#35 - Ice Ice Frankie 🌞

Happy Sunlighter Sunday! We’ve been thinking ‘bout the Coachella drama surrounding Frank Ocean this week, and it’s… frankly disappointing. Aside from that, we're excited to launch our referral system! Check it out below: you'll get the chance to be featured in the newsletter and also win some swag.

Here's what we have queued up this week:

1. 🌶️ Review of Sremm 4 Life by Rae Sremmurd.

2. 🔀 Playlist Updates: BAYNK, Mariah the Scientist, Gryffin, and Yung Bleu

3. 💿 This Week in Music: Frank Ocean drama, AI music crackdown, The Last Dinner Party

4. 🎙️ Is TikTok Conducive to Live Music?

Donya: This album stands at the forefront of the direction where I think hip-hop is going. This past year’s Grammys featured a 50 Years of Hip-Hop Medley (that was so magnificent it’s mapped out to not just 1, not 2, but 3 videos on YouTube), and I couldn’t help but dance with joy to the nostalgic sound. Listening to this album made me feel the same—like a sweet homecoming to everything true to hip-hop. The vocals and production go hand in hand with the help of collaborators like Mike WiLL and Zaytoven.

Chris: While many speculated that Rae Sremmurd had broken up around 2019, in hindsight (and after reading Sheldon Pearce’s piece on i-D), it feels more like the two have grown up. Mike WiLL and the EarDrummers (Rae Sremmurd backwards) are back with their first LP in 5 years to remind the world that they still share a lifelong bond. Sremm 4 Life feels like a symbolic coming-of-age for Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi, while simultaneously paying homage to the late ’90s and Y2K hip-hop sound. It’s refreshing and feels very much needed in today’s hip-hop industry, which we think currently lacks diversity. From “Not So Bad (Leans Gone Cold)” a rendition of Dido’s “Thank You,” (also used by Eminem in “Stan”), to “Flaunt It/Cheap” and “Sexy,” both influenced by productions from prior decades, Sremm 4 Life is one of the better hip-hop albums this year.

The Sunlighter Playlist 🔀

You might’ve noticed that we’ve been making some changes to our playlist. Expect more to come soon 👀

This Week in Music 💿

• 🧊 Frank Getting Iced: The internet has been going crazy about Frank Ocean’s Weekend 1 set debacle, which featured an abrupt change to his planned ice skating set-up, him showing up 1-hour late for his headliner slot, and not performing with a mic for half the set. This week, he (predictably) canceled his Weekend 2 performance due to a “leg injury,” and blink-182 has been slotted to open the headliner position this Sunday, while Skrillex, Fred again… and Four Tet have been slotted to close the night.

• 🍑 Peaches: Jack Black’s satirical song (think Tenacious D) as Bowser in the recent The Super Mario Bros. Movie surprsingly went viral.

• 🃏 It’s No Joke: Megan Thee Stallion provided her final closure on the Tory Lanez shooting incident and how she dealt with being humiliated by the public.

• 💎 VVS x8: Post Malone has broken the record for most diamond-certified singles, which was previously held by Bruno Mars.

• 🎤 Last Carpool Karaoke?: James Corden, set to leave The Late Late Show for good next Thursday, recently featured BLACKPINK for his latest Carpool Karaoke.

• 🏆 Ivor Novello Awards: Not many people talk about The Ivors, but as one of the prestigious music award ceremonies for British and Irish songwriting and composing, it recognizes some of the best artists in the music industry. Harry Styles and Kid Harpoon lead the nominations this year.

• 🛖 A New Home: Anitta, who recently split from Warner Records, has found a new home with Republic Records.

• 🟢 All Things Go: See you in D.C. this September? Known for it’s female-focused lineups, this year’s All Things Go Fall Classic is headlined by Maggie Rogers, Lana Del Rey, and boygenius. The undercard is great as well.

• 🍋 Summer Smash: Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival features a great hip-hop lineup with a very special Chicago guest (our guess is Chance the Rapper).

• 🕊️ Our Condolences: This past week, we pass along our condolences to Otis Redding III who lost his battle with cancer, influential jazz pianist, Ahmad Jamal, and 25-year-old Moonbin, member of K-Pop band ASTRO.

• ❤️ heart on my sleeve: While the AI-generated vocals of Drake and The Weeknd found viral success on the song, “heart on my sleeve,” Universal Music Group hasn’t been too happy about it and is enforcing a crackdown. The viral song has been removed from all streaming platforms.

• 🤝 The Old and the New: BMG recently announced that they would integrate their new releases division with their catalog division, becoming the first company in the music industry to do so. It seems that a turn to nostalgia and music streaming has homogenized listener tastes, though BMG notes that older catalogs still make up 75% of their revenue.

• 👏 Swiftie Due Diligence: It seems that Taylor Swift stands alone in avoiding any lawsuits tied to FTX endorsements or partnerships because she asked about unregistered securities.

• 📉 Star Museum or Stock Manipulation?: The Succession-style war of attrition between HYBE and SM Entertainment is reaching a boiling point as Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service recently raided the offices of SM Entertainment due to allegations of stock price manipulation.

• ✂️ Fair Layoff for Every Play: Embattled music fintech company Utopia Music is cutting another 15% of its workforce as it continues to make strategic shifts in the current macro environment.

• ⏰ Breaking Curfew: Goldenvoice was fined $117,000 for breaking the 1:00 AM PST curfew set by Indio on Friday and Saturday by 25 minutes and 22 minutes respectively. Five minutes past curfew resulted in $20,000 + $1,000 per minute over 5 minutes.

• 📺 ROXi: Watch out Vevo! ROXi, a music video app (video, karaoke, and music games) designed for smart TVs raised $8.7 million as it looks to expand from the UK to the US.

• 💯 NME 100: We know it’s late, but in the spirit of artist discovery, here’s a list by NME of the top 100 emerging new artists for this year.

• 🎹 Tiny Desk again…: A couple of weeks ago, one of our favorite artists at Sunlighter, Fred again…, performed as part of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. It’s a surprisingly breathtaking performance.

• 🍽️ Dinner is Served: The Last Dinner Party, a five-piece all-female band who have built hype around their music without releasing a single song, finally released their first single. They’re on tour this year with Florence + The Machine.

• 👀 199-Surprise: Mac Demarco drops a surprise album with 199 songs. Yes. 199.

• 💿💿💿 Mini-album 3: aespa announced their third mini-album, which follows up their mini-albums Savage in 2021 and Girls in 2022.

• 🎤 MICHAEL: Killer Mike dropped “Don’t Let the Devil” to celebrate his 48th birthday as anticipation builds for his first solo album in 11 years this June.

• 🖤 True Love: Christine and the Queens and 070 Shake are back with another collaboration.

• 💽 Other New Albums: Foo Fighters debuted their first song since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins and announced an upcoming album. Rita Ora announced her third studio album alongside new song, “Praising You,” featuring Fatboy Slim. Ben Howard announced his fifth full-length LP. Staind is expected to release their first album in 12 years later this year. Rancid announced that they will be releasing their first album in 6 years in June.

Is TikTok Conducive to Live Music? 🎙️

Donya here! Today’s main feature explores a question that has been top of mind for me since SXSW.

Music discovery through videos has seen a wild evolution since the early 2000s. YouTube helped usher us in when… Usher and Scooter Braun discovered Justin Bieber on the platform. In the 2010s, Shawn Mendes popped off on everyone’s favorite throwback short-form video platform, Vine. Then finally came TikTok, which opened up the floodgates and allowed everyone to make their voices heard at a time when people were craving human interaction. The viral app has become an addiction, consuming so many lives that its privacy issues have led it to become one of the world’s hottest topics. On one hand, I love the opportunity that TikTok has given to talented artists and musicians who may not have the connections or the resources to get in front of influencers in the music industry. It’s given users a new way to discover music–now starting to play among the industry titans like Shazam and Spotify’s Discover Weekly. On the other hand, consumers seem to have lost sense of what is considered truly good musicianship versus a viral moment. It’s why you’re hearing the same songs on the radio that you hear on TikTok. The worlds of the music industry and TikTok are intertwining, which lends itself to the bigger question—are TikTok artists conducive to live music? Do they have the ability to maximize their fandom and foster strong careers, or are they merely living for the moment? While we’re still in the early days of seeing live performances from TikTok artists, we’ll continue to expand on this topic as we start to see more.

Sadly, PinkPantheress, an artist who has gotten mainstream attention since early 2022 (most recently with the viral hit, “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2” with Ice Spice) provoked this question with her SXSW performance. There was nothing more disappointing than waiting over an hour just to see PinkPantheress lip-sync most of her set onstage. I looked around at the crowd, and no one seemed engaged in the performance—people were having full-on conversations as if the performance was simply on in the background. It felt like TikTok was just an opportunity to build a half-hearted connection with fans, and the live performance was a checklist item executed with no planning or intention. With more TikTok artists on the rise, the primary element of electronic production means we’re seeing more auto-tune microphones on stage, leading to less authentic vocal performances. When all artists need to do is press play to emit the ~vibe~ they’re going for, it makes it harder for fans to assess an artist’s true potential.

The downgrade of live performances isn’t just about the artists–fans play a critical role, too. We’re seeing TikTok change consumer behavior: fans only sing along to the 30 seconds of the song they've heard on the app, watch the performance through the lens of their phones, or go to a show for the social capital of just being there. TikTok has pushed the music industry to redefine what it means to be a traditional artist and what the relationship with the fans should look like.

It’s unfair to make the generalization that all TikTok artists give that same level of effort throughout their live performances. We went to the source and attended TikTok’s SoundOn showcase, which featured a number of exceptionally talented artists: Nicky Youre, venbee, and Justine Skye–who have each had at least one song go viral on TikTok’s platform. They showcased their musicianship and stage presence incredibly well. JVKE, another artist who rose to fame through TikTok (one we love and recently covered), performed at the BOSE x NME showcase, and he masterfully planned every second of a storyline with his setlist. TikTok artists still have the ability to captivate their concertgoers, and live beyond their “moment,” but if they want to sustain that success, we believe there’s a level of commitment to the live performances that needs to exist.

Wrap Up 👏

We're closing the newsletter this week with a song about our branding colors from the primary protagonist in Godspeed and the primary antagonist from this past weekend.

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

See ya next Sunday 😎

Chris and Donya