Thoughts On: SURF

Recommended Listening: Miracle, Wanna Be Cool, Sunday Candy

Welcome back to Thoughts On, where dreams do come true and I have never been more proud to be a trumpet player. In case you have not caught on this week I will be talking about 'SURF', the highly anticipated debut album from the Chicago based band The Social Experiment (or SoX). Before we begin it is important for me to say that this will be one of my more bias reviews as the artists involved in the making of this album have both influenced and inspired me personally, and it is an honor to finally be able to talk about their work. Around October of 2014 it was announced that this album would be dropping by the end of the year. However as the year came to a close it became clear that 'Surf' would not be out in time for our New Year's celebrations and instead went into a kind of purgatory until its glorious release a few nights ago. While not many have had time to really tear into the music and analyze every minor detail (and I have talked at length about this project on my podcast HERE) this album is a shining beacon of positive music and stands as a testament to artistic integrity.

So who is The Social Experiment? Well the band consists of different artists from different musical backgrounds that for the most part either grew up together and been friends for years. Most well known in the band of course is young MC Chance The Rapper, who became popular after they release of his '10 Day' mixtape in 2012, and achieved stardom with his stellar 'Acid Rap' mixtape in 2013. Chance has become one of the most popular rappers of the current generation, hopping on tons of features and even appearing in a short film 'Mr.Happy'. He has also (much like Kendrick Lamar) turned his fame inward and hosts events in his hometown of Chicago to inspire kids to turn their energy toward creativity and not to violence. Chance is known for his hyperactive and sometimes goofy personality that is broken up with moments of wisdom and insight that goes beyond his years. With all the hype about him, in lieu of going solo he instead formed a band with friends Donnie Trumpet, Peter Cottendale, and Nate Fox. This decision, which was explored in an interesting Fader article about the topic, was based on the philosophy that music should be free, and that artists nowadays have the power to outlast the archaic music selling tactics of the big business music industry.

Before talking about what the album sounds like it is important to dive into how SoX works as a band and the musical director behind the project. So the way it has been described, SoX is a collection of friends that play music. Sounds standard yes? In SoX however the twist is that each band member is being allowed to lead their own project, utilizing the other members talents to their fullest and putting out unique music that reflects personal taste. So as much as this was pegged as a “Chance release” that's not really the case. Donnie Trumpet was actually in charge of Surf, with the other band members serving as producers and contributing to the final project. It is a band focused around the prospect of making good music yes, but doing so in a way that there is no front man or most important member. If Chance seems like the front man to you that may only be because he is the most naturally charismatic or outgoing one in the bunch. They want to explore what they can do and make interesting music, which is why the band has also avoided any major record deals and contracts up until this point.

So who is Donnie Trumpet? Well Nico Segal as he is known legally, is a trumpet player/producer who first started playing in the band Kids These Days (which sadly broke up in 2013). This Chicago based band also happened to contain members such as Vic Mensa, Marcie Stewart, and Styx, who are frequent collaborators with SoX now and good friends with Chance as well. The first time I heard Nico was actually on the Chance track 'Long Time II' where he busts out an amazing solo. At the time though I had no idea how deep his skill or musical discography went. Turns out it runs pretty deep for such a young man playing one of the hardest wind instruments to master. With Kids these days you not only hear his amazing talent on tracks such as 'Talk 2 u', but you also get to hear the blueprints for the genre breaking style that would later transfer over to SoX. Not to say that the latter is a direct sequel to the former, but without Kids These Days there may not ever have been a Social Experiment. After the band split Nico got into solo work and released the Jazz and spoken word fueled 'Illasoul: Shades of Blue', a short but sweet project that featured Vic Mensa, Marcie Stewart, and even MF DOOM and focused on the beauty of music. Later he dropped the 'Donnie Trumpet EP', another short work that is more musically daring that his previous work. This EP features the track 'Zion', which is the song that inspired me to practice my own trumpet more and find ways to make such a classic instrument so powerful again. Nico has been described as Slash in terms of his horn prowess, manipulating it in ways that continue to shock and amaze while still retaining a great Jazz foundation. When I found out that 'Surf' was his project I could not have been more excited. What could one of my modern musical role models bring to the table given the talent he had at his disposal? The answer came in the form of  an album that took me by surprise and reminded me of how fun music can be.

So what does the album sound like? Well after only hearing one single off the 16-track LP it was hard to figure out where it would be going musically, but when the first harmonious vocals came in on 'Miracle' I knew I would be in for a treat. This beautiful intro starts with a slow harmonic chord that rises and falls multiples times before pausing and Chance coming in with a poetic verse about the beauty of life. Snares come in and you hear Nico singing about how it is a miracle to be alive. This first song already points the album in such a positive direction, not only is the lyrical content telling you theme of the album but you can feel it. This becomes a motif throughout 'Surf', and while it may seem redundant the actual sound of a song plays just as much of a role in your perception of it as the lyrics do. With such big chip on the projects shoulder it needed to come into its own identity as soon and as clearly as possible, something it does with style and poise. Next the happy vibes turn to fun in the track 'Slip Slide', an upbeat marching band-esque sound song that is rooting in being a party track that makes you wanna move your feet. There is a simple horn flourish that is repeated by trombones and trumpets alike throughout the song that actually make up the chorus, making me thing that Nico may start his songs with the trumpet as a base and build from there. Busta Rhymes,B.O.B, and Janelle Monáe both have features on this, keeping with the theme of a party and making it just a joy to listen to. The track ends by slowing down and changing completely into this lucid simple verse by Chance about how sometimes it is easier to give up rather than stand for yourself. A twist at the end of an otherwise happy song. This sudden shift tone transitions well into the next song 'Warm Enough', a smooth wavy track featuring an insightful verse by Noname Gypsy that begs the question “who are you to tell me that I am not [blank]”. This song seems to be about love, and how it is given. J.Cole actually comes in for the second verse to apologize for his selfish acts in a situation but also takes the time to reflect on the motives behind his love. Throw in the slow moving instrumental that denotes and air of seriousness and what you get is a song that makes you reflect without losing the positive tone of the overarching album.

'NothingCame To Me' is a purely instrumental song that is prominently Nico playing a solo that that starts off as a dissonant and even angry song and then in the middle of the track the overall sound gets brighter as more chords (made by trumpets) come in and his own trumpet echos to give the illusion of a bigger sound. The transition seems like the musical representation of an epiphany, with an “AHA” moment striking in the sound and built into this bold idea. The tail end of success flows into 'Wanna Be Cool' one of of happiest songs I have heard in a long time. This song starts with Chance simply saying “I don't wanna be cool, I just wanna be me”, setting up the pretty self explanatory idea of the song before singer Jeremiah, the horns, and drums come in to form dance beat and it breaks down for a feature from Big Sean. Now I am not the greatest fan of Big Sean but his verse on this song was really good, followed by a fun verse by rapper Kyle that just makes this a great anthem about being yourself. Slowing down again we get the R&B fusion inspired track 'Windows'. Here in this track Chance has a sung verse in which he states “don't you look up to me, don't trust a word I say”, as scattered vocals and what sounds like conga drums ring in the background. The song actually evolves into sound like it was in inspired by the Lion King, with a very West African sound. While Lyrically misleading it seems to be a continuation of themes of finding yourself instead of blindly following what is cool or what artists say. Childish Gambino has been known to say similar things, claiming that one day all of his followers will realize they don't need a leader. In 'Just Wait' we get a digitally modified trumpet solo that sounds very poppish and electronic as what sounds like the other members of SoX cheer on Donnie in the background. Then the melodic chorus comes and the theme emerges, good things come to those who wait. It seems as though in this album each song is a piece of whole that is becoming more and more apparent as each song plays out.

'Familiar' Starts much in the same vein that 'Windows' ended in, an instrumental that is almost cartoonish, mostly because of a particular Jazzy selection of piano chords that was used in the making of the song. Chance delivers a verse about the ideal women and how after awhile all these standards for beauty all become so trivial and they all look familiar. Which makes sense considering the rest of the album. The value of being unique in this modern age cannot be understated, but choosing to just copy what you see and not be your own person is not the solution. Even Quavo of Migos stops by to further elaborate on how the idea of special is such a confusing concept these days, girls say they want ballers but what does that mean? Also this is not a generalization of all women, I'm sure the rappers are just talking about people they have dealt with personally, but the idea is still interesting. In 'Go' we get a straight throwback MJ era dance party, with a disco groove and smooth hook by Jesse Boykins III and verse by Joey Purp about the joy of living in the moment and going for what you want. It is about as pop as you can get but that is not a bad thing, as the fusion of styles lends itself to a unique and fun play rather than a systematic radio hit. Moving on to 'Something Came To Me' we get another trumpet only that is also built on a trumpet echoing itself but this time the overall tone is much brighter than the previously talked of 'Nothing came to me'. This starts strong and gets stronger, with waves thrown in via a pedal to make fluctuations that give character to the song. The epiphany from early is carried out to a full idea. 

In the serene track 'Rememory' built off of a simple guitar chord progression we get a song about reflection that sounds like it was inspired by the greatest R&B hits of the early 00's with Nicos Jazzy flourish masterfully inserted. The legendary Erykah Badu makes a short appearance lending her sultry voice to the relaxing track and making this one of the best put together songs on the whole project. Following this is the only single we got leading up to the album, 'Sunday Candy'. This song which inspired an amazing music video and generated buzz for the album better than any rumor could, is driven by piano before we hear Chance come in and sing/rap a song about his Grandma. This cute song is an anthem to a women that both Chance and Nico look up to. It is also heavily inspired by gospel music, which makes sense since Chance says he needs to “take his butt to church” in the song, since this is the kind of music his Grandma turned him toward. Jamilia Woods sings the hook first solo and then with the accompaniment of what sounds like a choir as the song builds and builds. I think this is the most powerful song not only of the album but of this year and last year, fusing gospel with Hip-Hop to make a beautiful song that captures the essence of what it means to love and share music with your loved ones and the world. After this powerhouse track the album ends with 'Pass The Vibes', which starts with a bass guitar chord progressions before again more conga sounding drums come in and Nico comes in along with a more vocals singing variation of “Pass the vibes”. It is a simple and short song that allows you to think and digest on the musical experience you just had.

It is important to note that this is not a Hip-Hop album. As much as this hailed as being released under Chance (as I mentioned earlier) this is more about Donnie Trumpet's vision carried out as full LP. The result does not really belong in any genre besides maybe Pop. Now a lot of people see Pop as a throwaway category for radio hits and mainstream success, but remember that Pop also means MJ and Beyonce, who cannot be contained to one genre so they ride the line of Pop. So while this wont be on my top 5 Hip-Hop of 2015 list it will certainly be on my top 5 overall music list of the year along with 'The Epic'. Looking at this without the distraction of genre makes it much easier and funner to analyze. Nico was able to not create this able that is meant to be about finding oneself and connecting to the love around you, but he did so with all the features he had as well. A lot of albums have features yes, but to make Erykah Badu and Migos sound like they are meant to be on the same project is quite the feat. Organizing all these rappers in musicians to make a multi layered album about a somewhat simple message is nothing short of genius. This is even shown in the albums cover art, which is a pile of rocks with the sketch of a message in a bottle behind them.

 I believe that the message is to us, telling us that we need to look inward and connect outward to be successful and get the most out of life. A lot of people expected a less boring album cover but the color lies inside the bottle and within the music. Anyone who listened to this album early or worked on it stated that this is the kind of music meant to be listened to again and again, music that makes you happy to be a music fan. I think this sums up the album perfectly. With such dark times and dark albums coming out reflecting reality it is almost important to remember why we love music so much, and this is the music you can play in your kitchen while you dance and cook or at a party with people and just relax and enjoy each others company. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the band members have in store when it is their time to conduct, and I hope more people can come to see the power of this album and what it means as an inspiration for music makers down the line. You don't need a record label to be happy. If you are patient and making good music with your friends then your time may just come. I urge you all to of course: LISTEN SOON to this album. Just in time for summer this fun project will having you loving life and singing along.