tournament 👑 The Ultimate TABS S2 is...... (results at page 339)

[Yvess]

2 hours ago, ZORBIT said:

Tysm for the live performance win Honorable Judges & especially you too as well Leyenda @Julia Fox Congratz on your well deserved sweep 
 
I can’t believe this is finally the last round…

Tinashe will not disappoint!

it is bittersweet  

[Yvess]

NEWEST DEADLINE: DEC. 13, 2023 - 12:00PM EDT

 

 

@Overprotected@Kylie Verzosa @Dessy 

 @blackoutbaby @ZORBIT@Legend E 

 @Invisibility @Julia Fox  @Hey Dude 

 

[Kylie Verzosa]

Teaser

 

 

[Kern]

Can't wait to see the entries !

[ZORBIT]

submitting soon

 

[Yvess]

FINAL DEADLINE: DEC. 14, 2023 - 12:00PM EDT

 

 

@Overprotected@Kylie Verzosa @Dessy 

 @blackoutbaby @ZORBIT@Legend E 

 @Invisibility @Julia Fox  @Hey Dude 

 

[Invisibility]

 

[Invisibility]

PTE 

[poki]

 

It's worth the wait, trust.

[Kern]

Yes, let me see some entries 👀

[Dessy]

The way he went to bed anyway

[Kylie Verzosa]

@Yvess might have enjoyed the tongue scraper too much 

[Julia Fox]

My entry is just fire  serving hot and concept all over it 

[ZORBIT]

Looking forward to everyone's concepts 

[Kern]

👀

[Yvess]

,,,,

[Yvess]

,,,,,

[Yvess]

E N T R I E S

 

@Kylie Verzosa @Dessy @Julia Fox  @Hey Dude 

 @blackoutbaby @ZORBIT@Legend E @Invisibility  

 

 

@stupidjock @MusicLoverDude @CBC@EriKills

@Alldeezy

Edited December 15, 2023 by Yvess

[Yvess]

@Julia Fox - Shakira

 

ycanthrope

1. She Wolf 

2. Men In This Town

3. Spy (feat. Wyclef Jean)

Long ago, the word lycanthrope was used for a mental illnesses in which a patient truly believed themselves to be a wolf. But then 2009 arrived and Shakira turn the term in a whole new meaning: she feels exhausted, bored and desperate of getting out of that wasted old relationship so some nights she thinks she’s a wolf in disguise but she’s not sick, Shakira is just hungry again and wants a drastic change in life. A reinvention like she has always done in the long run of her 30-year-career.

 

This record is the embodiment of rediscover yourself to find new heights, new bodies, new appetite and having fun while letting the past just go away and welcome a new version of you. More empowered, sexy and with no shame at anything but always open to find a new match to be with. Which is difficult to get if you are a lycanthrope. 

 

On Lycanthrope there’s a clear concept that also follows a story through its three singles. 

 

This era started with the lead single “She Wolf”, a Crystal Castles inspired pop disco banger that it’s the centerpiece of the album. Catchy, infectious and with a modern pop music meets the 80's vibe that will make everyone that listen to the song feel very immersed by the beat while she talks about being bored of this old wasted relationship so she wants to go out, dance and have some new victims while she’s at the dancefloor.

 

Then the era followed with the second single, the fan voted “Men In This Town”, a synth pop rock banger where Shakira sees how men are getting scared of her thirst so they are abandoning the city afraid to be one of her new victims. Because with “She Wolf” she clearly tasted some men that were not seen again after that night. What did it happen to them? Only Shakira knows. 

 

The third single is “Spy”, a throwback to the 80's and a throwback to her major hit single “Hips Don’t Lie” because of its collaborator: Wyclef Jean. On this Michael Jackson type of beat song Shakira uses her gutural voice to match the playful lyrics and production of the song which talks about a man spying Shakira through the window. The man is so afraid of being a new victim but at the same time he can’t resist to see her and follow her everywhere she goes, including on her own home, but why? Because she’s irresistible and so sexy. What’s the worst that could happen? Did Shakira finally find a men that's open to be with this killing sexy femme fatale lycanthrope?

 

On this record, Shakira shows the duality of a lycanthrope: she’s independent but she needs some boys to have some fun and even when they may be in danger, they can’t resist to the instinct and movements of this she wolf that is ready to go out to the world and find herself again. But if she finds love. Would she stop being a lycanthrope? or she will always be? All the answers can be found in “Lycanthrope”, the sixth studio album by the queen of Latin pop, the Colombian singer Shakira available everywhere now.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Yvess

[Yvess]

@Dessy - Ciara

 

Super C

Singles:

Lead Single - Overdose

Follow-up - Livin' It Up (ft. Nicki Minaj)

Final Single - Body Party

Explanation:

Ciara’s self-titled was a hallmark moment in the star’s career. Heralded by the sensual Body Party, it was considered a comeback for her following the dismal performance of Basic Instinct and label-related drama. Despite all that, there is a reason I chose this era. It was incomplete. Pregnancy would interrupt the push for the fan-favorite “hit-that-got-away”, Overdose. While it was sent to radio, it did not get a proper push or even a video so it was not a full proper single. For the rebrand, I wanted to hallmark a persona she invented for the Fantasy Ride, Super C. But one thing was missing, something that truly exemplifies Super C. This rebranded album gives Ciara a fresh, focused body of work that would be associated with the alter ego, Super C. 

 

The image was chosen to give Super C a heroic, comic book-esque look. The overall style would come to match the sexy, sleek yet fresh sounds given to us throughout the era. 

 

Overdose opens the era with the sensual electropop song, Overdose, countering when it was left for dust at the end of the Ciara’s era. Livin’ It Up comes in as the follow-up with a summery, beachy song with an assist from Nicki. Then the instant classic, Body Party will come in as the epic finale to the era. 

[Yvess]

@Legend E - Kelly Clarkson

 

Myself Over Success

(Haunted - 1st, Sober - 2nd, Maybe - 3rd)

 

1. 

 

2. 

3. 

 

Explanation:

Kelly Clarkson released My December when she was 24 years old, amidst quite a big controversy with her label and especially with the head of Sony BMG, Clive Davis, who felt the record was too different for her and it would not sell well. He also diminished her skills as a songwriter and offered her a 10 million dollar deal to replace some of the songs on the album with more radio-friendly songs. The era kept on being sabotaged. For instance, I believe Sober was taken off the radio after one day after its single release (hence why we don't really consider it a proper single), and the album was submitted for Best Rock Album at the Grammys instead of the Pop categories. This is why I chose this new title for the album. I also want to mention that, in spite of all of these issues, Never Again still managed to be top 10. The picture I chose as the cover fits the emotions that one goes through the album very well, from the anger in songs like Maybe, to the calmness in songs like Be Still. It's an album that shows Kelly's personality in the best sense. With Kelly being at the lowest point in her life, you could say that this is all of her personalities coming together to write a masterpiece of an album. 

 

My choices of singles focus both on the sonical and the lyrical versatility of the album. As the lead single I chose Haunted, which I believe is one of the most accessible songs on the album sonically. This is a song about one of Kelly's friends committing suicide and basically what the people who remain alive feel afterwards and the need to have that person back. Next, as the second single, I am choosing Sober, a fan favourite containing the iconic "picked all my weeds but kept the flowers" line, which represents the meaning of the song, this sort of finding the light at the end of the tunnel concept, and trying to find the good among the bad. Sonically, the build-up of the song could make it a potential radio hit, I see it very fitting as a single. The third single is Maybe, a song about trying to make another person accept you with all the good and bad and seeing the power you'd have on that person if they'd just let you in their life. The song is written as if it was written in a journal, and sung the same way, with Kelly showing a lot of passion in her vocals.

[Yvess]

@Invisibility - FKA TWIGS

 

For this semi-final, I took a deep good look at each of twigs’ eras, her bodies of work laid in front of me. I've always loved the understated conceptual framework that each of her albums encapsulates from the getgo; the packaging, the titling and the aesthetics she pulls from in order to build an era. It's all part of why I'm such a stan in the first place!

 

However, if there's a point that I've lowkey resented when flipping through the pages of her career portfolio, is a simple, and perhaps to some, minor point. The fact that her major debut LP is simply called… LP1. I mean, I get it. Her first two projects were independently released efforts with little to no major label support. EP and EP2, through their mystique and anonymous presentation (their covers being partially or fully censored presentations of twigs’ person), allowed her to be a little more separate from her visuals; a shapeless voice giving life to these brooding sensual tracks. It built her a dedicated online following. But for her major debut, a title like LP1, that even nowadays is shared by the disgraceful likes of Liam Payne… was and is just not it.

 

If there's something to count on FKA for, is a potent project title with lots of intention. So by looking from M3LL155X to Magdalene and Caprisongs, I chose to follow this through-line to rename her debut album and reshape it into an era that retroactively better fits alongside her projects, as the important stepping stone of launching her career that it was. So here it is…

 

Circe

A twigs’ debut album, released 2014.

 

Circe is a Greek mythological figure, a sorceress residing on the island of Eea, daughter of the Sun god Helios and the oceanic deity Perse, who has a mastery for making potions and transforms men into wild animals to roam on her land. She's a representation of the vices of mankind (emphasis on man) and by twigs’ knack for reinterpreting a powerful female figure through a modern lens, to me this cover represents that mysterious, partly-hidden aesthetic of a magician with luxurious golds, smokey mid-transformation grays and black, and royal blues/purples. As shown in these complimentary mockups of the back cover and inner CD insert or vinyl sleeve, to better show the range of these aesthetics, i.e. the twisted lettering.

 

Likewise, Circe is no stranger to presenting the themes of vice, understood as carnal love and sensuality. For me it's particularly poignant for her debut era, as twigs used to say that she used her airy, whispery vocals to meld into the songs like another instrument, like Circe presents herself unassumingly, before men's vices ran through her and showed them their true raw nature, like her lyrics do when they explore the strong stance that a traditionally submissive approach, whispers and soft vocals, have. FKA is also familiar and comfortable with sexual expressions that transcend conventional standards, and turns off-kilter with a couple visual and audio cues here and there. This is what my singles selection coming up intends to represent.

 

Left, single cover. Right, music video still.

For single #1, I see no clearer choice than twigs' own origin story, presented in “Video Girl”. Coming up in the industry as a backup dancer for some major stars, she decided that she needed to showcase her art and expand it beyond just one art form. So with this song, she takes a good introspective look at the doubts, insecurities and her own demons from her shifting into the chameleonic musician that she would come to be known as, her own shining star in this media.

 

Sonically, it's this trippy take on R&B and electronica that manages to keep a conventional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge structure to not be off-putting to the listener as a first taste of her, but still richly textured.

 

The music video would stay; an interpolation of Circe’s intro track “Preface” tinged with witch house vibes, setting the stage for the b&w music video showing a man on death row, and twigs’ character appearing as choreographed flashbacks on his mind during his final moments. To date, it's one of her most striking visuals and a story that resonates and stays with the audience long after having watched it.

 

Left, single cover. Right, music video inspo.

Coming up next to show twigs’ enamorment with a good twisted sexual presentation, is none other than the heart of Circe, “Hours”. This track encapsulates the magic of a minimalist electronic soundscape, accentuated with haunting effects and one of the strongest, clearest vocal performances on the record. A hard-hitting beat is underlined by an unnerving synth, and complete silence is broken by a distant piano key or hit, intertwined with her vocals. Hear no further than the delivery of the exquisite lyric “How would you like it if my lips touched yours, and they stayed closed baby ‘til the stars fade out? / How would you like it if I suck before I bite, but it wasn't too hard, so it felt alright?”. She is overflowing with desire and will harness it to get the most out of sex.

 

For the music video, I see a modern retelling of the titular character story. Circe is now a total dom, and the video focuses on bright reds and fuchsias inside her playroom. We get to see hints of her latex look and very elaborate braids with a chain motif, with closeups of her heel pressed over a man, hands chained to bed or her lips whispering into his neck. Just glimpses of the sensual and even tender moments of lust.

 

For this video, I also want to retake a collaborator from the original era, Jesse Kanda, wherein the scenes in the playroom would be cut to presentations of their beautifully grotesque, latex creature artworks from extreme closeups panning out to finally show us the beastly form of lust showcased only in flashes through the video. Really selling that memorable off-kilter vibe to us viewers, plus she has to rep her monsterfucker gays too right??

 

 

Left, single cover. Right, music video/performance inspo.

For the last single of the era, I'll close with something more intimate and fluff. “Give Up” is a jam for those who want to be there and share themselves for a partner who's struggling. More conventionally in the realms of R&B and a cute trap beat, it's an emotional moment towards the end of the album that deserves to be released and represents a nice wrap up as a resolution to the sensual conflict throughout the album.

 

Besides, my other rationale for this choice is that, on tour, this was THE quintessential voguing song. Mixed into iconic sections of “Vogue”, the whole ordeal would be up to 8 minutes of twigs performing the house down both with and pit up against her dance crew. To me, Circe is the perfect opportunity to show that side of her dancing prowess, and the video would reflect that taking for inspo her Google Glass ad, featuring mirrors and vogue, as well as the street styles of hers circa 2014. It'd be a video all about highlighting her sick moves, and tons of beauty shots too. So it'd be great to have a remix vinyl single including “Give Up x Vogue” to sell the fantasy.

 

 

So with this, Circe is a debut era and album that balances FKA twigs’ origins, sensual themes, strong visual identity, appetite for the off-putting and grotesque paired with beauty, and incredible dancing and performing abilities. 2014, a year to definitely remember 

 

 

[Yvess]

@Hey Dude - Madonna

 

Remixed & Revisited Echoes of the Fallen Madonna

 

I have chosen to re-release the 2003 remix album Remixed & Revisited. Each single represents a different decade of Madonna's past lives. 

 

Single #1

Spoiler

#1: Love Profusion - Head Cleanr Rock Mix

 

 

 

The first single of the era is a remix of Love Profusion. The track is centered around confusion and seeking answers in life. "There are too many options/There is no consolation/I have lost my illusions/What I want is an explanation." – Madonna. American Life. Maverick, 2003. The music video expands on this concept.

               The setting is a town in North America, a cozy and intimate location that allows the video to focus on Madonna’s inner self. She wears a white tank top, jeans, red lipstick and a denim hat over long messy blonde curls. This every-day look sets Madonna as somehow who is grounded in reality. The video starts with Madonna standing still, we see her from the shoulders up. After a few seconds, we see another identical Madonna observing the frozen Madonna in surprise. She looks around, everyone keeps walking as though it is business as usual. Madonna tries to touch the frozen copy of herself, realizing the frozen Madonna is not solid. A further-away camera shot showcases Madonna moves closer, as if she is merging into the same pose that the frozen Madonna has. Once standing “inside” in the same pose, suddenly Madonna snaps out of it, we only see one Madonna now, and she looks around in shock.

               Afterwards, we see Madonna walking down main street, hands in her pockets, looking cool. She suddenly pauses when she sees an ice cream cart on the other side of the street, with yet another frozen copy of herself. She approaches this frozen copy, who appears to be paying money for ice cream, and proceeds to do so. We then see Madonna walking on, with her ice cream cone. She walks past a bench, not noticing that a boy is sitting on the bench, crying because his Barbie doll is broken. He also appears to have a bruise next to his eye, hinting that he was bullied for having a Barbie doll. We live in a society. Next scene shows a frozen Madonna squatting with her hands laid forward next to a shop’s entrance. Contemplating, she decided to get into that pose. Immediately afterwards, an elderly woman exits the store, trips and falls into Madonna’s hands. The woman is thankful and gives Madonna $20 USD, which at first she refuses but since the elderly lady insists, Madonna accepted it. Madonna enters the store, she plans to buy milk (whole milk because it tastes better and we are skinny so we don’t have to worry about the fat %!) and suddenly drops the milk in shock. A scene shows a frozen Madonna aiming a gun towards the cashier, milk in the other hand. A bullet is suspended in mid-air. Horrified, Madonna makes her way out of the store without entertaining this frozen version of her. She makes her way to a bar in order to try to ease what she just saw, where she finds everyone appears sad and bored. There’s a stage where she sees a frozen Madonna playing guitar. Now this image, she likes. She starts to play an electric guitar and quickly the whole audience is vibing. Suddenly more people enter the bar and we see a whole band with Madonna on stage. Everyone is happy now, and so is Madonna. She goes outside, where now she does notice the boy with the broken Barbie doll. She reached to her pocket, and pulls out the $20 the old lady gave her. In the next scene, Madonna is seen using the $20 bill to buy a Barbie doll. We then see the boy. He stops crying and looks towards the camera. The camera then shifts to Madonna who is leaning towards him, and hands him the new Barbie doll. Through the tears, he is able to smile and thank Madonna. Madonna smiles and bids him farewell. Mother mothered. Madonna can be seen walking down the street, happy. She looks around and sees others do good: A woman holds a door open for an elderly man, another person helps a pregnant woman put grocery bags in her car’s trunk.

Finally, Madonna is home. In her bedroom, she sees a frozen Madonna peacefully asleep. She rolls her eyes and sighs in relief, and goes to bed.

 

This music video sends multiple messages:

1.      Our selfish desires often blind us to the suffering of others (the ice cream scene).

2.      Accept acts of gratitude, have self worth (the $20 bill)

3.      You have the choice to be good or bad (the crime scene)

4.      Making others happy can make you happy (the bar scene)

5.      Men and boys should be allowed to be in touch with their emotions and feminine side (the Barbie doll scene)

6.      Remember, kindness doesn’t have to be a curse. Always make sure to keep boundaries and to do good deeds for yourself as well. If you aren’t well, you can’t do well for others (getting a good sleep)

These are all messages I believe Madonna would agree with <3

 

Single #2

Spoiler

#2 - Your Honesty (from the Bedtime Stories Vault)

 

 

 

Your Honesty is a vault track from Bedtime Stories which was included in Remixed and Revisited for some reason. It’s a bop tho and I ask myself why in the world wasn’t it on the album, would have easily went top 40. This video pays homage to iconic scenes from Madonna’s past, a celebration of her youth. We start with a recreation of the True Blue video. In the chorus, we switch to an Open Your Heart chair dance tribute, with Madonna recreating the “closed eyes” scenes as well. In the background, dancers recreate the Holiday dance while dressed in her pink Confessions outfit. The scene changes around Madonna who stays in the camera’s view. It’s a “break the 4^th wall” type of live footage video. Everything is one take. The scene changes to a royal palace, Niki and Donna (yes, THE Niki and Donna) appear in the iconic Vogue outfit for this scene. For the chorus, Madonna walks off scene, the camera follows her. Now we see a recreation of one of her 1994 Bedtime Stories photoshoots, which, in case you are not aware, is exactly what Dula Peepster recreated for Future Nostalgic. A white car appears with none other than Dua herself in the passenger’s seat. Madonna goes in the driver’s seat, puts sunglasses on, and they lipsync to the lyrics of the chorus. Then, cardboard cutouts of New York City buildings are brought in, Madonna exits the car and dances with a Salsa dancer, while cowboys dance in the background. All her former music videos are slowly mixing together. For the final chorus, Niki and Donna return, and give Madonna a faux fur scarf (idk what it’s called but you know what I mean) just like in the Material Gwooooorl music video, and everyone dances together. In the end Madonna walks towards the camera, kisses the viewer goodbye and moves it away, when we can see random stage workers. Madonna is then seen walking away, everyone claps for her.

Single #3

Spoiler

 

 

#3: Into the Hollywood Groove ft. Missy Elliott (Passengerz Remix)

 

We start with Madonna walking through a cold, snowing New York City. Dead streets. She’s wearing a blue bob, black tank top, striped black and white arm warmers, a black skirt. Not dressed for the weather at all. The first verse of Nothing Fails (Nevin Remix) can be heard in the background. Madonna falls onto the snow. We then discover someone found Madonna and brought her to an old warehouse in Brooklyn. The next scenes showcase a party taking place, Halloween freakshow themed, super messy, tacky outfits, cheap, camp, no budget, we blew everything on the previous music video and NFTs that made zero profit. Missy is in the video too. In the end, she gives Madonna a coat and says “What did mom always tell you?” and the two of them laugh. As Madonna is about to head outside, she collapses. She then wakes up back where she was in the start of the video, it was all a dream. But she still has the coat Missy gave her.

 

 

[Yvess]

@ZORBIT - Tinashe

 

Singles:  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHs3Pz5A49z8kF0ZE54ysTPyOA-RvFxKx&si=htHCldMizntqfJUz

[Yvess]

@blackoutbaby - Rihanna

Era Title: Mad House (originally Rated R)

Singles

 

 

 

 

Brief

Rated R came out in a very difficult time for Rihanna, which is reflected in the overall aesthetic of the era. Released 9 months after she was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, it showcased a more dark image for Rihanna. I renamed the era Mad House, after the introductory track, because the time for her in her personal life was like a Mad House. So much craziness and difficulties came from that period in her life. She was the most talked about celebrity, and not for something she achieved but for something traumatic that happened to her.

 

I chose the photo I chose for the album cover because of the barbed wire wrapped around Rihanna kind of gives me the idea of someone wanting to break free from restraints. Mad House is a record that will break Rihanna free from any media narratives, or trials that came from her previous relationship.

 

Mad House will keep Russian Roulette as the lead single, because I feel the song best reflects the kind of vibe I'm going for this era. I want something that reflects the agony Rihanna is feeling. I chose Fire Bomb and The Last Song as the final two singles. It was difficult with only being allowed to have one song that was actually a single, since Rihanna has a habit of releasing half of an album as singles, but these songs help portray the aesthetic I'm going for. I want to lean into the darkness, and have an era that showcases a more vulnerable side of Rihanna. Fire Bomb is more of a mid-tempo, and would receive good radio play. The Last Song is the emotional ballad of the era that might not be the most obvious choice for a single, but will become a fan favorite for being so meaningful for Rihanna.