Shamir on fascinations & phenomena
The majestic & mighty Shamir; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Prolific pop phenomenon and Philly-based artist Shamir has long been regarded at the Week in Pop offices as one of the greatest visionaries and aesthetes of all time. An icon that has continued to defy any restrictive construct of convention; Shamir Bailey's unrivaled echelon of hyper reinventions challenges the institutional designer textiles of genre to spin fierce new hyper-pop fabrics through the spools of futuristic spinning wheels. Shamir's self-titled proved to be one of the greatest things to happen in 2020, a brilliant blooming bouquet of stylistic achievement fashioned in a obsessively clever compendium and cluster of hooks galore.
Shamir upends the vanity veil aesthetic of every buzz-band you have been bombarded with from over the past 20+ years with the opener “On My Own”, to the heavy guitar ode to mental states of being / health / human experience that rocks like a 60s novelty 45 "Paranoia", right before the re-writing the sophisti-pop rule books on the glorious new romanticism anthem "Running". Rolling down the old town country roads to take on the Grand Ole Opry is the CMT-ready rocker "Other Side", as the genius of "Pretty When I'm Sad" possibly makes the short list as one of the greatest pop songs made in the past 40 years (catchy, emotional, relationship drama, human) and keeps the hits coming with the top of the charts razor sharpened recipe "Diet". The single "I Wonder" emulates your favorite cult hero in a slow burning mantra of wide eyed theatrics, right before Shamir casts the audience outward into a baroque orchestral oblivion with the magnificent “In This Hole”, that entertains the very epistemologies of existence. An ambitious album that stuns at every corner with succinct humorous interludes (“Junglepussy Juice”, “River is About to Die in this Garage”, “There We Go”) sprinkled in the cycle — Shamir’s self-titled stands as a monumental record that deals in the arts of comfort, commiseration, a sense of companionship and more in skillfully crafted production.
Joining us after the jump; Shamir offers up some exclusive items and insights of interest, curiosity and more:
Objects of obsession, desire & interest by Shamir
The always iconic Shamir; press photo via Facebook.
Siblings or Dating Instagram:
This Instagram has challenged my sanity. I personally would like to know the sick person who created this vile abomination so I can walk up to then and…. Thank them. This Instagram is the exact level and brand of chaos I live for. It is the exact definition of chaotic neutral. The page is interactive, making a poll via their story where the followers can vote on if the two people pictured are siblings or dating, and the results and answer is posted on the grid. Thank you siblings or dating for the mini spirals you send me on every week.
“Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo
It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited by a new pop girl, specially one that came from Disney no less. There has been so much hoopla around this song in such a short period of time that it’s become this entity, or less of a song and more of a lore, which I find a shame because all the drama, haters, and immaturity aside, this is a perfect song. It’s one of the most well crafted songs I have heard in a while. It is immaculately produced and I haven’t been shook by a song like this since when “Royals” by Lorde came out. Olivia’s future is bright as fuck and I’m so excited to see it!
The thousands of styles & sensibilities of Shamir; press photo via Bandcamp.
Tik Tok
I broke down and made a Tik Tok this week and it’s extremely overwhelming. It’s not a social media app, it’s a content hub that pretends to be a social media app. It’s more akin to YouTube than Twitter if you know what I mean, which is where I feel a little duped. Keeping this up is gonna require work. I can’t just type out a bullshit thought like on Twitter, or throw up a cute single selfie like on Instagram, I gotta make a well rounded piece of content. Not to mention every account seems to have their own niche thing as well, so now I’m wondering if I should find a lane myself, or just post a bunch of shit that might not correlate… We’ll see, in the meantime follow me I guess @shamirbailey
“Frenemies” podcast
Trisha Paytas is my Achilles heel. She is a complete enigma. Before she joined the H3 family for this podcast, I think most people thought she was a complete attention seeking troll and in many ways she is, but I was always pretty sure that for the most part we were witnessing mental illness. Before this podcast I had completely rid myself of Trish Paytas, I didn’t even consume her content in passing…she was becoming too much and too problematic for me to justify supporting her and truth be told I still can’t and don’t, which is why I feel weird writing about this podcast. But It would be dishonest of me to not include it because it has been a big part of my consumption these days I’m afraid.. “Frenemies” podcast has been the one arena where we have got to see Trisha Paytas as Trisha Paytas, the good, the bad, and the borderline personality disorder, and I think this kind of openness is important from someone like her. She’s kind of an accidental villain. Is she toxic? Yes! But is she a conniving mastermind? I don’t know, I’m more inclined to say she’s just mentally ill and frankly not too bright… and I’m not saying because of this she’s absolved from all the toxic shit she’s done, nor do I think she is someone who necessarily deserves a platform of her size, but if Trisha Paytas must be consumed, I much prefer it being her living her truth on this podcast, and judging by the popularity of it I’m not the only one.
100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell
I was blessed with an advanced copy of 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell, a writer and musician I was not made aware of until I received this book, which frankly is a damn shame. We seem to be kindred spirits in so many ways and I find this book and his writing so refreshing. It’s no secret I’m a Chelsea Handler stan and this book definitely reminds me of My Horizontal Life (one of my absolute favorite books) but from a black queer perspective and honestly it feels specifically made for my satisfaction and can not wait to dig into his other works. I highly recommend this book if you wanna laugh, cry, and even a healthy dose of cringe.
Shamir’s self-titled is available now via Bandcamp and everywhere.