On A Ramen Noodle Diet

hannahbrealee.com

[onaramennoodlediet]

The New American Boyband

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMZZUyos1kI

yesterday was my second time seeing BROCKHAMPTON (first time being at the crowded Mojave tent at Coachella) at Blurry Vision in Oakland.

To gain more perspective into the members of BROCKHAMPTON, I watched some of VICELAND’s documentary on Kevin Abstract’s first headlining tour called “American Boyband”. The members met on the "KanyeToThe" forum, leading them to eventually move in together in San Marcos, Texas and call themselves "the Internet's first boy band." Specific scenes in the documentary stood out to me: his initial meeting with the CEO of Vice where he admits he’s terribly nervous (I noticed his slight fidgeting and dodgy stares right away) and the scene of him “softly” scolding an engineer in the studio, Kevin Abstract, the mastermind behind BROCKHAMPTON, seems to be a reserved, introverted, and eccentric perfectionist -- he shares a lot of similarities with Frank Ocean. Abstract has a vision for BROCKHAMPTON: to redefine the “American pop boyband”. He also mentions that BROCKHAMPTON represents “friendship"; being a 14-person band who live together in one home, this is an accurate representation. One can gather that Kevin Abstract had a tough time in high school, but the outsiders and so-called “weird” kids in high school ended up being the best type of creative influences once they escaped.

Essentially, BROCKHAMPTON is a collective - or boyband - filled with rappers such as Kevin Abstract and Ameer Vann [read the edit at the bottom of the post], vocalists (and sometimes rapper) Matt Champion, and other members dedicated to the engineering side of things, such as the creative director, Henock "HK" Sileshi. When I first happened upon “BOOGIE”, I assumed BROCKHAMPTON was a 1-person project comprised of Ameer Vann (since he’s featured on the cover of SATURATION II & III).

To be completely honest, my relationship with BROCKHAMPTON had an initial slow progression, but, I mean that’s how all the best relationships are built, am I right? I was not impressed when I first listened to their list of popular tracks on Spotify and it was only after I happened to check on SoundCloud one fateful Sunday afternoon, and discovered Whethan’s bootleg of STAINS. After listening to that track about a thousand times, I decided to give BROCKHAMPTON a second chance. I carved out a time to myself after work to sit down and analyze the songs in full detail. I started off with SATURATION, and it did not disappoint. As soon as the beat dropped in “GOLD”, I knew I had to give BROCKHAMPTON one more chance. Then, the track after “GOLD” blew my socks off: “STAR” (music video is quality too). What’s great about this track is the fact that they drop about 35 (I personally counted the names from the lyrics and yes, I spent about a minute of my life pointing out each name on geniuslyrics.com) celebrity names from Shawn Mendes to Agent Cody Banks. It sounds cheesy but strangely, it works and perfectly matches the DGAF, hipster attitude of BROCKHAMPTON.

/Bruh, I don't f**k with no white boys /Less the n***a Shawn Mendes

My housemate has been obsessed with Shawn Mendes recently, and I high-key judged her after assuming Shawn Mendes was simply a wannabe Justin Bieber. After seeing him guest judge on The Voice and realizing Kevin Abstract supports him, I’ll decided to give him a chance. It also helps that he seems to be a sweet, humble, cute little 19-year-old Canadian boy who just wants to survive in the music industry. He recently guest starred for a week on Late Late Night with James Corden #LateLateShawn: his Carpool Karaoke is probably my favorite (make sure to watch until at least 5:05).

Other than supporting Shawn Mendes, I noticed BROCKHAMPTON chills with chill with Ansel Elgort, the main star of the recent Edgar Wright production, “Baby Driver”. I filed this information away, not really paying attention to this until they performed “STAR” at Coachella with a trippy visual of Ansel Elgort cooly playing with his hair in the background. This type of mind blowing connection, along with tiny details that only true fans can point out if they wholeheartedly follow artists that aren’t only about their music, but passionate about creating a brand that specific audiences will gravitate towards.

Now that I’ve seen BROCKHAMPTON twice, even though they played the same set that they performed at Coachella, it solidified this new type of “American Boyband” at the top of my list of favorite artists. The best way to describe their style is that they’re “fresh”. Even though OFWGKTA were the ones to pioneer this new type of musical collective, BROCKHAMPTON is adopting the idea and re-dressing it 10 years later.

Edit [added 6/8/18]

Still in awe that BROCKHAMPTON had to announce that Ameer was no longer a part of the group due to some sexual abuse allegations on Twitter. I remember reading it at 7:30am in the morning before going to work...gotta admit though, I actually am obsessed with how they chose to announce it -- a plain, off-white background with a stylized sans serif font. (My inner design geek coming out)

Enjoy this quick graphic of Kevin Abstract I made last night:

Stay sound,

Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

young metro

This post is long overdue, but I wanted to express my high level of fondness for Metro Boomin. He’s the only producer who can get me to stop listening to the sappy indie music I’ve been jamming to, which definitely means something. Yung Metro has been producing on da beat ever since I first heard the iconic Future tag, "If Young Metro Don’t Trust You, I’m Gon’ Shoot You". He’s dropped five, fire albums in the past two years (21 Savage with Savage Mode which quintessentially made 21 Savage’s career, Gucci Mane on one of his 1000 albums since being released from prison, xo’s own NAV, good ol’ Big Sean, who I highly approve of being with Jhene Aiko, and the grand finale of Without Warning with 21 Savage and Offset) and has produced with countless other big name artists (Kanye West and ″Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2″ being one of the favorites). 

As I was browsing for more music on Spotify today, I started vibing to Rae Sremmurd's new song, “T’d Up”, and lo and behold it’s co-produced by Metro. 

Enjoy a list of my favorite Metro Boomin tracks, listed from 1 being my absolute fav and 5 being the least:

1) “No Heart” - 21 Savage, Metro Boomin

I admit, it was hard picking a #1 Metro Boomin track. I felt I had to choose something from Savage Mode because Metro created beats that seamlessly captured 21 Savage’s style -- it’s no wonder after this album both 21 Savage and Metro Boomin became top chart names. It’s best to include “No Heart” on the turn up playlist.

2) “Met Gala” - Gucci Mane, Offset, Metro Boomin, Southside

Ok, I understand that this song isn’t 100% Metro, BUT he’s still featured on it with Gucci Mane aka Mr. Davis. Throw in Offset and talented producer Southside, this song is underrated.

3) “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2″ - Kanye West, Metro Boomin

Of course I had to include a Kanye track on here. This song is iconic, genius, and probably one of the best songs off TLOP. 808 vibes, sampling from an old skool Pastor T.L. Barrett, topped off by Kanye’s almost-tipping-towards-ridiculous-yet-still-keeps-its-cool verse. If you haven’t, listen to the sample, it’s super long but interesting compared to the original.

4) “Ric Flair Drip (& Metro Boomin)” - Offset, Metro Boomin

This song just goes really hard, if I could, I’d put the entire Without Warning as number 4. Every time I listen to Without Warning, I hear Offset chanting “Freddy Krueger give em a nightmare” over and over in my head during work. Or Droptopwop. Gucci Mane + Metro had me dying.

5) “Ghostface Killers” - Offset, 21 Savage, Travi$ Scott)

This track is quality simply because it has Offset, 21 Savage, and Travi$ Scott. Kylie Jenner, why?!

There are countless more Metro tracks that I could list out, but I’m going to leave you with a blurry iPhone quality pic of when I saw Metro Boomin at 1015 Folsom, oh, and this graphic.

Stay sound,

Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

robbin’ season

Atlanta season 2 premieres March 1st, and I’m pretty excited. Donald Glover is extremely talented and beyond creative -- plus it helped that he used a Yellow Days track for the teaser :’)

According to Consequence of Sound, season 2 is called “Robbin’ Season” because this was around the time robberies spiked in the area. I pretty much died at the Justin Bieber episode (”Nobody Beats the Biebs”) of last season + that swisher sweets commercial, so looking forward to the creative quirks this season has to offer.

Stay sound,

Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

pass da aux

One of the most highly respected things to do as a car passenger is to hold the scared aux cord. Plug in the aux cord and you become in charge of enhancing the car’s experience with your music.

This weekend I got the chance to play “DJ” for the weekend. I played mostly indie pop/rock, and Without Warning. Yung Metro had to be in the playlist somewhere.

I came across a vaporwave artist, Jakob Ogawa, on Spotify recently. Midway through “All Your Love”, one of my friends thought out loud, asking if the song was vaporwave. Vaporwave is a fairly new song genre that combines Japanese pop influences, song edits, and a sort of ~     D    R  E    A   M    Y ~ vibe -- if you get my drift. I’ve really been into this type of music, and highly recommend giving it a listen.

Along with vaporwave I’m also still really into jazz + funk. Check out this song by LEISURE, called Money.

To end this short post, I made this quick graphic to accompany my newfound interest in vaporwave, let me know what you think!

Stay sound,

Han

Follow this Spotify playlist I created dedicated to dreamy vibes-https://open.spotify.com/user/hpnerd8/playlist/4jeDlPUT1b9qeOZkUn4tlA

[onaramennoodlediet]

The Revival of HSMF

I attended Hard Summer for the 3rd time this weekend and I admit, it was full of nostalgia -- I felt 5 years younger the entire time, soaking in my 18-year-old self. My past 2 hard experiences have been subpar and full of unnecessary drama. The lineup for Hard Summer’s 10th anniversary was fairly stacked this year, and since my friend bought tickets and booked a hotel already, I figured, why not?

This weekend blew me away for several reasons. For one, you could tell more money went to production: 2 water stations next to every stage, workers walking around offering ice cold beverages, beautifully set up stages, food trucks with delicious food, and an easy-to-navigate venue dotted the festival grounds. What really solidified this year was the drama-free, head-banging vibes and, of course, quality sets. I was able to see more artists this year than ever before, because I was with someone who actually was down to see catch all the artists and shove some sweaty people on the way to each stage. CRAY, Oski, NuKid, josh pan, SAYMYNAME, Kayzo, Malaa, Cashmere Cat, Tchami, Justice, Zeds Dead, Snoop Dogg, Dog Blood, Bassnectar, Migos, Jai Wolf, Snakehips, What So Not, Kill the Noise, Mike Will Made It, 12th Planet, Ekali, Whethan, and Graves blessed my ears and had me groovin’ the entire weekend (not listed in any particular order). Almost every set we saw was well produced -- it kept me wanting to dance in the San Bernardino heat.

Highlight of the night was Dog Blood’s last live performance. I was a little skeptical since I knew Dog Blood (Skrillex and Boys Noize’s collab project) failed a couple years ago. Their simple stage design and 1000+ audience proved me wrong. Bathed in red strobe lights, smoke, lasers, and the occasional flash of their logo, the visuals were simple yet worked perfectly. The bass kept me going the entire hour, along with the fact that it just so happened to be a full moon -- Skrillex made sure to hype up the crowd with, “this is a full moon party!”

2nd place goes to Graves' set. He played a bangin mix of trap, and even brought out bbno$ and yung gravy. I’ve been keeping tabs on this up-and-coming Canadian mumble rapper, so I lowkey freaked when he came onstage.

In the end, I finally had the Hard Summer experience I’ve been wanting for the past 2 years. Maybe it’s a good thing Destructo is leaving, because they definitely improved for their 10th anniversary. I’d give Hard a chewiness of 7/10.

Because I miss this weekend, I made this playlist (even tho SoundCloud might die soon...)

https://soundcloud.com/hannah-lee-44/sets/more-bass-pl0x

Stay sound,

Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

Chaz... Bear?

Boo Boo by Toro Y Moi est. July 7, 2017

I had the opportunity to meet and have casual conversation (that I nervously scripted the night before) with Chaz Bundick at West Coast Craft’s June 11th event, and purchased some freshly designed merchandise from Chaz’s very own, Company Studio.

During our small conversation, I complimented him on the 80′s vibes of “Girl Like You”, which had dropped a few days before. He humbly revealed that Boo Boo had those similar vibes, and I’ve been waiting for the album to grace my ears ever since.

As I started my half-hour commute home from work, the first track, “Mirage”, filled the car with exactly what Chaz had promised: 80′s Japanese pop synths and chillwave sounds. I had a feeling this album would be reminiscent of Toro’s Anything in Return, however, according to an interview with Pigeons & Planes, Chaz claimed he wanted to stray away from chillwave and focus on his half-black, half-asian culture.

After listening to the album all the way through, my first realization was that this was a darker, more meaningful album from Chaz. Noisey released a personal interview with Chaz, confirming the fact that he had recently broke up with his fairly secret partner, and was in a bad place whilst producing this album. I zoned out while driving on my usual route, with Chaz’s sweet falsetto guiding me along. Once track 6, “Windows”, started playing, Toro’s high-pitched/auto-tuned voice snapped me back into reality. The beginning of this track instantly reminded me of Frank ocean, and the accompanying, choppy beat was similar to that of a Travis Scott track. I later learned that Chaz took inspiration from Frank Ocean, Travis Scott, and Daft Punk while recording this album.

All in all, from the comparison of love being an acid trip in “Mona Lisa”, Twin Peaks vibes from “Labyrinth”, and subtle hints to his ex-partner, Toro Y Moi created your quintessential after a breakup, time-to-shut-myself-in-a-house-and-make-music, type of album.

Chaz Bundick (now known as Chaz Bear) is one of my favorite artists, and I was happy to see him stray away from his indie rock phase and go back to his roots. I give Boo Boo a chewiness of 8/10.

Stay sound,

Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

good vibes only

“liggas try to take me off this earf everyday”

josh pan. 

Up and coming producer from OWSLA. I mean, if he’s with OWSLA he has to be good, right?

I first came across josh pan a few years ago, when I found a track he produced with Dumbfoundead. Granted, it took me awhile to get used to the unique beat, but I knew this guy had talent. Fast forward to a week ago when he showed up on my SoundCloud stream again. A few seconds later, I found this gem:

https://soundcloud.com/joshpan/did2much

Paired with X&G, josh pan combined 3 songs in one, single track. IDTM starts off with josh pan’s velvety voice then fades into a classic, experimental trap vibe. The song takes another turn at 2:00; this part is exceptionally good.

“Yeah I got a little bit of kitty in my brain Got a bad b*tch call her Charlemagne.”

It’s refreshing to the ears and a quality track.

He has a method to the madness. According to Your EDM, josh pan stated, “Most people are just trying to be a producer, but Soundcloud is about presentation and aesthetic. You gotta sell yourself as a style, you have to become the art. That’s why most people are failing.” He makes sure to post eclectic but stylized tracks, and random skits about raw meat fairly frequently. Another track is worth exploring, and is quite entertaining if you’re familiar with the song “Water” by Ugly god ⏤ josh pan discusses a bible verse and gives an explanation of water. Yeah. That article also mentioned the whole “josh pan is really a collective of 20 artists including Oshi and Dirty Chocolate” bit, and concludes it’s false. 

josh pan is definitely going to blow up soon. #88rising

I’m attending Brownies & Lemonade on May 26th and boy, this lineup is gold: josh pan, Graves, MEDASIN, WHERE IS ALEX, and a secret guest. I’ve wanted to see these producers for a very long time, and I know it’s gonna be lit. Plus, josh pan and MEDASIN are best buddies, I hope they play b2b. 

Stay Sound,

Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

broke boi

Friday, February 3rd @ 1015 Folsom.

This time, it was because Metro Boomin got cancelled (due to a fire) and we got 30% off tickets to see Playboi Carti aka Cash Carti. I only know 2 songs by Playboi Carti - “broke boi” and his line in “Telephone Calls” by A$AP Mob, but Amy Pham was opening and @soothingsista was gonna be there too. I figured, why not.

DJ AUXCORD was the opener, and after standing for 2 hours, Amy Pham finally went on. Before that, we saw Stephanie Villa enter the club and enter into the VIP section of the stage. It was weird seeing someone that I’ve only seen through pixelated screens in person. Her outfit was on point though, of course.

Amy Pham has amazing abs, and plays bangers when she DJs. We were so close, I could rest my chin on the cold edge of the stage. It was exhilarating. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much unadulterated fun at an event before, I actually enjoyed moshing in a pit. 

Cash Carti came on, sporting Air Jordan 1 Retro High OGs. We could literally touch his feet, but I have to admit, it was awkward having to look up at him the whole time. His set brought me back to the vibes at Day N Night festival in August. The only thing was, he seemed kinda tired, and didn’t really rap much of the songs. After hitting shoulders with a couple strangers to “broke boi” and “Telephone Calls”, the night came to an end.

The drive back was brutal, and we got home at 4 am. Add in the rain, some awkward situations, getting hit in the head a couple times, and the fact that I’m now sick, I give this event a chewiness of 6/10. I knew it was going to be at the quality of your typical rap/trap concert, but regrettably had higher hopes. Don’t get me wrong though, I still had the time of my life. Small shows always mean better crowds - people that go to events to actually listen to the music. 

[onaramennoodlediet]

saturday, 3:10 AM

made a short playlist of “now playing”. 

https://soundcloud.com/hannah-lee-44/sets/2-45-am

stay sound,

han

[onaramennoodlediet]

The Universe Smiles Upon You

happened upon this album, similar vibes to Toro y moi, best to listen to when you’re in that relaxing / work-mode type of mood.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4aXNatXgVRPwO9Y98UWQxI

Stay sound,

Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

chewy songs:

By Design - Kid Cudi, Andre Benjamin [CUDI IS BACK]

https://open.spotify.com/track/5FxVTEpoBress37MmlMhbZ

She - Rootwords [http://www.rootwords.ch/bio/]

https://open.spotify.com/track/56UK7r8QgR9TNQBIu714T1

Love Spells - Duumu (feat. Elise du Crest) [bubbly vibes]

https://soundcloud.com/duumu/lovespells

Stay sound,

-Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

a playlist of songs I’ve been listening to ever since I’ve renewed my love for electronic dance music. 

Stay sound,

-Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

OK ok, porter.

Shelter Live Tour featuring Porter Robinson and Madeon - McClellan Airfield, December 3rd, 2016

“TEACH ME SENPAI.”

First thing I see when I enter this massive abandoned warehouse is someone’s makeshift totem with the words “TEACH ME SENPAI” etched across. My friend and I laugh, the realization of how true those words were about to become.

So I gave in and went to see “Porteon”. I resisted at first, but of course, they added a tour stop in Sacramento - conveniently close to where I am and only $35. However, my friend and I waited until the last minute to buy tickets and to our dismay, tickets sold out and ravExchange only had buyers just as desperate as we were. Fast forward to the night of the event and luck was on our side. My friend knew someone who wanted to sell her pair of tickets - for original price too. It was perfect.

I’ve seen Porter Robinson 4 times, the first time was when I was still in high school. The second time, however, was when I saw how talented he really was. In 2012, Porter dropped his World’s album. This album changed the entire EDM game - it propelled his career to being one of the biggest DJs of our time, and created a completely new genre of EDM. The World’s tour at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (my favorite venue) blew my mind. Never have I been to a show were I literally almost started crying - I got emotional and I decided it topped the time I saw Swedish House Mafia for their one last tour (which was my first rave).

The next time I saw Porter was at Hard Summer in 2015. However, I’ve blocked out that experience for several reasons. Moving on.

So, it had been awhile since I last saw Porter live, and at this time, my love for EDM had essentially decreased to nothing - I was back to hip hop and R&B. I had expectations, but I was not as excited as I would’ve been back in high school. Plus, I barely listened to Madeon.

In the end, my love for electronic dance music has been renewed. Throughout the entire set, waves of nostalgia washed over me. It brought me back a couple years, and I almost started crying when he played Fellow Feeling. The visuals were on point, the crowd was wild, and I just vibed the entire night. He added in new mixes that I haven’t heard before that went super hard. That deep bass though. This concert reminded me of why I loved Porter so much, and why he is so big in the EDM world.

Plus, I’ve been listening to a lot of EDM on SoundCloud ever since then - check out Golden Features: https://soundcloud.com/foreignfamily/golden-features-funeral

chewiness: 10/10

Stay sound,

-Han

[onaramennoodlediet]

what do you really believe?

Before I start, let me just say that Kanye West is ridiculous.

When Yeezy first announced his Saint Pablo tour, the only thing that prevented me from snagging a ticket was that it was the same weekend as my best friend’s 21st birthday vegas trip extravaganza. Thankfully, Kanye decided to add more stops to his tour - specifically one in San Jose’s SAP center. Last month I saw Nghtmre in a tiny, cramped club and strangely enough, actually enjoyed bashing shoulders in a sweaty mosh pit -- so I figured moshing to Kanye West floating above my head would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. However, to save my legs, I decided last minute to sit and purchased seat tickets to enjoy Kanye for my 22nd birthday.

the night of november 17th

The arena turned dark and "Father I Stretch My Hands" by Pastor T.L. Barrett featuring Youth for Christ (the song sampled for Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1) spilled out from the speakers. Kanye’s floating stage descended from the ceiling as if it were a platform on an alien spaceship. The stage travelled across the floor, bringing Yeezus into view. It was surreal seeing Kanye West in person. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact I was about 50 feet away from an artist I’ve obsessed over my whole life. I went wild and started to yell out every lyric - probably annoying the people next to me (who were quite silent). The bass from the speakers pulsated against me as if it were a physical wall pushing me back. 

Famous started to play. The beat on this track goes hard - a surge of adrenaline rushed through me. After rapping the iconic first verse about Taylor Swift, Kanye cuts the song and started to mini-rant. He repeated this 3 more times, until he finally stopped the song completely and proceeded to rant for about 30 minutes. I was prepared for this moment. Any knowledgable person who’s heard of Kanye knows about his huge ego and tendency to rant. 

Fast forward to the end of the show: 12:10 pm. Kanye ended up ranting for a total of an hour of the show - people were visibly irritated, yet I wanted to hear him talk so I wasn’t TOO salty. Sure, I wanted to hear more songs, but I loved that I was able to analyze and witness the inner craziness that is the mind of Kanye West. Aside from mentioning he would’ve voted for Trump and Yeezy 2020, he made some valid points in his rant. 

After mentioning his support for Donald Trump, Kanye would start the next song and the crowd would be awoken from its rant-induced slumber. But once the stadium was alive with moshing, dancing, and singing, Kanye would scream into the microphone, “STOP, STOP, STOP” and the music would regrettably cut out.

“See what I mean? I just said some serious shit bruh and ya’ll are singing and dancing like nothing happened!”

The audience was pissed - boo-ing and throwing shoes onto his floating platform. But once the music would start again, everything that was said became lost in the music. He then proceeded to say, “What do you really believe?” Earlier in the rant Kanye gave the advice to not believe everything we read on the Internet. The point he was trying to make was that the Internet can lead us to believe things that may not be true, and the media can easily sway us towards a certain position. I noticed that in this election, the younger generation supported Bernie because of the way he was portrayed throughout social media - as a hero. However, Trump and Hillary were portrayed as bigots. But enough about the election.

Yes, Kanye west is crazy. He thinks too highly of himself - but with good reason. I don’t know if I can name another artist whose entire album I can listen to and know the lyrics to each song.  

The entire concept of the stage production makes perfect sense. Witnessing Kanye on a floating platform with the spotlights shining down upon the mass of people trying to reach up to him is just another play on portraying himself as a god. As most Yeezy fans already know, Kanye West sees himself as a god (the most obvious being his Yeezus tour and the blessing from “Jesus” himself). It works exceptionally well. The design is simple and industrial, with a strong sense of ingenuity. The metal frames and theatre spotlights are familiar concert mediums, however, when made into a floating “spaceship” and futuristic light show, it becomes a work of art. 

I rate the Saint Pablo tour chewiness 8/10 

Honestly, I had the best time of my life, witnessing Kanye West, being super close to the stage, and just vibing the entire night. It was interesting to listen to Kanye’s rants, even if I disagreed with him most of the time. He’s just a regular person dealing with mental issues that are VERY much present in society. Being famous means being held to a higher standard - even though they’re normal human beings too. I'm not mad at Kanye for being a “fallen idol” as a lot of people have been saying: 

He's fallin' apart, but we deny it Justifying that half ass shit he dropped, we always buy it When he tell us he a genius but it's clearer lately It's been hard for him to look into the mirror lately There was a time when this nigga was my hero, maybe That's the reason why his fall from grace is hard to take 'Cause I believed him when he said his shit was purer and he The type of nigga swear he real but all around him's fake

false prophets - J. Cole

True, maybe meeting up with Trump was a publicity stunt, but being admitted to the hospital? Kanye doesn’t think before he speaks, and he knows that - which is why he expresses himself through his music and his art. And I will still respect him as an artist no matter what he does. 

[onaramennoodlediet]

“clear glasses aesthetic”

It was 6:15 pm. I tirelessly slaving away on my design auto CAD project that was due next week because I, yet again, procrastinated. To make things worse, it uses the program Rhinoceros - which is only available on the campus computers. Annoyed at myself for getting there 15 minutes late (I was supposed to be there at 6 pm because I had to leave at 6:50), I was stressing the fuck out.

However.

I was leaving at 6:50 because I had tickets to see Chaz Bundick aka Toro y moi. On my top 10 artists I’ve seen perform live, he is placed significantly high on the list. My night was filled with the sounds of his contagious voice accompanied by a trippy background - it confirmed for me that Chaz Bundick is extremely talented and funky as hell. Every time a song reached its climax, he would respond with a groovy little dance that made me squeal inside like a true fan girl. Don’t get me started on those clear glasses.... 

Being in his hometown (Berkeley, CA) and performing at the new UC Theatre Taube Family Music Hall tied the entire experience in a neat little bow. I was feeling the vibes until 11:30 pm, and it was well worth it.

/She wears those earrings almost every day/ /Trapezoid Shapes/

- Ratcliff

chewiness: 10/10

[onaramennoodlediet]

onaramennoodlediet?

You assumed this would be a food blog, huh? I hate to break your food porn obsession but it’s not. Don’t get me wrong - food is life and I am only able to bear living each day by looking forward to my next meal. Ramen is also my favorite food. However, this not about food, it is a blog about music.

If you still don’t understand the title - no worries! Ever heard of A.lways $.trive A.nd P.rosper? aka, A$AP? Specifically, the trap lord: A$AP Ferg. Darold D. Brown Ferguson Jr. (yup, that’s his real name), released his sophomore album last year. Unfortunately, it definitely lives in the shadow of the critically acclaimed and masterly produced Trap Lord. There are few gems on the sophomore album nonetheless, the most popular being New Level. When I first heard this song, my reaction was “meh”. Compared to Work and Shabba - both excellent trap songs - it just wasn’t as good. After a few more listens (this time with subwoofers to accentuate the bass) New Level grew on me, especially after hearing Ferg rap about the busy life on the road “on a ramen noodle diet”. A$AP Ferg rapping about ramen?! I lowkey fell in love with the song after that glorious revelation and gave Always Strive and Prosper a second chance. After all, how could I pass up hearing the softer side of A$AP Ferg? It was as if I was reading directly from the personal diary of yung Darold D. Brown Ferguson, Jr himself.... 

That’s the story of how I came up with that title. Look forward to album reviews, current favorites, and other delicious stuff about all things music. 

stay sound.

-Han

https://soundcloud.com/hannah-lee-44

https://open.spotify.com/user/hpnerd8