the holy trifecta

Early this year, I had a dream.  A dream that I'd get to see all my favorite rappers in one year. Gambino, Chance, and Kanye. It was definitely abstract, because at the point that I had this dream, no one even know if Gambino was actually alive, Chance had 0 money, and Kanye was sold out. But I'm not a fan of "no", and suddenly, IT WAS ALL HAPPENING.


September: Gambino
October: Chance
November: Kanye

Let's talk about Kanye for a minute though:

You've probably heard about the now-infamous concert. He performed half of three songs, delivered a 20 minute rant on the state of the music industry, managed to come for Beyonce, Drake, DJ Khaled, and MTV all in one go and then dropped the mike and left. Two days later, he cancelled the whole Saint Pablo tour. A lot of people assumed I'd be upset about it, but honestly I didn't mind. I paid to see Kanye and get my t-shirt, and both of those things happened, so I didn't regret a thing.

I'm always really uncomfortable with the term "perform" as it's applied to musicians, because it reminds me of animals in a circus. With Kanye cancelling his concert, a lot of people talked about how they "paid to see him perform", as though their money was his on switch, and he was obliged to play no matter what. I remember the same sort of backlash surrounding the concert he cancelled after Kim was assaulted in Paris. It kind of freaks me out how people rendered him inhuman. I don't think my $60 ticket bought a piece of his soul, and while I was disappointed to not hear him perform "I Love Kanye", I still love Kanye.  (I think this is also introducing a conversation that needed to happen about black men and mental health problems. )

To me, concerts aren't about the music - they're about the artist. If I just wanted to listen to their music, I could do it from my bed for a whopping $4.99 a month on Apple Music, and I wouldn't have to get dressed. I go to concerts because I want to see them, their vision for their art. For Gambino, it was a dome in the desert. For Chance, it was anamatronic puppets from his past. For Kanye, it was Beyonce hurting his feelings. That's why I think people should pay for live music from their favorite artists. Because for every Gambino, who I'm pretty sure lives on some higher plane with no economy, there's a Chance, who's supporting all his music on his own. You gotta cop a t-shirt and keep them supplied with snacks.

Plus, the puppets were pretttttty dope.

x Justina

ps. shoutout to jordan for driving me around/feeding me/taking photos of me/
enabling my insanity for this. 
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gambino got the game bruh

for best view of the food, watch in 1080p

I like to think of myself as a naturally adventurous person, but sometimes I have to force nature. Like when Jordan surprised me with tickets to Childish Gambino's PHAROS and I had to nod and smile at a 13+ hour drive to Joshua Tree. With a 24 hour turn around. Over Labor day weekend, we were going to drive down, go to the concert, get up the next morning, drive back and not break up. It was insane. 

We did it anyway.

WOOOOOOOOORTH IT. This wasn't just a concert - Gambino really put on for an experience here. I doubt I will ever in my life stand in line for that long for another human, because this one set the bar too high. He's an incredibly talented person, and you can really feel a deep passion in all of his work. This album, and its presentation, were no exception. There's plenty of articles floating around that can give you the technical details of what went down, but honestly, I'd say you had to be there. Sorry.  (But also not, because I stood in the DUST for HOURS and WHAT HAVE YOU EVER DONE TO PROVE YOUR DEDICATION HUH?!)

We can't go back to PHAROS, but we CAN go to Portos, which I most certainly did. Of course. I also saw some dinosaurs, and almost fell off a mountain. You'll just have to watch the vlog, I guess. 

side note: I made eye contact with childish gambino,
and I'm pretty sure I've seen into the mind of a genius.

x Justina


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july playlist // drown out the fireworks

"Justina, it's the 28th. Might be time to do the monthly playlist."

 I'm sorry that it took so long but you know what

you guys sent in a LOT of suggestions,

 and I have only two ears,

 and as I now know, 

using each of those ears individually can't be pulled off.

Plus, how am I meant to know if I'm properly obsessed with a song 

unless I listen to it until I've memorized every lyric?

Exactly.

But I think this one was worth the wait.

We have my favorite AJR song, hands down, AfterHours. Their lyrics blow my mind sometimes.  Listen, dance, and understand.

KONGOS + Kalin and Myles are straight up dance jams.

Do it for the vine.

I recently got Hulu+, 

and so like any sane person,

 decided to watch 5 seasons of Community in a week.

That's how I met Troy Barnes aka Donald Glover

aka Childish Gambino when he's shopping with his mum.

It was a bit like seeing a Kardashian in Walmart: 

unexpected and brilliantly hilarious. 

I of course had to include one of my favorites off his first album Camp.

Next themesong of "Troy and Abed in the Morning"?

 

 Last but not least in any sense are my favorite blonde siblings. 

Last week, 

R5 dropped an EP, Heart Made Up On You, 

with 4 songs that will make up a big chunk of your future playlists.

"Things are Looking Up" is a sunshiney number

 that brings an American Authors vibe without being too skip-a-long.

So there you have it,

 the sounds of July. 

Now just overlay the noise of fireworks

 and people swearing when the aformentioned fireworks land on their foot, 

and you're all set.

Huzzah

xx

Justina

ps. 

as always,

 if you have suggestions for next months playlist, 

drop 'em in the comments.

 

 
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