On A Tuesday with ILOVEMAKONNEN

On a Tuesday, the club rarely bounces. ILOVEMAKONNEN may have blown up mid-week club habits after the Atlanta rapper/singer released "Club Goin' Up On a Tuesday" to minor Internet rumbles last month.

Last week, the current king of major rumbles, Drake, jumped on the Sonny Digital and Metro Boomin’ produced beat. He even adopted ILM's up-an-octave/pushed-to-the-limit flow. Now, the song could be blowing up not just the club, but also Jettas in Jamba Juice parking lots around the country. A surprise, since “Club Goin’ Up On a Tuesday” isn’t like much else out there.

The urban (read: black) club hit currently falls under two major categories.

The TWO MAJOR CATEGORIES

1. Lex Luger's Torture Rack

The first type is loud, brash and unthinking. Lex Luger’s legacy still looms large over the club, even though he hasn’t directly dominated since 2011. His version of crunk on cinematic steroids gave way to countless imitators and then morphed into the EDM sub-genre of Trap, best exemplified by “Turn Down for What,” a joint track between DJ Slink and the godfather of ATL crunk,  Lil Jon, who’s synth simplicity was a major influence on Lex Luger. Ouroboros, or whatever.

Or Whatever

(sidenote: Lex Luger the producer is not the same person as Lex Luger the professional wrestler but muscular could be used to describe both Lex Luger’s beats and Lex Luger’s pects.)

The Best Lex

2. Disco Inferno Ratchet

DJ Mustard’s defines the second type of (increasingly boring) club hit. Ratchet&B and ratchet is basically a sleazier and sexier amalgamations of hyphy and g-funk, usually listened to via a car’s FM radio when one has lost an AUX cord or none of their burnable cds work because They Really Don’t Make Them Like They Used To. Every DJ Mustard beat features snaps, heavy rhythmic breathing or utterances of “Hey”, and g-funk-esque synths, because that’s what they all feature.

(sidenote: DJ Mustard’s real name is Dijon, ain’t have shit to do with this but I just thought I should mention)

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey," as it sexily gasps for air

“Club Goin’ Up On a Tuesday” doesn't rumble or leave sleaze grease stains. The songs synth organs glide then falter as the pitch shifts. The organ is so light that the song floats as high as ILM's melodic yelps. The mood is a sad, lonely celebration. ILM's tone and flow nails this specific feeling. The song doesn’t really feel like anything out there at the moment, or at least it sounds like nothing like club music.

What It Do Sound Like

ILOVEMAKONNEN is the current culmination of Atlanta's string of weirdo rappers. A simplified version of the lineage starts with Lil Wayne (not from Atlanta). Future, who I used to refer to as the Daniel Johnston of rap, has lost the description to ILM. Young Thug screeched in and left everybody at a loss for description. We already used them all. Words become meaningless. Somehow, Young Thug made the meaningless meaningful.

Could ILOVEMAKONNEN take the throne? Possible, but highly unlikely. He has, though, taken the title “Daniel Johnston of Rap” from Future.

For Those Unfamiliar with Daniel Johnston

For those unfamiliar with Daniel Johnston, here is a crash course (for a better explanation, track down The Devil and Daniel Johnston, an amazing documentary):

Johnston is a very troubled but very talented songwriter. He became the darling of the indie rock world after releasing albums featuring great songwriting but a DIY sloppy delivery. His voice couldn't hit all the notes. It squeaked. The instrumentation wasn’t quite there. Daniel Johnston’s music is a charming mess.

All of those words also describe ILOVEMAKONNEN.

But ILOVEMAKONNEN’s unique style recalls more than just Daniel Johnston. It would not be surprising to learn that he listens to a lot of indie rock. Here are some other similarities:

“21st Street” could be the long-awaited collaboration between late-period Modest Mouse and Big Boi.

“I Mix My” could be The National.

But it could be Tuesday. Shouldn’t we all be somewhere, goin’ up? Here's to the weirdos whippin' mid-week pick-me-ups.