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An Interview with Ribbon Stage's Jolie M-A

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Fall is here and I'm really dressing. Shorts and long sleeves baby. The combination of the gods. What are you wearing this fall? After splurging on an 18 East oxford the other day (if you call the store you can buy from the warehouse; they aren't online yet), I'm officially buying exactly zero shit this season. I have all the lightweight outerwear I need, and some Kiko Asics I mostly kept on ice since last xmas. I'm good. 

I think if there is any trend I am into this season, it's prep. Not that it represents a drastically different way for me to dress, but I will say that currently I have the capability and desire to wear a collared shirt every day of the week, which is fairly preppy to me. The oxford I recently bought was a double: I bought it in black and I have another identical one in pink. The rest of my rotation is a third oxford, two rugbies, and two Monitaly "Batman" shirts ([this size small on grailed is a steal at $64](https://www.grailed.com/listings/39848281-monitaly-monitaly-brown-batman-shirt-small?g_aidx=Listing_production&g_aqid=aff0495fc4dffe9898e9ec6ae1664c53)). They all look good with shorts and also with my colder weather rotation of baggy long pants. 

It's funny, we were upstate the other weekend with a serious New York City Fashion Family, and at one point I noticed all of us were wearing collared shirts. Like, button downs. And none of us just "happened" to be dressing that way,  either: we were all super psyched on our collared shirts. They're indicative of one of the key touchpoints in menswear and womenswear right now, a shared prep moment. And I'm pro that, especially financially, because the prep wardrobe is something that looks good beat to shit and can be bought relatively cheaply on eBay. 

I did have to laugh, though, when I noticed all us discerning "individuals" wearing the same stuff. A lot of times clothes are marketed to us to enhance our "personal styles," as if we are all way out on some specific limb, headed into undiscovered territory, figuring ourselves out. We internalize that myth to degrees. Then one day you look around and your whole friend group is wearing the same thing and you have to laugh at the conformity. 

It's nothing new, of course, dressing like your cohort. Style tribes persist because style is social, and the personal style concept is mostly fake. We are generally choosing what to wear from what's already available in the marketplace, or choosing based on how we perceive that marketplace (which we might not be able to really participate in bc we are broke). And the marketplace is the domain of product marketing, where certain items are hammered into the front of our vision and we are tricked into desiring them. 

If I can interrogate my own taste in clothes for a microsecond, I think it somewhat involves dressing in drag as "normal man" in order to protect against some kind of gender anxiety. Also sort of leaning into my big and hairy body, in a way that works with what I already look like. Additionally I admit I dress a lot like my mom, a primary influence on my life, who basically has two clothes modes: Polo down, and wizard in flowing robes. Both of which appeal to me immensely. 

Anyway that's what's going on in Finals land fashion wise this season. It's on my mind because as I type this it's not just the beginning of the season when I really start dressing (or at least I think I do), it's also the beginning of fashion week, a time of year I have a seriously mixed relationship with as a fan and a critic. I'm very ambivalent about it. I over think it. Sometimes I write about it. This year I'm not.  

ANYWAY. Music. 

Fall wise, this is what I'm on. I edit this playlist weekly: 

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Fall is also a fine time to listen to guitar music, which I have been keeping a close-ish eye on this year: 

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Additionally if you need more music to listen to, I have been building this since January (it includes some late December jams): 

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And this:

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And that's it. Sound off the in the comments, like & subscribe, peace & fucking.


Fall Fit Check & Playlists

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Now is the perfect time to get hip to kimdollars1, a club-adjacent producer you may have already encountered through her collabs with [Finals fav Tomu DJ](https://www.finals.blog/posts/HALF-MOON-BAE:-A-CONVERSATION-WITH-TOMU-DJ), her own [electronic, ambient, and hip-hop inspired recordings](https://kimdollars1.bandcamp.com/), or her [live band improv jams](https://ganitz.bandcamp.com/). 

Her new, short solo project 3733775 (out today) is an 'allow me to reintroduce myself' moment, where Kim is actively trying to connect with more listeners. On the phone from her new home in Austin, Texas, the former Manhattanite says she's been "focused on conventional electronic music structure lately, trying to make my music more accessible." 

3733775 is, as I like to think of it, one for the DJs. Made from sturdy Ableton beats and emotive KORG Triton piano lines, it holds up on repeat listens, too, with a unique sound that is at once housey, jazzy, and IDMish. Kim told me she was inspired by the broad umbrellas of house music and rap music, and specifically the moody wistfulness of mixtape era French Montana and Queens drill rapper Big Yaya. 

Finals loves a first, and this is Kim's first interview of her whole damn life. It has been edited for content and clarity. 

–  

**We met at [Young World 3](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/mike-young-world-festival-noname-mavi/), where we were both pretty hyped to see Jay Critch. What did you think of his set?**

I thought it was super cool. One of my main goals was to see if I was taller than him, I always heard that he was really tall. From where I was standing though I could see the top of his head, so I think I’m taller. I think it would have been cool to hear some other throwbacks, although he did play “Smutty,” and “Did It Again,” but it was really cool to see. It was a cool hometown hero moment. Whenever I’m in New York I hear people listening to his music in the street.

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**I loved it, but I must admit I was bummed that he was going over his recorded vocals.** 

Totally. 

**But it was just cool to see him, I’m such a fan.** 

It was inspiring, and such a full circle moment. He’s someone where…OK the Rich Forever thing was such an era, but it’s interesting to think about what other spaces he would have been in if that never happened. That was a time when there was a big underground rap scene in New York. I think Rich Forever set him apart and made him less immersed in what was going on. So seeing him at Young World get to be a part of that was really cool. You know his producer Laron was DJing for him that day, and he’s made music with MIKE, so it made sense in that way. He always seemed like he was caught between worlds. If Jay Critch had never been signed to Rich Forever, would there be these really cool Jay Critch and MIKE records? 

**I like that speculation. So are you not a New Yorker anymore? Where am I reaching you?**

I am, but I moved to Texas last summer. My partner is a farmer and they got a job down here last spring, and I was working in education at the time, so I moved to Texas last summer. It’s been chill, I would say. I’m in Austin, and it’s cool. Right now it’s been hot, and summer vibes in Texas are that everyone does what they need to do and then goes swimming afterwards. Austin is super lush, ton of green space, and that’s cool. I have friends here from NY, some people I know through music, and I work as a waitress in downtown Austin which is very different socially from working as an educator but very fun, for sure. Kind of a mixed bag. Past few months I’ve been feeling more so certainty, confirmation that the move was a good decision. People here are really nice. It’s a big change of pace from New York but I was looking for that, and it’s really cool to be here, on a different tip.  

**I’m glad it’s clicking.** 

I love being in NY when I visit. But having some time, and reflecting more on what’s really inspiring to me, and what my influences are, this is helping me see it in a clearer way. Versus being inundated by the trendy stuff in NY. 

**It sounds like you put it on the line for love.** 

I try to put it on the line for love everyday. 

**I want to talk about 3733775, your EP. Where do the numbers come from?**

Yeah! The numbers are significant to me, past addresses and phone numbers. My projects, I view as being emblematic of different periods of my life. This was my way of grounding the project in a new place, in the past nine months or year or so. A second chance, sort of. It was a way for me to describe the project and where I am right now and how it connects to other points in my life. The numbers are impersonal but very characteristic of how meaning often works in life, in music, or writing, or physical space, something might have a lot of context but if someone else doesn’t have that context it might not be decipherable. But they’ll make it meaningful to themselves. Not immediately identifiable, but you’ll develop your own personal associations. 

**You’ve got a bunch of projects, do you feel like it stands out?**

I feel like it does. In NY, that was me responding to influences and figuring out my sound. With this project my two goals were to make something that was more sonically cohesive, and approach it in a professional way. I’m trying to put it on streaming and stuff. I was trying to hone in on where I see my sound coming from, and how to present that using a downtempo, housey sound. I think it stands out as more cohesive and I’m just confident about it. 

**I hear it rooted in house, and I hear jazz and IDM melodically and in terms of arrangement. Are those influences?**

I am not a jazz pianist, I’m an amateur piano player but I love jazz piano. My primary influences would be jazz pianists like Patrice Rushen, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, his improv videos…I had a friend growing up whose mom was a piano teacher, and his mom was Taiwanese and my mom is Korean so they were friends on like a “Asian mom” tip, and she would come through and teach me piano lessons once a week. So I learned scales, stuff like that, but never super rigorous. I admire classically trained musicians but I have enough proficiency in baseline music theory. My dad played guitar, so I got some experience with stringed instruments. The whole jazz improv paradigm is something I’m inspired by but dont have those skills. Although I am always trying to get better. IDM, I’m not super familiar with outside classic stuff like Aphex Twin, Warp stuff, but jazz has been a huge influence on me. 

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**Maybe you’re not jazz, but jazzy?**

Totally. 

**What about the role of improv on the project. Are any of the melodies improvised?**

My process is that I do play out all the melodies, they aren’t just written in the DAW. The project was almost 100% composed in Ableton. But there are some piano lines off the keyboard. I build tracks in Ableton, and I have a KORG Triton, an 88-key, fully weighted keyboard. I might sit at my piano and see what comes to me, play for a half hour, and hour, longer. For the most part I just go into Ableton and see what comes out. 

**I hear those melody, keyboard lines like Future’s DS2 album cover. Ink being dropped into water.** 

Word?

**I imagine the melody unfurling, noodling around while the drum programming remains more sturdy.** 

That is the way that I record to a certain extent. And I’ll keep imperfections if it works in the context of the sound. 

**Your music goes between genres fluidly, incorporates a lot. Do you feel like you need a genre? Or a brand?**

I don’t think I feel much external pressure to do so. Reflecting on where the sound comes from, I’ve come to a better understanding of what I’m trying to express through my music. My music has a lot of different genres, but my music is interested in melody, texture, rhythms that come from house music and hip-hop. I view house music as an umbrella term. Shorthand that implies a lot of other influences. Sonically I’m feeling more singular recently. 

**What do you think about your future with non electronic music? Still interested in jamming?**

Yeah after this project I want to revisit ambient. I’ve been thinking about a mixtape series. I’ve been having more regular practice with being at the piano. In NY, I picked up the guitar and had a lot of fun, and have been thinking about buying one. I like live instrumentation. I’m always trying to be a better piano player, and having opportunities to do so with friends is cool. I’ve been more focused on conventional electronic music structure lately, trying to make my music more accessible. But now I’m gonna zoom out again, and let myself go down that path. 

**What did you mean when you said you wanted the project to be “professional”?**

I wanted to release an electronic project with a more conventional structure versus freeform, so I wanted to present it in a professional way. I want to get it out through official streaming, but I also want to release things casually. My main goal with music is just to keep working on it and make things that I’m proud of. The professionalism thing is finding things for others to relate to, and about accessibility more than anything else. 

**Did something about your upbringing contribute to this attitude about music, where you’re not really trying to make money off it?**

I think so. I grew up on the Upper West Side, and on the one hand, it was very inspiring, exposed me to cool music and cultural stuff. As did the internet. At the same time, there was also this music scene and kids making music when I was in high school who were classically trained, Jazz at Lincoln Center for Youth, and I’ve always been interested and passionate but that was more like outside my life. I never viewed myself as a capital M musician, like the people who go to LaGuardia High School. And seeing all the weird NY scene stuff, put me off pursuing music as a career. I’ve been trying to grapple with that, maybe insecurity that I have, maybe impostor syndrome. And seeing how it informs my music, and also not get too attached to it. I’ve tried to keep music as something I’m passionate about, and not my livelihood. But at the same time, I’m recognizing that I have the power to present my music in a way that people can easily get into. Growing up in NY, I’ve seen so many paths I don’t want to go down. 

**Like what?**

Doing the whole, and no shade, but the whole Brooklyn DJ thing. I mean I’ve been trying to learn to DJ lately, trying to expand my craft. But the whole scene stuff. I’ve always been wary of that. I was never going to try to participate, I had my own life, and own friends, and was doing me. I was never upset about it, but I never identified with it. People can feel very opportunistic in NY, but so does so much in NY, so I don’t think it’s a music problem specifically. Hence why having some space has been good. 

**I’m not anti- the hipster axis of music in Bushwick, but I also have my stuff already, my people, my family, and I’m not trying to be a factor in a scene.** 

Exactly.

**I’m curious to hear about your high school listening life. And early, formative, living in NY musical experiences.** 

When I was forming my identity around music, in middle school, I was getting into the new indie stuff, DFA stuff, LCD Soundsystem was a big influence for me. This Is Happening came out when I was going into 8th grade. Growing up my dad listened to De La Soul and Beastie Boys and put me onto that. In high school, I was still into indie rock, but also rap, Chief Keef, Dipset, Cam is my favorite rapper. There was a whole like, Mishka scene, Das Racist, that world was inspiring to me. Le1f was really inspiring to me, they grew up in Hell’s Kitchen. They have a lyric on their album Dark York “I’m from West Manhattan / where it’s always happenin.” Looking back it’s like, Oh, that was a Wesleyan/Oberlin postcollegiate music scene. It’s identifiable. But that music scene, for the first few years of high school, was something I was into for sure. Later into high school I was super into Young Thug, Future, Migos, Peewee Longway, Gucci Mane. I thought Young Thug was the most innovative rapper ever. And was also getting into like Prince, Chaka Khan, so it was diverse. But I was really into rap. New York and Atlanta. There was certain NY stuff I never got into, because it was too serious, like real hip-hop. I was like, that’s cool, but I’m listening to Future. And those real hip-hop people would be like, Future is trash. They were trying to get me into like, Nas, and Immortal Technique. Serious rap. My taste was never super aligned with that. I’m not even being a hater, some of that stuff is cool, too. But the Real. Capital R. That was never really my thing. People would be like, We can’t even understand what Young Thug is saying. I would be like, Well, it speaks to me. But I always say Cam is my favorite rapper because his thing is about being really flamboyant, and kind of being a bitch, and just being from Manhattan. That ostentatiousness stood out to me. 

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**And when did you start making music?**

I started making music when I started realizing I was trans. I had a friend with an Ableton crack, and that was really cool to me. I thought if I could learn how to use Ableton, that would make the whole trans thing more discernible or decipherable to people somehow. I came out as trans five years ago, and I’m 25 now. 

**Do you think in some sense you’ve been trying to convey who you are through your music?**

I think so. When I was first coming out, and how that can be vulnerable and scary part of anyone’s life, I thought it would make sense that, Oh, you also make music, so it makes sense that you’re, like, eccentric. I think because of that I always viewed music as a way to figure out my relationship to influences, and communicate elements of my own life. 

**So in a way when we’re listening to your music, we’re hearing you do a little introspection.** 

Definitely. And even though it’s my music, I don’t think it sounds a lot like Juelz Santana or anything. But I’ve been seeing press about hip-house lately, and I think that’s really cool, and I think I view house music and rap and electronic music as more coextensive or mirror images of each other. I used to make beats, moreso. And I’m not a vocalist. But I’ve been trying to let in more of the rap music I was listening to growing up, if not the sonics, then the mood. I’m a huge French Montana fan, so maybe the emotional tenor of that stuff I want to come through. And even the Dipset stuff, it’s very classic New York get money get fly stuff, but also the pain and cruelty of New York City and just trying to make it in this world. I similarly try to have an element in my music that’s celebratory and also reflective, or true to what we endured along the way. 

**If I have to take some of the mood from French Montana, then I can see there’s something from like “Sanctuary” in your music.** 

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Totally. 

**Drunken wistfulness.** 

Exactly wistfulness is the word for it. The New York rap I listen to now, I feel like is more so the stuff that has that wistful mood. You ever listen to Big Yaya?

**He’s from Queens right, with Shawny Binladen?**

Yeah, he’s probably my favorite rapper out of New York, really carrying that mood, where it’s really celebratory but also very painful. Definitely when I was living in New York that stuff really spoke to me. That got me through my last few years in New York, listening to mixtape French and Big Yaya and like, also Chaka Khan. 

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**I know you don’t want to be a hipster DJ, but if you could put together a set that involves all that music, I want to be at that club.** 

Totally, I am trying right now. I’m trying to put together a more serious DJ set, and I’m putting together a trip to New York in fall. Recently I’ve been getting back into Ron Browz, Dame Grease production style. I think house and rap, they come from similar places, maybe not socially in terms of positionality, but in terms of what they want to express, and using all the same technology. All the samples coming from old soul and disco. Same goals, but different stuff. "Pop Champagne," the toms on that are really inspiring to me. I see that as related to house music, in New York, in different ways. 

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The kimdollars1 Interview

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L.A. rapper and producer ZAYALLCAPS’ BALLING OUT OF SPITE is one of my albums of the year, a compact set of delicate/triumphant jams built on Graduation-esque synth textures, and deeply felt rapping and singing. It is a student becoming the master type album, the sound of a major Kanye and Pi’erre Bourne fan finding his voice and doing his own thing. 

Talking to him, I learned that BALLING OUT OF SPITE marked the start of a new era for ZAY, artistically and mentally. In 2019-2020 he experienced psychosis, three hospitalizations, and eventually went home to Sacramento for emotional dysregulation treatment. In 2021 he made the album, trying to re-enter life in L.A. Now I can hear the pressure of the period stamped into the songs. And it makes me respect the album all the more. 

The following has been edited for content and clarity. 

--

**So you’ve been in the game 13 years and you’re from Sacramento.** 

Yes sir, a little 13 years and a little outside Sacramento. Lived in Natomas, South Sac, Davis. And I lived in Arizona for three years. How’s it going man?

**Good I was just jamming your shit.** 

What’s sticking for you?

**All of it, including the interludes. But I think ALL LUV and PRO CLUBZ are the hits.** 

Thank you, that’s so fire. MINE is my favorite but I think ALL LUV is the one people are gonna like the most. 

**I like WANNABE a lot.** 

Thank you. 

**Let’s talk about it. How would you describe the textures of this album, productionwise?**

Here’s what it is. I made Kwamzay, which was me getting my skills up with my sample skills, and then this was me trying to do my weird synth shit. It kinda feels like Zapp & Roger, kinda feels like Pi’erre Bourne, like Graduation, warm but digital. It doesn’t feel cold. Pi’erre 5 came out that summer. I was bumping that and DISCO by MIKE all the time. 

**Are you a keyboard player?**

I know theory, and I know enough to make good beats, but I need discipline and to practice more. I want to be able to get a chord sheet and easily practice with a band. I’ll learn piano shit to make better beats, then get distracted. 

**How are you able to do such good hooks? Is it because you can sing?**

Whoa, that’s sick. I’m gonna accept that compliment. I felt like hooks were one of my weaknesses, so I try not to think of it as a hook. I’m already rapping, here’s a part in the verse that’s just gonna be a hook. I tried to make it feel as natural as possible. 

**What about singing? What’s your history with singing?**

I was 16-17 and snapchatting my homegirl in high school, and I was being funny and sang a Chris Brown thing real quick, and she was like, Why can you kinda sing? And that gassed me up to try it. I made a few songs that were good ideas, but bad. I had a car in high school and practiced all the time in my car. I generally won’t show anyone a thing until I’m good at it, lowkey. I’m getting out of that now. I get the beauty of the process. But singing’s a vulnerable thing. I want to take singing lessons. 

**I love the singing on WANNABE.** 

That’s the second take of WANNABE, the first take wasn’t as breathy. I did a more breathy take. 

**Nice, breathy take.** 

Had to get that Britney Spears. 

**Also you say, “I aspire to Be like Common but I’m not trying to be like Common.” Love that.**

That’s my dude Brandon, aka Kwame Adu, my best friend and bandmate in Kwamzay, he has an unreleased song and he said “I wanna Be like Common but I’m not trying to be like Common” and I was like Bro, I’m just gonna take that. It's a silly punchline, like how Common just wants to Be, like the album Be. 

**Does this album represent a certain time in your life?**

Super. 100%. The emotions, the way I’m processing it, it’s all different now. But it’s a step forward. My prior EP was called I’m Slowly Getting Better, and there was a somewhat optimistic tone. And this one is like I’m more locked in, OK I’m just gonna go and do it, make this happen. But I don’t know how but I’ma do it. Anyway, things are different now. Like on PRO CLUBZ I’m talking about FL Studio, but I use Ableton now. And on the album I talk about grabba, but I don’t smoke anything anymore. 

**What will success with this album look like?**

Well I did it, I finally made an album. And I wanted to do that since I was 16. Had a lot of great friends around me to make it happen. As far as releasing it, I think having a larger resume of what I do, hopefully get an opening slot on somebody’s tour. Even if it’s a leg of a California tour, a few shows. I want to separate myself from everyone, and that I care a lot, I care so much about every little detail. And people knowing that I’m legit. 

**"I would just love to get high, but I gotta keep that money in mind." On MULTIPLY. Love how honest that is.** 

I was in the midst of my biggest stoner phase, and it was getting weird. And I was wasting money, and not going outside, and staying inside smoking weed to get my money’s worth. 

**And then compare that with SPREE, where you’re swiping your credit card and getting likes on the Gram.** 

That was about having a manic episode. Where everything is euphoria. It’s a spree, but in a fucked up way. I don’t care, I don’t have any concept of impulse control. 

**A lot of the album sounds up, but the thematics are down. It’s a cool juxtaposition.** 

I’m glad it’s apparent. My favorite way to put it is I enjoy art that depicts life. Heavy, dark themes, in an otherwise chill piece of art. That’s more realistic and more fun to make. My favorite TV shows are King of the Hill and Curb Your Enthusiasm, where it’s life as life. 

**ALL LUV really went off live when I saw you last month at the Virgil, next to PRO CLUBZ it was your hardest jam. I love the chop on that beat on ALL LUV. And another great chorus. Such a yearning song. Could you talk about that song a little bit? And that’s totally self produced right?**

ALL LUV is my ode to Pi’erre. Plus a sample in there. I heard “Late Night” by 454 and was like, Oh that’s a Brent Faiyaz sample, so I was like Bet, I’m gonna sample Bryson Tiller. And turn it up. On the lyric tip I wanted to say some real shit. Have a real song. The first lyric on the verse, “This year a n—a done changed up / that shit switched my brain up.” I’m not talking about a relationship, I’m talking about having a psychotic breakdown and was in the psych ward.

**You do talk about mental health a lot. How’s your mental health these days?**

It’s pretty good, and music plays a huge part. I don’t have to run from it. It’s a part of me, just something I have.  

**And ALL LUV  goes into MINE, which is so lovey. Another great beat. Very sung, vocally. This is R&B.**  

That’s me on my PARTYNEXTDOOR shit. It’s a pre-breakup song, which is sadder than a breakup song. 

**It’s an inkling.** 

Yeah. I’m pleading with myself damn near. When I wrote it, I really believed it, and thought I could save the relationship. I couldn’t, but it’s fine.

**And then of course there’s PRO CLUBZ which is a song about a shirt that isn’t really about a shirt. It’s about how your friends hate on you and it hurts.** 

Deadass. I ran out of concepts and was like, I’m gonna diary-entry this one. That period, I fell out with a few people. There ended up being a few more after that. It was a weird period. I had just come back from staying with my parents, experiencing psychosis, and moved back to LA and expected to have my same friend group and everything cool. But I was like alone all the time, and I’m getting older, shit is getting weird, people crossed some boundaries, and I felt bad about “letting” that happen, and I was so, so, so, so, sad making this album. 

**It’s like you used the music to will yourself out of it.** 

Yeah. Balling out of spite. 

**So that means, like balling out of spite for how much time you spent feeling bad?**

Yes. It’s about fuck yall, Im flexing, but also yeah, pissed that Im’ a shell of myself. I was like, we’re gonna do this. 

**Any advice you have for people who are going to the hospital and feeling like they’re losing their mind?**

Be patient with yourself, and count all the smallest victories. If you get enough of those, you’ll get some momentum going, and you won’t even notice you’re way better until you’re way better. 

**What else do you want to say about the project?**

Every song on the album has a triple flow and 808s, it’s a rap-ass album even though it’s not. 

**It’s a rap album. Just very melodic.** 

Another fun tidbit: I’m making this, not even thinking I want to put myself out there, and the plan was to mix the vocals low, almost inaudible. I was inspired by MIKE and 454. Older MIKE you can’t really hear what he’s saying. 454, on some of the older shit I don’t know what he’s saying either. But Kwame and my pops were like, we need to hear that shit clearer, you’re barring out. Super important to note, my dad is partially deaf. So on a functional level he needed the vocals turned up. And anyway I took ownership of the importance of the stuff I was saying, and decided to be more present on the album. 

**Your parents are supportive?**

Hugely. My dad used to rap when I was younger, him and my mom were both huge hip-hop heads. They’re both from L.A. but never had a “fuck the East Coast” thing. My dad always knew about production even though he didn’t produce. I thought that was cool. Going to buy records off Craigslist with my dad when I was 12. My mom’s born on Tupac’s birthday, loves Pac, Murs, Hieroglyphics…
 
**On a closing note, I notice that you are loved by blogs. How do you feel about that?**

It’s all I ever wanted, to be a blog darling. This blog post is my Grammy. This is it! 




The ZAYALLCAPS Interview

holly

destroy lonely album has some great moody guitar songs on it, the kind of thing where the rock stuff works fine as just an accent/sample choice but also if you plugged up some amps it would rule

bonus content here is destroy lonely getting really  endearingly excited to talk to chino moreno

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YMQzf0YGZg8

![New Project (51).png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/New_Project_51_d73a7a3946.png)

<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/5Hpdxy2hglP9wFJ0iaJBgv?utm_source=generator&theme=0" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>

Blog post title is somewhat of a misnomer because I don’t actually have a well-articulated argument for why guitar music matters in 2023, or is good, or is worth your time, or is underrated, or whatever…all I have is a playlist of my fav guitar songs of 2023, which is above, and which I'll update as the year goes on. On it, you'll find dub production, rapping, electronic beats, different types of punk, some country twang...it's a mixed bag. But on every song, guitar. I think it speaks for itself, and at this exact moment, I can show you better than I can tell you. However I do feel a ramble coming on...

(Playlist includes Juan Wauters, whose Finals interview is [here](https://finals.blog/posts/An-Interview-wJuan-Wauters) (shout out Hattie Lindert), and Enumclaw, whose Finals interview is [here](https://www.finals.blog/posts/Tacoma's-Enumclaw-Is-Not-Acting-Fake-Humble) (shout out Stas THEE Boss)). 

I'm aware guitar music doesn't need any more cosigns. It's doing fine. It's the main music of P4k which is still an indie rock blog, and it seems to be the main music in America at this moment when Taylor Swift is doing billion-dollar tours and pop country is on top of the charts. 

That said, this blog post is inspired by one of my favorite retired music critics saying, in a discord post recently, that they felt depressed that anyone under 25 is listening to rock music in 2023. And that's something I've heard from other people, too, whose taste in music I generally trust, ranging from musicians to label owners. At least in my circle, nobody really has time for you if you try to evangelize current guitar music to them. They feel like guitar music is spinning its wheels, is rock nostalgia with nothing new to say, and being involved with it can only hold you back culturally. I think they just aren't looking hard enough for the good shit. 

On a musical level, I find the implied notion that music must always be forward-pushing and “progressive” to be limiting, dismissing out of hand the that sometimes music that is unchallenging to tradition can also be good, to say nothing of a listener who wants to do the knowledge and go back and listen to old music, or hear new music that is tapped into the spirit and sound of old music. Also there is guitar music in 2023, and on this playlist, that could be seen as musically progressive in terms of, for example, embracing DAW composition. But I don't even like fighting that fight. New forms can certainly be interesting and important, but I feel music doesn't need to be constantly striving for further progressive horizons. Those types of advancements happen naturally, I think, with new technology, cultural exchange, because sometimes that's what culture is hungry for, and sometimes because of straight-up visionary artists following their imaginations. 

I also think that my playlist does include several undeniably innovative cuts, enough to make a case that current guitar music can be more adventurous, and also less white, than some people think. Although innovativeness is not what chiefly draws me to any of these jams. That's generally something I notice about music and appreciate after I already decide if I like it or not. 

I should admit that I write under the influence of experiencing [Tomu DJ](https://www.finals.blog/posts/HALF-MOON-BAE:-A-CONVERSATION-WITH-TOMU-DJ)’s open format Mood Ring DJ set last Friday, where she dropped Local H “Bound for the Floor” and it was perfect, recasting landfill alternative rock as being totally deserving of slotting alongside stone classics like Electric Relaxation and I Wanna Dance with Somebody (btw the addictive guitar riff is the same as Taylor Swift’s I Can See You, also a jam). And the unreleased demo that Tomu shared with me the other day also hit me right in the heart and was very downer rock, consisting of solo vox and distorted Stratocaster. So I'm feeling like one of my favorite (and might I add critically vetted) artists is also feeling me on this: that it's perfectly ok and even cool to listen to, DJ, and make guitar music 2023. Not that I necessarily needed the back up, but it does make me feel less crazy considering the rest of my social situation is pretty hostile to my rockness. 

I'll admit, when I look at my in-progress list of best music projects of 2023 there isn't a lot of guitar music on there (the homie Aramis from Enumclaw is [kind of the opposite](http://www.forwhenthecowscomehome.net/p/aramiss-50-favorite-active-bands.html), which intrigues me). But it's a different story trackwise. The songs in this playlist are all cuts that I think hang with the best of music, period, in 2023. Some might even sway some haters who still have a rock bone buried in their body to give the guitar another chance in 2023. Listen and see what it does to you. 

In Defense of Guitar Music in 2023

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.42.14 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_42_14_AM_eda3bb65f5.png)

Up front: I got the idea for this post from a [Timmhotep Aku tweet](https://twitter.com/timmhotep/status/1682169503793152000). I asked him if I could jump off his tweet and make a blog post that keeps track of NYC Mayor and former cop Eric Adams taking fan photos with rappers, including the great Jay Hova ("I've got the Rap Patrol on the gat patrol" -99 Problems). He said go for it so here goes. 

![Screen Shot 2023-09-19 at 5.27.11 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_09_19_at_5_27_11_AM_6b68a7af91.png)

Love

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.43.35 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_43_35_AM_b32eafbfbc.png)

Fat Joe ("And who the cops? / Well they can suck my motherfuckin dick" -The Shit Is Real)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.42.44 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_42_44_AM_c7eb8e7c84.png)

Jim Jones ("Watch out for them rap police" -My Life)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.43.16 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_43_16_AM_eb5d67fd1c.png)

Nas (“Police murderer, I’m causin hysteria” -Live at the BBQ)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.51.39 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_51_39_AM_d73122a83d.png)

Styles P ("I don't give a fuck when Police get dispatched" -Heat of the Night)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.47.41 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_47_41_AM_8f77117105.png)

Fivio Foreign ("In my city we still dodging all the cop cars" -Rockstar)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.45.35 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_45_35_AM_c02b353fd4.png)

Maino and B-Lovee ("I'm flyin', hand on the steering wheel, other on the semi kid
Fuck the police, I'ma show him what a Hemi is" -Getaway Driver / "Totin' this knocker, I can't stop for police" -My Everything)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.44.33 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_44_33_AM_d3f1f5c94a.png)

French Montana ("Middle finger to the cops, you fucking with killers" -Coke Boys)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.49.10 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_49_10_AM_17846511b3.png)

A$AP Rocky ("Fuck popo, police, enemies, fake homies" -Fukk Sleep)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.44.13 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_44_13_AM_591884bfd0.png)

KRS-One ("Be an officer? You wicked overseer" -Sound of da Police)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.50.59 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_50_59_AM_77a0053d9a.png)

Ja Rule ("New fucking Yiddy City the sex and violence, where first time offenders get floated to the island" -Die)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.50.13 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_50_13_AM_9315f3b851.png)

Nore ("Always hated the cops" -N.O.R.E.)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.53.33 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_53_33_AM_cff5b55fe2.png)

Dres

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.41.55 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_41_55_AM_a7addb6e43.png)

Meek Mill ("I grew up in America in a ruthless neighborhood where we were not protected by police" -Otherside of America")

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.39.12 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_39_12_AM_0aa491b5db.png)

Dave East ("I seen a cop talk crazy to my mother, My father familiar, he told me all about 'em, Told me never go around and avoid 'em, that's if you can, Black intelligent man they worst nightmare, They'd rather have you in prison forever, they don't fight fair" -Don't Shoot)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.39.01 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_39_01_AM_afec1a3cae.png)

DMC & Russell Simmons ("Yo we homeless, the homeless need to eat" -What's It All About?)

![Screen Shot 2023-07-21 at 11.40.57 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_07_21_at_11_40_57_AM_cd9e0a22be.png)

Eric B. 



Featured Post

An Interview with Ribbon Stage's Jolie M-A

Posts

Fall Fit Check & Playlists

The kimdollars1 Interview

The ZAYALLCAPS Interview

In Defense of Guitar Music in 2023

Eric Adams Photos With Rappers