INTRO/OUTRO MUSIC:"In All The Wrong Places" (Instrumental) by Kero One
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Kero One, DJ/rapper/producer
http://www.kero1.com/SHOW NOTES
[2:40] Interview with Kero One begins
[
4:46] More context on the origin of the "Is this a butterfly?" anime meme:
https://www.vox.com/2018/5/15/17351806/is-this-a-pigeon-anime-butterfly-meme-explained[
5:45] Cartoon Network's Adult Swim is referenced several times in oral histories of lo-fi hip-hop—from its role in engineering the success of rapper MF DOOM, to its influence on other, younger producers and the emergence of nostalgia-driven audiovisual mixes on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVZcO6bcYqchttps://djbooth.net/features/2018-06-13-lo-fi-hip-hop-evolutionhttps://www.vice.com/en_us/article/594b3z/how-lofi-hip-hop-radio-to-relaxstudy-to-became-a-youtube-phenomenon[
8:15] YouTube first launched its native livestreaming feature in limited beta in spring 2011, and waited until late 2013 to open up the feature to anyone with 100 or more subscribers:
https://youtube.googleblog.com/2011/04/youtube-is-going-live.htmlhttps://www.theverge.com/2013/8/3/4586624/youtube-live-streaming-now-available-to-channels-with-100-subscribers[
10:50] I last interviewed Kero for a
Forbes article in summer 2017, during which he shared how one of his biggest breaks as an artist came when underground DJs in Japan picked up copies of his 2006 project
Check the Blueprints:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cheriehu/2017/07/21/inside-kero-azures-old-school-new-blueprint-trans-pacific-vision-of-indie-rap/#7b1023aa2eed[
11:40] The
New York Times published a fascinating multimedia article in February 2019 about the presence of Chicano/Chicana subcultures in Japan, including an interview with Japanese Chicana rapper Mona. To be fair,
OC Weekly beat them to their own coverage eight years earlier:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/style/how-my-southeast-la-culture-got-to-japan.htmlhttps://ocweekly.com/when-east-los-meets-tokyo-chicano-rap-and-lowrider-culture-in-japan-6573626/[
14:04] Links to Nujabes and Cradle Orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrO9PTpuSSshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_Orchestra[
17:32]
Passion of the Weiss' interview with Bas van Leeuwen, founder of record label Chillhop Music, in which he states that "we don’t want the music to be seen as a throwaway or interchangeable product. We want people to recognize individual tracks":
https://www.passionweiss.com/2019/01/16/lo-fi-hip-hop-chillhop/[
19:17] You can watch the first installment in Kero's career-driven video series on YouTube by clicking here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbCJmSmObuE&t=60s[
22:10] Kero's comments connecting EDM to lo-fi hip-hop in terms of both genres' dependence on playlists reminded me of this piece I wrote for
Billboard last year about how some flagship playlists on Spotify were underperforming on engagement and conversion to artist fandom, despite having multiple millions of followers:
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8463174/spotify-playlists-engagement-analysis-study[
26:06] DJ Mark Farina has been commercially releasing a series of downtempo/chill hip-hop compilations called Mushroom Jazz since 1996. Here's a link to the second compilation in full on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6k0FlHGrZE[
31:06] Spotify's "Lo-Fi Beats" playlist currently has over 1.7 million followers; "Mellow Beats" has over 1.4 million followers; "Chill Lofi Study Beats" has over 400,000 followers.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWWQRwui0ExPnhttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX3qCx5yEZkcJhttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX8Uebhn9wzrS[
33:32] Links to the life and work of Sam Gellaitry, an electronic producer in his early 20s:
https://soundcloud.com/samgellaitryhttp://stoneyroads.com/2018/03/getting-to-know-sam-gellaitry-the-producer-everyone-is-listening-to/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwwl_5stL1M[
37:17] The resurgence of '90s references in fashion, music and other realms of pop culture is well documented:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/t-magazine/fashion/90s-fashion-revival.htmlhttps://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/90s-obsessions-nostalgia-charli-xcx-768664/[
40:39]
Vulture's Craig Jenkins dove into the rise of the "sad summer song" in 2018:
https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/the-saddest-songs-of-2018.html[44:58] Overrated/Underrated segment begins
[
45:25] Lil Nas X. Enough said. For more context on his viral, historic rise, and the technological and commercial forces that made it happen:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/arts/music/lil-nas-x-old-town-road-country-rap.htmlhttp://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/lil-nas-x-was-a-popular-twitter-user-before-old-town-road.htmlhttps://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/lil-nas-x-old-town-road-streaming-record-819468/