The Plug’n Play: July (‘22)

July 31, 2022

You can listen to the full playlist on Apple Music, Spotify, or Tidal

The first 15 songs were selected by Kevin, and the last 14 songs were selected by me, Stanley! As always, we hope you find a tune you like, and checkout the entire album!

For this month, instead of highlighting 3 tunes that I particularly enjoyed or found interesting, I wanted to talk a bit about some “trends”

What’s in a name?

I’m dubious of the label of “alternative” as a genre. In recent years, the past 10 or so, “alternative” — typically followed by a more traditional genre like, R&B, Hip-Hop, or Rock — has been deployed as a shorthand, a sort of dog whistle, for streaming sites and record labels to describe music that’s not quite mainstream, but “edgy” or “cool” — hipster music, if you will. Because, after all, mainstream, too, is a [dirty] word loaded with meaning.

In the years since the late aughts/early 2010s, when Odd Future, a collective of artists spearheaded by Tyler, The Creator, and included the likes of Frank Ocean, Sydney Bennett and Matt Martians from the Internet, and others affiliated with the collective, Flying Lotus and Thundercat, burst onto the scene, the musical landscape has shifted. They weren’t mainstream, by any stretch, but they had amassed a cult-like following.

The collective stood in direct contrast to what was mainstream at the time. Importantly, they had a musical palette that was vast, and starkly different in comparison to what had become popular by the early 2010s.

Odd Future wore their influences on their sleeves. They were descendants of The Neptunes and The Soulquarians; Roy Ayers and Herbie Hancock; John Mayer and Radiohead – in sound and in spirit. Odd Future, and others of that generation, cut against the grain of what was popular at the time, offered something different, and challenged a racial politic of sound along the way (you know, the idea that Black folk don’t make/aren’t interested in Psychedelic music or Indie Rock).

What does any of this have to do with music released in July, Stanley?

When I think about July of 2022, I think about how the thing on the periphery can become the eye of the storm; how “alternative” has gone from relatively obscurity to having a broader appeal.

In July of 2022, Tyler, The Creator’s headlining a World Tour, making its stop in Australia. Steve Lacy, the guitarist from The Internet, and producer-prodigy released his sophomore project, Gemini Rights, a much-anticipated follow-up to his 2019 debut. Gemini Rights finds Lacy in a more refined space – the production feels like a world made of his influence: a psychedelic homage to The Neptunes at times, Prince and OutKast at others, but ultimately more polished and focused than previous efforts. Gemini Rights’ scored his first Billboard top 15 hit.  

Looking at the credits for RENESSIANCE, Beyoncé’s seventh studio album, I was more than excited to see names like, Levan Kali, who’s production shined brightest on the album for me, producing or co-producing, PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA, VIRGO’S GROOVE, and SUMMER RENASSIANCE (if you want to some context around who Leven Kali is, take a listen to his tune Let It Rain from earlier this year); Syd, from the Internet, co-produced PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA; Patrick Paige II, the bassist from The Internet, who’s bass playing gave PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA a type of feel and low end rhythmic backing The Internet had been cultivating for years, and Sabrina Claudio who offered background vocals and writing for PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA.  

And what would July be without Usher’s Tiny Desk? I’ve watched it least a half a dozen times and heard “watch this” at least a million times. Without a doubt, Usher’s Tiny Desk ranks among the most interesting and exciting, hearing arrangements for many of the tunes we’d all come to know so well – like, You Make Me Wanna..., Superstar, Confessions Part II, and My Way – with new blood was particularly interesting to see.

Toward the end of the Usher’s set, he made sure to shoutout his drummer for the day, Ryan James Carr, someone Usher met via Instagram after watching Carr flip so many of his songs online. Carr, like many of the aforementioned artists affiliated with Odd Future, comes out of a community of producers and musicians in what has been described as the alternative-R&B and Hip-Hop scene. Carr’s music is rooted in Black music traditions like, Soul and Funk, and in early July released his latest single, By Your Side.

It’s exciting to see artists as deep into their careers as Beyoncé and Usher, collaborating with younger artists and producers, returning to an unfiltered sound that’s rooted in Black music traditions.