Missy Keeps Cool, Gavlyn Gets To Steppin' And Abby Jasmine's Care Package
Saturday 4/25/20
Hey readers,
Here’s the latest playlist of the week - enjoy!
New Video Alert: Missy Is Always & Forever Cool
Along with taxes and death, if there’s something in this world that’s guaranteed, it is that a Missy Elliott music video will always be innovative, invigorating, and ready to turn the party. This past week, Missy dropped the fourth and final music video for her thumping track “Cool Off”, off her 2019 EP Iconology, and it is sure to distract you from your quarantine doldrum. The video also comes off the tail of Missy’s groundbreaking receipt of the Video Vanguard Award, a lifetime achievement prize given once a year to an artist who significantly changed the music video industry. Missy is only the fourth hip hop artist to ever receive the award (after Kanye, LL Cool JJ, and the Beastie Boys), and of course was the first female rapper to do so.
“Cool Off” follows its three predecessors in continuing with the museum theme that appeared in the videos for “Throw It Back”, “DripDemeanor” and “Why I Still Love You”. The latest video starts out with Missy as a piece of art in and of itself, as she’s outfitted as a living bronze statue flanked by floating bronzed dancers. Then the beat intensifies and the dancer statues start to vibrate and breakdance as the scene then pans and poofs to what is my favorite visual of the video—Missy rapping as a sparkly neon weeble-wobble. This playful visual immediately triggered several childhood memories of mine, which of course sent me down a rabbit hole researching the history of this strange toy, which I highly recommend you do too.
As the rest of the video ensues, one will encounter many classic Missy-isms. Of course there are her crazy neon tracksuits, gravity defying dance moves, and even dancers on stilts that will keep you on (off?) your toes. Towards the end of the video, singer/rapper/alien Teyana Taylor reprises her role as the museum guide, talking to a young Missy-look-alike in a gallery full of Elliott art, and praising Missy Elliott by describing her as “the greatest, most timeless woman of all time.” Yes, hip-hop is always full of bragging and boasting, but surely this line is the absolute truth. Check out the video above!
New Track Alert: Step Up To Gavlyn & Get Stoned
Can a song be both fiery and soothing at the same time? After listening to the new track “Stepping Stones”, by rapper Gavlyn and DJ Hoppa, I would say the answer is definitely, yes. On her newly released single, Gavlyn raps in a chilled-out and calmed tone, over classy piano chords and quiet neo-soul instrumentation. Simultaneously, her bars are delivered quickly, “quick like a switchblade” as she spits with attitude, while the constant, pumping percussion keeps the song’s tempo up and moving.
If you don’t know Gavlyn yet, you should—a Latin-American rapper born and raised in San Fernando Valley, CA, she grew up in the heart of the Artist District of North Hollywood which had her dabbling in spoken word by the age of 16. From there she started rapping, and soon signed to L.A. label Broken Complex, where she released her debut album From The Art in 2012, at the age of 22. Since then she’s released 6 more full albums, with her producer/DJ and creator of Broken Complex, DJ Hoppa.
Gavlyn’s new song “Stepping Stones” is a slight deviation or perhaps maturation for the rapper, whose previously released music sounds a little punchier and aggressive, such as on the 2012 track “What I Do”. Nevertheless, throughout her music Gavlyn can often be found rapping around unique and innovative beats, and in tracking her work one can find sound influences from all kinds of genres including Old School Hip Hop, 70s Funk, and 60's Soul. In fact, on her 2018 album, Headspace, it is already audible that Gavlyn and DJ Hoppa were exploring a more soothing production sound, as there are layers of light-jazzy harmonies and neo-soul acoustics laced through many tracks, like on “Calling”. It seems that with “Stepping Stones”, the pair are diving even further into this sound, and are doing so quite well, and it reminds me of the kind of music that legend Ladybug Mecca from Digable Planets was making, way ahead of her time. If this means that Gavlyn’s next album will be fully immersed in a calming, soulful vibe, then I say bring it on, because I think we all could use a little more soothing these days. Check her out below!
New Album Review: Caring For Abby Jasmine
Things are quickly progressing in the career of 21-year old State Island-native Abby Jasmine. Just last week, Jasmine was one of the sixteen eligible females nominated to be a part of XXL’s 2020 Freshman Class, and this week she dropped her debut studio album, fittingly entitled Who Cares? As her opening track’s first line states, “Careless, but I couldn’t care less”, Jasmine reveals a big part of her shtick as an artist, i.e. her Gen-Z laissez faire attitude towards everything. But don’t be mistaken—she isn’t really a snob or self-righteous—it’s all a joke in the end as Jasmine revels in showcasing humor and parody in her work.
Like many young artists these days, Jasmine’s ascent in the business began by amassing followers through various social media platforms, with her primary viral content being freestyle rap videos steeped in comedy and satire. For prime examples of her artistry, there’s her music video for “On My Way”, where she transforms into a superhero named Dat Bitch and fights off the enemy Ratchet Rascal (with his pressure-cooker bomb threat), or her ridiculous video for “Courvoisier” where she dons a bald cap and mustache to become a twerking Dr. Phil. And her creative process for these two is even more precious. For “On May Way” she explains: “The inspiration for this song actually came from a Cher interview I had seen online. She spoke about how her mother told her that she should settle down and marry a rich man, to which she replied ‘mom, I am a rich man.’ And I felt that...Shout out to f*ckin’ Cher for dropping gems.” And for the “Courvoisier” video: “The director had written some treatments. And I was just like, “Can I just dress up like Dr. Phil? And they were like, “Yeah!””
On her new album, Jasmine continues to display her carefree and unapologetic persona, while swirling her way through various musical genres and showcasing her multiple talents. On the first half of the album, Jasmine can be found weaving through slow burn R&B tracks, but by the 2nd, and in my opinion, stronger half, the mood picks up and Abby is rapping and singing over some incredibly catchy beats. Standout tracks for me are “Artificial Lover”, which has Jasmine sounding like a female Weeknd that we didn’t know we needed, and “Groovy” where Jasmine raps and sings over, well, groovy 70’s instrumentation, and is reminiscent of Doja Cat’s recent runaway hit “Say So”. Overall, “Who Cares” showcases a new sound for Jasmine, much more R&B than her assertive trap rapping from her 2018 debut EP, TRAP MOM. It’s good to know she can handle both genres though, and I look forward to watching her grow as an artist and learn to better integrate these two sides of hers into one. So be sure to keep an eye on her and check her out below!