#20 - Big desk energy 🌞

Happy New Year! It’s the first Sunlighter Sunday and we’ve got resolutions. Stormzy told us that Sunday would be the new Saturday, so we’re bringing that energy to 2023. As a matter of fact, we’re bringing that Big Desk Energy to 2023. What’s that? Keep scrolling to find out.

Here's what we have queued up this week:

1. 🌶️ Review of Let Yourself Free by Fitz and the Tantrums.

2. 🖥️ Big Desk Energy curated by Tyler Denk.

3. 💿 Industry updates, including a record week for songwriters and vinyls.

4. 🎙️ Oxlade is our artist of the week.

5. 📈 Data on the impact of Epidemic Sound.

6. 🎡 Hangout Fest and tour announcements for several throwback rock bands.

Donya: You cannot make my hands clap for this one, Fitz and The Tantrums. The band’s latest album, Let Yourself Free is an underwhelming follow-up to their two one-hit wonders, “HandClap” and “Don’t Ever Let ‘Em.” They try and fail to recreate their commercial single success in album form; you hear them going for their third with “Moneymaker,” carrying a similar rhythm, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. The only flow of songs that made sense on this album was “Big Love” through “Someday.” Otherwise, the album feels like a forced return that goes nowhere fast.

Chris: Let’s be honest, for Fitz and The Tantrums, Let Yourself Free is a far cry from More Than Just a Dream. Although characteristically dance-inducing and carefree, their traditional keyboard-led indie pop sound is starting to evolve into an upbeat KIDZ BOP version of Maroon 5 that’s 10 years too late. Why does “Let Yourself Free” borrow so many elements? I could make the case that it mashes up the soundtrack of Smash Mouth’s “I’m a Believer” and Avicii’s hook in “You Make Me.” Let Yourself Free gets points for invoking some nostalgia and lyrical catchiness but edges towards irrelevant pop due to its dissolving identity.

Big Desk Energy 🖥️

Resolution #1: This week we have a special playlist for you that’s proven to increase productivity. Curated by the CEO of Beehiiv, Tyler Denk (who also led growth at Morning Brew), we’re here to co-sign his lo-fi, chillwave electronic setlist. Flip it on and experience the results for yourself. If you’re on the basketball court, your +/- just went through the roof. If you’re coding, you just became your own GitHub Copilot. If you’re just a paperboy or papergirl on your normal newspaper route, you're hitting the porch 10/10 times. No matter where your desk is, the energy is here.

Songs to kick off the new year 🎇

Artist of the Week: Oxlade 🎙️

Resolution #2: Listen to more Afrobeats, a primer.

Within the last year, afrobeats has gotten exponential exposure from stalwart Nigerian artists Wizkid and Burna Boy, which seems to foreshadow the beginning of a reggaeton-like craze (ask Bad Bunny and J Balvin). From humble West African roots that draw from traditional Nigerian afrobeat (afrobeat is categorically different from afrobeats - the “s” matters!) and Ghanaian highlife genres, afrobeats has had quite the journey since its Nigerian godfather and renowned political activist, Fela Kuti, initially popularized the eccentric and unmistakable multi-genre fusion of afrobeat, highlife, reggae, Caribbean dancehall, hip-hop, jazz, and funk. Symbolically, it’s a collective African manifest destiny resulting from the West African diaspora and Pan-Africanism movement, which has pushed music boundaries and interwoven African culture abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. The influence and mainstream adoption of Afrobeats is a beautiful byproduct of collective Black consciousness over the past half-century, and its time is now.

The Master and the Protégé

Chances are, you’ve heard contributions of Afrobeats artists in songs like Drake’s “One Dance” or Blue Ivy and Beyoncé’s “BROWN SKIN GIRL” (Wizkid shines on both tracks). If these songs are a sign that afrobeats is starting to reach critical mass, then which up-and-coming artists should we expect the music industry to support next? Enter Oxlade.

Hailing from the city of Lagos, Oxlade experienced an early life and career that has oddly mirrored his idol, Wizkid. As youth, both artists were born into impoverished families (Wizkid unabashedly describes Nigeria as “one big ghetto”) and geographically, they grew up not far from each other, residing in the same neighborhood of Surulere. Both found themselves spiritually and musically motivated by their families’ religious interests: Oxlade, a self-proclaimed “church boy,” spent many years fine-tuning his voice through his church’s choir, while Wizkid, who grew up in an interfaith household, attended his father’s mosque while also singing at his mother’s church. As the artists got older, they both eventually dropped out of Lagos State University before focusing on their respective music careers full-time. In prophetic fashion, both would eventually receive coveted co-signs from Drake (who shows his affinity for afrobeats and dancehall on tracks like“Passionfruit,” “Madiba Riddim,” or “Blem” on More Life).

A Rising Tide Lifts All Lagos Boats

As Oxlade’s music career has developed over the last couple of years, particularly with this past summer’s international chart-topping viral hit “KU LO SA,” it’s become increasingly clear that his relationship with Wizkid has played a direct role in both his success and the global afrobeats movement. To Oxlade, he views “Big Wiz” as not only a big brother, but also “the blueprint and prototype” for Nigerian afrobeats artists. In September, Wizkid brought out Oxlade as his surprise guest at his sold-out show of 21,000+ attendees in Paris.

At Sunlighter, we predict that the global afrobeats movement will pick up where it left off in 2022. Oxlade will be an upcoming, central figure in its growing popularity as he expands the sound of the genre, paving a distinct, stylistic lane influenced by artists such as Chris Brown, Enya, Lauryn Hill, and Jon Bellion. He was recently featured on Stormzy’s “Hide and Seek,” released a collaborative version of “KU LO SA” with Camila Cabello, and is expected to drop his first LP within the next few months. In the meantime, give a listen to his 2020 EP OXYGENE (“O2” and “TABLES TURN” are standouts, “AWAY” is a Drake favorite) and check out his most recent claim to fame:

Industry Updates 💿

🎆 New year, new Miley, and new music updates. Let’s get into it.

✍️The Copyright Royalty Board approved a settlement for songwriters to get paid 15.35% for streaming royalties over a five-year period, starting today. This is the highest rate in the history of streaming.

🕊️ The Foo Fighters shared a heartfelt statement about their future. The music industry mourns the losses of Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green, member of iconic girl group The Pointer Sisters, Anita Pointer, and legend of Philadelphia soul, Thom Bell.

💰 The US reported 2.2 million vinyl records sold during the week ending December 22, marking the highest sales week for the medium in 30 years. The Weeknd teased a new music video to celebrate one year of Dawn FM, LCD Soundsystem’s first song in five years is featured on Netflix’s White Noise 📺, and Lil Wayne became a pro-skateboarder 🛹 

The Strokes and Greta Van Fleet also announced new albums, which are set to release this year.

Here’s everything else you missed:

• ⛽ Bass and Gas Pumping: After donating more than 25,000 gifts through the Good Bunny Foundation and filming his music video for “La Jumpa,” Bad Bunny surprised his home country with a surprise performance on the roof of a Gulf gas station.

• 🎡 Woodstock of the Middle East: After its third year, SoundStorm Music Festival in Saudi Arabia has become the largest in the world with over 800,000 attendees, and it’s leading the way for Middle Eastern women to find opportunity in the music business.

• 🫀 Deep Fake Part 5: Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy award-nominated music video for “The Heart Part 5” almost included Eminem, although he didn’t make the final cut. The video included deep fake technology, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to transform his likeness to 5 different people (Kobe Bryant, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, Will Smith, and OJ Simpson) throughout a one-shot take of him performing the song.

• 🎥 Måneskin Movie: As a New Years gift to fans, Grammy Best New Artist nominee Måneskin shares a glimpse into a day in the life on their North American tour in Everything This Way, a 36-minute YouTube short film.

• 📼 The Unmasked Singers: Daft Punk uploaded a video of themselves performing unmasked at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles in 1997.

• 🎧 Be Your Own DJ: TIDAL recently launched a new feature called “DJ,” allowing friends and followers to listen to the mix in real time.

• 🤝 EDM Fans Listen Up: ILLENIUM has partnered with Medallion, a Web3 music company, to create a blockchain-powered decentralized fan community where he plans to share exclusive updates first.

Data 📈

Soundtrack to the Creator Economy: Epidemic Sound is a Stockholm-based music licensing company that provides unlimited royalty-free music to content creators in exchange for a membership subscription.

🎧 A few weeks ago, Epidemic Sound released their Sound of the Internet 2022 report, which highlighted user-generated content trends among creators–surprisingly, it included the rise of classical music (a top genre on one of our Spotify Wrapped reports this year, we’ll let you guess who 😉).

📈 The company saw significant creator adoption of their platform this year, having their songs featured in 14 million YouTube videos, 1.5 billion streams per day on YouTube, and 11.5 billion times per month on TikTok.

Resolution #3: If you're vision boarding during the first few days of the New Year, pick your mood and check out Epidemic Sound’s most popular mood playlist selections: happy, hopeful, dreamy, laid-back, and epic.

Festivals & Tour Announcements 🎡

🤙 Hangout Music Fest 2023: The annual music festival is returning to the beaches of Gulf Shores next May with a (very) EDM-friendly lineup. Bring your swimsuit, hammock, roller skates, and even your wedding party for another year of Hangout.

Tour Announcements 🤘

• Cascada announced their first tour in 10 years, with dates so far confirmed in Houston, San Diego, and New York City.

• A true “two birds with one stone” moment, Ben Gibbard will be on tour next year celebrating the 20th anniversary of two different albums, one from Death Cab for Cutie and another by The Postal Service. This is a co-headlining tour worth going to.

• jxdn will be kicking off his I Hope This Never Ends Tour this February.

• Underoath announced their Blind Obedience Tour, which kicks off on March 3rd.

• Post-grunge, karaoke-classic hit-makers, Third Eye Blind, will be back on tour next year, playing 27 shows across North America starting March 3rd.

• Bush, another post-grunge favorite, will also be on a North American tour starting March 2023.

• The Goo Goo Dolls will be kicking off The Big Night Out Tour with special guests, O.A.R., this coming July.

• It’s not exactly the Best Day of My Life…American Authors announced the Best Night Of My Life Tour, which kicks off this February.

• Papa Roach and Falling In Reverse are extending their current Rockzilla Tour into 2023, adding special guests Hollywood Undead and Escape the Fate. If you missed your “scene” phase, here’s your chance to live it.

• Canadian post-hardcore band, Silverstein, is back on tour for the third time in 3 years, this time in support of their most recent album, Misery Made Me.

Wrap Up 👏

We're closing the newsletter this week with our final resolution, leave the haters in 2022.

Lyrical Genius ✍️

Sharing is Caring

If you know any music fans or friends who would appreciate something like this, forward them this email and they can use the button below to subscribe.

Check out our other articles and give us a follow on Twitter!

See ya next Sunday 😎

Chris and Donya