We’re bringing back Men’s Folio Music Friday for the audiophiles in our audience. Now that we have new editorial assistants (who claim to be cool and in the know) helming the music beat, allow us to play your Fridays out with a curated list of hype songs.
It gets London-depressing with the constant downpour. In our low vibrational states of minds, we at Men’s Folio realise that there’s a trend of male artistes in some form of neediness. While Dua Lipa sings about not giving a damn and Taylor Swift sings about her failed relationships, we have king of needy-rap Drake really pushing the theme for this Friday. Perhaps male artistes, amidst their rockstar lifestyles, are more emotional and sensitive than we thought. Here are some songs that really convey our feelings when we’re trying really hard not to triple text.
In My Feelings / Drake
Drake, creator of Hotline Bling and king of needy-rap, has a penchant for making neediness palatable for everybody. With its catchy tune, In My Feelings might very well be the most meme song in 2018 with its own dance challenge. In our modern culture of sex on first date, ghosting and sharing deep parts of ourselves only two months in, maybe everybody’s looking for a dose of healthy neediness in their partner to show that they actually care. Having said that, Drake’s still quite the player, as he moves his attention from Kiki to KB to Resha to J.T. Ultimately, Drake seems to be looking for commitment, and his neediness might just be his way of wearing his heart on his sleeve for every girl he meets until someone reciprocates the same way.
Welcome Home / Charlie Lim
While the name of the song is Welcome Home, the Mandarin subtitle translates to more of “Coming back to myself.” We believe this song is about a relationship in which Charlie Lim remained stagnant while his girlfriend outgrew both of them. In this new situation, he is lucid and knows that the fight’s gone out of him, and wonders if he will only hinder his girlfriend’s progress if they stay together. The video is basically a meme of a childish boyfriend played by Charlie Lim with a Girlfriend who can’t get to him (imagined as the director). This song feels like Charlie Lim’s beginning steps of finally growing out of his stagnant self and coming back to a Charlie Lim with a zest for life.
SAD! / XXXTentacion
The song is ridiculously good and may very well be one of the more remembered songs of now deceased XXXTentacion. Through the literal death of the singer, there may very well be two ways of reading into the song based on interpretation. On one hand, it can be seen as an artistic expression from an artist, conveying his melancholic heartbreak and apologetic feelings of assault on his then girlfriend to the point of suicide. On the other, it seems as if this song is about an abusive and manipulative boyfriend that threatens to kill himself if the girlfriend tries to leave. A depressing situation both ways, and we hope it isn’t the latter.
SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK / Joji
The imagery of a slow dance in the dark encapsulates Joji’s new song. Intimate and impersonal at the same time, as he can’t see the other person. Perhaps it’s about a relationship that’s about to end and the girl wants to remain as friends. Joji sings he doesn’t want a friend, but a double life of his own, and together with her. The forlorn and destroyed body covered in blood in the music video is alluding to how Joji feels inside, yet he does not want it to end. Needy for the relationship to continue yes, but with an almost fatalistic attitude towards the doomed situation.
Distant Memory / Dru Chen
Dru Chen experiences an internal struggle with the memory of his almost wife. A downward spiralling relationship that ends in a break up. In the end, the girlfriend removes her wig, revealing that she was played by Dru Chen all along. Perhaps a little philosophical, Dru Chen tackles the fact that we never really experience the other person, but rather through how they make us feel. Proven by how we can still be reminded of them even when they aren’t around, while Dru Chen sings that he’s in love with a distant memory. The upbeat song gives a hope that everybody can move on from a memory.
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