#22 - No Stone Cold, All Diamond Dallas 🌞

Happy Sunlighter Sunday! We’ve got you on the ropes and we’re hitting you with a music suplex today, WWE-style.

Here's what we have queued up this week:

1. 🌶️ Review of Take me home (EP) by PinkPantheress.

2. 🎹 Song recs based on what we're listening to.

3. 💿 Industry updates from Childish Gambino to music award nominations.

4. 🎙️ Armani White is our artist of the week.

5. 📈 Data on the various formats of music releases.

6. 🎡 Coachella, Bonnaroo, BottleRock, Boston Calling, and a lot of tour announcements.

Chris: This week, we’re reviewing our first EP, Take me home by PinkPantheress. It’s an unsurprisingly short listen, and it probably feels even shorter with PinkPantheress’ trademarked uptempo production and mesmerizing flow. Amazingly, “Take me home” marks her longest song to date, breaking the 3-minute barrier. That means almost every song that PinkPanthress has released up to this point in her career has been perfectly optimized for the social media addict archetype. Although not all of PinkPanthress’ music is personally appealing, I can appreciate her uniqueness and tact, whether that’s intentional or not.

Donya: If you want to hear who the TikTok youths are listening to, look no further. The British singer-songwriter’s 7-minute EP is fire in the form of three songs, all with hyper-pop dance and lo-fi production. It feels futuristic and beyond catchy with its distorted sounds and hypnotizing melodies. It’s reminiscent of Doja Cat, but hot take, I think it’s better. Safe to say that if you’re a fan of Doja Cat, PinkPantheress is worth a listen.

The Sunlighter Playlist 🔀

Songs we’re currently listening to 🎹

Artist of the Week: Armani White 🎙️

Wrestling with Trials and Tribulations

At Sunlighter, we’ve covered many artists who have gone through personal hardships and life challenges before reaching fame. It’s an archetypical part of an artist’s story, with each obstacle unique and formative to that artist. Nothing seems to ring truer than the struggles faced by Armani White, and his unique approach to overcoming those obstacles.

For Armani, growing up in Philly wasn’t always easy. While his family supported his early music upbringing (both parents played horn instruments), arguments between his mother and father would create a fissure within his household. Over time, this would ultimately cause strain on Armani’s relationship with his father, even though his father became the primary impetus for helping Armani discover contemporary hip-hop artists like Eminem and Ludacris, fueling his early passion for rap.

Throughout Armani’s childhood, rap became an emotional escape, doubling as a way to escape the troubles and crime of his hood. By the fifth grade, Armani was already using his first cellphone as a microphone to record his raps. A few years later, he paid his way to record his music at a studio for the first time. But then, 2006 happened. Four of his family members fell victim to a terrible house fire. Between performing at bars and paying local studios with money he could scrape by for couple-hour sessions, he continued to run to rap as a way to cope with his trauma.

Happy Hood Music

In 2015, while Armani was enrolled at Delaware State University, he began to experience the first of a string of small victories tied to his hip-hop career. After posting his song “Stick Up” (recorded at the Batcave Studio, popularized by Meek Mill) on SoundCloud, it got picked up by Pigeons and Planes, giving him the first taste of local success. Building on his momentum, he began skipping his classes to seize every opportunity to grow in his career, from joining Big Sean and PARTYNEXTDOOR during a show at the University of Delaware to going on a short 2-day tour with Big K.R.I.T. However, in 2016, his hip-hop career took a brief hiatus as he unexpectedly lost his uncle to gun violence and his father to prostate cancer. But it was during these times, much like the traumatic experiences of his childhood, that Armani began developing his self-defined “happy hood music” sound.

In 2021, he dedicated his Things We Lost in The Fire EP to the house fires he had experienced both as a child and more recently in 2020. Through collaboration with his sound engineer, Don Groove, he continued to paint the negatives throughout his life in a positive light with his breakout song “BILLIE EILISH.” From the reminiscent notes of crime on his block to being inspired by a tweet comparing Billie Eilish’s dress style to Dem Franchize Boyz (“White Tee,” IYKYK), Armani takes a clever sample of N.O.R.E.’s “Nothin’” (and Billie Eilish’s blessing) to showcase a new, inspiring sound of Philly. Most recently, he’s taken the same beats per minute from “BILLIE EILISH” but delivered it with a (wrestling) twist as a nod to WWE star “DIAMOND DALLAS,” to celebrate his recent signing to Def Jam. It’s been a long road for Armani as an independent artist who has endured struggle at every turn. In 2023, we (and SXSW) expect him to break out and finally build his self-described “castle where everyone can see him.”

In the meantime, listen to his latest single with Denzel Curry, which dropped on Friday:

Industry Updates 💿

This week, a ton of new music and artist announcements within the industry are setting the tone for 2023 to be a massive year for music.

❗Donald Glover says Childish Gambino has new music on the way, ChatGPT writes poems about Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and WMG CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, Kelly Clarkson covers blink-182, Shakira trolls her ex-husband and breaks YouTube records, Marvel hints at more Harry Styles, Taylor Swift joins The 1975 at the O2, Twenty One Pilots teases new music, Kanye got married, and the Sony Walkman is back in hi-resolution.

🏆 Awards season is upon us: Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Lizzo lead the iHeart Radio Music Awards with the most nominations. The BRITS are on blast for leaving women off the artist of the year nominee list 🙄. This year marks the first time the Grammys will be hosted in Los Angeles since the classic STAPLES Center was renamed to Crypto.com Arena (ugh).

💿 New albums galore: Lana Del Rey, Ellie Goulding, U2, Cardi B, The Kid LAROI, Olivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams, Lonnie Holley, Logic, M83, The National, Complete Mountain Almanac, and Rebecca Black (lol) are all expected to drop new albums this year.

🕊️ The music industry mourned the losses of famous guitarist Jeff Beck (thank him for that “Superstition” riff), Lisa Marie Presley (Elvis Presley’s only child), Ray Cordeiro (the world's longest-working radio DJ, who was 98 years young), and Yukihiro Takahashi, drummer for Yellow Magic Orchestra

Here’s everything else you missed:

• 🌹 Women, Life, Freedom: Twelve Iranian women artists are releasing a compilation album on January 20 with original songs supporting the movement against the Islamic Republic.

• 🌊 Masters Revival: After a 50-year battle, American singer-songwriter and founding member of Creedence Clearwater Revival finally has ownership of the band’s full music catalog.

• 💰 Better Pay for Artists: WMG CEO Sir Lucian Grainge calls for a major change in the way streaming services pay artists. Smells like more potential Web3 opportunity to us…

• 🤝 TikTok Eyes Growth: TikTok secures a licensing deal with Rotana Music Group with plans to expand into the fast-growing Middle Eastern and North African music market.

• 💡 In Tune with Change: Tunedly, a decentralized Web3 streaming and music discovery service, plans to level the playing field between signed and unsigned music creatives with the launch of their Masked Music Discovery Platform. The first song is set to debut in February of this year.

• 👾 Stranger Things Have Happened: Finn Wolfhartt from Netflix’s Stranger Things, drops a new single under his stage name, Ziggy Katz.

• 📈 Mastercard x Web3: In a partnership with Polygon Studios, MasterCard announces the launch of a music accelerator program, targeting 5 undiscovered artists to pair with resources to help build their brand in Web3.

Data 📈

Music Formats: Since today is the first time we’ve covered an EP as part of our UV Index, we thought we’d walk you through the major differences between the various formats in which artists release music. You name it, we’ll explain it.

• 💿 Single: As the cornerstone of music streaming releases, the single should be representative of an artist’s best work. In the past, singles were popularized by the 7-inch vinyl format (smaller than the standard 12-inch vinyl), but today, they’re synonymous to individual tracks, typically less than 3:30 in length.

• 💽 Extended Play: EPs are often between 4-5 tracks with a total length typically less than 30 minutes, so more than a single and less than a standard album. They’re known to be less expensive for artists to create.

• 📀 Long Play or Standard Album: LPs were originally introduced to the music industry in form of vinyl records. However, with modern digital streaming formats, the LP has evolved into the length of a standard album.

• 📀📀 Double LP or Double Album/Compilation: The double LP or double album, which previously sold as multiple records or compact discs, used to be considered the “magnum opus” or “greatest hits” collection of an artist’s work. Think Eminem’s Curtain Call.

• 🎚️ Mixtape: Originating from the genre of hip-hop, a mixtape doesn’t really have very man rules associated to it outside of being a general collection of digital songs released by an artist freely over the internet.

• 🎧 DJ Mix: Arising from the popularization of audio mixing consoles and turntables, DJ mixes are typically a sequence of music tracks synced together as one continuous track.

• 🎛️ Remix: There are technically different categorizations of remixing but the general common thread that distinguishes a song as a “remix” is if a producer creates new work from the original stems of a track.

• 🎤 Live Album: Live albums are… you guessed it, a standard album that consists entirely of live recordings. There are plenty of examples out there. We like Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles.

• 📽️ Soundtracks: A soundtrack is a collection of music recordings featured in a motion picture film that typically features an array of different artists.

• 🎼 Musical Score: Musical scores are often the orchestral accompaniment of theatrical productions or feature films. When you hear the music, you think of the characters (think Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Jaws).

• 🥈 B-sides: “B-sides” can be considered industry jargon that describes secondary recordings, similar to cut songs or out-takes, that receive less attention than their primary recording counterparts published as singles or in an album by an artist. It derives its name from the “B-Side” of a vinyl.

Festivals & Tour Announcements 🎡

As promised, we saw a huge wave of festival announcements this week. Here are ten (count ‘em, TEN) if you’re looking for a festival this year: Coachella, Bonnaroo, BottleRock, Boston Calling, BeachLife, The Friendship, Beyond Wonderland, Escapade, Afro Nation, and NOLA Jazz & Heritage Fest.

🎡 Coachella: Prepare your influencer wardrobe and dust masks as you prepare for one of Coachella Valley’s biggest events of the year (don’t sleep on Stagecoach). Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, and Frank Ocean lead the lineup as this year’s headliners with a perfect mix of rising and up-and-coming artists throughout the weekend. Here’s the ever-so-aesthetically pleasing lineup for your review.

✋ Bonnaroo: In its 20th year, the four-day music and arts festival returns to Great Stage Park in Manchester, TN this June showcasing a hefty lineup that spans the classic rock, alternative, rap, electronic, and country genres. With one of the most comprehensive festival lineups so far this year, we’ll leave you with a few notable artists you can’t miss: Sylvan Esso, Rina Sawayama, MUNA, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Big Wild, The Band CAMINO, Remi Wolf, and Hippo Campus.

Tour Announcements 🤘

• Madonna is reportedly set to celebrate the decades of her iconic career with a 40th anniversary tour later this year.

• Eric Church is kicking off his 27-stop The Outsiders Revival tour in June, bringing along 18 special guests, including Whiskey Myers, Cody Jinks, Koe Wetzel, Lainey Wilson, Midland, Parker McCollum, Elle King, Shane Smith & The Saints, and others. Hope you’re not scared of nature or the elements - he’ll be performing only at outdoor venues.

• Life’s So Fun for MUNA as they’re kicking off their 14-date tour in April. They’ll also be making an appearance at Coachella and playing a few shows with Taylor Swift.

• Like MUNA, Gracie Abrams will be on her Good Riddance Tour throughout the spring while supporting Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour.

• Durham natives, Sylvan Esso, will be starting their No Rules Tour in Asheville, North Carolina on June 14th and ending their tour on September 10th at Red Rocks.

• Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band are going on a 2023 North American Tour across 19 dates from May to June 2023.

• Looks like Steve Aoki is taking a break from collecting NFTs and will be back on tour after announcing his HiroQuest Genesis Tour.

• Father John Misty announced his 2023 North American tour dates, which should kick off right after his UK and European tour in March.

• Andrew McMahon is leaving the wilderness and going back on tour in 2023.

• M83 will be on tour for the first time in seven years, supporting his ninth studio album Fantasy.

• Hank Williams Jr. announced his 2023 U.S. tour, spanning tour dates from May 12th to August 26th. He’ll be bringing along special guest, Old Crow Medicine Show.

• Whiskey Myers’ previously announced tour just tacked on 15 more dates.

• After a 4-night stay at Madison Square Garden to close out 2022, Vermont jam band, Phish, will be back on tour in 2023.

Wrap Up 👏

We're closing the newsletter this week honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and reminding you who runs the world.

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Happy MLK Day ⚖️

Chris and Donya