Welcome back to another episode of InTune! 

This week, I planned to do a rundown on Coachella, more specifically, what went wrong with Frank Ocean’s set. After talking about it for maybe 10 seconds, my friend said, “Lily, you talk about him all the time.” I realized that, hey, I do talk about Frank Ocean all the time and have very few legitimate discussions about songs or albums anymore. 

For a while, I stopped getting Spotify Premium. Worst decision yet this year. I never realized how much I involve music in my everyday life.

So, this week of InTune, I plan on going back to the basics by reviewing five of my favorite songs right now. 

Bad Religion – Frank Ocean

Frank came out of retirement for a day and performed at Coachella. Of course, a lot of things went wrong with Frank’s performance, but that isn’t the point. Frank played “Bad Religion,” which is also one of his better-known songs. I know I was talking about trying not to mention Frank earlier, but let’s be real. I’m going to mention the one and only. I digress, “Bad Religion” is gorgeous. It starts with church organs, no shocker there. Frank then sings about unrequited love. There is something just so enticing about Frank and his songs about love. He portrays the raw emotions of how love is all too well. The song also builds up and makes the song 100 percent better by adding just that much extra emotion.  

Coco Chanel – Nicki Minaj (ft. Foxy Brown)
This is one of those songs where I didn’t know I knew this song until it got to a specific part. Of course, Nicki Minaj killed this song, as usual. Nicki knows how to make a killer song, and she knows it. The back beats of the song build it up so much more and make the song so pleasing to the ears. The way she sings is so sly sounding and lower with her tone, making it sound intricate. Any Nicki song is good, but “Coco Chanel” is just a top-tier song. This song is super bass focused. There are songs better lyrically, but this song has a killer beat. There’s no way I can ignore adding this song. 

WHAT A DAY – Tyler, The Creator

Where would I be without Tyler, The Creator? My personality at this point is Tyler (and Frank). Tyler recently dropped more songs to add to “Call Me If You Get Lost”, calling it “The Estate Sale.” This song was one of the many added to the already amazing album. “WHAT A DAY” is so smooth flowing and has an uber-relaxing sound. It has hints of bird chirps and opens with singing “What a day” in one of the most luxe voices I’ve ever heard in my whole life. The intro of the song alone is so enticing, because of how the voice sounds. Of course, DJ Drama added his tag, which low-key ruined it. Luckily, Tyler came to save the day with the lyrics and killed it, as per usual. 

September – Sparky Deathcap  

This is so depressing. Everything I’ve ever seen with this song has been so awfully emotional. The background of the song itself is repetitive as it can be. I know that gets annoying after a while, but this song gets you too far in your feelings to notice. The singer, Rob Taylor, has such a casual but amazing voice. It’s a song that sounds like he’s just talking to you, instead of legitimately singing. The song builds up quite quickly, leaving no time to linger on the slower, more saddening beginning. It’s a song that turns aggressive quickly. The song is honestly one of the better “sad TikTok” songs out there. It’s disappointing that people only ever acknowledge the beginning of the song and never the rest. This song is so much more than the instrumental beginning. 

Addiction – Kanye West 

I know, I know. Kanye West is such an awful human being, but his older songs are just so good. (I will state this again, I will never support what he does/has done). Kanye has been in the game for so long, maybe even too long, where he knows exactly how to make a song that is nothing but exceptional. Kanye has vocals that somehow match the song better than normal. Of course, lyrics are supposed to match the beats and general song, but the tone and how he’s singing the song just match so well. It’s weird and probably confusing but if you listen to the song, it makes sense. There’s a part where a woman starts to sing repetitive lyrics from earlier in the song, arguably the best vocals that flow and sound so striking. The lyrics are also relatable. I think like any other artist, Kanye struggles with making songs that people can relate to, but this song is just perfect. 

That’s all for this week! Come back next week!