Ear Candy is a segment where WCU Media and Culture Senior, Jamari Brown. Reviews/critiques music projects from different genres that he thinks would be great to listen to.
Genre:
Alternative
“11th Hour” by Hailey Knox
11th Hour by Hailey Knox (song.link)
Hailey Knox is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter that built her music career as a guitarist. She’s worked with artists like Justin Bieber, Adele, The Weeknd, etc. She released her new hit song “11th Hour” on March 22, 2024.
The song is about her past relationship and how the boy she loved only thought himself and his feelings and never considered hers in any aspect. She goes on to tell him that it is too late to change his mind after all the things he put her through. “You only come around when you want something from me, you weren’t the one I prayed for; if I knew this was how you were gonna be, I wouldn’t have stayed so long.” Everyone has had someone in their life who has done these things or has acted in these kinds of ways, that is what attracted me to the song and brought it to this week’s Ear Candy.
If you are into artists like SZA, Ariana Grande, Halsey. Then this is definitely the song for you. You can find this song on all music streaming platforms.
Genre:
Soul
“CALYPSO” by Bryson Tiller
CALYPSO by Bryson Tiller (song.link)
Bryson Tiller, the Louisville, KY and R&B/Soul native has released a new song from his upcoming 19-song Album, “Bryson Tiller” that drops on April 5th. The song explains how he met the love of his life, and he goes on to tell the story of how everything started between them. “She said, “new phone, who this?” as soon as I texted. Then I saw her pretty little face standing right by the exit”.
Bryson going into depth and adding little details gives this song a feeling of romanticism and makes you picture yourself being in this predicament. I am very much into love songs, especially the positive ones (as these types of songs aren’t the “wave” anymore). It’s good to hear something new that you can play at your wedding or even have a sing along in the with your significant other without thinking one of which is throwing shade. If you are into artists like Drake, Summer Walker, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Brent Fiyaz, this is the song/album for you. You can find this song on all music streaming platforms.
Genre:
Pop
“Slow It Down” by Benson Boone
Slow It Down by Benson Boone (song.link)
Benson Boone, the rising starfrom Monroe, Washington has an upcoming album coming out on April 5th as well called “Fireworks & Rollerblades”. I stumbled across the song “Slow It Down” on Apple Music. I can’t get enough of it and couldn’t help but hear it as ear candy. The song is similar to the one I wrote about above. It tells a story of how he met the woman he would soon fall in love with. But he goes to speak about what the first conversation with this person was like and while she was talking to him he could tell that she was super stressed out. So, he tells her to just slow down and live in the moment; even though we stress and have every doubt in the world let’s try to forget about that for right now.
“Slow it down, take a moment now, were too young to drown, deep in dirty waters. Full of hopeless doubt, let me pull you out, let me hold you now, let me slow it down.” I like this song and this chorus because, I, myself can definitely get swept away with my negative thoughts and my stressful engagement with the problems I believe I have. So, this song just speaks volumes to me and is definitely a stress relieving song. I highly recommend listening to it. You can find this song on all music streaming platforms.
Genre:
Rap
“Like That” by Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar
Like That by Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar (song.link)
The song that has been the talk of the week on social media. And the topic that has been seen as the most controversial topic in rap; is Drake #1, is Kendrick #1, or is J. Cole #1. Ear Candy this week would be incomplete without this song.
Future & Metro Boomin has released a collab album called “We Don’t Trust You” after both having some unfriendly fall offs with rapper Drake. But Kendrick Lamar has had a personal vendetta against Drake, after Drake has been caught “Sneak dissing” Lamar in some of his previous records. He recently released a song called “First Person Shooter” with rapper J. Cole. The problem Kendrick has with this is why team up when they all could just battle for the top spot.
“Motherf**k the big three, n***a its just big me. I’m really like that, and your best work is a light pack. N***a Prince out lived Mike Jack.” You can tell how raw and intentional these words from Kendrick were. He means war. I highly recommend listening to this song. It is by far my favorite song out right now. You can find this song on all music streaming platforms.
