Misstakes and Misstapes: 14 Going On 30

This week, I made the mistake of being a sheep in the bureaucratic system. Of being a lone pebble caught in the tempestuous surf of arbitrary instruction. Of being the tenacious stepping stone between muted rebellion and gallant martyrdom.

Of being a college student in the throes of finals who has absolutely not begun to study, not even one bit.

Yes my friends, today my youth has failed me. But, as a nervous classmate of mine recently said to a room full of suited museum curators during a final presentation, “Congratulations to everyone whose bodies aren’t slowly decaying, you know, because the human body stops producing new cells at age 30 and just starts killing them off.”

Congratulations indeed. It seems nowadays you can either be young, vivacious and useless or old, successful and on the fast track to zombiehood. But what are the options? Actually do your work like some kind of pawn? Or a high-functioning cyborg? Thanks, but no thanks.

Which brings us to this week’s theme: musicians who have it all. These artists, aged 14 ­to ~30, managed to detangle themselves from the rest of us bungling youths and are making music as gracefully and efficiently as their bodies are making new cells. Just kidding about that whole “managed” thing though; they’re an incredible bunch of non-dudes who are working their asses off and blasting holes through the densely-packed walls of dudes that surround the music world like a smelly fortress.

But really, these artists are persistently amazing. I’m always in awe of what they’re producing, how they work to dissolve the sexism (and for a lot of them, racism, homophobia and transphobia) that the industry is built on and how they’re transforming the constant narrative of othering, tokenizing and codifying of non-dude artists.

So go check them out. And to support non-dudes in all art forms always. And to try and avoid telling 30+ folks about the whole internal disintegration thing, because c’mon. No one wants to hear about that.

……

1. Babymetal (14 – 16): Gimme Chocolate!!

Babymetal, a J-pop metal group of 3 Japanese teenagers backed by a five-person army of metal musicians, have kept metalheads, pop fans, and electro-funk enthusiasts spellbound since their first U.S. debut last July. Honestly, their music is insane. The deathcore backtracks drive the layered melodies/harmonies forward with a restless throb, and the three girls have the pitch and vocal stamina that really anyone would kill for. Listening to their full album is near exhausting, kind of like riding a sequined unicorn through a field of razorblades. Or something like that.

2. Mal Devisa (19): Judy Bloom

Mal Devisa, the stage name of 19-year-old Deja Carr, is the rising star of Northampton/the east coast in general. Her sweet Tune Yards tattoo is a testament to one of her major musical influences, but her voice is like a lo-fi (Fiona) Apple-infused Nina Simone. Carr pairs simple bass lines with her youthfully-perceptive lyrics in this song, and the whole thing weaves together into a warm, melancholy blanket whose rougher edges make it all the more soothing.  

3. Tink (20): I Like

No one was surprised when Chicago-based Tink started dropping mixtapes left and right, but it doesn’t mean we weren’t collectively envious of her immediate success. Her gospel singer mother and multi-instrumentalist/producer pops probably have a lot to do with how she produces — the subtle R&B warmth of her vocals smooth out the brightly technical verses and stripped-down drill beats. She started producing when she was 11, and ever since she dropped her first mixtape in highschool she’s had fans calling out — “That’s the shit that I like.”

4. A*M*E (20): Play the Gameboy

After being signed to Future Records in January 2013, Sierra Leone-born/Britain-based A*M*E has remained a rising queen of electropop. With glittery synth beats that sound like they belong in the Lisa Frank fantasy arcade that exists in our collective imagination (I refuse to believe I’m alone in this), Play the Gameboy is a glitzy gamer’s sonic utopia. She’s done some more acousticish soft pop stuff and her style tends to change based on who she’s collaborating with, but I will always remain dedicated to punchy phrasing and sugary, technicolor voltage that fuel her synth dreamworld.  

5. Kacy Hill (21): Arm’s Length

The silky falsetto and digitized nakedness were what caught Kanye’s eye before he signed 21-year-old Kacy Hill to G.O.O.D Music. Hill, who hails from Phoenix, makes resolutely effervescent dream pop with James Blake-ian beats that are fit for dancing or dreaming to. The sound of her voice is beautiful as is, but the silky, ethereal quality of her singing will keep you mesmerized. Just like those smoothed-over ocean rocks that you can’t keep from running through your fingers, Hill will surely find a way to rub off on you.

6. Parkington Sisters (22 ­– 35… still counts): Sailor Song // Chains

I fell in love with the Parkington Sisters’ first album, Till the Voices Wake Us, when it came out in 2011. I was 16. I showed it to everyone — friends, enemies, startled strangers. Nearly 6 years later and I still think it’s beautiful as ever. A band of six sisters from Wellfleet, the Parkington Sisters have a knack for writing lyrics that are just as alluring as their soothing, hypnotic voices. They were definitely some of the sirens of my teenage years, and I still find their the intimacy dark and intimate harmonies comforting to the deep-sigh degree.

7. Princess Nokia (23): Bikini Weather Corazon En Afrika

Princess Nokia’s Metallic Butterfly is erratic, fluid, erotic and fluorescent. Wilbert Cooper, Senior Editor of Vice definitely said it best when he talks about how his office tried to review the album: “More than a few arguments have sprung up at the VICE offices over how to classify this album’s sound, because it has a little bit of everything—from African drums and weird jazzy melodies to electro-synths and hip-hop beats.” Previously under the moniker of Wavy Spice, Princess Nokia’s Destiny Frasqueri is a holographic pop star and she’s only 23 and just go listen to the whole album right now.

8. Massive Scar Era (20’s): The World Is Rising

Massive Scar Era is an all-female Egyptian metalcore band from Alexandria with a pretty relatable backstory — lead singer Sherine Amr’s mom never let her play with the boys, so she went ahead and formed the country’s first all-girl metal band back in 2005. The members have switched around since then, but one of their earlier albums, Mascara, showcases the band’s metalcore/acoustic rock crossover, a unique sound intermittently underscored by violin lines that are just plain eerie. Needless to say, they shook the shit out of Egypt’s music scene.

9. Little Waist (20’s): Sad Muscles

Self-defined as queercore/transcore/Lanacore, Little Waist is a Brooklyn-based group with a riot grrrl feel and some residual Lana Del Ray-esque floatiness. The grungy slop-strumming of guitarist Audrey Zee Whitesides sets the dominant vibe of most of their tracks, while Whitesides’ warbly yet deliberate voice (often singing about passing or navigating public spaces, like in “Sad Muscles”) soars overhead. The group is currently working on a new concept album about pain and loss, so be on the lookout for some impending emocore.

10. Shishani (25): Minority

 One of Namibia’s most famous songstress’s, Shishani is also a leading LGBTQ advocate and community activist. With idols like Lauryn Hill, Bob Marley and Jill Scott, Shishani’s modern soul-pop stylings are on-point. You’ll probably find yourself wanting her to burst into Lauryn Hill-type doo-wop melodic runs, but her ability to hold you just at the edge is equally enticing. Her bold, straightforward lyrics often have anti-discrimination messages, and when she chooses to go acoustic her voice is nothing short of haunting.

11. Bosaina (26): New York, June 29^th 2013

Cairo-based producer/performer Bosaina isn’t a name many would recognize at first. To be honest, I only know who she is because I accidentally typed “Bosaina” instead of “Bosnia” into Google one day, and her Soundcloud was the first thing that popped up. She’s mainly known as the post-punk party girl that performs with a number of Cairo-based electronic bands, but the vibe of her first EP, the one that convinced her to later become a producer, is drastically different and strikingly beautiful. The ambient, jazz-influenced tracks are perforated with background noise from her time living in the city, and the album is perfect for either a study backtrack or just straight up immersion.  

12. Cecile McLorin Salvant (26): Nobody

Nobody can do it like Cecile McLorin Salvant can. At least, nobody in this era. The New York Times calls her the finest jazz singer to emerge in the past decade, and there’s honestly nothing more to be said. Well, the problem is more that there are too many things to be said. Salvant’s sensitive, calculated style traverses her vocal range with an expert fluency that we haven’t heard in a long, long time. She’s probably the one who the phrase “you won’t want to miss a word” was originally intended for, as each jewel of a syllable is delicately articulated, suspended and relinquished with incredibly dexterity. Though she’s far from plain and simple, everything about her music is just beautiful.  

13. Helena Hauff (29): Tryst

German producer Helena Hauff’s newest album, Discreet Desires, features techno-influenced acid industrial tracks, many of which were recorded in one take. She studied systematic music science for a bit in university, which is basically the neuroscience of music, or how our brain computers process sounds and rhythms (in the pre-modernist era, systematic musicologists dreamed of a world where there would be “laws” of music, much like those of physics or other sciences). Hauff has professed her love for physics before, though in one interview she explains that she’d way rather be out DJing than sitting in some laboratory. She also told that same reporter that she’s looking to destroy society, so do with that what you will (meaning make her your #1 role model immediately and forever).

14. Nadine Shah (29): Ville Morose // Stealing Cars

It’s possible I couldn’t choose which song to share because I only just started getting into Nadine Shah, but the more likely reason is that she’s just mind-blowingly talented. People have compared her alternative goth/folk (golk? foth?)-rock style to that of PJ Harvey, but her voice is exponentially more beautiful and haunting (no offense, Peej). Born in Whitburn, South Tyneside to Pakistani-Norwegian parents and raised in England, Shah’s first album, Love Your Dum and Mad, was inspired by the death of two close friends, and she’s been outspoken on mental health stigma throughout her musical career. Her voice, lyrics and chord progressions make a gripping (yet shivery) trio of emotional and melodic rawness and you should absolutely check out the rest of her stuff and also read this cool Guardian interview.

BONUS: Sharaya J (31): Takin’ It No More

STILL DOPE AS HELL AND DOESN’T NEED ANY OF MY DESCRIPTIONS JUST LISTEN