Welcome once again to New Music Fridays (on Tuesday) with Dylan! ‘Twas definitely an interesting week of music – from an ultimate rap collaboration, to a ballad, to a Latin track, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
“ZEZE” by Kodak Black featuring Travis Scott and Offset (iTunes, Spotify)
“ZEZE” is the highly anticipated collaboration from rappers Kodak Black, Travis Scott, and Offset. Black first teased the track in September 2018, when he posted a video on Instagram of himself and Scott dancing to the track in the studio, but it was deleted shortly after. Hours later, Black posted another video of just himself dancing to the song. “ZEZE” was debuted at the Florida A&M University’s homecoming fest on Oct. 12. He revealed the track would be released Oct. 12., following Black’s performance that same day. Fans are speculating that the track’s title may be related to rapper 6ix9ine, who has released many songs with similar spellings and titles, due to the fact that the two rappers have recently had beef.
The track opens with a Hawaiian-like instrumental, where Scott starts out with the song’s chorus. In all honesty, the chorus is great. Scott provides simple yet clever rhymes as the rapper’s words come out clear and fluent, something his autotune tends to occasionally get in the way of.
Black arrives with the tracks refrain, “Pull up in a demon on God, lookin’ like I still do fraud”. The great, catchy opening line to the refrain is repeated throughout the track after the chorus and each verse.
Offset hits us with his verse before Kodak, despite the fact that he is not the lead artist on the track. As all of his other verses, the “Migos” rapper starts his verse with “Offset!” This is something he is well-known for doing. The verse from Offset was typical, but still catchy. Great flow, great rhymes, and great, fluent pronunciation of words.
The chorus and refrain are repeated once more, before Black comes in with his verse.
Black’s verse is admittedly good, but sounds like a verse that he would use while hopping on another artist’ track. Being the lead artist on the track, his verse definitely was too short. He should have provided us with a longer part, or even two different verses throughout the song. In my eyes, Travis Scott sounds more like the lead on this song, not Kodak.
Overall, this track is one of the best collaborations released this year. It’s catchy with its fun, Hawaiian instrumentals, and has a good variety of artists on it.
Without a doubt, “ZEZE” will eventually grow to be a hit that will tear up the hip-hop airwaves.
“ZEZE” debuted at No. 72 on the iTunes Worldwide chart and No. 5 on the Spotify Global Top 200 chart. Play or Nay: Play
“Consequences (Orchestra)” By Camila Cabello (iTunes, Spotify)
The orchestra remix of “Consequences” is the third and final single off of former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello’s debut solo album, “Camila.” The remix was officially announced on Oct. 7, where Cabello took to Instagram to announce that “it’s going to be the song I choose as my last single from my album.” “Consequences” was performed the following night for the first time on live television at the 2018 American Music Awards.
The track opens with a soothing piano instrumental that gives the track a ballad vibe. This is followed by crisp vocals from Cabello: “Dirty tissues, trust issues, glasses on the sink they didn’t fix you.”
The introduction is followed by the chorus, where Cabello describes her relationship with whomever the song may be about. “Loving you was young, and wild, and free. Loving you was cool, and hot, and sweet. Loving you was sunshine, safe and sound.”
With the arrival of the orchestra, the track goes on with Cabello slowly leading into what the “consequences” of her relationship were. “Every siren that I was ignoring, I’m paying for it.” That line is the suspense leading up to where the singer finally describes the aftermath of the relationship.
Switching up the chorus, Cabello finally reveals “Loving you was dumb, dark, and cheap. Loving you will still take shots at me.” She then compares her relationship to the weather. “Loving you was sunshine, but then it poured.” This part of the song is extremely raw and pure, something I personally really value in songs.
The song ends simply with the words, “Loving you.” A simple, yet effective line that summarizes the songs meaning as a whole.
Without a doubt, this song is perfect for anyone who has been through a toxic relationship or even a toxic friendship, and was especially relatable for me since I have dealt with some pretty crappy friendships.
Despite it being on the slower end, it is still enjoyable and soothing on the ears with Cabello’s A-list vocals, especially when the orchestra comes in.
Camila might just go three for three with “Consequences”, as she has already seen massive success this year with her No. 1 single “Havana” and her top 10 hit “Never Be the Same”.
“Consequences” debuted at No. 31 on the iTunes Worldwide chart and is yet to debut on the Spotify Global Top 200 chart. Play or Nay: Play
“MIA” by Bad Bunny, featuring Drake (iTunes, Spotify)
“MIA” is a complete Spanish collaboration between Latin artist Bad Bunny and rapper Drake. The track was first previewed in April, 2017, where Bunny shared a video on Instagram promoting his Europe tour with the song playing in the background. In Jan. 2018, Bunny and Drake shared a video online officially announcing their collaboration.
Translating the song, the track is about a girl that is always the center of everyone’s attention. Bunny and Drake basically talk to this girl, reminding her that she said she was their girl, and nobody else’s.
The track consists of a pre-chorus sung by both Bunny and Drake, a chorus, also sung by both artists, and two verses from Bad Bunny. Surprisingly, a solo verse from Drake is nowhere to be found, although he does sing in fluent Spanish throughout the chorus.
Despite the fact that the track isn’t in my first language, it’s still enjoyable and has a groovy beat. Bad Bunny is one of those artists that can make any song catchy, as he did with Cardi B’s “I Like It”.
Although it is a good song and even though Drake is featured, I don’t see it becoming a hit unless a translated version is released. However, the track will probably perform well in streams, but not in sales or airplay due to the fact that Latin music typically performs better in other countries, where they are bigger in streaming versus purchasing and requesting the song.
“MIA” debuted at No. 6 on the iTunes Worldwide chart and No. 17 on the Spotify Global Top 200 chart. Play or Nay: Play
Unlike last week, we were gifted with some catchy, quality songs, with all three tracks being a “Play.” Will next week’s tracks be just as good? Check back next Tuesday to find out! Until then!
I’m Dylan Jahnke, and this is my second year with 42Fifty, which I first joined as a staff member. I am a senior at Oswego High School, and I plan to study mass communications/music management in college. I hope to one day have my own radio talk show or get into artist management. If I’m not writing or editing for 42Fifty, I’m either working at Culver’s, hanging out with friends and family, or doing homework. I am humbled to say I began my 42Fifty career my junior year as a staff writer, then Arts & Entertainment editor first semester of my senior year and now Editor-in-Chief.
