Latest / ninetyfive / Jack Harlow: From Rap to Neo Soul, We talk Monica - EP10

Transcript

Jack Harlow: From Rap to Neo Soul, We talk Monica - EP10 · ninetyfive

0:02
SPEAKER_00: Who have we got today?
0:04
SPEAKER_00: Last time we did Big UK Dave.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: This time we're getting big US.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: It's Jack Harlow.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: I've I've mixed feelings on it.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how I feel about that.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna lie to you.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm being super critical with you.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm being super critical with you.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm happy.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: You've pleased me.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: I'm seeing that's why we're having this conversation.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: I was debating whether to actually bring that up, so I'm very glad that I did.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's good that you did.
0:29
SPEAKER_02: Alright, right.
0:30
SPEAKER_02: Back here, back again.
0:32
SPEAKER_02: What are we saying?
0:33
SPEAKER_02: Let's just get into it, man.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: Whoa, whoa.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: Let's get to that battle of the week.
0:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
0:36
SPEAKER_02: And then we can have a bit of chit-chat, you know?
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's do it.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
0:39
SPEAKER_01: So what have you got for me, man?
0:40
SPEAKER_01: What have you got?
0:42
SPEAKER_03: Okay, we'll go we're going UK rap again.
0:45
SPEAKER_03: Who's the?
0:45
SPEAKER_03: We're staying there.
0:46
SPEAKER_03: We say Tell me, tell me.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: 2025 album.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: For me, one of my favourites of last year, I must say.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say this this is one of one of yours, definitely.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, I know you've spoken about this before on the pod, I think, a couple of times, potentially.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I called it out a couple of times already.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: Called it a couple times.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: Wretch is the guy, to be fair.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: So to be fair, I think I've only listened to I only listened to the album when it came out, and I was like, yeah, respect it.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: And then I haven't really revisited it.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: So okay, interesting.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: So talk to me, man.
1:22
SPEAKER_03: Talk to me.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've listened, I've had this on repeat quite a lot, to be fair.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, made sense had to get the had feel like had to get the vinyl.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because this really is art, you know.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: And I say that without like an aloof hat on or anything, but um, yeah, for me, yeah, one of my one of my favorites of last year.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, got a great cast list of uh collaborators and features on it.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Um but really they all just play into like this cohesive sonic world that he's built for the album.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, I love the messaging of it.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you know, it's home and question mark, and he sort of speaks speaks to like identity and a lot of stuff that we've previously discussed on a pod.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I guess today what we're talking about is like this is a product, and for me, I really love it.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: This is um I'll show you in a sec, but we got uh gatefold vinyl here.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: Um on the back, we've got uh track list and the features and stuff and some more imagery on the front.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Of course, he did this custom like shack essentially, yeah.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, which I guess depicts depicts the the narrative of the album and then on the inside, if we go there quickly, again, some nice added value imagery.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: Big spread in a big gatefold.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I'll hand you quickly.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, gosh, I'm mashing up the mic.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh one of the one of the discs.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Take a look at that one, and I'll have a look at this one.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: Um apologies to the man who aren't watching but are just listening.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, bear with.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, one of the things I love about this as a product is just the sort of like the value added, I think.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: So we've got um, yeah, we've got um printed inserts, um, sleeves rather, which is great, um, which further depicts, I guess, yeah, the imagery of the album.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: The LP itself is just um yeah, it's just a standard black LP, but um, yeah, it's quite heavyweight um overall.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: You've got the lyric, lyric sheet, credit credit sheet as well, which is really nice.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, again, with imagery that's on theme.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: And one thing that I particularly wanted to call out about this was um, and I think you may have this one, but there's a thank you note in there as well, um, which I think is like a bit of a lost art now.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: Um let me just little personal note to the fans and that.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm not I am liking like the pastel notes uh in the in the uh album as well.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: It's very nice still.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: So on um on this side of it, you can see at the bottom there's like a multi-paragraph sort of like it's not even necessarily thank you, but acknowledgements.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: And I think for me, when I when I read this, it was a nice little extra that really gave additional context to the album.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, Rich is such a poet that like a lot of it is like an extension of the music as well for me.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: And so let me just give you a bit of a summary.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: So he says it's funny because when it comes to this part, it's only words I've actually written down throughout the whole album process, and I and I'm always in fear of leaving a name out, so hopefully it's yours, LL.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, he does does a bunch of thank yous and then goes through.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: But I think what I really like is like the way that it it storytells his like collaboration with the producers and the features and explains a bit about the behind the scenes, so it's a little insight, I guess, into the music making process, his personal relationships with people.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: I think so easily, and often it can be like, Yeah, the AR put me in a room with so and so, and then you just sort of like figured it out.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: But these are people he's had like genuine relationships with for years, yeah.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: And I think this album's interesting because it does have quite a few features, I would say, but it's one of the ones that has a few features, but it's still managed to stay in one world, and it all kind of fits like very well together, um, which is very rare to have.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think when we when the kind of uh I remember when the Brit nominations came out and stuff, we all we mentioned this one to be kind of one of almost the snubs kind of thing that that should have got mentioned as well because it's I yeah, I think it's one of the better UK rap albums of that year for sure.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: 100% completely agree.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: Even even the way that he talks, like I'll just read this line as a little example.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, so he says, My AR, Juice Evans Frampar, sometimes sometimes you see something in someone and you roll the dice on them.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: We've hit double six every time, and it's like bringing his poetry into some of the way in which he communicates is like, oh, like it's deeper than yeah, deeper than rap in it.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Like it's his relationships and his storytelling of the process, I think kind of adds value to it.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: And I think this is why sometimes physical product's nice because it brings to life something that I've experienced it in a listener form, and then you see the perspective of the artist to a point and it adds an extra colour to it.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: You see some more of the imagery, adds more colour to it, and um then you just appreciate it more.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: I think.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it helps build out that character and like know like it makes you almost feel like you know him more as a person as well, right?
6:05
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, wanted to give that one, give that one a nod this this week.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I do I do really love the artwork, I think it it's great in terms of being so on theme with um the imagery, I mean, with the with the narrative, and he like carried around elements of it, um, like the the like washing line, yeah, sort of thing.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: He bought into some of the activations during the first during release week.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: So is it like he toured it sort of around?
6:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you feel like he's bringing it to you, and it's not like you know, obviously, Rich is quite known for like the fashion side of things as well, so it's easy to be like, oh now he's all sort of like dripped out, yeah.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: This fancy fit, all talking about sort of like identity struggles, but he bought really that into uh the promotion of it as well, which I thought was um yeah, a really nice marriage of music and the message.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, big him up, man.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: Really love this one, and it's nice to see this as an artwork, um, a bit more up close and personal.
7:01
SPEAKER_03: There it is, the band of the week.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Wretch coming in.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: Nah, strong, strong.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: I like it, I like it.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess in terms of music, we uh we went to see a show together, didn't we?
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Who did we see, mate?
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Who did we uh why are you throwing it back on me?
7:17
SPEAKER_00: This guy.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: Nah nah.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: We went to see we went to see Dave um on the uh boy who played the harp tour and that.
7:24
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, that was um our spotlight artist last week and that.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: What's your thoughts, mate?
7:30
SPEAKER_01: What's your thoughts?
7:30
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to uh obviously we went together, but we we didn't really talk much about it because we thought we'd save it for now.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: I thought we'd save it for um so what were you saying?
7:39
SPEAKER_01: How did how did you feel about it?
7:40
SPEAKER_00: How do I feel?
7:41
SPEAKER_00: Um I've seen Dave before a couple times.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: Um I kind of knew what I was getting, yeah, in the sense of like I know how he performs, and you you kind of have seen it before to a point in terms of some of the songs within the set list.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: However, obviously album three felt a bit different, felt like an elevation, but there was certain stuff that was, I guess, um, a bit stripped back so that the message could speak.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: And I think he incorporated the balance of that super well, I thought, um, in terms of playing the crowd pleasers, um, but also getting the message of the boy who played the harp across on stage, um, and not feeling like you do a disservice to the general punter and a super fan at the same time, which I think is an impressive balance to strike with like an hour and a half you know, stage time.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: Um saying that I expected saying that that I kind of knew what to expect.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: There were elements that surpassed expectations as well and surprised me, I think.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Um like I was I I love the fact that he played piano and there was a sick part where like there were lasers coming out of the grand piano that reflected the notes or he was playing, which I think is a nice demonstration of skill and a unique part of the set design, which was hard.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: Um obviously he played his guitar, um, which was sick, did did some freestyling.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: There was a bit where the um Um Tim does it, he brought him out and did Cats Later, and then he transitioned into uh the lyrics to titanium, I think it was.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: And so there was there was a few little bits that were like surprising and um of the moment, and I was like, Yeah, this cold, like very well thought through.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: A few transitions where you got the band were exceptional, I must say.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was I was loving that, and just yeah, watch what watching it all come together and watching him and his like adoration and like the way he's humbled by seeing it at the end.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm like, yeah, nah, fair play.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: And I I really enjoy the way he um wove in not just his journey of 10 years but also the rest of the cultural story um in terms of like I guess black British music over the last decade.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that was the kind of the general theme it felt like for the for the concert.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: It was like him telling the story of um his start like 10 years ago or 11 years ago, but also music's like the UK rap scene journey as well, um, which was really cool.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, I mean yeah, I thought it was really I really enjoyed it to be fair.
10:13
SPEAKER_01: Not to you fair, but like yeah, I I enjoyed it.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, we were sitting like a little bit apart, wasn't it?
10:19
SPEAKER_01: So I was like just um just taking it all in.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: Like uh I really did like the set design um because the way it the way it was laid out, they had obviously like the hanging like lights.
10:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't even know what you call them, like they were like see see-through um like uh panels, uh screens, and then it basically was on like a conveyor belt so it can come out towards the crowd at the right moment.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: So it made the set look really busy when it needed to be, when they're doing all the hype tunes and you can see all the different panels and stuff.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then the songs, um, any of like the big singles that they had um where it was like um featuring an artist, like if it had like Central C or it had Stormsey or like James Blake, they would have that artist on the screen, so it feels like they're a part of it as well.
11:09
SPEAKER_01: Um, but then when it was like the solo tunes, when it needs to be like more personal and stuff, they kind of stripped that back and just kind of left Dave to it and maybe just put a spotlight on him, which was quite cool.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I was yeah, I was really like impressed with the set design um because it kind of made sure it could do both tones, yeah.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then yeah, in terms of like the story, he kind of took us through it like chronologically, but then yeah, wove in the album at the same time, which was cool.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, had a couple like artists come out and stuff, which was cool as well.
11:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, because who did he have?
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Like Mostack, uh Kano, um, and someone else.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I've actually forgotten, but I can't remember, but yeah, the obviously the Kano one was really cool.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, because they did chapter 16.
11:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, because like they just sat on stools and kind of just did the song together, and like you could feel like their reactions to the to how they were rapping just felt real, innit?
12:09
SPEAKER_01: So it was like it was just like a very cool moment.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um and it brought to life.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've seen the official video, but it brought to life the dinner table scene.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
12:19
SPEAKER_01: So that was yeah, that was cool.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: And it feels so genuine, in it.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Like obviously, there's a bit of a like a half-generational gap between them in a sense.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: Um but knowing even their like on-screen relationship from Top Boy and just you know, Dave being so young when Kane was like like on top type thing, yeah, and now seeing that like and seeing how they're both kind of humbled by the way in which they have like carried the scene on their backs in different capacities, and yeah, yeah, yeah, it was actually beautiful to see, and the way in which I one thing I loved about the show was um often when artists have a bit of a deeper catalogue, you can skip through the tunes, yeah, and it'll be like verse one, chorus, transition, or like just random like crash out.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, and then you keep it moving.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: But even with the tunes with the features where the features weren't present, like he really honoured the fact that certain man in the crowd might not be here for the whole album, might just be wanting to hear Sprinter and location, and so he let the tunes run and somehow managed to condense, managed to fit it all into the set.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't re I don't know, I don't know why, but I just didn't realize he had so many like big like singles and tunes and stuff.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: I was like, when he was playing them, I was like, oh my god, yeah, I forgot about that tune, I forgot about that one, oh my god, it's still going.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, it's mad, it's mad.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Uh but yeah, man, it was yeah, I was I was impressed.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: I was impressed.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any expectation?
13:41
SPEAKER_00: Because I know obviously UK rap's not necessarily your um I thought yeah.
13:47
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I kind of knew it was gonna be like that just because of the the album, right?
13:52
SPEAKER_01: I knew it was gonna be like um when he was doing his songs, it would be kind of like more personal and like reflective and stuff like that.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, I didn't I guess I didn't really understand the enormity of it all.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Uh I mean I know it's an O2 performance and stuff, but like I haven't seen Dave perform before at all, let alone O2.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: So I didn't realise how many fans he really has, and how many like people know choose like what like the big singles were like word for word in that?
14:23
SPEAKER_00: Trust me, if people know Bathurba.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, like, yeah.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, people more here for like the I would say for the older tunes and stuff, and like the more the hype tunes than the album, but yeah, it's mad, it's mad.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: I didn't realise.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: I didn't realise Dave's the guy like that.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean I know he is, but I didn't like when you see it personally, you're like, okay, okay.
14:42
SPEAKER_01: You can do a whole set of hits if you can.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and he actually has really good stage presence as well, which I didn't factor in as well.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: People are hanging off his every word, man.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and he's he rapped a lot of lyrics that night.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
14:54
SPEAKER_01: A lot, a lot, bro.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: A lot.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: So but it was no, it was good, man.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: It was good.
14:58
SPEAKER_01: I enjoyed it.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad, I'm glad.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, question Okay.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: You're sporting a new hat.
15:04
SPEAKER_02: Oh, you like my name?
15:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've not seen this one before.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: What's uh tell me, what's family recipes, bro?
15:10
SPEAKER_01: I can't really give you that many stories on this one, I'm not even gonna lie to you.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: I got it on online from I think it's a site called Service Works.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: So they do like they do like uh like chef attire and stuff like that, or like blacksmith stuff and stuff like that.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: So I think this is a part of the the chef stuff, obviously.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: Family recipes and that.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: That's what I got at I like the font and that.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they do they do have good like merch in there and stuff.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: Um and like the quality's quite like enduring, I guess.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: It's like it's yeah, it's quite um good, good material and stuff.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: So it's like, yeah.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: So I got some trousers from there as well, which are like good as well, to be fair.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, give it a give it a check out.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, you know, I can't be wearing the same hat, like these men keep finding me, seeing me online after a while.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, they might be like, oh, is this guy that have any more?
15:59
SPEAKER_01: It's bad enough.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm always wearing like dark colours and stuff, so it already looks like I'm wearing the same thing every time.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: So I've got at least change the hat, at least, you know.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: So you've got any family recipes for us?
16:09
SPEAKER_00: What's your go-to cuisine?
16:11
SPEAKER_01: You've got to be in the family for that.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Do you get me?
16:15
SPEAKER_03: Family recipes for reason.
16:16
SPEAKER_03: Do you get me?
16:17
SPEAKER_03: I can't be just imparting my my knowledge of that.
16:20
SPEAKER_03: You know how I'm up in the kitchen, you know what I'm about already, but you gotta do, you tell me.
16:25
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
16:25
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if the listeners know that.
16:26
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they don't need to know.
16:27
SPEAKER_03: Don't worry, man.
16:29
SPEAKER_03: We're here for the music for the dudes, don't worry, bro.
16:31
SPEAKER_03: Let's keep it moving.
16:32
SPEAKER_03: We don't want to hear about you and your sous vide.
16:34
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of twos, let's get to recent rotations, bro.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: Let's run it, let's do it.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Recent rotations.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: Let's get into some of the stuff we've been listening to.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Three each as usual, I hope.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've got three, bro.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: I've got three.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go first.
16:49
SPEAKER_02: Uh okay.
16:51
SPEAKER_03: Go with energy.
16:52
SPEAKER_03: Okay, go.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh first recent rotation of the day, it is Don Tolliver.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: So he's got a new album out.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: It's called Octane.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: Um that is my most played album at the moment.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna lie.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: It's on rotation, heavy and um there's big tune.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Was it opposites in that?
17:18
SPEAKER_01: That that tune in there is big.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: But what's your recent reticulation?
17:21
SPEAKER_03: What's the tune that you're listening to?
17:23
SPEAKER_03: But always coming here and taking over.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, and one more thing before you continue as well.
17:30
SPEAKER_01: We have we have a follower who's like credited in that um that album as well.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Sosa, she's in that she's got a writing credit in that album.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're right.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: So shout out to her, bro.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, big up, big up to her.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Good uh, well remembered.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm saying, bro.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: I thought you were gonna chat some nonsense.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking music, I'm only here for the music, bro.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: Come on, bro.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, go continue.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: The tune I'm gonna call out today is called Callback.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Okay, um, yeah, this is energy and it's higher energy, it's what Don Tolliver is known for, obviously, Cactus Jack and Travis, like it's all energy in it.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: And I actually saw him at the O2 his show last year.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and they they were recording a video to this tune, actually, and so he wheeled it up, but he probably played it four times actually, and so I was I grew quite familiar with it and it's nice.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: And then I was when they come on the album, I was like, Yeah, yes, still a tune, still a tune.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: This and it's his energy, and yeah, it comes, yeah, in terms of the album sequencing and stuff.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: We were speaking about this with the Dave project as well.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, it comes with the back of a few tunes that are a bit more downbeat, let's say, and then it kind of picks it back up and yeah, gets into it straight away, like there's little little free count at the start, and then we're off.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, that's mine.
18:45
SPEAKER_02: I understand now why you wanted to go first.
18:46
SPEAKER_02: It's a very strong start.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it wasn't even for that reason.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: So I'm waiting on the video.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: I need to see that.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: I need to see that.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, nah, nah, nah.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: Because it went off that the production at that show and the energy.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: I've not seen anything like it.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: Really?
18:57
SPEAKER_00: Nah.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: Insane.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: Every every album that he's produced has been pretty good.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna lie to you.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: So he does the production a lot of it as well.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
19:03
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Which is mad, yeah.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, nah, he's the guy.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: Big him up, man.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: He's the guy, man.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: He's the guy.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: Okay, wanna me?
19:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking like oh, do you want to do two?
19:12
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no, no.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: That's greedy, that's greedy.
19:14
SPEAKER_01: So, my number one recent rotation of the day is uh Kenny Mason.
19:19
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Moonlight is the song.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we're still going still staying US, like quite trap adjacent.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: Um Moonlight is off of uh his latest mini EP that he released in February called Putt Pack, Third Shift.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, this is the third mini EP's release, so there's like a whole putt-pack release.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's called Putt Pack because he's releasing an album hopefully soonish.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Like he's said that album's on the way, yeah.
19:49
SPEAKER_01: Uh called Bulldog.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: So obviously it's a dog-themed release that he's got going on.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: So that's on the way.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the reason I've chosen this song in particular, uh, because it's a banger, obviously.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh but the sample that's using it is uh Jo D C.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh My Heart Belongs to You, which it's a big tune.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: It's a big obviously I'm a big Joe D C fan, 90s RB, that's that's where I'm at.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: So uh when I heard it, I was like, yeah, this is this is like uh you hear at you hear the sample at the start of the song, and I was worried for a little bit because I was like, we've played, we're playing with Joe D C here.
20:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that's the same sample in Joe D C freestyle with like Drake and J.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: C over, right?
20:31
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, it's been done, like what are you gonna do here?
20:34
SPEAKER_01: But it's yeah, it's done very well.
20:36
SPEAKER_01: Um and you hear the sample throughout the song.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: My favorite part of the song is the second part of the song where you hear the sample and then just like an 808 kind of thumping, and then he's just he's just going off.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: Like Kenny Mason is one of um the one of the slept-on artists, I feel.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's what he's one of the guys that his like the sample work that he has and his production is always like on 10, it's always like really, really good.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, and he is very good at like riding on beats and stuff as well.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, that's my that's my first.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: I haven't heard it, I have to check it out.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, check it out, man.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay, my number two.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Um Gerald Wicks.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: Here we go again is the song name.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay, this come across it randomly.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you a whole lot about him as an artist so far, other than I would recommend checking him out.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Um came up just on my like algorithmic sort of like listening session.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, the production instantly caught my attention.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: It was just super unique and interesting.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Um and then you know, that kind of goes for like what eight bars or something, and then his vocal comes in and compliments it like really nicely.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: It's like quite like the productions, um it's a bit hard to describe, it's a bit samply, a bit sort of synthy and stuff.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, he's um he produced he produced it too, which I found out subsequently and was like over.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Okay, cold, like we're doing big artist here, and uh yeah, it the production really contrasts nicely with sort of his delicate vo vocal tone as well.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Okay, we've got something going on here, and then went on his socials, had a little look, and he got some really very cold visuals to accompany it as well.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: And so I was like, Okay, this is an artist to to sort of get to know a bit more.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay, not that I've got any facts for you about him, but uh Gerald Wicks, here we go again, would definitely recommend Gerald Wicks have a little listen.
22:28
SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
22:29
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to give him a go.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, my second, right?
22:35
SPEAKER_01: Number two.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: So my number two um is Sage Monstrosity.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, crazy name.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: Uh isn't it?
22:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but he is a monster.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: So uh Sage Monstrosity is a Detroit producer, slash artist.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: The way I've discovered this guy is because obviously Jill Scott's new album has come out uh in February, I think.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: Um and he produces three songs on that album.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: And I saw like an interview with Jill Scott Um and uh basically she was saying she's never met the guy.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: Oh sorry.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: And she was like basically sent, she was sent um beat packs from Swissbeats and from David Banner.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and basically she chose one song for Swiss Beats pack and two from David Banner's pack, and they'll all three of them were Sage Monstros Monstrosity's production and that.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so she she heard it, she was like, This is the guy.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: Um and then yeah, so I haven't told you what song what song is my recent rotation.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: So Sage Monstrosity is the artist, and Giving You All My Love is the song.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's that's his song.
23:48
SPEAKER_01: But um Does he like perform on it too?
23:51
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: So it's just like production, okay, yeah, production or pure production, like there's a sample in there and stuff as well.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so one of one of the songs uh from going back to Jill Scott's album is uh Don't Play, which is her colours performance as well.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, his production is just very like soul inspired, like with like heavy hitting like drums and stuff, like very not just near soul, but like yes, soul hip hop and RB.
24:19
SPEAKER_01: Um and like he's been credited and featured um with artists like Schoolboy Cube, Sir, D Smoke, um I think Anderson Pack, um Tyrese and stuff.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: I think Tyrese is the person that discovered him in like mid-2000s, like 2005 or something.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Damn, I'm surprised I've not heard his name before.
24:38
SPEAKER_01: I know, this is what I'm saying.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: He was a part of like the Flipmo squad um through like Buster Rhymes and stuff as well back in the day.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, so he's been he's been about this.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: Isn't this not a new artist or anything?
24:49
SPEAKER_01: He's just he's and like now I've discovered him.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh I've seen videos, it's like you know, when you like all of a sudden you start sit hearing the name for his government's guy now everywhere he's popping up, but that's a name I'd remember as well.
25:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: But there's been a lot, a lot of like RB artists and stuff.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think I was I was looking at um the RB artist and songwriter Tank has got like a podcast, and he was with other people and they were mentioning him and saying, like, he's the guy, he's one of the best producers around kind of thing.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: So he is like renowned, yeah, yeah.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: He's renowned and in that circle and stuff, but it's just kind of kind of coming around.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess you don't really know a lot of producers and like writers and stuff, um, unless they start doing their own music.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: And like I looked at his Spotify, he doesn't have like a a huge great deal of songs, but yeah, this song, Giving You All My Love, came out in September 25.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, so listen to that, and then yeah, listen to the Jill Scott album, and you'll kind of understand more of his sound and stuff, as well on his Instagram and stuff.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: He does like kind of um like beat breakdowns that he should show him like making them beats and stuff like that.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: Oh, cool.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so he's a super, super cool guy.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, give it a go.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: Sick.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: Great shout.
26:06
SPEAKER_02: Well, there you go, there you go.
26:07
SPEAKER_02: What have you got?
26:08
SPEAKER_02: Number what have we got?
26:09
SPEAKER_02: Number three?
26:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Last one for today.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it is Mac Keen and a tune called Candy Crush.
26:16
SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: You aware of Mac Keen?
26:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, of course I am.
26:19
SPEAKER_02: Well, of course I am.
26:20
SPEAKER_02: I think I'm not gonna say it too much.
26:22
SPEAKER_02: I want to hear what you want to say.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: I'll add my comments after.
26:26
SPEAKER_02: But yes, I have heard of it.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, cool.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, man, this tune, another one that sort of yeah, must have just come up sort of on actually no, I think he has a tune.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Let me not get ahead of myself.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: But my my entry point tune was another, another route, and then I was like, this is cold, let me listen to the other music, and then this was another, this is one that stood out to me.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, Candy Crush.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh, for anyone who's not aware of Matt Keen, or at least this sound, I would say it's like Dijon adjacent, yeah, and sonically, you know, you know, in a similar vein to the Justin Bieber swag album, which is probably a sound that's become a bit more popularized recently.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, that's sort of like guitar-led, inspired by you know, that's a Dijon McGee as well.
27:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's all like um, I mean, they're inspired by I would say like 80s like Prince guitar, guitar music and stuff like that.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: So everything's got that kind of nostalgia around it, right?
27:26
SPEAKER_01: So like with the symphonies and like the style of the like the sound of the guitar, it's not like just normal acoustic and stuff.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I I'm I'm about it.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: So 100% the same.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like it's also it's obviously like very sophisticated production, but there's also an element to it that that makes it feel a bit more DIY and a bit more bedroom as well, which I think people like nowadays.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Like I think we're in a bit of an era that's post that polished pop, not that it's pop music, but that polished production sound that you might have heard um in the sort of noughties and years gone by.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: Uh but yeah, this tune kind of crush is cold, uh, great electric guitar as we've alluded to, and his vocal tone and his choice of melody.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: I personally find like it's like ASMR vibes, not from like a whispering sense, but it's just it does it soothes and scratches that part of your brain that likes melody and likes that, and so yeah, we're definitely recommending his whole discography.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I only come across him recently, but I'm a fan.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, I was gonna say I think he's on he's releasing an album soon, I think.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh and the reason I say that is because we posted a Matt Keane single.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was that one.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I think that's the like one of the singles from the album that's coming.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: So listen, tune into Matt Keene because he's got well, maybe by the time he posts this, maybe he might have an album.
28:50
SPEAKER_01: So tune in, man.
28:50
SPEAKER_01: Tune in.
28:51
SPEAKER_01: Very good pick, very good pick.
28:53
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
28:53
SPEAKER_01: Do you want me to round things off?
28:55
SPEAKER_01: Bring it home.
28:56
SPEAKER_01: Better be strong.
28:57
SPEAKER_01: You know where I'm going.
28:58
SPEAKER_01: You know.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: We're going back.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: We're doing it.
29:02
SPEAKER_01: We're going, uh, are we doing 98s?
29:04
SPEAKER_01: No, we're doing 70s this time, mate.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: We're going 1979.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: All right.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: We're going Funkadelic is the band.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and the tune is not just knee deep.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, Funkadelic, as you can tell, big funk, bro.
29:23
SPEAKER_01: Big funk.
29:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh, yeah, Funkadelic is uh like founded by uh George Clinton, who was also um kind of did a couple of collectors and stuff, but the main the main two is Parliament and Funkadelic, uh come together, P Funk is was what they were called, and kind of almost kind of the name of the sound as well that they had at the time, right?
29:47
SPEAKER_01: Um and they were like, yeah, they were pioneers in funk in the 70s.
29:51
SPEAKER_01: I think they came together late 60s off of the back, back of like psychedelic rock and stuff like that to kind of push further the funk um from like Jimi Hendrix and Slystone and artists like that.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, so he has funkadelic in parliament because uh funkadelic's the more rocky side, I think.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: I think that's where it kind of comes from.
30:14
SPEAKER_01: So that's the difference between the two.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and yeah, it's just like a big like the bass line, the drums, the vocals.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: It's got like vocals from like artists from like the spinners and stuff like that.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, very throat.
30:28
SPEAKER_01: I know you're like, what the hell is this guy talking about?
30:31
SPEAKER_01: Very throwback.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, we're talking about like song lengths and stuff.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: Get a load of this.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: This song is 15 minutes 21 seconds.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: So it's a big tune and it's a long one.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, you don't once once you're in that tune.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna lie, it's not like it doesn't feel yeah, long.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just because the groove is just like getting you going.
30:53
SPEAKER_01: There's a couple like the vocals aren't like too, there's not too much going vocally, like in terms of lyrics and stuff, but there's enough changes in in the music and this to like take you to places briefly, then it brings you back home.
31:06
SPEAKER_01: In terms of the song, you'll know, you'll know the song uh because it's the sample of a Della Sole song, which is probably their most popular song, Myself and I.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, so as soon as you hear the drums come in, you'll be like, oh, yeah, yeah.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's a big sample for classic hip-hop that came out in like 1989.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: But we're talking about Funkadelic at the moment.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: Lyrics like Freak of the Week, obviously that's that's where it comes from from this song.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: Uh shout out to Crept and Coders and that's it.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: But I think I think that's where like yeah, like Freak of the Week and stuff was like first mentioned in songs as well.
31:42
SPEAKER_01: It's like a double chondra of like freak dancing and obviously being a freak and stuff.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: So if we have a spare 15 minutes, please, please give it a go.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh produced by George Clinton as well, uh, under the the name uh Dr.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: Funkenstein was his is his he had like various alter egos, and that was his producer alter ego.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: George Clinton as well, just a little side note, is on um uh Timpa Butterfly, the first song.
32:13
SPEAKER_01: Oh, really?
32:14
SPEAKER_01: Wesley's Theory uh has George Clinton, uh his vocals, and I think his guitar as well.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: But uh don't quote me on that bit.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, so he's about and he's still popping into things.
32:26
SPEAKER_01: I believe he's on Childish Gambino's album as well.
32:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, because that took heavy influences from Funkadelic.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah.
32:35
SPEAKER_01: Funkadelic, not just knee deep, bro.
32:38
SPEAKER_01: Please give it a go.
32:41
SPEAKER_03: All right, should we get to the spotlight?
32:44
SPEAKER_01: Dr.
32:44
SPEAKER_01: Funkenstein's thrown me.
32:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, come on, bro.
32:47
SPEAKER_01: You gotta get funky, bro.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: This is like when you say funk, this is funk, bro.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: You listen to this, you're like, oh my god, this is funk.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: So please, please do give it a go, man.
32:56
SPEAKER_01: Please.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: Okay, yeah.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: Alright, man.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: Let's get on to spotlight.
32:59
SPEAKER_02: I want to see who we're talking about, man.
33:01
SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
33:02
SPEAKER_02: You know that june?
33:03
SPEAKER_02: That's June.
33:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: It's only got two and a half million streams.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's probably different versions or something.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: Playing the black must be so fun, isn't it?
33:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh, they did um they did Glastonbury a couple of years.
33:20
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think they've probably done it, they've probably done it many times, but like, you know, when they have what's their legend or whatever.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: They did that a couple of years ago, and it it looked like it was popping off.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: Because then their bands and stuff, it's like a bagger man, isn't it?
33:35
SPEAKER_01: That's what you do.
33:36
SPEAKER_01: It's not like five men, it's like it's like 15.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's gonna and they had like you know, like Bootsy Collins and them man, like all of these random man, them who were just like super talented, so they're just like off their heads, just going crazy.
33:50
SPEAKER_02: Every man spoken up and stuff on like LSD that wear like the star sunder and all of that, and they went up top out randomly.
34:00
SPEAKER_02: Hello boots, hello long, and that wearing the most wild clothes ever known to a man because they're just off of it, they're just going crazy.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Uh oh experience.
34:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm telling you, I'm living in the wrong era, man.
34:14
SPEAKER_02: That's generally me.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: All right, man.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: Art Spotlight.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be the segment where we've chosen one artist, gonna look at their story, look at their new releases, see what they're up to, and have a little conversation around it and that.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: So, who have we got today?
34:31
SPEAKER_00: Last time we did Big UK, we did Dave.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: This time we're going big US.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Right, okay.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: It's Jack Harlow.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I do like a bit of Jack Harlow.
34:41
SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
34:42
SPEAKER_02: So what yeah, what are we saying?
34:43
SPEAKER_02: Well, why are we doing Jack Harlow?
34:44
SPEAKER_02: What's happening?
34:45
SPEAKER_00: So, Jack Harlow is got a new album out.
34:48
SPEAKER_00: It's called Monica, and yeah, it's a bit of a sonic pivot.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: It's uh just just come out, and there's already sort of like lots of commentary around it, as people love to have an opinion.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think it's a super interesting one, and so I thought we'd have a good dialogue around it and get into the music, get into some of the some some of the analysis that we can provide, and uh discuss a bit of his journey, um, our experience and interaction with him as an artist and go from there.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is this is an interesting one uh for the album and for us as well, because uh this is the first time I think we're doing an episode where something's just come out, right?
35:25
SPEAKER_01: So this is but this is first looks, yeah, right?
35:28
SPEAKER_02: This is like but the caveat there now, all right?
35:31
SPEAKER_02: Relax, relax everyone.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh because by the time by the time we release this, there might be a whole different narrative on this album and the artists and stuff.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: But this is our first look.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: And just looking at the artists, because we we like Jack Carlo, we followed him a little bit, so we're just gonna yeah, we're gonna see where he's come from and where he is now on that, innit?
35:52
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
35:52
SPEAKER_00: Right.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: And without the sort of like I don't know, tarnish is the wrong word, but without any sort of outside influence or general narrative that's been woven at this point.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: Um so as ever, want to set the scene, give a bit of context to the people, and so and provide a foundation for the conversation.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: So Jack, he's over 10 years deep in his career, so similar to Dave that we were discussing last time out.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: Um he released five projects, um, they were sort of like EP mixtapes.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, one a year from 2016 through to 2020.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: So very good consistency.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, and he has subsequently released four albums, Monaco being the one we're gonna discuss, and the most recent one.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: Um jumping back a bit, um, to the the fifth project that we mentioned from 2016 through to 2020, it was called Sweet Action, and that had What's Poppin' on it, which was um yeah, probably the track that's widely regarded as um his like global arrival moment, should we say?
36:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um and I think that came out um well the the the Sweet Action project came out in the March, I think, and then by December he had released the debut album, which is quite a mad work rate.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: Um that's called uh That's what they will say.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: Um 2022, he had Come Home, the Kids Miss You album two.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: 2023, he had Jack Man, um and then We're now three is on, and he has released uh Monica, but between those three or those albums rather, um he's had a couple of singles, one of which was Lovin' on Me, which was obviously a big flipping global record.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: Um done like over a billion streams and the rest of it, and yeah, very much cemented him, I would say, as like an A-list artist at a global level.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he uh has subsequently had um four records really um Hello Miss Johnson, okay, Tranquility, Set You Free, and a record called Just Us, uh, which features Doja Cat.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: Um and I guess, yeah, to get to get into Monica and the conversation today, I guess this album is both a creative and a sonic pivot for Jack.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: Um and in essence, I would say Monica is an RB album that incorporates a bit of neo soul, incorporates jazz, live instrumentation, a lot of it.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, and namely includes no rapping, which is obviously up until now what he's been sort of famed for.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: And I think some people who might have known him for the commercial leaning hits like What's Poppin', Lovin' On Me, First Class, etc., might have found this like a surprising deviation.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, however, I would argue that this has been coming from him, and we've sort of seen allusions to it over um yeah, since since Jack Man essentially.
38:47
SPEAKER_01: Really?
38:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm I am one of the people that are surprised with it.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: Um I guess I've so for me, I've been listening to him.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: I was not early, but um You were pretty early, actually.
38:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was early-ish, yeah.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I did I did mention it to you like a while ago, so I was quite early.
39:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh probably 2018, I'd say was the that I think that's not an album, that's an EP or something, where it had like Sundown and like tunes with like Sai Hai the Prince.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's who I've how I found him was through Sai High the Prince was like a big co-sign for him at the time.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: And I remember seeing him interviews saying, like, this is the guy he's gonna come up, like don't worry about his white, but he's just he's like a student of the game and all of this type of stuff.
39:30
SPEAKER_01: And that was when he was still had like quite a nerdy look, like he was in like glasses and like didn't have a beard and anything like that, so he just looked like some like nerdy little kid, yeah.
39:39
SPEAKER_01: And then you listen to him, you're like, Oh ruh, this guy, this guy can rap, this guy can flow, he's very smooth flowing, and so um, but yeah, foot tip, yeah.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: I was surprised for an album to not rap at all does did feel crazy to me.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: That did feel crazy to me.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: I hear that.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: I hear that.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm now gonna tell you why I didn't find it surprising.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: I hear that, but you're wrong.
40:05
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't say it yeah, I think yeah, to not rap at all, I guess, is surprising enough.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: So I would say we're gonna start by looking at the artworks, I guess, of the albums, right?
40:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I feel like they've been increasingly moving from like polished celebrity, yeah, and I use that word because he's used it, through to now more like created, deliberate artist.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: So debut album, um, if you recall, um, is sort of him sat in the back of a luxury car with like the lady on the side, and he's sort of like there's someone leaning in the window and he's signing the autograph and stuff.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's very sort of like under guy in it.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I'm famous.
40:43
SPEAKER_01: Man, I reached out to that was when he got his glow up as well.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: So he was like, the glow up was there, so he's like, Yeah, now I I am the guy.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and he's wearing glasses on that one, but they're looking more like Cartier than like nerdy glasses and all of that sort of thing.
40:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Um sophomore album.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, you see him sort of like sat on a stool and you've got the mic and the stand and the pop shield sort of there, and you're like, okay, this is feeling like a bit more refined.
41:06
SPEAKER_01: Is that is that the album with like Churchill Downs and stuff?
41:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm with you, I'm with you.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: And so you're like, okay, you got the man, you got the music, and you're like, cool.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of I'm expecting rapping in it.
41:17
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that album does give rapping, to be fair.
41:20
SPEAKER_01: That is a there's a lot of rapping in that, and a lot of like lyricism in that as well, uh, which I appreciated.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: But even with that, like it's like short in a studio and it's like plain white background, so you're like, okay, cool, this feels like a man in his pen type thing.
41:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, so you're sort of leaning more into the artist side already.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, album three, Jack Man, and now we see him sort of like shirtless in this sort of like back alley in Louisville, um, Kentucky, where he's from.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then interestingly, the back cover of that, like for the men that have physical or whatever, is an interesting one because it's basically the same sort of like dated, sort of like somewhat grainy grade uh on the back of it.
41:58
SPEAKER_00: But there's a huge fallen tree that's like crushed this car.
42:01
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
42:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, and who knows whether this is like coincidental or or or not.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: But I feel like this could, if we're getting deeper into it now, okay, operate as like a metaphor for sort of like leaving some of the more glamorized side behind for something a bit more raw and authentic, represented him being like stripped back, physically being shirtless.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I feel like on that album he's starting to like he's just rapping, and it's sort of like starting to be a bit less, there's no real um, I guess, quote unquote, like commercial aspiration.
42:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's just like I do rap very well.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I feel like that was one, if I'm not mistaken, that didn't really have singles and was like surprise drop as well.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, now moving forward into Monica looking at this artwork again.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: This is like a blurry side profile shot of Jack.
42:50
SPEAKER_00: Um he's wearing the sort of brown Kangoole hat that we've been seeing him rock a lot on the side recently.
42:56
SPEAKER_02: This is it.
42:58
SPEAKER_02: So my uh yeah, I don't know how I feel about the hat.
43:01
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna lie to you.
43:02
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna lie to you.
43:03
SPEAKER_02: Um and we'll get into like I'll explain my feelings after.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: I'll bring it all for this hat has been a stable in the rollout that we've seen.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, piecing that together, the overall colour palette that we've seen from this rollout is brown and beige, like from the outfits that we've seen him wear through to the artwork.
43:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I feel like overall it's sort of giving more mature, grounded, earthy sort of tones.
43:29
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's deliberate, it's good choices.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%, 100%.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: Um and again, getting into our analytical side of it again, like most of the artworks have seen him looking at the camera or it's like front on.
43:42
SPEAKER_00: This one, again, I feel like it's deliberate, the profile, side profile shot, and his eyes are a bit closed in it as well.
43:47
SPEAKER_00: So it's a bit more nonchalant and it's a bit less sort of like look at me, and it's like this is like a perspective of Yeah, yeah, it's looking looking onto me instead of like me saying like me looking at you.
43:57
SPEAKER_01: I I hear you.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: Um So yeah, that's a bit of sort of like the the visual representation.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: And I think when you look at the albums next to each other, um you you sort of see that progression and you're like, okay, this is I I hear it.
44:10
SPEAKER_00: Um looking at the track listing, we've got 28 minutes, so it's a succinct album, a cohesive project.
44:16
SPEAKER_00: Again, no lead singles.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: He sort of dropped it.
44:19
SPEAKER_00: And the flow of the album is very sort of seamless, and all of the tracks without sounding like it's a disservice, they do blend into one nicely and it's very well, very well thought about.
44:28
SPEAKER_00: So speaking of the recording process, um he recorded it at studios called Electric Lady Um in New York.
44:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, which has also seen the likes of Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, and D'Angelo.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
44:42
SPEAKER_01: Electric Lady was like uh I'm pretty sure that was the big part of the Soul Quarian's like new soul movement and stuff.
44:49
SPEAKER_01: They recorded a lot of their stuff there.
44:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, it makes sense that he's done the same thing at it.
44:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, however, interestingly, um, so he he he moved to New York and started writing this album.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, however, there was a previous version of the album which he canned basically because he didn't feel like it was authentic enough to what he was actually doing with it, and so he that actually did also start in Electric Lady as well.
45:16
SPEAKER_00: So it's interesting that like it might not have necessarily initially emerged with that sort of intention sonically behind it, but he's arrived there by virtue of the fact that he feels like this is the truest form of how he is wanting to express at this point.
45:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm I'm saying this stuff and it could seem presumptuous, but some of the quotes that have come from him, even just straight away, um, do feel like they're indicative of this.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: So he said my entire career path has been me trying to get closer to capturing who I actually am.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: And he says he's focusing more on the artistry now.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: And he said he kind of said I had a I felt like I had to confront a choice of going down the artist route or the celebrity route.
45:53
SPEAKER_00: And um he went with the former.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: He said, in in terms of cat the essence of capturing like who he actually is, he said it's nice to know that your art doesn't feel like too much of a departure from who you actually are as a person, um, and he wanted to be a little less self in self-indulgent and right from a place that removes ego, which is very interesting from someone who's come up as a rapper because a lot of it is about the bravado being braggadocious, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: And all of that.
46:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, but in terms of I guess some of the sonic inspiration, it's often he's asked, like, what is what inspired?
46:28
SPEAKER_00: And he he's really just said um it was inspired really by what he was listening to at the time.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
46:33
SPEAKER_01: The the whole album, the whole this whole album release, everything, it sounds like he's had a couple of years of just like he's discovered Neo Soul, like the 2000s neo soul, and he's like, bro, I need to make some of this, and that's what he's done.
46:48
SPEAKER_01: And he doesn't and this is why this is why going back to me mentioning the cat the hat the hat, he's like Anthony Hamilton, like most deaf, like even a bit of common than them man, they were always rocking that hat back in the day, like thinking it's all cool and that, and he's bringing it back and then the sideways as well, like this exactly the same thing.
47:08
SPEAKER_01: So as soon as I saw that, you knew it is as soon as one of the things the album and knew what you mentioned to me, like, yeah, it's a it's a bit different like sounding before I even listened to it.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: And I saw that, I was like, Oh, we're gonna do so.
47:20
SPEAKER_02: This is what this is what's happening here.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, it sounds like he's been he was listening to it a couple of years, and he's like, Yeah, this is the music I like, and I'm just gonna make it, forget it.
47:29
SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, I and I hear it, I hear it.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: I rate it, I rate it.
47:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, he just said, more than anything, um I think I made this out of what do I want to hit and what do I want to listen to, and also in the knowledge that you know, when he takes the stage, he has to perform his own music.
47:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm I've mixed feelings on it, to be fair.
47:52
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so it's so for him saying that, it's saying that he doesn't want it, it sounds like he doesn't want to hear hip hop, which sounds kind of sad to me.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: It's like to have to do a full departure from it.
48:07
SPEAKER_01: Um I would have liked to him to do uh it's it's similar to like the Dave conversation we had last week when you were when you were saying you wanted to hear some some of the him like rapping and going hard and stuff.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: I would have liked to see him blending the sounds and saying this is my take on the sound and I'm evolving it.
48:29
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
48:29
SPEAKER_01: Um so it's it's a bit yeah, it's a very good, very good uh album and like interpretation of of the genre, I would say, and like production is like super super clean as well.
48:41
SPEAKER_01: Very, very good, innit?
48:42
SPEAKER_01: Very, very clean.
48:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would I would like a little bit of rap and a little bit of rapid-y rap, you know.
48:49
SPEAKER_01: Um just because he's so good at it.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: He's so good at it.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it feels it feels like sad for him just to have to just leave it, leave it.
48:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I wonder if he's gonna return to it at any point.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: I think I think he will.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: I think it's just I hope so.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: There's a little strategy there.
49:01
SPEAKER_01: I feel I feel like you have to.
49:05
SPEAKER_01: He's I think this album is to show that he has um like different sides and he can do pretty much anything as an artist.
49:14
SPEAKER_01: Like, I listen, I can sing and if I want to do that, do this.
49:19
SPEAKER_01: And I feel his next I will I wouldn't be surprised if he released again this year.
49:24
SPEAKER_01: I would not be surprised.
49:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, same.
49:26
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then it's got and it's got like a single in there.
49:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just because by the way, you remember Hayden, yeah, yeah.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: Remember, yeah, yeah.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: I've got this too, and it'll probably be like, yeah, more of a mix, have some features in it, and be like yeah, more commercial, I'd say.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, I think this is one of those kind of like standalone, like, yeah, I I wanted to do this, so I'm doing it.
49:49
SPEAKER_01: Similar to like like Destin Conrad had like a jazz album last year, like obviously he's not a jazz artist, but he's just like, forget it, I'm doing a jazz, I'm doing a jazz, and he's like, and he does he does it like super super well, and you're like, oh yeah, fair.
50:01
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I mean this point of artistry, isn't it?
50:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, like you could do this, this is something that you're passionate and interested in, as long as it's executed well, and it is so yeah, yeah.
50:09
SPEAKER_01: So it's fair enough.
50:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay, question then.
50:12
SPEAKER_00: If if like you hadn't if we we had no knowledge of Jack Harlow, say this was his debut release, um, and this is your first time coming across him, how how do you receive it any differently or would or measure it differently?
50:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you definitely receive it and measure it differently because you don't know the artists like ceiling or what they're great at, right?
50:35
SPEAKER_01: Um I like I would have put Jack Harlow as like one of the better like young rappers of his generation.
50:45
SPEAKER_01: Like I think he's like one of the one of almost one of the leaders in that regard.
50:50
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I was I was like moving a bit away when he was going to too commercial, like with first class and all that type of stuff.
50:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't really listen to them type of tunes, but like he will always in this album always have like a bag of tunes where he's just like going off and you're like, yeah, this guy is very talented.
51:05
SPEAKER_01: Um so the fact that I know that and I don't hit see any of that in this album, that's why I measure that.
51:11
SPEAKER_01: But if if it was just like uh I just heard it and I didn't know who they were, I would just be like, yeah, this is uh this is a good album.
51:19
SPEAKER_01: This is a good album.
51:20
SPEAKER_01: I would be um I would say it is a bit um, is it just literally just uh just repeating uh a genre from like 20 years ago?
51:33
SPEAKER_01: Like there's nothing there's nothing in that in the album where it's like, oh, that's taking it somewhere.
51:38
SPEAKER_01: That's like an an interesting like um interpretation of the genre.
51:44
SPEAKER_01: Sure, sure.
51:45
SPEAKER_00: Um I think this is why I asked because obviously I know you're a big D'Angelo fan.
51:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
51:49
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't compare with D'Angelo because D'Angelo's he's his own beast, isn't it?
51:55
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not even gonna I wouldn't even put it to him, but I was thinking of more like music soul child, like Anthony Hamilton, um especially with the like a lot of the tunes are like very acoustic led and stuff like that.
52:08
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, that's that's a sound that I hear instantly.
52:12
SPEAKER_01: Um and it's a yeah, it's it's a very good comparison of it, but I don't know if it's anything more.
52:20
SPEAKER_01: And the fact that um I'm being super critical, yeah, I'm being super critical here because this is this is the genre I like I really like.
52:26
SPEAKER_01: These guys that I've mentioned are like very good vocally, like very like for example, like Elmin does that type of music a little bit, yeah, in terms of Neo Sol, vocals are crazy.
52:38
SPEAKER_01: Can you can we compare Jack Harlow's vocals to Elmin?
52:41
SPEAKER_01: No, not really.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: Do you get me?
52:42
SPEAKER_00: So this is why I asked the question, isn't it?
52:44
SPEAKER_00: In terms of how you could receive it, because it's like, would you yeah, would we like just do we do do you say like oh musically it's really good and melody and vocals is good, but it's not like he's not an incredible singer.
52:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's not going off on like runs and wrists and stuff like that, do you get me?
52:59
SPEAKER_01: But like it's very well written, yeah, and the production's crazy.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: So he executes what he's doing very well, yeah, yeah, yeah.
53:06
SPEAKER_01: It's like in the way like you can't say like Drake is an RB artist, do you get me?
53:11
SPEAKER_01: Like when when a lot of this like him singing and stuff, like he's only got so much of a range, do you get me?
53:17
SPEAKER_01: Like all the songs, and I love Drake when he sings, isn't it?
53:20
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's I probably prefer when he sings and stuff, but he's not he's not going like crazy and stuff, like vocally.
53:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when he knows his buttons, but it's the same, it's the same with Jack Harlow, isn't it?
53:29
SPEAKER_01: But he's on a whole album on it, and it's like yeah, I like it.
53:33
SPEAKER_01: I I like like obviously I'm sounding like I'm hated, but I do like it, but I just know that he can do other things, yeah.
53:40
SPEAKER_01: That's the thing.
53:41
SPEAKER_01: So I and that's why I'm expecting like a just like even if it's like a little EP, just like bang, here you go, have some of that.
53:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I I'm sure he will because I didn't realise he was out for three years.
53:52
SPEAKER_00: That's quite a while, and I think that's possibly why it there's scope to divide opinion, because man I say I was waiting on I was waiting on it and I was expecting you to be coming with like some slappers and stuff, and you're out here singing.
54:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because yeah, as you said, he was at that celebrity like status, he was like doing movies and stuff.
54:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think nowadays, like if we're talking about the industry as a whole, there's such pressure on people that are at the top or have made it previously because uh a lot of the time, you know, obviously there can be success without social media, but social media is such a key in terms of like the attention economy that you have to have some sort of gravity on there to be able to like continue to propel momentum.
54:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think that is such pressure, especially for people that have been working super hard for someone like Jack or Justin or Dave that's been like 10 years plus in the game, yeah.
54:40
SPEAKER_00: Like to then compete on a level of like the newer Gen Z artists that are TikTok and online native, it's just asking them to be who they're not.
54:49
SPEAKER_00: And so I think this new sort of style of releasing that we're seeing is a great way to combat that whilst maintaining the like authenticity of how you're expressing.
54:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
55:00
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, you keep your integrity um and yeah, release you get to release good music and be but still counter like the machine that they're trying to dictate you to to release and stuff, which I rate.
55:11
SPEAKER_00: Just a bit on you know, you you spoke about like some of the instrumentation and stuff.
55:17
SPEAKER_00: So I thought we'd just shout out some of the some of the collaborators and some of the people behind the scenes quickly as well.
55:22
SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know if you've had a chance to look, it was executively produced by um guy called Axel Arvid, okay, um, who is known for his work with Pink Panthers.
55:30
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, which is interesting.
55:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously her sound is like quite um like throwback and like a bit nighties inspired and stuff as well, but probably more leaning towards more electronic sounds versus versus this.
55:44
SPEAKER_00: So that that was an interesting one and interesting at least gone there.
55:48
SPEAKER_00: Um some other people, artists that you'll hear on the album, um albeit not all of them are like necessarily credit is feature artists, which again I think is a deliberate statement.
55:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
55:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, and again, similar um similar to what we were talking about, Rich earlier.
56:03
SPEAKER_00: Like they really just bring the album to life and elevate it a bit more without stepping on the toes of what Jack's wanting to execute.
56:09
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we've got Omar Apollo um on there.
56:12
SPEAKER_00: Uh got Mustafa, formerly known as um Mustafa the Poet.
56:16
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, who's on there as well.
56:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh damn, which is nice.
56:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh Raven Lanay.
56:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
56:22
SPEAKER_00: Does um backhand vocals on quite a few tracks.
56:24
SPEAKER_00: I do like some Raven Lanay, which is which is nice.
56:26
SPEAKER_00: I love a bit of Raven Lanay.
56:28
SPEAKER_00: Um James Savage is uh a named feature on one of the tracks.
56:32
SPEAKER_00: Um and then some of the man behind the scenes, Robert Glasper.
56:36
SPEAKER_01: Robert Glassper.
56:37
SPEAKER_01: See, well, there you go.
56:38
SPEAKER_01: So I feel a lot better now that you've mentioned Robert Glasper, and I feel that instantly means it's uh because obviously Robert Glasper was a part of that Soul Quarian movement as well, and he's been like rocking with like Diller and then man from back in the day, and his releases are always very good, very like jazz.
56:58
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, he's a jazz artist, but he does near soul as well.
57:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's not it's not just an imitation, innit?
57:05
SPEAKER_01: Right.
57:06
SPEAKER_01: So that that makes me feel feel better.
57:08
SPEAKER_00: Like it you know, I want someone who feels like he's like we've gone to him, yeah.
57:13
SPEAKER_01: Cause as I said, the production is super clean, innit?
57:15
SPEAKER_01: So it does sound like it is, it belongs in near soul and stuff.
57:19
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, knowing that, yeah, one of the the best like pianists of of all time in that in that genre was is behind a lot of the music.
57:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's good to know.
57:29
SPEAKER_00: It's making sense, and it's a nice seal of approval as well.
57:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
57:33
SPEAKER_00: Um obviously a bag of other musicians uh there as well.
57:37
SPEAKER_00: But um thought I'd mention Corey Henry um on there as well, who's formerly in Snarky Puppy, obviously, you know, instrumentation serious.
57:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then a producer called Lido.
57:47
SPEAKER_00: Um Lido's my guy.
57:49
SPEAKER_01: Lido is my guy.
57:51
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, Smino.
57:52
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
57:53
SPEAKER_01: I take all my criticism back now.
57:55
SPEAKER_01: Now that I know Lido and uh Robert Glob Gloss Gloss was in it.
57:59
SPEAKER_01: Lido obviously exact produced both of um Jordan Ward's albums, isn't it?
58:05
SPEAKER_01: So he's like the guy for me.
58:07
SPEAKER_01: He's like he's like he's not my I can't, I'm not gonna say my favourite, but he's up there as like my most listened to producers at the moment for sure.
58:15
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you can take the hate and hat off.
58:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's I've got half half sideways, it's like like a bit skeptical.
58:25
SPEAKER_02: That's all that's that's all it is.
58:27
SPEAKER_01: That's all it is, that's all it is.
58:29
SPEAKER_01: Nah, nah, yeah, lad is the guy.
58:30
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, fair, fair is I'm happy, I'm happy.
58:34
SPEAKER_01: You've pleased me.
58:34
SPEAKER_01: Um see that's why we're having this conversation because I've only listened, as we said, the album's only come out today.
58:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I've only listened to it like I listened to like half of it and then we listened to it again together, didn't we?
58:46
SPEAKER_01: So um, so yeah, that's good.
58:49
SPEAKER_01: So now I'm gonna listen to it again on my way home.
58:52
SPEAKER_01: With fresh eyes and fresh ears.
58:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.
58:54
SPEAKER_01: I'm just like now I've got some context and stuff.
58:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm like flipping up, makes it just makes sense.
58:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh, glad we're educated.
59:00
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
59:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean I'm glad I I was debating whether to actually bring that up, so I'm very glad that I did.
59:05
SPEAKER_02: No, yeah, it's good that you did.
59:06
SPEAKER_00: It's good that you would have to and because it in the the integrity that it deserves, I think.
59:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%.
59:14
SPEAKER_01: Because I think it's a it's uh especially hard for like an artist like Jack Harlow, uh, for like white artists in like hip hop and RB will always have have to answer the question like, are you just like doing this for show?
59:31
SPEAKER_01: And just like, is this just like a facade?
59:34
SPEAKER_01: Especially like we've been hurt too many times by these these post-balone man and and uh um like MGK and all these man just like going into country music and stuff and like pretending uh like it they weren't in the genre and stuff, you know.
59:53
SPEAKER_01: So um as soon as you start like moving away from like hip-hop, people's eyes will like eyebrows will raise, right?
1:00:01
SPEAKER_01: They're just like more scrutiny.
1:00:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh, what's what's going on here?
1:00:04
SPEAKER_01: What's going on here?
1:00:05
SPEAKER_01: So it does like it does, it's very difficult to do it, like move within the genre without it looking like you're just putting a costume on, kind of thing.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_01: Um so which is which is why it's good to hear like the legit like artists behind it uh are the ones that are carrying the album as well, alongside alongside Chad Carlot, obviously.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, because it means it's it's supported by the community, right?
1:00:31
SPEAKER_01: It's not like you've just gone from the outside and you just you've heard this music and you've decided to like man just man was over over winter just heard about New Sol.
1:00:39
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Yeah, this is gonna go in.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do exactly this over here with my man, and then and then act like I'm a part of it.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_01: But no, it's that's not the case.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_01: He is yeah, he's been he's building with with with the genre, which is nice to see.
1:00:53
SPEAKER_00: And I think I think I think the recording process was like very much in the room together, and like people just playing and grooving and going, yeah, and then bringing like fleshing the ideas out as as they sort of go.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_00: So he he dropped on his 28th birthday, I should say, as well.
1:01:07
SPEAKER_04: Oh, okay.
1:01:08
SPEAKER_00: So today is that day, okay, or whenever, yeah, so 13th of March, yeah.
1:01:13
SPEAKER_00: It's birthday.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_00: And I think to still be in your 20s, um, and to have sort of be identifying at that it's got it's got a lot of parallels with the Dave Dave relationship.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_01: I know, it's weird, it's actually weird, isn't it?
1:01:25
SPEAKER_01: Because what days like 27?
1:01:27
SPEAKER_01: Like uh uh yeah, these men are mature, bro.
1:01:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, it's actually mad.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, nah, shout out to Jack Harlow, man.
1:01:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm yeah, I'm I'm happy again.
1:01:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm happy again.
1:01:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna listen to it again when I get home on the way home.
1:01:39
SPEAKER_01: And um you're gonna buy the Kango hat.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what Lemman were doing with that Kango hat in the first place, let alone bringing it back.
1:01:47
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know, I don't know, man.
1:01:48
SPEAKER_01: I hear it, I hear it's part of part of the genre of that, but now you can you can leave it.
1:01:54
SPEAKER_00: Me and I I struggle with that the squareness of that of that peak, but yeah, he's rocking it to be fair to him.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_00: The fits.
1:02:01
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, he's wearing it.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about rocking it.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_01: He's wearing it with confidence.
1:02:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:02:07
SPEAKER_01: You have to, you have to.
1:02:08
SPEAKER_01: When you wear stuff like that, you have to wear it with confidence.
1:02:10
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
1:02:11
SPEAKER_01: I respect it, I respect it.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_01: Have you got a favourite song in the in the album or anything?
1:02:16
SPEAKER_01: Uh obviously, you said it's like it does blend and stuff.
1:02:20
SPEAKER_01: Um try to tell you mine.
1:02:23
SPEAKER_01: I've got two.
1:02:23
SPEAKER_01: Please.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh I've got Prague, which is like maybe the fourth song of the album or something.
1:02:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I like that because uh I'm a sucker for a good bass line, and I think that bass line is very good.
1:02:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh and my second, I forgot what it's called, but it's the last song of the album.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_01: Um is it say hello or something like that?
1:02:47
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, because one, I think that's the longest song in the album.
1:02:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's yeah, closing on like five minutes or something.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: I think it's like yeah, just under five minutes.
1:02:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I like I like the length of it in terms of like the journey within the song.
1:03:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it yeah, it does feel like a very good closer for the album as well.
1:03:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, I they're my two.
1:03:11
SPEAKER_01: They're my two.
1:03:11
SPEAKER_00: I would say, yeah, I think Say Hello is one of my favourites as well.
1:03:14
SPEAKER_00: I also probably like um the opener as well, Trey Places.
1:03:20
SPEAKER_00: Um I feel like for me that's got some distinct melodies that stand out, and yeah, as a curtain raiser to the rest of the album, I think it does a good job of it.
1:03:29
SPEAKER_01: Cool man, cool.
1:03:30
SPEAKER_01: You got any other like tidbits or anything?
1:03:33
SPEAKER_01: Or uh you don't have to, bro.
1:03:36
SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah, you don't have to.
1:03:39
SPEAKER_00: Or any closing remarks or on uh on the album and Jack Carlo and his ascension and where he is now and the one thing I will say um I heard him speak about it and sort of say he actually quite wants it to be something that people talk about because I think you know there's all inevitably gonna be the discussion of oh what do you think what do you think of it?
1:04:03
SPEAKER_00: Um and he was like well right bro like if it doesn't cause a conversation then I'll be disappointed.
1:04:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I want it to be I want it to confront people essentially um not necessarily in a sort of like in in a way it's basically like yeah it just challenges people's views of art and that sort of thing without getting too deep into it.
1:04:24
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I thought it was cool.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree, agree.
1:04:28
SPEAKER_01: I think I think it was brave.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I mean, yeah, I always like uh artist that has an album that feels like one thing by itself.
1:04:38
SPEAKER_01: So and that's kind of a lot of the albums and artists that we've been speaking about on here.
1:04:43
SPEAKER_01: So I think it was only right to have it on this podcast to be fair.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_01: So good shout, bringing them bringing them in and that, you know.
1:04:49
SPEAKER_01: Um cool.
1:04:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh should we wrap up there then?
1:04:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man, I think so.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_01: I think so.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_01: I think that's uh a good episode.
1:04:57
SPEAKER_01: What what do you do we know what number on or whatever?
1:05:00
SPEAKER_00: Episode 10.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_01: Episode 10 beginning.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_03: So uh yeah, if you've been along for the ride, thank you.
1:05:07
SPEAKER_03: And uh if you're new to the pond, welcome, bro.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_02: And listen back to the other other nine and that, you know.
1:05:13
SPEAKER_00: Get involved, yeah.
1:05:14
SPEAKER_00: Timeless stuff.
1:05:15
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
1:05:15
SPEAKER_00: Um that's that's it.
1:05:17
SPEAKER_00: That's this, man.
1:05:18
SPEAKER_00: See you next time.
1:05:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, peace.