Anime Enthusiast

Love is all we need, everyday, every time.

Lil Uzi ft. BABYMETAL, “The End” 2023

On Sunday, July 2, 2023, my best friend put me on to Lil Uzi Vert’s new album, Pink Tape. I’m not an avid listener of their music, but I do appreciate how they love to delve into different genres, but it still is something that is by Uzi. There were a few songs that I really liked such as “CS” (a cover of Chop Suey by System of a Down), “Nakamura” (a revamp of wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura’s theme song), “Just Wanna Rock” (a current Jersey mix staple), and “Werewolf.” However, there was one track that stood out to me as we were doing Sunday cleaning.

The track “The End” has a BABYMETAL feature. Yes, you heread that correctly. BABYMETAL. I’m not an avid listener of BABYMETAL either, but for those who are not familiar, the song “Gimme Chocolate!!” should ring a bell. Upon listening to the song the first time around, I had to do a double take. Because had I not known better, I would have mistaken this for either Babybeard or the drummer from MAXIMUM THE HORMONE. Both groups are something to listen to: Babybeard led by Ladybeard, an Australian stunt person and wrestler with his growls in their songs. MAXIMUM THE HORMONE charm is having either a cute aspect in their songs sung by their drummer, then elements of punk and nu-metal (ex. In the songs “Yoshu Fukushu” 「予襲復讐」, Chu Chu Lovely) or the complete opposite (ex. In the songs “A-L-I-E-N,” Zetsubō Billy”「絶望Billy」).

I also would have easily mistaken this for a song that came from the anime Aggretsuko since the protagonist, Retsuko, a red panda from the Sanrio Collection, who does karaoke to metal songs and even sings her own songs to relieve stress that she experiences from her salary man job. She was even in an idol group at one point (see season 3 of Aggretsuko), where she went from their accountant to a featured singer.

Uzi’s continuous shift and experiments in different genres have proven to be successful. Public opinion does beg to differ from what I’ve seen on social media platforms such as TikTok under “The End’s” sound.

There are many artists who have done so in the past. Artists that I can currently think of who are doing the rebranding or experimenting are Doja Cat, who went from a soft sound in her raps to memes in her song “Moo!”, to running TikTok with trending sounds such as “Say So,” “Streets,” “Kiss Me More,” “Woman,” “Need to Know,” and more on the albums Planet Her, and Hot Pink.

Lil Nas X topping the Billboard charts for 19 weeks in a row for “Old Town Road” for a country song that gave him a break through into the industry (one hit wonder who?). He was heavily criticized and even faced racist remarks for being a Black person in country music (quick history lesson, country, and many other genres were pioneered by Black people). Nas X was also criticized for his self-titled album and song “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” due to the sacrilege imagery depicted.

Janelle Monae with their albums Dirty Computer (2018) and Age of Pleasure (2023) with the former being social commentary towards how Black femmes are treated from being policed about their tone and expression (songs “Crazy Classic Life,” “Django Jane,” “Americans” to sexual liberation of Black queer folk where they expressed years ago that they were pansexual (songs “Take a Byte,” “Screwed,” “Pynk,” “Make Me Feel”) and fear of being judged or even succumbing to the discrimination that marginalized communities face (“Don’t Judge Me,” “So Afraid,” and “Americans.”)

The latter, Age of Pleasure, expounds on sexual liberation (ex. “Lipstick Lover,” “Water Slide,” “Paid in Pleasure,” “Only Have Eyes 42,” “A Dry Red”), and self-acceptance (ex “Float,” “Champagne Shit,” “Phenomenal,” “Haute,” ). There are many critics out there who have said that Monae has been too “sexual.” If there are avid listeners of them, to quote their song “Q.U.E.E.N.” (2013, The Electric Lady) post-chorus “Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am.“

I think that it’s important that artists experiment with other genres to show their evolution throughout the years as well as to provide appreciation to other artists that sound similar and to provide recommendations. As long as the line of appropriation is not crossed, discord does not occur, and credit to original sounds is given, we can work towards evolution and creativity. Additionally, a newer sound can show a new era of enlightenment for an artist and lead in a path towards self-acceptance. Music is an art form at the end of the day.

I have created a playlist of the songs listed in this blog so that you can give it a listen. I hope that you all enjoyed this blog/video. Tell me what you think about it in the comments below.