Tag: Post Malone

From Tony Bennett to Tyla Yaweh, Here Are the Artists 18- to 24-Year-Olds are Discovering

May 20, 2019

In the soundtrack of your life, every day probably sounds just a little bit different. The weather, your workout, your mood—anything can inspire a song that brings out your best dance moves, has you reaching for tissues, or something in between. On Spotify, not only is there music you already know and love for every moment, but there’s also a world full of new artists, songs, and genres to explore. Just ask any 18- to 24-year-old Spotify user: This important audience has a unique and somewhat unexpected taste for discovery.

In fact, listeners in that age group in particular have no boundaries when it comes to the artists they stream for the first time. We looked back at the musicians they played over the past 60 days and found that they’re as drawn to the “latest and greatest” as they are to “oldies but goodies.” They’re discovering the artists their parents and grandparents listened to, like Gladys Knight and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, as well as playing the jams their own peers—like Normani and Nora en Pure—are creating. They have their fingers on the pulse of pop culture and are simultaneously interested in learning about the bands that inspired them.

Below are 10 artists, both emerging and established, that 18- to 24-year-old listeners have streamed for the first time over the past six months. Get to know them for yourself:

THE EMERGING

Kina

2018 saw the introduction of Italian electronic production duo Kina. Pasquale Renella and Giuseppe Garotti create downbeat-electronic lo-fi music with a lot of heart. They site XXXTENTACION, Shallou, Madeon, and Porter Robinson as being their greatest musical influences.

ITZY

This burgeoning South Korean all-female K-pop group is the latest to be formed by JYP Entertainment. They’re considered monster rookies, meaning they’ve found significant early success. Case in point: ITZY set a new record for the most-viewed K-pop debut music video on YouTube and won their first music award just nine days after dropping their single “DALLA DALLA.”

Au/Ra

If you like Billie Eilish, you should check out Au/Ra—another teenage singer-songwriter making waves in the music world. Born in Ibiza, Spain, and raised in Antigua by her parents (including her father, German producer Torsten Stenzel), Au/Ra found a love for music and writing at an early age. Her single “Panic Room” was featured on Norwegian DJ Alan Walker’s “Darkside.” Look out for the multilingual singer-songwriter on her first tour.

Cuco

If Spanglish lyrics combined with a meme-influenced sense of humor is your jam, check out Cuco. The LA-based Mexican-American producer, singer, and self-taught multi-instrumentalist creates a music all his own that combines pop, jazz, and hip-hop. Recently, he’s made his voice known in more ways than one by headlining a benefit concert series for immigrant families.

Tyla Yaweh

The singer, rapper, and songwriter originally from Orlando, Florida, has toured with XXXTENTACION and Post Malone. Now he’s making a name for himself on stages at SXSW and on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. “I’m living an ultimate high,” he says. “I went from being homeless to traveling the globe with rock stars, being able to connect with and spread positive vibes to so many different people.”

THE ESTABLISHED

Billie Holiday

Arguably among the most influential jazz singers of the 20th century, Billie Holiday is usually uttered in the same breath as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Along with her vocal power, she could alter lyric phrasings and tempo in manners that can be traced all the way through to today’s pop music.

Tony Bennett

Hit machine Tony Bennett is still singing and recording at 92 years of age, and even in recent years has been attracting contemporary collaborators such as Lady Gaga. His soulful voice first attracted attention in the 1950s. He came roaring back in the ’80s and ’90s by connecting with young audiences, culminating in an MTV Unplugged appearance in 1994. He hasn’t slowed down on performing or collaborating since.

Grateful Dead

Deadhead or not, you can’t help but be mesmerized by Grateful Dead—be it their lengthy jams, poetic lyrics, or eclectic sound. The band was a true product of ’60’s counterculture, combining elements of rock, folk, country, bluegrass, reggae, and space rock. Adored by baby boomers Gen X’ers, and now a new generation, The Dead is anything but.

Selena

The gone but not forgotten Queen of Tejano music paved her way in an overwhelmingly male-dominated genre to become one of the most celebrated Latin artists of all time. Her reach spans fashion, cosmetics, television and film. Texas even celebrates her birthday, April 16, as “Selena Day,” keeping her music and energy alive year after year.

LL Cool J

No one straddles the lines of hip-hop and R&B quite like LL Cool J. He’s a man of firsts—one of the first hip-hop artists to find mainstream success, and the first rapper to receive Kennedy Center Honors. He started rapping at age nine, recorded his first demos at 16, and released his first record before turning 20. And through it all, he’s kept his cool.

And there’s plenty more where that came from. Stream our playlist of the artists 18- to 24-year-olds are discovering from around the world and across the years.

Spotify’s ‘Under Cover’ Podcast and the Art of the Cover Song

September 24, 2018

Whether it’s putting a new spin on an iconic classic or dabbling with a current hit, there’s a true art to selecting, performing, and recording a cover song—an art that Under Cover, Spotify’s new original podcast, seeks to explore.

“I feel there are three categories of cover songs,” Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard explains in his episode of Under Cover, which launches today. “There is the fairly universal song that a lot of people know. When they hear an artist they admire perform it, it sheds a new light on the song, or adds a kind of sense of humor, or weight to it … Then there are the obscure, record collector cover songs that people like myself like to bust out from time to time, to teach people about songs they might not otherwise know about. And then there tend to be the songs that are really moving me or us in a particular moment that have special significance.”

In the case of Death Cab For Cutie, it was this third category that led them to create a moving cover of Frightened Rabbit‘s “My Backwards Walk,” in memory of their late friend, Frightened Rabbit lead singer Scott Hutchison.

“We wanted to pay tribute to Scott’s songwriting,” Ben says about the choice. “I assume that there are people who maybe have not heard of Frightened Rabbit, and I would hope that if someone is a fan of Death Cab for Cutie, and they hear this song, that would inspire them to dive into Frightened Rabbit’s catalogue.”

Stories like these underpin each episode of Under Cover, produced and recorded out of Spotify’s studios in New York. Over the course of each 10 to 15-minute segment, the artists explain the mindset, memories, and inspiration that led them to record the song as part of the Spotify Single series. Every Thursday, Under Cover will take fans behind the scenes of some of the program’s most memorable songs with some of the world’s most iconic artists.

While some artists pay homage in their covers, others use them to fine-tune their craft—to experiment in sound, style, key, and tempo, and to step into the shoes of a musician they admire. Twenty-three-year-old Troye Sivan, for example, used his cover of Post Malone’s “Better Now” to explore music he wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to create.

“Mostly the songs that I cover, I’m jealous of the people who wrote them,” Troye explains in his episode. “And so I use it as an excuse to take a really good top line or a really good production, or whatever it is that’s inspiring to me about the song, and then kind of flip it, like it’s going on my album, and produce it in the same vein.”

Unpacking the song and using it to formulate your own artistic ability is often a pervasive task for many musicians. “You have to get in the head of musicians that you admire and really get inside the song and figure out why it works the way it does, why it does to you what it does,” says Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive. “And then you can take little bits and pieces of that and bring it into your own songwriting, too.”

The multi-genre Lake Street Dive, who covered “Walking on Broken Glass” by Annie Lennox, filled their sets with covers before creating songs of their own. Since paving their way with original music, they’ve been more selective about choosing tracks that have been inspirational, groundbreaking, or fundamental to their growth. “‘Broken Glass’ is this proto-EDM anthem,” a band member explains. “I see Cher hearing it for the first time and being like, ‘Dab nabbit! I wish I had recorded that song.’”

And of course, recording covers gives artists a chance to just have some fun. “I think I embellish the guitar solo a bit, just for my own ego,” says Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett on covering “Houses” by ElyseWeinberg.

Tune into Under Cover every day this week and then on Thursdays through November to hear new exclusive interviews from artists like Gallant, Def Leppard, Calpurnia, Lord Huron, and 5SOS, covering favorites from Weezer, Vampire Weekend, Depeche Mode, and Neil Young.

Listen to the first episode about Death Cab for Cutie’s cover of Frightened Rabbit’s “My Backwards Walk,” (and check back to see future episodes as well):

 

Moms Listen to Top Artists, Too—Just Ask Latham Thomas and Her Teen DJ Son

May 11, 2018

Wondering what to add to your mom’s breakfast-in-bed Spotify playlist this Mother’s Day? It might not be so different from what you’d add to your own. Spotify’s latest data on the top artists for women between the ages of 20 and 70-plus show that hits are hits—no matter what your age.

In a list of top listened-to artists by gender and age group, Post Malone and Ed Sheeran take the top two slots for women ages 30 through 59, with Drake, Avicii, and Adele also scoring high. For women 60 and up, it’s all about Ed Sheeran and perennial favorite The Beatles.

Parents have a big opportunity to influence what their kids listen to, and based on the data, it looks like the next generation is repaying the favor by keeping Mom in the musical know.

Take the musical preferences of Latham Thomas, wellness and lifestyle specialist and founder of Mama Glow. Latham and her 14-year-old son, Fulano Librizzi—an accomplished DJ and musician who has spun for everyone from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to the New York Knicks—both get down to Stevie Wonder, but also thrive on sharing everything from jazz to J. Cole.

We spoke to Latham about what her family is listening to now, and how to bridge the generation gap with the right tunes.

What are your early memories of music?

My mom was always playing music; she would throw on a record and make pancakes in the morning. Especially on weekends, it was Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross. I went to my first Prince concert when I was 3, and Sheila E threw her drumsticks in the audience and my aunt caught them. My whole childhood was always punctuated with music.

How did you begin sharing your love of music with your son, Fulano?

When I was pregnant with my son, his father had a radio show on WKCR [in New York City] called “Jazz Alternatives.” We would hang out in the studio and pull records that looked interesting­­. We had Sicilian tarantellas, blues like Lead Belly, Sun Ra, Funkadelic, and Parliament—which my son loves now. He would actually kick to the rhythm of certain things. I think playing a lot of different music for him definitely helped with shaping his aptitude. Not only is he a DJ, he arranges music; he plays guitar and bass, ukulele. I think all those instruments also help him with understanding how to create a song. It’s nice to be able to know that just our passion and love for music helped to shape him to be very musical.

Does Fulano now introduce you to new music?

Yes. All the music that is current, I only know because of my son. He’s the one who’s like, “Oh, you’ve got to listen to J. Cole, you’ve got to listen to Migos.” I find out about a lot of indie or underground artists. He’ll play me a list of stuff and say, “This is really big right now” or, “This person’s on the come up.” I don’t know all the names, but I stay in the pulse that way.

What songs are at the top of both of your playlists right now?

We both maintain a lot of the same soul classics, like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. As far as the more current music, we both have been listening to J. Cole. We both like Cardi B.

How can parents better get along musically with their kids?

If you have a different musical style than your kids, spend some time and get to know who the artists are that they’re listening to, because those people are definitely influencing them. It’s a point of entry for conversation and connection, and it’s a point of coolness for you. Every generation has music that the previous generation just doesn’t get. But if you can gather around what matters to kids, you can ride the soundtrack of their lives and get to know better what’s happening in their own world. Music just has that ability to make people come together.

Happy Mother’s Day!