Since as far back as I can remember I've always looked at music with a lot of importance. In the past 6 years it's been a major part of my life. I use it for so many different things, whether it's for helping me focus, or trying to drown out noise from stuff that bothers me. I try to find music that sorta mimics how I think, or how I'm feeling. It’s helped me alot with my emotional well being and also helped shape me as a person. When thinking about the music I listen to the most, alternative is the first that comes to mind. This is a sub genre consisting of songs that are deviated from the more popular genre of rock and pop. Alternative songs range from uplifting and inclusive songs meant to pump you up, to sad slow and heavy heart felt songs meant to put you into a sad mood. I will be writing about 4 artists each with a wide variety of information surrounding that particular artist and their music. 

The first artist is a 20 year old who goes by jaden Isaiah Hossler, stage name Jxdn. Born on February 8th, 2001 in Texas and then later moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee. As a teen he lived with his parents and 2 sisters, he loved to draw, and played the ukulele, later attending Grace Baptist Academy for most of his highschool. As he grew up, he listened to a wide stream of music mainly consisting of rock and pop as most teens around him did. Through his high school years he was in a number of school events such as plays. At the beginning of his career, like many teen stars his age, started on Tik Tok. Around the end of 2019 he started to gain traction on the social platform with his dance and comedy posts. He would later form a group called the sway house with people such as Chase Hudson, Griffin Johnson and Chase Keith. They were other teen stars that were also famous for the same thing and wanted to use their collective fame to make profit.

 It was later that year when he released his first debut single Comatose. At the time of writing this song Hossler was dealing with a crucial breakup with an ex that he felt heavily about. He states in a Genus interview “Like, I remember there was a time where I just felt so numb and literally nothing could make me anything, better, or worse. And my writer named Rachel was like, “Comatose.” And I was like, “Comatose?” And she was like, “It’s a synonym for numb.” And I was like, “Okay!” This marked his entrance into professional music. It was later during July 2, 2021 when he released the album Tell Me About Tomorrow. This being the first music I've heard from them, I still have a lot of love for the album itself. Each song is well crafted, with an average running time of  3 to 2 minutes long, they each have a similar feeling, some being a slower, more upsetting tune, while others are uplifting meant to get you energized.

1/10/22

The next artist I'll be writing about is a more mainstream artist mostly known for his rap career, rather than his punk, his stage name being Machine gun kelly. MGK or Colson Baker was born in Texas, Later moving to Cleveland Ohio where he was raised. He grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, this being one of the nicer areas in Cleveland he had a relatively nice childhood home and neighborhood. He went to Shaker Heights High School until he graduated in 2008. Less than a year later his father kicked him out and he found himself working at a local chipotle to make ends meet. He First made news in 2009 being the first rapper to win The New York's famed Apollo Theater. It is stated from a quote by baker "We drove straight from Ohio and stood in line for ten hours," recalls MGK. "I got booed as soon as I walked on the Apollo stage and then I won ... twice." Its 2010, he signed with his first record company Bad Boy Records, later that year he released his debut album lace up, referencing his catch phrase he used in a few of his mixtapes. Lace ends up on the BillBoard Top 100s top 4, But it all came to a crushing reality when his dad kicked him out after graduation. He soon found himself working at chipotle to pay for his rent, he also became a parent to a little girl named Casie Colson Baker, born in July 2009.

Flash forward to 2019 This is around the year I started listening to his music. My friend Luis grooms (fake name) Tells me to listen to a song, It was “My Exs Best Friend” featuring Black Bear. This being one of the only songs I've heard from him at the time, I asked him if there were any more songs like it. He suggested the album Tickets to my downfall released on September 25, 2020. I was immediately in love with it. When I first heard this album I was shocked because it sounded nothing like his old music that I never had interest in. This album was worked on by MGK and Mod Sun who wrote and directed what they described as a “first of its kind musical film experience.” Each song had a very important role in the soundtrack of  50 minute long downfall highs. It’s about a teenage boy named Fenix (Chase Hudson) who’s going through day by day while he experiences Love, death, and popularity after he’s encouraged by his peers to start a band. 

This soundtrack/album had a very important role in making me who I am, as well as helping me cope with all the negative things in my life, some songs have very energetic and uplifting energy, while others have more negative or angry emotions, something you’d like to scream in the car as you turn the volume to max. A very particular favorite is the song lonely, it tells a story about colsons relationship with his father, who died early July in 2020 due to complications with cancer. And his aunt who also lived with his father talking about how he wishes he could spend more time with them. Around the end of the track there’s a very emotional recording of his father talking about Colsons risky birth, a story he and his aunt often would tell. Things start to really take off for Colson as he and Tickets To My Downfall are nominated for a number of awards. He won Top Rock Artist, US Artist To Go Global and Best Alternative as well as others from his rising acting career. Around January 11th 2022, Colson proposed to his girlfriend of 2 years and actress Megan Fox under a banyan tree, To celebrate the memorable moment by drinking each other’s blood in a strange display of affection. 

1/18th

The next artist is an aspiring artist widely known for his collaboration in the 2020 hit single Mood with rapper 24kGoldn. Stage name iann Dior or Michael Ian Olmo, born march 25th, 1999. He was born in the Arecibo area of Puerto Rico, as he lived with his two parents Tommy and Anabelle Olmo until they moved to Corpus Christi, Texas at the age of five. Not much is known about his life before fame since he's just coming into the spotlight. What we do know is in highschool he was on a basketball and track team. He took an interest in writing lyrics due to his inspiration from well known rapper, songwriter and record producer J. Cole, all this showed he was destined for fame from a young age . Dior pointed this out in an interview with AllHipHop “J. Cole is the one who inspired me to feel like I could tell my stories”. Diors ability to tell stories through his songs is one of the aspects that makes his music so unique and so well liked.

Diors biggest aspect is how well he responds to the people around him, he uses it in his music, as well as when he's performing. But as much as people love the relatability they also love the number of collaborations that Diors has been in since his rise to famedom. Some of the more popular ones being with well known rapper Trippy Red. The two are known for their iconic duo in the studio, Iann once stating in an interview after being asked “What’s the dynamic in the studio with Trippie Redd? His energy’s crazy” as he follows up with “I just feed off that, that’s why I like doing shows. As soon as I hear everyone screaming, it changes my whole mood. I’m ready to go.” As of recently he's released a new album under the name On To Better Things, this album features big names such as Lil Uzi Vert (Symere Bysil Woods), Travis Barker, and Machine Gun Kelly (Colson Baker). When talking to genius about the new drop he states “I’ve only made music that is real to me (On To Better Things) is deeply one of my one of my favorite albums. Every song is personal to what my life has been the past year. Ups and Downs. Good and Bad times.” One song that stood out to me most is Thought It Was (feat. Machine Gun Kelly & Travis Barker) It's catchy and very energetic at times with an uplifting beat and vocals as crisp as a fresh glass of water. Followed along with some emotional lyrics from Colson baker explaining his year long battle with depression as well as how he views himself..

One of his original mixtapes Nothing’s Ever Good Enough, which was released April 12th, 2019 by 10K Projects. This debut album starts off with the track emotions, which tells a story of him and an ex who would denounce, lie and gaslight him when he would ask needed questions. When Genius asked for the meaning of the hook he stated “It’s just a bunch of petty stuff. She would disappear at random times and I wouldn’t hear from her. I would try not to trip about it, but eventually you start overthinking stuff, You start asking questions and she would get all defensive and tell me that it was all in my head, that I was tripping, whatever. I feel like there’s always somebody that cares more than the other person in a relationship, and I was that person in that situation.” At the time of me hearing this I was in a dark place where I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in life. The people closest to me didn't like it when I was around, so my response was to shut down and back out. I turned to music when this kinda stuff happened and hearing Iann dior explain the feelings that played in my mind so vividly was almost curing.

1/24/22

    For my last artist I've decided to go back to my roots, an artist I've been listening to since they began music. Isaiah Faber Born March 31, 1999, a Canadian made singer raised in Vancouver, a bustling west coast seaport in British Columbia known professionally as Powfu, He was raised in a household where music was all around him. His father (Dave Faber from the band Faber Drive) inspired Isaiah's love for music. He started small during his highschool years, posting songs he recorded in his basement on his soundcloud account. Steadily racking up tons of streams on multiple platforms such as spotify, youtube, as well as clips and recordings on his instagram. His first major hit was in 2019 when he released his first song to go to the billboard top 100s in the 23rd place “Death Bed” ft. Beabadoobe. When he writes he often has a very emotional mindset, It is said in a Genus interview “I kind of wanted to add my own twist to it and kind of make it a deeper meaning. And so I looked at it from the standpoint of the person that’s dying.” later on he releases a remix featuring his all time favorite band Blink 182 

    A Lot of his music has a special place in my head. It helped me deal with family issues, relationship issues, as well as just really shaping my personality. The stuff he says in his music really spoke to me, one song in particular being named Scars On My Heart. It's a very cheesy song made for those going through some form of heartbreak. And I was like 13 losing someone close in my life. At the time I really had a hard time accepting the things I couldn't change. So when I got upset, I'd turn to music as I've always done. As I'm scrolling through my library trying to find music to cheer me up I come across a song I've never heard of. It's by a familiar artist so I give it a chance, well by the end of the song I'm in tears, still upset but relieved in a way. The song tells a story of a break up. In this case he's putting himself in the spot of the person who was left. He explains what it's like to have these intense feelings of anxiety, heart break, depression and the loneliness that comes after the end.

    In the songs last verse he sings “I know hearts don't physically break

But my chest hurts, I can still smell her perfume on my sweatshirts.” When I think about all the negative times in my life, I've always felt a pain in my chest. I'd sit there constantly thinking there wasn't actually pain, but instead it was all in my head. Hearing that line for the first time really gave me a relief I've never thought I'd be looking for. When I need music I can put on that everyone around would like, or just something to have on in the background when having deep conversations. His songs are always my first choice. As of now I've veered away from listening to his music, I still love his style of music and it's still my all time favorite. I just listen to a different genre of music and only listen to a select few depending on what my moods like. As of recently he's won the iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Rock/Alternative Rock Artist. And has released 3 albums.