Mic Drop: Just a Couple of Juxtaposed Jingles

Oxymorons, where would we be without them? They are a true staple in our vernacular—how else would someone know they had no idea what was going on if we didn’t tell them they were “clearly confused.” Or that the whole “yeah, no” means “no” and “no, yeah” means “yeah.” You know what I mean, yeah?

Regardless, it’s always fun to listen to music that has two totally different things happening at the same time (think SZA’s dancing in the “Good Days” video). An artist could be singing about a lost love but if the beat is going hard, I’ll most likely keep dancing—and vice-versa. Even if the lyrics are joyous, I might be more inclined to just sway in my seat if the instrumentals are more melancholy.

This week, we’ve got a few juxtaposing jingles among our weekly releases. Amber Mark’s “Worth It” depicts a very blue aura in the music video, but the song focuses on harnessing self-worth and love. In contrast, in Zsela’s remixed version of “Drinking”, the beat and overall vibe of the instrumentals is house beat-esque but speaks on love, loss and addiction.Then, in sharp contrast those, Flying Lotus and Thundercat give us an anime teaser extraordinaire with “Black Gold,” a track from the upcoming Netflix series Yasuke.

But quite possibly the most out-of-the-box track this week is from the one and only king of 4/20, Snoop D-O-Double-G, who released his new track “Look Around (feat. J Black)” on the holiday. There’s a lot going on there that I can’t even begin to unpack. Maybe you can put me on—so let’s get into it.