Videos
Lil Yachty - Poland
Days prior to October 11th, 2022, I had heard the phrase “I took the wock to Poland” uttered in an assured, vibrato tone all around me. I was beginning to lose my sanity as I stayed up into the late hours of the night, pondering what such a statement could mean; to me, to my family and friends, to the world at large, the future of humanity. It only took 1 minute and 28 seconds until my life was changed forever.
Days prior to October 11th, 2022, I had heard the phrase “I took the wock to Poland” uttered in an assured, vibrato tone all around me. I was beginning to lose my sanity as I stayed up into the late hours of the night, pondering what such a statement could mean; to me, to my family and friends, to the world at large, the future of humanity. It only took 1 minute and 28 seconds until my life was changed forever. I heard the walkie-talkie, the F1lthy producer tag, and the ghoulish, disgusting bass-heavy intro, and then Lil Boat’s subtle vocals. My eyes were now opened, my mind freed, and my spirit sparked to life. I watched in awe as Yachty took to the streets of New York, meandering gleefully along them, spreading the phrase and the vibe to everyone. He has done it, he not only brought the wock to Poland, but the world at large. The Polish prime minister has now invited him to come to Poland and meet him. I could not resist the nagging temptation of uttering the phrase. I began to ask everyone if they had heard the song, and where from. It consumed my every waking thought, and I was nearly driven to insanity as I would sit in the cold shower with the lights off, quietly humming the beat in a fetal position and rocking back and forth.
On a more serious note though, this song is genuinely amazing. It’s so concise: the euphoric, hard-hitting F1lthy beat—its compressed, grimy melody, wavy lead, and entrancing drums and all. Boat’s vocals are also on point with it, as he brings this vibrato melody (you know, the one that subsequently broke the internet in like a few days—the video alone did almost 10 mill in a week and it is #1 trending on YouTube at the time of this article), which is simple and addictive “I took the wock to Poland”. His verse has the same effect, as he briefly touches on his pain and life. Side note, I think that it is really cool how big this song has gotten so quickly, and it feels full circle to me to see a collab like this, as someone who has been keeping up with these guys for a minute. Also, I did actually ask some people if they had heard it and where they did, as it is really interesting to me. I heard it through memes first, but with TikTok, other social media, and the creatives’ fanbases, there are tons of ways for this song to be discovered. It’s also awesome that Mateusz Morawiecki (the Polish prime minister) literally invited Yachty to Poland, that was not a joke. Not to mention, the Lyrical Lemonade video is sick. They planned and shot it in one day as well, which is cool to me, watch the behind-the-scenes video if you wanna learn more. They took to the streets of New York and Yachty was just being himself; there are some really cool effects and moments though, and you can tell that he brings his energy everywhere which is sick, shedding good vibes on bypassers. BabyTron also appears randomly in the video eating, which is also sick. Aside from Yachty’s performances, the cinematography (done by Franklin Ricart, Noah Keckler, and Cole Bennett) and colors (thanks to Loren White) are phenomenal. The VFX/3D on this video is also really nice, shouts out to Reduciano, Kayo, and Scissor Films. There are multiple iconic moments in this video (the little red car and the train with the bottle on the back just to name a couple). Overall, I would highly recommend this video and the song if you (somehow) have not heard it yet.
“Glaive - 1984”
What do you get when you put Lyrical Lemonade in a blender with Nick Mira, Whethan, and a rising talented Hyperpop artist? “1984”.
What do you get when you put Lyrical Lemonade in a blender with Nick Mira, Whethan, and a rising talented Hyperpop artist? “1984”. I’m not sure how this equation works out, but it creates a very complete, aesthetic, and satisfying product. I have seen Glaive’s name quite a few times, primarily through Lyrical Lemonade associations, such as their playlist and the second channel, Lyrical Lemonade 2. Regardless, I should have listened to his music before now. He is a resident of Hendersonville, NC, which is dope, and he is currently a junior in high school. ”1984” is an excellent track that gives off heavy vibes that somehow float around between a fun summer road trip, high school heartbreak, and raving at a massive festival. However, considering the contents of the video, and the fact that I watched the music video before I heard the song, this is no surprise. The video sees the artist going on a road trip through the woods with an unsettling, yet oddly beautiful metallic 3D woman driving. There is also a really cool scene weaved in with an animated version of the car on the road. Additionally, in the opening scene, he is laying on the hood of the car doing a performance while it’s in motion, which I thought was really cool. There is also a guy in the backseat who appears to be frozen; he only makes one appearance throughout the video, which is very interesting. After the opening scene, the talent lovingly holds hands with the “woman” and then the beat drops, setting the tone of angst and heartthrob, and bringing us into a sequence of very cinematic shots all throughout a forest, with cool architecture incorporated as well—e.g. a maze and a stone platform. There is also a cool house with lots of chairs and plants. We are given another cool performance where he is seemingly performing on some sort of platform at an empty sports field. Then we are brought back into the forest, except this time to a white green screen that has been set up on the forest floor. Cole creatively uses this concept to mess with the subjects’ saturation as well here; it gives me Yamborghini High vibes. Then we get an aerial of the lake that was briefly shown earlier in the video, leading into a cool little animation of mini-Glaive and his mini-“lady” running in the forest. This brings us to a lake scene, the same one that closes the video out, as well as more forest scenes. This segment includes what is probably my favorite clip of the video—the one where Glaive is in the forest walking into multiple versions of himself. This appears to be a similar take on the effect in the Sicko Mode video where Travis is walking in front of the pool. Then he goes to the car only to discover that his Karen Plankton is not there, she is sitting in front of the lake “crying”? I think that it’s really cool how they were able to pull this much emotion out of the 3D model so smoothly here. Then comes the second beat drop, along with what appears to be Glaive telling his (now ex) “girl” off, and another explosive sequence of performance shots, this time without Karen there. The music video certainly painted a permanent picture in my mind of Glaive and “1984” alike; this may be because it was my first impression of both, but regardless, it did the job, and the aforementioned associations I now have with the song tie in directly with the video. Cole, his crew, and Glaive have all done an excellent job here, and Glaive has proved himself to be very capable of performing; the emotion and expressiveness that he has shown here both in the song and video are enough for me. He could certainly be a superstar if he continues on the already-promising path that he has paved for himself, especially considering that he is only 16 years old at the time of writing this, and simultaneously signed to Interscope Records. The project that this song came from: all dogs go to heaven, is a very emotional, explorative, and cohesive listen, and it only asks for about 17 minutes of your time. Be sure to check out the video for “1984” as well as Glaive, his EP all dogs go to heaven, and Lyrical Lemonade.
