Critics look back at 2023's epic year in music

Transcript

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Lisa Desjardins: 2023 had it all when it came to music record breaking tours, unique songwriting and new artists on the rise. Stephanie Sy looks back at the music that made 2023

Stephanie Sy: 2023 was a year that gave us the post pandemic rebirth of sold out stadium concerts by artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce, as well as the meteoric rise of artists like Noah Kahan and Ice Spice.

The year also shine the spotlight on more controversial issues and music from using AI technology to write songs to artists continued battle for fair pay with music streaming services.

To unpack the year on music, we’ve got Maura Johnston, a freelance music writer and critic and Candice McDuffie, a senior writer at the root. The first question, I want to start with you, Candace, which is did you see any themes stick out in the music of 2023?

Candace McDuffie, Senior Writer, The Root: I think for 2023, there was a big shift that really highlighted the complexity and the fullness of the black experience. We have artists like Janelle Monae exploring sexuality and queerness and a really visual and bold way.

Andre 3000 stepped away from the mic to make a record replay just the flute. And then artists like Killer Mike who explored his identity as a black man in America, who deals with struggles, you know, losing his mother losing his grandmother.

Me to heard these stories before. But I feel like this year it was really just much more unapologetic and much more attention grabbing from these artists.

Maura Johnston, Freelance Music Writer and Critic: I think there was a lot of push for connection between people, certainly the increased visibility and popularity of large scale concerts and even smaller scale ones really helped that.

And also, I think that there were just a lot more songs that were coming from unexpected places, whether it was places outside of the U.S. or even the past.

Miguel, you know, he’s a really great artists super innovative melding genres together. His four albums are some of my favorites of the last 15 years. And TikTok picked up his song Sure Thing and sped it up and turned it into a, you know, a sensation and got him kind of back making music again. So that’s great. It’s a nice success story.

Stephanie Sy: Candace, I’m curious, were there any breakout artists that you would note and any favorite new artists of 2023?

Candace McDuffie: I feel like Sexyy Red. She’s a female hip hop artists had a ridiculous hear the success of Pound Town, the success of SkeeYee and her receiving backlash for being so lewd. Even though male artists and her genre have been doing that for decades. It was a problem as she did it.

So it’s interesting to see her represent her sexual agency with her platform and receive the reception that way that she did.

Stephanie Sy: Maura, what about you any breakout artists that you want to know?

Maura Johnston: Noah Kahan is one for sure. He’s a Vermont singer songwriter. He’s been around for a while, but he had a huge year, also Peso Pluma was a big breakthrough artist. He’s from Mexico. And he was on the first music and Mexican single to crack the top 10 ever. And it’s really you know, bringing together traditional Mexican sounds with ideas borrowed from hip hop and modern R&B.

Stephanie Sy: Were there any other unusual trends that stuck out to either of you in this year as music?

Maura Johnston: I guess for me seeing the American charts kind of becoming more globally influenced. You had Jung Kook and other members of BTS having a lot of success via streaming. You had Tyla from South Africa having a hit with song Water. And those are just a few of the artists that, you know, weren’t just from other countries, but we’re using the music inspired by where they’re from to make the top 10.

And I feel like that’s part of the function of the loss of gatekeepers, and people kind of elevating songs from the bottom up via streaming.

Candace McDuffie: I think it was great to see black women kind of explore, you know, darker themes and their music. SZA’s biggest hit this year was about a revenge fantasy Kill Bill killing her ex-boyfriend.

Doja Cat is dressing up as devil during her shows and paint the town red just seeing this different kind of image we see for black women who aren’t afraid to kind of go to those places that other artists have gone.

Stephanie Sy: When you listen to a song like Kill Bill by SZA or, you know, when you see the sort of sexual brazenness of some of the music videos that came out this year. How does that land with you as a black woman consuming the content?

Candace McDuffie: I love it. I feel like we need to see that representation. We need to kind of explore these places we haven’t previously, need to embrace our fullness when you take risks. If Lady Gaga can wear a meat dress, I mean he says it’d be a character as well so and the dialogue that comes from it and making people uncomfortable. Let’s talk about it. Let’s get into why this resonates.

Stephanie Sy: Maura, what were some of the most interesting music releases you heard.

Maura Johnston: I’d say Chappell Rowan, who released an album called The Rise and Fall of Midwest Princess, which is probably the most fun pop album of the year. And it’s really audacious and daring and very sexual, and it sort of follows her on her journey discovering her sexuality.

I really love Kali Uchis’s Red Moon in Venus, which is just this really gorgeous sounding, thoughtful meditation on love and what it means. Zack Bryan is another artists who had a big year and I thought his self-titled album was great. He kind of brings together Heartland Rock and Americana and Country with a little bit of just like indie rock scrappiness in this really fun way.

And I really love the Paramore album, super spiky, super confrontational, you know, sort of shaving off all of the poppy or parts of their last couple of records and just getting really post punky almost.

Candace McDuffie: I think Victoria Monet’s debut album Jaguar II very powerful, very popular all over social media On My Mama, you cannot escape that song.

Stephanie Sy: I loved that song.

Maura Johnston: So good.

Candace McDuffie: And to see her transition from a songwriter running for artists like Ariana Grande and Black Pink to kind of having her own spotlight showing that she can do this.

She can dance and sing and write songs and have this stage presence that is just really impressive. I think to BoyGenius, the record I got to see them earlier this year at reset. And there was so much acclaim around the record and I was like I’m not going to listen to like whatever and I saw them and I was like, oh, I get it now like yeah, these three women you know, just so really what they do writing songs I didn’t just really tight biting melody.

Candace McDuffie: Just — it was a great record overall.

Stephanie Sy: Last question. What was your favorite song of the year, Candace?

Candace McDuffie: I like Killer Mike’s album Michael a lot this year there’s a song on it called Down by Law with CeeLo Green and it’s very powerful opens the record.

It just catches your attention it’s very grounded his baritone, it’s just embraces you and it kind of set the tone for this exploration of his identity.

Stephanie Sy: Good answer. Maura.

Maura Johnston: I think it has to be Bad Idea Right by Olivia Rodrigo.

I love how she uses the gnarly textures of 90s alt rock to kind of musically encapsulate the sticky feeling she gets from seeing an ex after a long time. I just think that she’s a really great artists that’s you know, obviously hitting my nostalgia sweet spot but at the same time, she’s doing it in a way that feels very natural.

Stephanie Sy: Candace McDuffie and Maura Johnston. What a pleasure to have you. Thank you.

Maura Johnston: Thank you.

Candace McDuffie: Thanks for hanging out with us. It’s so much fun.