Billie Eilish - When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Mulligan Edition)

Alright, so here's the thing, my record collection is getting ridiculous. Proper shelving for this monstrous amalgamation of insanity has to move up to the top of the to do list. That's my problem, though, you have other things to worry about. Like what tonight's album review will be. It could be anything. Well, great news, we're gonna go back to one i sorta glossed over at the time. Took me ages to find it because chronological doesn't mean one-dimensional around here. I have to find the adjacent albums first so i know which non-chronogical crate i shoved that particular batch in. Found it though, now we just have to slog through why. 

So last night i plugged Kid Cudi's album into discogs, and out of nowhere they were like When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is a Trap album. I said whaaaaa? Just like that, whaaaaa? Ok, i guess, yeah, sure, why not? Billie Eilish's sophomore album is Trap. I can squint with the best of 'em. 

I feel like some of you might not have a firm grasp on what Trap actually is. Last night i said heavy bass, tweaker hats, samples, possibly a brrrrat-tat or two, but i'm sure there's some Trve Cvlt Trap Milton out there calling me something or other, so we'll do the Bottle hysterectomy [snap] absolutely wrong choice of word on that one, historyographication of the grenreflection that is Trap. 

K, so early on the only real distinction between Trap and any other kind of Hip-Hop is that it's specifically about the difficulty of managing the work/life balance in a house that acts as a combination manufacturing plant/communal residence/dispensary for free-base cocaine oil that's been air dried as it's extracted from its now separate aqueous layer. Crackhouse i think is the colloquial term for such a place. Last night we heard Kid Cudi remark on the negative aspects of his life as one of a roundtable of Rockstar Knights, remember? 

Musically though, as diverse as Trap has become today, i think it's fair to say that all the recipes are built on only 2 necessary ingredients. No cayenne pepper (that's Jesse's schtick from Breaking Bad, Bottle. Shut up, Milton, meth, crack, it's all bad news) or deworming powder for us purists. Tweaker hats, that's numero uno, but the real distinction is taking the fattest 808 kick your fidgeting fingers can dial in and extending it out to ridiculous proportions so you can sample it to use as an actual bass line. Before you get all sensitive about it, can we all just agree that crack is in fact wack? Guilty as charged, i don't think we should send drug addicts to prison, i think we should help them not be drug addicts anymore in whatever way seems most effective. I personally think giving them meaningful employment is a great way to start. I said giving, not making them compete for it, for any Libertardians watching. 

I'm getting off track. 808s & Heartbreak was our topic, but more specifically if a Billie Eilish album qualifies. 

The bass on Bad Guy is definitely fat, but it's not an 808. Now, the outro is definitely more like it. xanny? Ok, it has the bass, but the full drums make it more Jazz-Pop than Hip-Hop. Xanax is essentially the exact opposite of Crack, so i guess we can move on. Ok, i can't pretend, You Should See Me In A Crown is Trap, straight up, no question. 

Hold up, dud i just firget or ignore how Trap this album is? I must have. But it's interspersed with what i can't disagree is jazzy indie-pop. Is it one or the other, or both? Does it matter when it's a fucking great album? I don't know. I mean, if Taylor Swift's Reputation is mostly Trap, then it should go without saying that this is way better than that. Are we really going to compare this to a Gucci Mane or T.I. album, though? DJ Screw? Then again, why not? Cudi went to the moon to escape the trap, so Eil8sh not wanting to spend her life on anti-depressents even though she's home wrecking  while desperately wishing the boyfriend who doesn't pay attention to her is gay so she doesn't feel like a trophy he doesn't care about winning. 

Which reminds me, does this qualify as great half-assed singing? I think so, it's emotionally apropos. So was Cudi, in the same appropriately emotional bewildered inside framework. 

Fascinating.