Monday, October 28, 2013

Music Monday: Angel Haze

Have you picked out your Halloween costumes yet? Looks I expect to see at parties everywhere is lots of Miley Cyruses (white tank top, sledge hammer) and Macklemores (faux fur jacket, scooter). Their songs, and personalities, have been ubiquitous during the past year. So, they’re a natural zeitgeist-y outfit fix.

Now, I’ve publicly declared by love for both Macklemore’s “Same Love” and Miley’s “Wrecking Ball.” (The latter is harder to admit, still for all her tongue-out silliness that girl can really sing.) But I can always appreciate other artists’ takes on their work. In particular, I’m digging rapper Angel Haze’s covers of both songs.

The 22-year-old rapper is known for her raw and confessional work. She first made people sit up and take notice a year ago with her unabashed reworking of Eminem’s “Cleaning Out My Closet.” In it she discussed her sexual abuse at a young age. (You can hear the track here but be aware, Major Trigger Warning.) And if you think her attack on rape culture was a one-time thing, think again. Just last month she tore into the ridiculously offensive column by Washington Post’s resident troglodyte Richard Cohen who essentially said Miley’s twerking was the reason for the Steubenville rape. Yes, really, he did.

So you’ve gotta love Angel’s feminist feistiness. And you’ll only love more when you hear her powerful covers of “Wrecking Ball” and “Same Love.” The former allows you to enjoy a really good song without the mental image of a naked Miley literally riding a wrecking ball flashing through your head. And the latter allows you to enjoy a really good song without the nagging wish that an actual gay artist was performing the song. Angel labels herself, if she must, as pansexual.

So, please, enjoy. Happy Music Monday, all.




5 comments:

Carmen SanDiego said...

Interesting
Thank you Snarker

FASTTCR said...

Same Love is chillingly great. Wow!

maya said...

OK, first of all, I have to disagree with the "Miley can sing" assessment. But since such things are subjective, I guess give it to you. Now this girl! This girl can sing. Thanks for the tip.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say I threw up a little in my mouth reading Cohen's article. Ugh. Double and triple ugh. Just goes to show you can work for a respectable company and still be an idiot.

Erin O'Riordan said...

I genuinely enjoy several of Miley's songs. She's young yet. As her songwriting matures, I think she'll blow us all away.

My actual favorite thing about Angel Haze is how professional YouTube hater Mark Dice dedicated a video to how evil and Satanic she is. A not-heterosexual woman of color who's having none of your sexist bullshit MUST be of the devil, right? Woman bad if not know her place and go make me sandwich.

Please let Angel Haze blow up and go mainstream, just so we can see the look on straight, cis white men's faces.