#ariography

La La La has become a top favorite for one of my power down playlists. It’s instrumentals are like the soundtrack to my emotions and the lyrics are the poetry of my thoughts. It’s everything I wish I could or would say but can’t. It provides this vulnerable space where I can just be in the moment.  

Now I, in no shape or form know much about the music technicalities in order to describe the song in which I am about to discussed. Fortunately, I’ve been reassured that I don’t need to.  Ari Lennox is a hidden gem of an artist. She’s like a soulful hipster with such a distinctive voice like most underground artists, I’ve come to discover. I almost want to say indie/grunge/popish if that makes sense. What I find so unique about artists like her is that she is a hidden gem of an underground artist. Do you know how exciting it is to discover a hidden treasure?

Anyway, she’s a singer songwriter from Washington, D.C. Ari Lennox is also signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records, in which I am not surprised, surprisingly. Ari Lennox released her debut EP titled Ariography, and then three years later she released her second EP titled Pho last year October. I came across her listening to a playlist a friend of mine shared with me on apple music (s/o to Valorie). Her song La La La off of her second EP was the kick-starter for me and after that it was history.

La La La La is nothing like I’ve heard before. I could compare her to other artists but this track in particular, I can’t place my finger on it. I just know what I feel when I hear it. As I mentioned before I am in not in the business of technicalities, but there’s so much going on in the song without much going. It’s simplicity, I believe caters to the unique sound of her voice. Not to mention there’s this reversed clock ticking sound for a moment, that seems unusual but fits perfectly with the song. It’s the first thing you hear when you listen to the song and then you don’t because it’s followed by some piano chords that seem like they could be from an electric piano but the chords are also very organy. Nonetheless, all of it is just for a moment because then it goes back to her voice and an amped up acoustic guitar, which I believe was paired well considering the crudeness of her voice. There’s a part in the song I like to call a pre-hook or pre-chorus (if you will) that some songs have. It’s a repeated phrase at the end of every verse followed by the chorus. Granted, the beat doesn’t drop until the second verse which is unusual, because for most songs the beat drops at the chorus. 

As we get to the second verse there’s a bass hidden in the background, that I initially mistook for dubstep beat drop but it’s not, though I do believe a dubstep instrument was used for the obvious beat drop and clacking sound. As we reach to chorus the only thing missing now is just the piano. Prior to the ending you’ll find that the beat drops are gone and the only thing left is her voice, the clacking, and the guitar as she (does what most singers do at the end of their songs) sings in a higher range followed by a couple of background ooo’s. It’s almost like the climax, the grandeur act in the song. I guess its okay to note you could tell the layering of her vocals as well. The song ends with just her singing and few notes played by the piano as brings her voice back down. All of it may not seem like much when you hear it, but it has such an effective impact on the quality of the song, outside of her amazing voice. 

I’ll admit I’m more of a vocal/lyrical person. But I can and do appreciate the simplicity of the instrumentals in La La La. It’s magical. It’s simple. It’s mellow. It’s dreamy and it just puts me in a calm soothing space. I would say for most part it is tonal. Her soulful distinctive voice is what keeps the song alive. La La La is one of those songs that allow you to get lost in your thoughts  because you can easily put it in the back of your mind. However, you can’t put it in the back of your mind for too long because it can also demand your attention when you least expect it. I’ll also admit this song also make me emotional. Not just because of the way it sounds but because of the raw emotions that protrude from her voice and  the poetic nature of the lyrics. The overall song just wraps me in tight and captures me in ways that writing it about it only explains how it makes me feel 60% of the time. La La La is a home hitter for me because I can relate to the lyrics and emotions expressed in the song, but that’s the beauty of music. Some people won’t get the lyrics but if I sat here and deciphered every line, it’ll probably be another 500-700 words. Check out the video below 

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