This is the third episode of Virtualgoodsdealer Interview Series, where we talk to artists, scholars, and internet personalities about their work and experiences.
In this episode we had the pleasure of speaking with musician and memer @bandmemes666 about the people, events, and trends that inspire some of his memes, his thoughts on repost pages, his music writing process, upcoming projects, and what makes for a good music meme.
This interview is co-hosted by Omnia Elbasheer and Cindie Xin, with editing by ada.wrong. It was recorded on Monday 3/22/21 at 7:00PM EST.
Intro and outro track is by Hubert Obasanya.
Audio Transcription
<Intro Music>
Omnia: All right, so we want to welcome bandmemes666 to our show today. We were just talking about him not wanting to show his work until it was 100%. Which was a perfect transition, because we’re gonna play a little — it’s not really a game, but we’re just going to go through all of our favorite music memes, and we’re just going to dissect them for three minutes each. And please leave us your comments if you agree or disagree with some of our opinions.
Cindie: I think Omnia is gonna send the first meme. Oh, there it is. Cool.
Omnia: So this meme was made by somebody who’s not even a memer. He’s just a musician. And I think that’s like one of the only memes he’s ever made.
Cindie: It says, “Don’t show off your unfinished project in a desperate attempt for validation. Work on finishing it. Show everyone you know.” Oh my god, yeah.
Omnia: This is a great meme for somebody who’s never made a meme before, you know. Even for somebody who’s been making memes. I love this meme.
Cindie: Yeah, it’s very relatable. I feel like every memer must do this. Because I feel like people who get into making memes like, it must have to do with the instantaneous gratification of how long it takes to make a meme versus the number of notifications from social media that you get from posting it.
Omnia: Oh yeah, refreshing the notifications like a little psycho. [laughs]
Cindie: Dave, are you like, I can’t relate to this. I’ll never show anyone.
Dave: Nah, I totally relate to it.
Omnia: I bet you get mad notifications.
Dave: Well, I have this habit, just as a musician, like, I’ll record demos myself, and it’ll be like, really half baked, and I’ll send it to like a bunch of people. And then write like the next part, like right after. And then I’ll be like, oh, well, why didn’t I just like, wait a little bit longer to send it around everyone? That’s also, like, a huge thing with musicians, I think there’s a lot of talk and planning and like, you celebrate before the job’s done. You know what I mean?
Omnia: Well, I mean, and sometimes you were just really gotta send it to people before you decide you’re never going to show it to anybody.
Dave: Yeah, it’s true.
Cindie: I feel like it makes sense for music because like, I don’t know, like, even within a song that I really like, it’s not like every single part of it is perfect. Usually, there’s just like, a few parts in it that I really like. But I listen to the whole song to listen to those few parts, right? So I don’t know, it makes sense to me to just show someone a snippet. And that’s like enough.
Omnia: Now, if you show somebody a snippet, and they don’t react, does it discourage you from continuing to work on it?
Cindie: It depends on who it is.
Omnia: True.
Dave: Yeah, I’ve learned certain people like not to bounce ideas off of because I don’t like their feedback, or I feel like they take the opportunity to give me feedback for the wrong reasons.
Cindie: Oh, my God, that’s so relatable. There’s definitely — I mean, it’s like, they don’t necessarily have bad intentions, but some people just like, they are not good at giving constructive feedback.
Dave: Yeah.
Cindie: Do you feel like as a musician, you’re somebody who — I guess like how seriously do you take feedback from others? Like, do you tend to listen to it? Or are you just like, whatever I think is the most important.
Dave: It’s usually totally dependent on like, the type of person that it is and also their creative output. Like, how productive someone else is will dictate the weight of their opinion for me.
Omnia: That makes sense. I’m gonna go ahead, because we need to — I need to talk to Dave about this. We had a conversation about it before but the whole mastering versus mixing. I love this meme. It’s so on point.
Dave: [laughs]
Omnia: When someone tells me they’re gonna mix their album themselves. And then the question is, you’re either very smart or incredibly stupid because literally that’s my exact reaction. I don’t know if they’re a genius, or if they just don’t care about their music.
Dave: Yeah, that kind of goes back to the point I was making about the last meme like, it totally depends on like, their know how. I could be very impressed that someone did everything themselves, or I could equate that as a huge mistake on their part to like, grab the reins, you know what I mean? Like, certain creative control shouldn’t be taken by everyone.
Omnia: Some things have to be left to people who understand what mastering even is.
Dave: Yeah, just let some let a professional or a friend with more know how like take the wheel?
Cindie: I have a question. When you say mix the album themselves, does that just mean, like, you’re going to produce every song yourself? Or you’re gonna master it yourself too?
Dave: Um, yeah, I mean, I think like mixing is definitely a skill especially dependent on like, how many instruments you have going on. So I think in a band setting like a mix would take, like, I’m a little more intimidated about it. I’ve gotten more comfortable, like since I made this meme a pretty long time ago. And I feel more comfortable. And also, like, I feel more comfortable just making mistakes. But yeah, I mean, like, sometimes it’s just better to like, rely on a friend that knows more than you than to take the reins yourself.
Omnia: What’s the hardest instrument to mix?
Dave: Hmm. I mean, probably just drums dependent on how many mics you have going on there.
Omnia: Oh, drummers always have all the mics.
Dave: Yeah.
Cindie: I’m like I make electronic music.
Omnia: I bet that’s way different.
Dave: Yeah, I think so.
Cindie: But I’m still incredibly stupid for trying to mix an album myself. I can guarantee that. I just found out that there’s software that’s just for mastering.
Dave: Oh, yeah, totally.
Omnia: I don’t know who made this, but somebody give them a medal.
Cindie: Oh my god, the sound that’s like “haaa!”. That song is so good. That sounds so good that no one talks about how good it is.
Omnia: I used to be obsessed with it at some point. My favorite song by them now is On Melancholy Hill. I learned it on the keys.
Cindie: Are you guys Gorillaz fans?
Dave: I was apprehensive. But I learned to love them like, I think after their first album.
Omnia: I wouldn’t say I’m a super fan. But I like most of their popular songs.
Dave: Yeah, I saw a similar meme that was like this. And it was like, oh, do you know the lyrics to Feel Good Inc.? And then the picture was just someone laughing.
Cindie: [laughs]
Omnia: I mean, I think this meme could have a few versions and still be okay. Have y’all watched the latest seasons of It’s Always Sunny?
Cindie: Unfortunately no, but that show is good.
Dave: I have not. I’ve actually only seen one episode of that show.
Omnia: Seriously?
Dave: Yeah, I know.
Omnia: I feel like we like all the same shows. I think you’d like it.
Dave: It was funny. I did like, cuz I’m a big 30 Rock fan, and my friend is a big fan of It’s Always Sunny. And one day we got really stoned and we were like, okay, he’d never seen 30 Rock, and I’d never seen It’s Always Sunny. So he was like, okay, like you show me your favorite 30 rock episode and I’ll show you my favorite It’s Always Sunny episode. And it went really well. I thought the episode was really funny, I just never picked up on it.
Omnia: Which one?
Dave: It was Who Got Dee Pregnant?
Omnia: Oh, yeah. Oh, there’s a lot of backstories for that one. So it says something that you enjoyed it.
Dave: Yeah. And I showed him the MILF Island episode of 30 Rock.
Omnia: Oh, with the lady that’s supposed to be Omarosa?
Dave: Oh, I didn’t know that connection, but I always thought that episode was really funny. For like reasons beyond the show, the MILF Island show, like the part where he’s like, stuttering is so genius. I thought it was so funny.
Omnia: That show has a strong neoliberal vibe to it. But I can appreciate the comedy. She’s a brilliant writer.
Dave: I think I rewatched a bunch of episodes during quarantine and like, I was like, wow, this would never fly now.
Omnia: It’s like the whole thing with like, stanning politicians and having them on there. It’s annoying.
Cindie: Life before cancel culture.
Dave: [laughs]
Omnia: I would marry cancel culture.
Cindie: I already did. Next meme!
Dave: [laughs]
Omnia: I died when I first saw this meme.
Cindie: Cry me a river. That song is so good by the way.
Omnia: [laughs] Yeah, it’s really good. But first of all, this is a real place. I don’t know who found it.
Dave: Also, speaking of cancel culture, I think Justin just got canceled, didn’t he?
Omnia: What did he do?
Cindie: Justin Bieber?
Dave: Justin Timberlake.
Cindie: Oh!
Dave: It’s like this — did you guys not watch the Britney Spears thing? Like, I don’t even remember what it was on.
Omnia: I mean, they just had a bad breakup. I don’t think he should be canceled for any of that. I didn’t see the thing by the way.
Dave: I’m not saying he should be cancelled, I’m saying he kind of was canceled.
Cindie: What happened?
Dave: Basically like all the ways that like he mistreated Britney came out and like, everyone’s super pissed at him. I don’t know. I watched it like a month ago and it made me really mad at Justin Timberlake. He made an Instagram apology. I’m surprised you guys don’t know about it.
Omnia: So what was the worst thing he did?
Dave: Well, she was just like, okay, let’s keep this private and like, he just made that music video Cry Me a River where like, he strongly insinuated that she like cheated on him. He played the victim card when like, none of it is true.
Omnia: Oh, none of it was true? I guess you never, I don’t know. I just feel like, I don’t know. He was heartbroken.
Dave: Yeah, he also did like a bunch of interviews. And she was like, can we just keep this between us? Like, we just broke up. You don’t really have to, like, go publicly and do all these interviews and stuff and he just did it anyway.
Omnia: Yeah, he’s trying to get people on his side.
Cindie: I feel like people were always accusing him of like, oh, he got famous by dating a bunch of famous women.
Omnia: I don’t know. I don’t really care about Justin Timberlake. But I guess, um, no, he got famous because he’s Justin Timberlake. I don’t even know why I’m defending him.
Dave: He was in NSYNC.
Cindie: That’s true. But like, none of the other members of NSYNC are still famous.
Dave: Yeah, that’s true. But he was the N of NSYNC.
Cindie: Wait, really? They had like a letter for each member?
Dave: Yeah. Why am I the one that’s explaining all of these things?
Omnia: I was a Backstreet Boys fan.
Dave: NSYNC is like, it’s from the end of their first names. I think like the last letter of each of their first names is part of ‘NSYNC’.
Omnia: Well, that worked out for them. Okay.
Cindie: Yeah, that’s interesting.
Omnia: Alright, so I put this meme here, but I don’t really — what is this supposed to mean? Like is he actually…
Dave: Well, let me just, I mean, there’s just like a certain like, thing about noise shows where, like, everything is kind of like shitty. It’s usually taking place in like a DIY space. And I guess like the joke is that like, the venue is just, like, disrespected. But the image is from The Blair Witch Project.
Omnia: Ohhh, okay. Now that’s funny.
Dave: It’s from like, the climax of The Blair Witch Project.
Omnia: Okay, now that’s funny. Okay, I’m glad I sent it.
Dave: Yeah, it’s kind of like a deeper, uh..
Omnia: No, I totally get it now. Okay. I really hope people don’t actually piss inside. That’s so disrespectful.
Dave: No, no, I don’t think anyone actually does that. But like, I mean, I’ve done some stuff. Like I remember going to a concert, it was a punk show at a DIY space. And for some reason, I have no idea why. But like me and my friends all like left our jackets in a pile in the men’s bathroom.
Omnia: Oh, no.
Dave: It made no sense. Like I was in high school. And luckily all our stuff was fine, but like yeah, I don’t know. People do stupid like reckless shit at like DIY shows and this just reminded me of that, like back in the day.
Omnia: Yeah, well, I don’t know. For some reason when you told me it’s part of The Blair Witch Project, it just clicked with me. I totally get it now.
Cindie: I feel like noise shows get memed so much. I feel like most of the people who make memes about noise shows don’t even go to noise shows like it’s just become code for like, let’s make fun of people who do DIY music.
Omnia: We’re gonna have to talk about noise shows. After our last conversation, I went and just typed noise music. Um, I don’t know. I didn’t like what I heard, the first few ones, but okay. This is actually a good segue. Because it literally sounds like a blender.
Dave: Yeah, this one’s a classic. It was funny someone sent me, um — should we describe the meme?
Cindie: We can. This one has a lot of text. Holiday gift guide: noise musician. Pet rat: found. A musical instrument but it’s a blender. Singular handmade dangly earring of animal bone you found on some railroad tracks. I’m almost completely sure that is Joelle’s own image because she used to have a clothing line of objects that she found on the railroad tracks. Forgiveness for fucking like three of your friends when you fake broke up for a week. On second thought they probably have like 16 of these, literally anything of that this pattern, those cigarette coupons that keep coming in the mail for somebody else that you have saved in a pile for some reason.
Omnia: You can just tell she lived this life. It’s very detailed.
Dave: [laughs] She’s very versed in the culture.
Cindie: This is like really big in Philly.
Dave: Someone sent me a picture of their like recording setup, and they’re like a noise musician. Someone sent it to me today. And it was literally a leaf blower with a mic sticking into it.
Omnia: [laughs]
Cindie: I think that’s so cool. I recently or not recently, like a few months ago, I bought a rim, like a Jeep tire rim to use as a drum. And it’s like it sounds sick. But I can’t find anything that I can consistently use as a drumstick that won’t break.
Omnia: So wait, so then you would use that to make noise music, because that’s just being resourceful.
Cindie: Yeah, I guess that I feel like the thing about noise music is like it’s not really a genre that can be defined because I feel like people just start calling music noise when it stops sounding good to them. But it’s like, you know, you could say anything is noise.
Omnia: That makes sense. Well, okay, so the ones I heard, they just all kind of sounded dubsteppy.
Cindie: Oh, that’s interesting. Have you ever heard Clown Core? Either of y’all.
Dave: I have not. I’m gonna look it up, though.
Omnia: I think I have. It’s kind of dubsteppy, right?
Cindie: I don’t know, it’s like they play — I found out about them because they did like an Adult Swim feature, where they’re playing music inside of a porta potty. Like, there’s these two guys dressed in clown outfits. And they’re both sitting in this porta potty like cramped as hell, but they have like drums, keyboards and stuff in there. And they’re just playing music. And it’s like, it’s very chaotic. But one of the guys he plays a soprano saxophone and he’s so good. Like, I guess he has like a jazz background or something. But it sounds like he’s so skilled. And I don’t know, to me the music sounds good, but it’s very chaotic. It’s like a good intro to that kind of genre.
Omnia: Wait, is the porta potty, is that part of the deal? Of Clown Core?
Cindie: It’s not always, they constantly do shows and like or performances in like a weird space like inside a van or something like they’ll be in a small space. But it’s not always the porta potty.
Dave: For the acoustics.
Cindie: Yeah, it sounds good for sure.
Omnia: I’ll check it out. Okay, we gotta do another meme.
Cindie: Sorry for my Clown Core tangent.
Omnia: No, that was very interesting, I’m glad I asked. I was so attacked by this meme.
Cindie: The pentatonic scale: *exists*. Eighth graders who play guitar: It’s free real real estate.
Omnia: It’s literally all you need though.
Cindie: Okay. Oh, wait, I don’t play guitar. So I’m gonna need someone to explain this one to me.
Omnia: Well, I mean, Dave would probably, it’s just basically a scale of five notes that sound really good together. And you just need to know like, three or four and you can make unlimited music. And it just sounds really good together. And it’s easy to play.
Cindie: That’s really cool.
Dave: It’s just, like, the most basic scale.
Omnia: Don’t call it basic. It’s simple.
Dave: It’s pretty basic.
Omnia: It’s simple…
Dave: I’m just being real.
Omnia: Okay, okay, that’s fine. See, we did feud.
Dave: [laughs]
Omnia: I don’t know. I don’t think it’s basic. I think it’s what — minimalistic?
Dave: Well I mean, let me put it this way. If you’re playing the pentatonic scale with your left hand it’s like, the next note is like where your third finger would fall.
Omnia: I don’t see the problem with that.
Dave: No, there’s no problem.
Omnia: it’s actually a pro. But yeah I guess I’m talking to a real musician now, so. [laughs] On the piano it’s super easy too. I never played guitar but on the piano it’s a dream.
Cindie: I’m just looking at this like how do I learn this skill on guitar so I can start fake playing guitar? Dave, you’re a guitar player right?
Dave: Yeah.
Cindie: How long have you been playing for?
Dave: Oh my god, way too long. I started with classical guitar, actually, when I was like really young. And then I convinced my mom to allow the same classical guitar teacher to teach me electric guitar. But I think I was in like grade like four or five when i started.
Omnia: What was the first cover you learned?
Dave: The first sought like rock song that I learned was Brain Stew by Green Day.
Omnia: Okay!
Cindie: Did you learn that from the teacher or did you teach yourself?
Dave: The teacher taught me that.
Cindie: That’s a cool teacher!
Dave: He was pretty cool honestly. He used to give me like discounted records and stuff like that and like yeah, I don’t know. He’s a good guy.
Cindie: Hey, that’s my meme!
Omnia: Yes, it’s Cindie’s meme. That’s not good art because girls like it. How true is this? Anything that like a lot of like girly girls get excited about is automatically stupid.
Cindie: So true and it’s like there are some things that girls get excited about that actually is stupid but it’s like it’s not one for one you know.
Omnia: Stupider than going hunting? Of course not. Like I feel like the stupid things girls get attached to are so harmless compared to the stupid things that guys get excited about.
Cindie: That’s true I saw a tweet today that was like, why are girls the ones that are demonized for being crazed fans of musicians, have you seen the way that boys will defend their favorite rapper? I guess like, there’s delusional people like everywhere, you know, but this is especially true for music I think. Like a lot of artists who are more popular — as soon as an artist gets a fan base that consists of a lot of teenage girls like they stopped being taken seriously. I put in this meme like in the top right it says like the it’s like a Brockhampton album and like the 1975 album. I’m like, I don’t actually think that either of those are that good but I feel like they’re more made fun of because like a lot of their fan base is teenage girls.
Omnia: I have no reason for hating Tool honestly and to be to be 100% honest I don’t think I’ve ever heard a single song by them yet i feel like roasting them every time they their name comes up. I love this because it escalated very quickly, like it didn’t need to escalate like that. Oh, you’re a Tool fan? Name five tools I can use to fix my parents’ marriage.
Cindie: This is really good.
Omnia: I know! Dave, why do you think people hate Tool so much? Without ever hearing a single song by them?
Dave: Well, I think it’s because… Hm.
Cindie: I feel like the problem is less of it the band and more so with the fan base… There are a lot of racists in the fan base.
Dave: Yeah, I don’t think… I used to be a tool fan in high school, I don’t think that their music or lyrics are like inherently racist at all, I think it’s more that the music, the way that the fans describe the music and why you should like their music is like, always from a technical standpoint like they’re like —
Omnia: Yeah, progressive is the word they use.
Dave: Yeah.
Omnia: Oh, it progresses. Okay, so does life.
Dave: All their music is like, they’ll probably tell you they have an album that’s recorded to like the Fibonacci sequence.
Omnia: Wait, is there?
Dave: Yeah, they have an album that’s like set to that.
Omnia: Wait, that’s kind of cool.
Dave: But like, once you start, say, like, if you show someone some music, and they don’t like it, and then you immediately are like, no, this is why you should like it, it’s like this deeper thing that you’re like, not hearing that you need to know outside of the music. You know what I mean?
Omnia: They want you to understand. Yeah.
Dave: Yeah, yeah. And you want, like, they want the person to, like, see all the reasons why they like it. And if they don’t get it like, then the more polarizing the music is, the harder it is to turn on new fans, I guess.
Omnia: Yeah, I guess I have no reason to hate them. I’ve made a few memes about hating Tool. And I guess announcing now that I’ve never heard a sing song by them. I’m such a poser.
Cindie: They’re so, like, I feel like Tool is one of the most mentioned bands in memes.
Omnia: I think it’s their name too. Tool. Like…
Cindie: Yeah, there’s so many puns you could make with it. Like you’re a Tool fan. You must be a tool.
Omnia: It’s so, yeah, it’s right there. So right now, I think we’re gonna move on to our next segment. Basically, I’m going to ask Cindie and Dave, to backtrack one of their means that they made and tell us how they made it their thought process, why they chose the characters they chose. Okay, who wants to go first y’all?
Cindie: Dave!
Dave: I’ll go first. Yeah.
Omnia: Okay. I chose this one because I felt like it was a little too specific. So I want to hear your story.
Dave: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I just think that there was this mentality that I had, and a lot of people had, a lot of musicians had, that like, okay. I was like, I finally have time to just work on my music and like, get all this done. And then once the reality sat in, of like quarantine and being isolated, it was a lot harder to be creative. And, you know, there were all these like, pretty simple steps that like, people could have taken just to progress as a musician. And like, I found myself playing less and less music as it went on. And, you know, like, yeah, like everything like just seemed kind of lame as well. Like the live stream sets, I couldn’t really, like, get into, a lot of my friends and bands were doing that and I just didn’t see myself doing that.
Omnia: There was a lot of anxiety during that time too. Everybody was just like, yeah, is my family gonna die? You know.
Dave: I ended up just reverting to this, like, okay, like, just take care of yourself and like, make sure like, I’m getting the basics done every day. And like, if I’m creative on top of that, then great.
Omnia: You’ve been pretty consistent on Instagram. So that’s one thing. Even if you haven’t done your music, you kept up with Instagram.
Dave: Oh, yeah, I’ve kind of felt the need to do that just because, like, I lost my job at the beginning of quarantine. So, I was like, okay, I better get to work trying to sell some merch through the shop and like, get these what’s it called, promotion posts going. So yeah, I’ve definitely turned to hustling on Instagram a bit during quarantine.
Omnia: What I kind of wanna ask you about — did you make this template? Because I think you’re, I haven’t seen it. The one with the long leg.
Dave: No, I didn’t make it. I think I sent you, maybe I sent you one that I did make where he’s like turning away from the staircase?
Cindie: [laughs]
Omnia: No, I think this is the one you sent me because I tried to find it everywhere. And finally I just dmed you.
Dave: I did not make this. I think it came from, I think actually I saw it on the Reddit page that you told me about.
Omnia: I love this. I love this nuclear option meme template. i’ve been trying to use it for something but it’s just, nothing is hitting. One day. Cindie do you want to go next?
Cindie: Sure.
Omnia: All right. I think this is probably my favorite meme by you.
Omnia: It’s like, top two top three, and I just love how simple and to the point it is. Art doesn’t have to be edgy to be meaningful.
Cindie: Well I guess thanks for liking this one. I like this too. I guess I feel like it’s very literal. It’s exactly what it says. But I feel like this wouldn’t hit as hard now, but like when I — this was from like 2018 or something, right?
Omnia: Yeah. I remember it hitting really hard, that’s why I remembered it today because yeah, it was needed at the time for sure.
Cindie: Yeah, it was like during a time when everyone — it’s like people were doing the edginess olympics on Instagram. And it’s like alright y’all… Especially in meme pages you know how people try to like compete over how much trauma they have to try to get likes I’m like alright y’all, I thought we’re in this to support each other and shit not like shame people for not having enough trauma.
Omnia: Oh yeah the whole olympics thing, yeah.
Cindie: But I guess I feel like now because of COVID like, you know how people got into at the beginning of COVID people got into like baking their own bread and stuff, I feel like because people could no longer be picky about what they do because you just have to stay inside all the time so it started becoming normal to do non edgy things.
Omnia: It is like, I think earnestness has become more accepted, I guess. You’re right. People just want to live their lives and be happy. And I love your font choice, your color, and your shadows. You know I work so hard on my shadows.
Cindie: Oh my gosh, actually this meme, it wasn’t made in Photoshop, it was made in Phonto App on my phone.
Omnia: You did this with Phonto?
Cindie: Yeah, it’s like, if you pay for Phonto, if you pay 99 cents you get like the 3d text feature where you can warp the text to make it look 3d.
Omnia: I bet that’s only on iPhone because they didn’t show me that.
Cindie: Shit yeah maybe it’s only on iPhone. That sucks but yeah.
Omnia: Their shadow on their like free version, oh my gosh it’s useless. This looks really great. Why did you choose this Pokemon guy?
Cindie: Honestly, I can’t remember. Like at that time I think I just had it like the picture of Pikachu save to my phone because during that time I was really into finding pictures of like N64 era graphics T-posing and I would just like try to find every character like that in this art style. So I just had it saved to my phone. I actually I think I made this in the back of an uber leaving from Jillian’s apartment.
Omnia: Oh, wow.
Cindie: In New York! I definitely made this in New York.
Omnia: I think Pikachu fits.
Dave: Yeah ‘cause Pikachu is a very comforting character.
Cindie: Yes! Y’all ever played the Pokemon games?
Dave: Yeah, I had blue.
Cindie: Nice. I’m like I only played a little bit. You know what I play is that game Pocket Mortys. It’s like Pokemon but it’s Rick and Morty themed on the iOS store.
Dave: [laughs]
Omnia: Oh, is it where like you walk around and stuff?
Cindie: Yes! It’s like pokemon but you play as Rick can you collect Mortys.
Omnia: Oo, I can get into that.
Dave: Oh my god.
Cindie: I can hear the judgment in Dave’s voice.
Dave: [laughs] That’s cool. I don’t know, I should get back into cell phone games. When I got into memeing I just like completely left cell phone games behind.
Cindie: Yeah it’s like, um, what is it. Like running the meme account becomes like the RPG game.
Omnia: That’s crazy.
Cindie: Okay, should we move on to Omnia’s meme?
Omnia: Okay, yes, I’m excited.
Cindie: Okay so i have two that i’m thinking of. One is music related and one isn’t necessarily. I’m just gonna send both of them.
Omnia: Oh, okay. I think I’m going to talk about the shitty rappers one.
Cindie: Okay word. So it’s like that image, a sculpture of someone being dragged by a bird. The person being dragged says shitty rappers and the bird says producers.
Omnia: You know, I think most of my memes, I just see a template on like Reddit or Twitter or something. And then I guess at that time, I was mad at a bunch of rappers. But what I really wanted to say in this meme is I wanted to put producers as the bird and then hip hop in its entirety as the man, because honestly, I think producers just carry the whole genre. That’s my opinion, I’m not a music head.
Cindie: I think that’s very fair, like hip hop producers are, I mean, in my opinion, I guess I think hip hop producers are the best producers just in general. And they’re always like, trying new sounds and like making a sound really good in a way that I don’t think that producers really do and other genres not to be a hater on any other genres, though.
Omnia: I don’t know. So like, with pop music it’s just, you know, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just, I don’t know, it’s just the formula that you put with the lyrics. But with hip hop, like, if the production is bad, I don’t care how good the lyrics are. I’m not gonna hear it. But if the flow is bad, if the lyrics are bad, but the production is good, I can absolutely hear it.
Cindie: I think that’s that’s an interesting take. Oh, go ahead Dave.
Dave: I was just gonna say a lot of people have that opinion about, like, some of J Dilla’s albums, like his production is amazing. And like not to say that the rapping is bad, but it doesn’t really like, hit the same level as the production.
Omnia: I could see that.
Dave: That’s why Donuts is a classic.
Cindie: I’ve used J Dilla samples, like when I make mixes, but that is very true that I’ve only sampled like, the parts that did not have vocals, but I just realized that now.
Omnia: My favorite beat on a song is Explosive by Dr. Dre. But that song is so traumatic to listen to.
Cindie: [laughs]
Dave: I learned that guitar part. It was like one of the first like hip hop guitar parts I ever learned. Like [sings guitar riff].
Omnia: So amazing. But fuck Dr. Dre. I’m saying it. Don’t take it off the recording. Fuck Dr. Dre.
Cindie: What do y’all think about like Scam Rap?
Omnia: What is that?
Cindie: It’s like, like artists like Teejay where they’re all just like, in the song, they’ll tell a story about scamming.
Dave: Oh, I didn’t know that.
Omnia: That’s a genre?
Cindie: I guess it’s like a micro genre.
Omnia: What other similarities besides the the scamming theme?
Cindie: They tend to use like similar beats, like the beats will usually sounds a little retro, like maybe similar to video game music like PS2 era or like even older than that, like 80s beats and stuff. It’s like they’ll use beats that doesn’t really sound like people would rap over them. But it sounds like their delivery is good. It’s like very high level of performance, like vocal performance, I guess, in the delivery of the lyrics, but I don’t know if you would like — it’s like kind of comedic to almost like a parody.
Dave: Who is a scam rapper that I can check out?
Omnia: Yeah, by the way, same.
Cindie: Teejayx6. Listen to his song called Dynamic Duo, featuring Kasher Quon. And also you should listen to the Shittyboyz. They have a song called Game Breaker that’s really good. I can send the link.
Omnia: I’ve heard of the Shittyboyz. I heard about them from you or Fatima, I think.
Cindie: Oh my god. Yeah, we were like obsessed with them for a while because like for a while when they were still in high school, they dropped like a mixtape that’s so good. It’s like lowkey, I don’t think they’re quite as good anymore because they’re trying to be more serious.
Omnia: Oh, that’s a tough transition, but good for them.
Cindie: Yeah, it’s like the lyrics that they write are so good because it’s the kind of like they make the kind of references and like flexes or whatever that only a high schooler would say.
Omnia: I remember hearing a couple of their songs when y’all would post.
Cindie: Shittyboyz forever!
Omnia: What a name though.
Cindie: Yeah, I love musicians who are able to like adopt a comedic persona seriously, if that makes sense. Like, to be a serious artist but to incorporate humor into your act, but still be a serious artist. I think that’s something that I really admire because it’s like the humor really can make people happy.
Omnia: But it can ruin a song real quick. So yeah, I really do admire people who can do it.
Cindie: Yeah, it’s a fine line.
Omnia: Alright, Dave, what do you think of how this went? I thought it was great.
Dave: Yeah! Happy to be on and to chat with you guys.
Omnia: Alright. Where do you sell your merch?
Dave: [laughs] The link in my bio. Where else?
Omnia: Link in bio. @Bandmemes666.
<Outro Music>
