Originally, this article was simply about the latest track from artists and producers killedmyself and Taylor Morgan. However, based on the nature of the people behind the track, and the fact that this song is just a taste of a larger project I’d like to review in the future instead, a larger discussion came to mind. And that’s one of image.
When thinking about your favorite artists, what comes to mind? Certainly not visual representations of chorded eight note staccatos, tablature and key signatures. The melody is in your head, yes, but apart from a sense of synesthesia the image that is conjured is most likely of the person behind said music. Suffice it to say, there are probably a few musicians you began to listen to or still listen to simply based on first visual impressions alone. In today’s age of widespread media, image can propel an artist to stardom. Recent trends among breakout artists represent themselves visually. Tattoos and hair seem to be especially tied to this idea, as anybody wearing either feature in an “outlandish” style immediately sets themselves apart, for better or for worse. Spread even further by idol culture, meme culture and genre trends, the look of an artist seems to be more prevalent than ever. And this segues nicely into a guiding question for this discussion.
What is the standard image of a “Soundcloud Rapper”? Young, shirtless, men with surley, tattooed faces? That friend you had in high school that never made it out of your hometown and wears baggy basketball shorts? Skinny, white, youth with multicolored hair? Any number of sources would point to all three of these being the answer, or maybe none, but what’s most important in the context of The 1965 World Cup is that of no image, at least no human one.
Perhaps the only breakout genre to consist of faceless artists is EDM, but at what point does Deadmau5’ mask become his face? Aside from that small caveat you’ll find the line between a pretty face and mainstream success to be fairly thin. And while the tide is changing ever so slightly in said mainstream music, nowhere can it be felt more than the underground. Here, artists are able to completely embrace anonymity in a time where a true sense of such is so scarce.
While certainly not the first to approach music in this way, I distinctly remember being completely enraptured by the idea of nothing,nowhere. and how I couldn’t get a clear photo or name of the artist through a Google search. With his newfound success this has quite obviously changed, but it felt so different at the time. N,N. even actively pairs himself with likeminded individuals, namely media artist and collaborator Fox Beach. Donning a helmet and a hood, the duo stands to represent the power music and vision can have without a face. As nothing,nowhere. has opened up and started doing things such as interviews and articles, he has expressed that this wasn’t necessarily a cognizant choice more than a byproduct of the nature of who has behind the creation. Those early days of the project were something special all the same, and it always is with an artist of that type. Our information addiction raddled brains want that image to attach to a song or a voice desperately. When we’re denied that, it just adds to the mystique. This can be certainly said for featured artist killedmyself. Filling the void of the presence of a face with distinct photography and design, killedmyself’s image extends the need for any body to helm the ship with their visage. Partner Taylor Morgan isn’t quite as enigmatic, but still stands to reason as a creator that doesn’t prioritize their own image in their work.
So what’s the point? Why make a big deal out of this? At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, right? After all we’re talking about music, a medium that by nature cannot be visual. But that’s just it, isn’t it? By cutting out the middleman between music and listener, artists like these demonstrate what’s really important to them in their work. The music itself. Fashion is wonderful and an artists’ look can often enhance the work they create, but resonation sans concrete visualization should be praised and appreciated more often.
And all of that was essentially a lengthy and pretentious introductory narrative for the analysis of a work I wish to look at in the future. With all that being said, I think that you ought to be given the song itself yeah? Here’s The 1965 World Cup, a peppy and bouncy instrumental track from killedmyself and Taylor Morgan. Enjoy.
https://soundcloud.com/killedmyself/the-1965-world-cup-ft-taylor-morgan