000 well i just wanted to say another word than corny or cringey since i think those words have been overused for years but yeah i think it's pretty corny at times just like how ice ice baby was in the early 90s.
Agree, both songs are kinda exhausting to me. If h had to choose I'd say Big Energy is more tolerable, but something about both songs just feel like they're desperately hoping the sample will carry them
Pointing out Beyonce's lyrics it reminded me of No Stress from Laurent Wolf. Yeah, totally different sounds but they both go for the I'm tired of my work and wanna enjoy background
It's been so weird hearing everyone saying these records are signalling a new house revival in pop music because... Did we not already have the house revival wave like 8 years ago? Or was that whole post-Disclosure gold-rush strictly a UK thing?
It was a UK thing. 8 years ago the US was rebelling against the previous 5 years of EDM music being popular. Trap music was gaining it's foothold and tempos were slowing. Also the UK buying public has always had a more consistent love for House music while the US cycles it in and out.
It was a UK thing, but also, I think musical genres can be revived more than once? I'm not a music historian but it seems possible, especially given we're in an era where there's a lot of nostalgia for the 90's.
Honestly, nice to see a vs from Todd after so long. I didn’t know that history of house music but, after listening to a bunch from the 90’s, it definitely feels more like Beyoncé is doing more a ballroom song, especially with the aesthetics of the video. I mean Ballroom culture is getting more visibility and popularity with shows like Legendary and Pose being such hits. Although, if Law Roach and Dominique Jackson appear in a video, we can confirm that theory. Also, nice to see Big Freedia on the track. The queen of Bounce is always welcome.
I'd kinda like Beyonce to keep up this direction too. I've never exactly disliked her or anything, but her whole "Queen Bee" thing always kinda pushed me away and made me focus on the songs from her I didn't like. But this one's actually pretty good. Not my favorite, but deserving of some praise. Though that good feeling might partially be because I just cannot stand Drake. He's another artist I've never particularly enjoyed, but while Beyonce was never hateable or anything, Drake most certainly has become so by now. I just wish he'd go away.
Maybe I'm the wrong person to comment(I'm more of a metal fan, but I don't hate hip-hop), but I could never understand what people saw in Drake. His lyrics don't matter, his beats are boring, and he's not even that great of a rapper... but people just ate that shit up, and I can't think of a good reason why. But like I said, this isn't really my genre, so it's possible that I'm missing something that everyone else craves. Whatever, if I feel like listening to hip-hop, I'll probably throw on some Kendrick Lamar. Until then, I'll just go back to listening to Spiritbox
@@ideitbawxproductions1880 i dont listen to drake that often, but i think its because hes more like background noise than actual art. U could play drake to go to sleep or while ur studying. But yeah i understand what u mean. Its not ur type of music and theres nothing wrong with that 🤷♂️
Always love your videos Todd :) Wanted to ask, have you ever considered covering 'Waiting for the Siren's Call' for a Trainrecords video? I totally get that covering a New Order album is alot of work to take on, but it could be a really interesting video. Keep doing what your doing man!
Personally, I'm not a fan of either song, they have their strengths and weaknesses but they are something I wouldn't listen to more than once. After two groundbreaking albums and building this image of great mystery and power, it's hard for me to think of Beyoncé as a normal person with a blue-collar job. Not to mention, the way Beyoncé sings in a lower register makes it sound like she's playing a character. Break my Soul has a strong beat and it's catchy but Beyoncé can't show relatability without sounding phony. Beyoncé is many things but she's is not an actress. (As we learned with Pink Panther 06' and The Lion King 19') Drake's song has a nice, chill melody but it's not going for a house music vibe. It sounds less like Technotronic and more like Massive Attack but without the substance. Todd's comments about Drake's new release being a "Rush Job" are valid. From the crappy album artwork to the track list, it feels Drake made this record quickly to massage his ego. While Drake seems to be pumping out new material as much as Frank Zappa did, he doesn't have the vision or creativity Zappa had. Drake is just coasting on his celebrity these days and hoping his devoted fans will keep him wealthy and relevant.
If I have an issue with Break My Soul it's that it sounds like it could have been sung by anyone. It sounds like Beyonce was given a bunch of pop songs that were guaranteed to become a hit and she was told "Okay, Queen Beyonce. Pick one of these for your next big pop song, it doesn't matter which." It's good, sure, but it isn't relatable. It sounds like she's a rich girl who's trying to be relatable with the mindset of "Hmm. What do the little people relate to? Well, my maid, personal chef, and nanny all seem to hate their jobs. That's relatable, right? All those little people hate their jobs, right? I'll pretend to hate my job, too, to make them think that I, Beyonce, can relate to their silly little struggles." It's like how comedians are constantly telling jokes about how much they hate their spouses because in their world their wives are constantly complaining about them always working or being on the road while they're stuck at home raising their kids. In their minds, everyone must be dealing with similar marital problems. But, in the real world outside of the entertainment industry the average person isn't constantly dealing with a bitchy wife and surrounded by people who they could potential cheat on that bitchy wife with.
@@qty1315 I completely disagree with Break My Soul being able to be sung by anyone else. No one else would give us the same stacked harmonies and intricate vocalizations that Beyonce has been known for. And of course you can feel however you want about her trying to be relatable, but I honestly don't see the harm. It's not new for artists of any kind to write or sing about perspectives that are not totally their own. Sometimes I wish people would just listen to a song. I'm a poor gay black man and never once have I listened to Break My Soul and thought "fuck Beyonce. she's lying to us all." I just dance.
yall are not appreciating the vocal stacks, growls, runs, riffs and harmonies on Break My Soul. No other pop star would be able to sing this song. This song was not Beyonce's "lower register", either. Her voice has darkened and become heavier over the years due to childbirth. That's just her normal range now. Just listen to the acapella version. (also, listen to Be Alive at the Oscars).
If you listen to Renaissance as an album it's a lot more clear that a lot of the songs (this one included) are an homage to ball culture. One of the songs samples Miss Honey it really isn't subtle. So the idea of "My job is horrible and life is hard but I'm gonna be glamorous and amazing and you can't keep me down," like another comment said that's really reflective of the appeal of the ball
