Listening recently to three tracks by three different artists, I noticed they share a sense of knowing in their lyrics. The voices in these songs wink at us, aware that the songs’ confessions are enacting the sentiments they describe.
In “Camera,” Charli xcx explains her skepticism about being a pop star:
“Do I want to make music?
Am I being f—ing stupid
If I try to be a girl on the screen
when I’m turning 34?
But all I know is how it makes me feel…”
In Weezer’s “CEO,” Rivers Cuomo confides how his band is expected to make the same kind of music, over and over. And yes, this song does sound Weezerish:
“Cranking out another 90s jam
Wish I could do something new
But nobody wants to hear that
They just want the classics
Can’t blame them really
There’s something special about your early shit
I gotta grow up…”
Finally, in Mantronix’s “Two Turntables,” which borrows vocals from the duo’s 1999 track, “Needle to the Groove,” vocoded rapper Touré Embden (aka MC TEE) describes the very materials and aesthetics that make this music so kinetic: beats, vibes, groove, turntables, microphone. The beat hits like a syncopated wonder; notice the back-back-back-back voice sample playing a pulse, the bell part working like a West African timeline, the horns and bass finding the empty spaces, the kick and snare finding yet more empty space. And the lyrics hit like a mantra:
“We got the beat that’ll make you move
We got the vibes that’ll help the groove
We got two turntables and a microphone…”
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