Infinite Shuffle #9: Naughty Number Nine

Now the first thing to keep in mind... When you're multiplying by nine Is that it's one less than ten

October 17, 2020

NUMBER NINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Hello Shufflers! Welcome to newsletter number 9! The video above is a SchoolHouse Rock song. It’s not on the playlist…

Never mind I just found it on Spotify…

It’s on the playlist. I’m not apologizing.

NOW THAT THE NORMAL PEOPLE ARE GONE LET’S GET INTO OUR ARTISTS OF THE WEEK!

ARTISTS OF THE WEEK: Sam Tompkins & Ren

So I’m kind of cheating here. This isn’t a group. These are two separate artists. Ren is a member of the Brighton based band called “The Big Push”, while Sam Tompkins is an artist that has been featured in this newsletter before. On Spotify, they have one official song together called Blind Eyed.

So why are they the artists of the week? Because their live performances together are ELITE.

Tompkins and Ren can SING bruh. The power behind each of their voices is truly something to behold. Since they don’t have a project together, I made a playlist of all the live performances that I could find. They are both incredible in their own right and together they are something truly special. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have this past week.

NOW LET’S GET TO OUR SONGS OF THE WEEK

Half Alive - still feel

I came across this jam at 3 AM because why not. Everything about this song is captivating. The odd but somehow hypnotic dance moves, the camera work, the ambiance, the singing. I STILL FEEL ALIVEEEEEEEEE. This song is 4 minutes, but it feels more like two with how much you enjoy yourself and keep replaying it.

Daði og Gagnamagnið - Think about things

Daði Freyr is an Icelandic artist who was slated to represent Iceland in Eurovision 2020. Now I’m no EUROVISION expert, but I think that this song would have gone far in the competition. Freyr and his band Gagnamagnið stand out with their unique instruments and fun simple dance moves.

I love how he harmonizes perfectly with his background singers. When EUROVISION happens again I hope they’ll be able to enter this song and take home the W.

Rapsody feat. Anderson .Paak - OooWee

Look. I don’t care how famous Anderson.Paak gets, he’s still underrated. I’ve heard that a .Paak concert is a once in a lifetime experience so I can’t wait to attend one in 2023. Rapsody is also incredibly underrated as she’s been giving us consistently good projects for over a decade now.

From her work with legend 9th Wonder to now, it’s all special.

Lil Nas X - Kick It

I know we spammed the shit out of “Old Town Road”, “Panini” and “Rodeo”, but I liked “Kick It” and feel like we should give the credit that it is due. “7 EP” is a pretty fun project all around and I cannot wait for us to get back to a simpler time of us memeing the absolute shit out of Lil Nas X music. Can you believe the Rodeo remix with Nas was THIS YEAR?! Crazy.

Mick Jenkins feat. The Mind - Shipwrecked

Mick Jenkins’ 2014 project “The Water(s)” was highly anticipated after his song “Martyrs” came out in 2013. Shipwrecked was the beautiful intro that helped shaped the whole album into the experience it was. The intro singing from The Mind combined with the beat switch makes this a solid intro to start off a great project.

When did beat switches in album intros become standard? That’s something worth looking into. Someone should do something about that.

Sample of the week: The S.O.S. Band - No One's Gonna Love You

You might recognize this song’s intro from one of the most recognizable songs of 2011. Listen closely because it’s quick.

Vibe out to the song too because it’s a BOP, but we’re here for the first part of the song.

Have your guess?

Good. Ty Beats turned this into one of the most iconic songs of 2011.

The production that A$AP Rocky uses involves some of the most unique samples ever in my opinion. We can’t possibly get to all of them but they’ve come from a ton of different genres and inspirations. Rocky is one of those people whose style can vary with his dynamic ear for beats and it’s been like that for damn near a decade now.

THAT’S ALL SHUFFLERS. IF YOU LIKE THIS NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBE. With every subscription my power levels increase. That’s all. Love you.