Here’s Some music I’ve been listening to. I hope you Enjoy!

I love Eminem. Because Eminem is so skilled at making music, he has a lot of different styles. Each style is extremely high quality and is unique enough to make you instantly recognize the sound and realize that it’s Eminem. There is the “super disgusting lyrics that makes your skin crawl” Eminem, the “rapping so fast that it sounds like each verse is breaking the sound barrier” Eminem, the “me against the world” Eminem, the “song that was made for a movie” Eminem, the “I’m an old man, and I’m going to make a album where I diss Soundcloud rappers” Eminem, the “washed up” Eminem, and even more variations that I didn’t mention. My favorite, however, is the “I don’t usually make club bangers, but when I do THEY BANG” Eminem, which brings us to the song that I want to talk about: “Shake That”. It is about Eminem and Nate Dogg going to the strip club after a long day and enjoying themselves. The beat is comprised of a thunderous base line, hard hitting drums, and a clap that makes you move your body. This is the type of song your mom secretly likes because the rhythm is so good, but does not express it because the lyrics go against everything she believes in. The best part of the song is the chemistry between the beat and Eminem and Nate Dogg’s voices. Eminem’s violent and aggressive voice pairs beautifully with this funky beat and Nate Dogg delivers one of the best vocal performances I’ve ever heard. Nate Dogg is a master of creating hooks and catchy rhymes, but on this song he outdoes himself. This is probably one of my favorite songs of the 2000’s because it checks off every box on the “what makes a good song” rubric. 11/10

I found out about Little Simz in 2012 when I first found about Soundcloud. My friend Aidan and I were always looking for ways to listen to music while doing our ELA essays in the computer lab. One day Aidan showed me this website called “Soundcloud” and my whole world changed. At the time I didn’t realize how much influence Soundcloud would have on the music industry; I just thought it was some cool website. Soundcloud has provided me with tons of music over the years, but Little Simz was the first and one of the best. Little Simz is a rapper from London and has one of the most unique sounds out of all the rappers from England. Her style is a mixture of poetry, modern rap, and jazz rap. A lot of her music is really good, but “Venom” is my favorite. “Venom” is off her latest album, Grey Area, and it encapsulates who Little Simz is in a song. It has a great beat that is a mixture of all the these howling violins that sound like they belong in the remix of “I got 5 on it” in Us. The drums are insane in this song, and in the words of James Eastman: “Venom SLAPS!” The drums connect really well with this synth that has the same melody as the violins. This beat sounds like when you hear something in your dream, distant and hazy enough to incorporate itself into your dream, yet clear and hard hitting enough to wake you up. Simz touts this “queen of the world” attitude and fills this song with lyrics that leave you hyped. She consistently delivers smart and ferocious bars that make you bob your head in agreement for the entirety of the song. “Venom” is one of my favorite songs of the year and maybe my favorite song by a British rapper. 11/10

Trash. 0/10