ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 INTROVERT Average score: 8.66 High score: 10 (@supaspaz, @madonnas, @Lucas32, @Fitzswiftie, @Invisibility, @BnPac, @creativity., @Eric., @Taemira, @Reverie) Low score: 5 (@ultraviolence.xx, @Quicksand) The personal is political and vice versa on this virtuosic lead single and opening track from Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. With the drumroll of a battle march that swells into an operatic boom, Cleo Sol warns, “There’s a war” – one that’s raging inside Little Simz as much as out in the world at large. Flitting between observations on gun violence and apartheid, internal wounds and self-sabotage, gentrification and Black pride, Simbi invites the listener into her perspective, a private sanctum where her insular nature is not only protection from threats that abound but also the source of her power. “Introvert” is a rebirth, setting Little Simz on the journey of inquisition and revelation that comprises the rest of the album. It’s no wonder that this staggering scene-setter, which simply overcomes you with blaring trumpets and impassioned rhymes, was its top entry on the countdown. Best bit: “I bottle up and then spill it in verses/One day, I'm wordless, next day, I'm a wordsmith” ATRL says...: “WHAT AN INTRO,” @madonnas yelled. @creativity. seconded, “What an album opener! So cinematic.” @Ewan Chaos agreed that it was the “best opening song here, by far.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 Okay, I guess we're limping to this finish on this one. Who is taking the crown: "Pick Up Your Feelings" or "Happier Than Ever"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Welp. What are the other two songs left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewan Chaos Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Love the songs ordering so far. Pick Up Your Feelings / Happier Than Ever was probably my ideal top 2, EITHER winning would be talent always winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 (edited) Just now, supaspaz said: Okay, I guess we're limping to this finish on this one. Who is taking the crown: "Pick Up Your Feelings" or "Happier Than Ever"? Let's go "Pick Up Your Feelings"! Edited July 31, 2022 by Eric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BnPac Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Wooo I love this top 3. I don't even care for the order. I gave those 3 songs 10s. Sometimes things just go right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 2 minutes ago, Ewan Chaos said: Love the songs ordering so far. Pick Up Your Feelings / Happier Than Ever was probably my ideal top 2, EITHER winning would be talent always winning. It's a bit predictable but a bit undeniable that it's them at the end. They did come out far ahead of the pack on the average scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator madonnas Posted July 31, 2022 ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 Sad to see her not make the top 2 but at the same time I am proud she did as well as she did. Even the interludes I’m satisfied with the top 2 although the overall order of the top 20 is troubling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 1 minute ago, madonnas said: Sad to see her not make the top 2 but at the same time I am proud she did as well as she did. Even the interludes If there was an album that I would have expected to be the punching bag for this rate, it was Little Simz! But she freaked it in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 PICK UP YOUR FEELINGS Average score: 8.93 High score: 10 (@supaspaz, @ultraviolence.xx, @MP2K, @madonnas, @Ewan Chaos, @Fitzswiftie, @BnPac, @Eric., @Norte, @Reverie) Low score: 5 (@Quicksand) In an era where true R&B music has been on a long and steady decline, Jazmine Sullivan served us an instant classic of the genre with this second single from Heaux Tales, a fabulously savage kiss-off to a lover that she caught cheating. Mashing a timeless sound (harmonies and adlibs galore!) with a hilariously modern repartee (“Need a ride? Call that bitch/Gas way too expensive”), “Pick Up Your Feelings” gave Jazmine her biggest hit in over a decade – #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and top ten on the R&B charts, including #2 at radio – as well as one of her first two Grammy wins after 15 nominations, for Best R&B Performance. It also nearly won this rate! Leading for most of the voting period, it was tripped up on the final few ballots, ultimately finishing five points behind the top spot, though clearly ahead of the pack as ATRL’s favorite song from the album. Best bit: “Look at my jeans, I'm too thick/I ain't got the room for extra baggage” ATRL says...: “Excellent all the way through,” @BnPac praised. “The song made rethink some 10’s I gave.” @madonnas called it “the quintessential Jazmine song.” @Ewan Chaos was “embarrassed to admit I’d only heard her 2015 album in passing, so you can imagine how floored I was the first time I heard this.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultraviolence.xx Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 24 minutes ago, supaspaz said: LOST ONE Average score: 8.48 High score: 10 (@supaspaz, @ultraviolence.xx, @MP2K, @Lucas32, @Invisibility, @BnPac) Low score: 5 (@Saddy) Jazmine Sullivan is powerfully attuned to the nuances of heartbreak on this elegantly restrained lead single from Heaux Tales. Backed by just a muted electric guitar, she sings with an uncharacteristic flatness on the first verse, drinking herself to oblivion and hooking up with a parade of strangers to dull her pain. But as the song unfolds, so does its soundscape and its emotion. Lush harmonies carry a regretful Jazmine through delusions of reconciliation and to the pitiful yet deeply sympathetic chorus, where she prays that their relationship will at least matter to her ex as well: “Please don’t forget about me,” she implores. Co-written and produced by Dave Watson, “Lost One” is a wrenchingly sublime return to form for an artist who spent far too long away from the public eye. After a five-year absence, it announced a serious comeback for Jazmine, reaching the top ten of the R&B chart. Best bit: “Just don't have too much fun without me” ATRL says...: It was undeniable even to ballad haters. “You know me. You know giving an 8 to a song like this is a huge compliment,” @madonnas patted himself on the back. @Ewan Chaos expressed his response as “suffering emoji stock photo.” 2 minutes ago, supaspaz said: PICK UP YOUR FEELINGS Average score: 8.93 High score: 10 (@supaspaz, @ultraviolence.xx, @MP2K, @madonnas, @Ewan Chaos, @Fitzswiftie, @BnPac, @Eric., @Norte, @Reverie) Low score: 5 (@Quicksand) In an era where true R&B music has been on a long and steady decline, Jazmine Sullivan served us an instant classic of the genre with this second single from Heaux Tales, a fabulously savage kiss-off to a lover that she caught cheating. Mashing a timeless sound (harmonies and adlibs galore!) with a hilariously modern repartee (“Need a ride? Call that *****/Gas way too expensive”), “Pick Up Your Feelings” gave Jazmine her biggest hit in over a decade – #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and top ten on the R&B charts, including #2 at radio – as well as one of her first two Grammy wins after 15 nominations, for Best R&B Performance. It also nearly won this rate! Leading for most of the voting period, it was tripped up on the final few ballots, ultimately finishing five points behind the top spot, though clearly ahead of the pack as ATRL’s favorite song from the album. Best bit: “Look at my jeans, I'm too thick/I ain't got the room for extra baggage” ATRL says...: “Excellent all the way through,” @BnPac praised. “The song made rethink some 10’s I gave.” @madonnas called it “the quintessential Jazmine song.” @Ewan Chaos was “embarrassed to admit I’d only heard her 2015 album in passing, so you can imagine how floored I was the first time I heard this.” PERIODDDDDDDDDDDDD YOU GO GIRL and that makes HTE #1 if jaz had to lose I’m glad it was to that song Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naval23 Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Omg Billie did it Happier Than Ever deserved one of the best songs of the 2020s That bridge had me in a chokehold - the 2nd half of the song is otherworldly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultraviolence.xx Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 miss quicksand you’re going to rot in hell for that 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverie Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Well I gave all these songs 10s so I can't be mad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 3 minutes ago, ultraviolence.xx said: miss quicksand you’re going to rot in hell for that 5 It really came down to him. He changed the game. #thugstyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverie Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 PUYF dropping was really a moment! Everyone finally stanning Jazmine, the way every single performance was and is eaten up. She really is that girl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BnPac Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 (edited) Yep, when I got to the song, I went ahead and reviewed all the 10 I had given so far. Gorgeous. Edited July 31, 2022 by BnPac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McNulty Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 A good Top 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 HAPPIER THAN EVER Average score: 9.18 High score: 10 (@supaspaz, @ultraviolence.xx, @madonnas, @Lucas32, @Ewan Chaos, @Fitzswiftie, @Invisibility, @Ace Reject, @BnPac, @creativity., @Taemira, @Norte, @Quicksand, @Reverie, @Born to Run) Low score: 5 (@Insanity) The title track of Happier Than Ever is arguably the second-most important song Billie Eilish has ever recorded, after “Bad Guy.” Floundering to reconnect with audiences ahead of the album’s release, the warning signs of the dreaded sophomore slump flashing red, she chose this exorcism of a miserable ex as its sixth single. The success of a twinkling, Elvis-like ukulele lament-turned-furious arena-rock power ballad was no guarantee. But it reversed the momentum of the era and maybe saved her career. Though debuting and peaking at only #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, it rode the chart for six months, several times longer than almost every other single from the album, proving that Billie still had mass commercial appeal and stacking her catalog with another all-time classic. Its appreciation by audiences, critics and industry alike – check out those four Grammy nominations, including for Record of the Year and Song of the Year – also meant the transformation to adult artist, one who could wear a mature sonic vision just as well as her sneering teenage smashes, was complete. “Happier Than Ever” has always been a forum favorite, topping the year-end member poll and sweeping the ATRL Grammys, so it's not exactly a surprise that it won this rate. But it’s worth appreciating for a moment just how beloved it is: three-quarters of voters gave the song a perfect 10. Best bit: “Just fucking leave me alooooooooOOOOohohohOOOOwhoaohahooooooonnnnneee” ATRL says...: “Everyone could see the victory coming, but its power was simply unstoppable. “I wanted to sabotage so another song would win,” @madonnas admitted, “but every time I try, it doesn’t work or backfires, so I’ll give it the score it deserves.” @Ewan Chaos said “the second half still gives me chills.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewan Chaos Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 The way Pick Up Your Feelings stomped on everyone's NECKS whether they stanned Jazmine before or hadn't known too much about her. The way Happier Than Ever stomped on everyone's NECKS after all the previous singles "flopping" and her controversies. Two queens, great rate, pretty happy with most positions (agreeing that 11-20 is a little... odd dkdhs esp the Jbrekkie slaughter), and as always a great HOST thank you as always supa!!!!!!!!!! The effort put into your rates is always impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 So this battle was actually closer than it appeared and very exciting for me to watch develop as I counted ballots. "Happier Than Ever" struggled early, getting that 5 from @Insanity, plus a 6 from @Saddy and a 7.5 from @MP2K in the first five ballots. But then it just kept racking up 10's, clawing its way back into contention. Meanwhile, "Pick Up Your Feelings" was cruising along at the top, doing uniformly well, but not perfectly. Its low score looked like it might be a 7 from @Lucas32. So things are tightening, even with @Eric. handing "Happier Than Ever" another 6. Then, just as the balloting period is coming to a close, @Quicksandhits "Pick Up Your Feelings" with that 5, swapping their positions. I got two more ballots after that and I wondered if there might be time for another reversal. But on the final vote, @Born to Run also gave "Pick Up Your Feelings" a 7, and its fate was sealed. It really came down right to the wire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverie Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 No one can deny HTE whew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator madonnas Posted July 31, 2022 ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 Interesting that me sabotaging HTE actually would have mattered! Wouldn’t have minded Jazmine winning but I honestly like both songs about equal I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator supaspaz Posted July 31, 2022 Author ATRL Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2022 1 minute ago, madonnas said: Interesting that me sabotaging HTE actually would have mattered! Wouldn’t have minded Jazmine winning but I honestly like both songs about equal I guess. What would you have given "Happier Than Ever" if you sabotaged it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverie Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Also Introvert is so gorgeous, so glad this rate made me listen to her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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