Written by Carly Berke – Staff Writer and Sophie Barnes – Staff Writer
Though Beyoncé’s musical stunt left millions of fans bowing down to her once again, the Queen herself is not to be credited for the unique style displayed in her newly released album. She might have left the music industry buzzing after she dropped an unannounced album on iTunes, (complete with a music video to accompany every song), but the idea had been toyed with before. The Queen did not create the unannounced-album-drop tactic, as it was previously used by experimental band Death Grips, who shocked their small yet loyal fan-base a little over a month before Beyoncé did.
Beyoncé’s visual album, titled after her own name, dropped Dec. 13, 2013 without any advertising and left many people impressed. Beyoncé debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts with three-day sales of 617,213 digital copies, which left her with her fifth consecutive number-one album. The album portrays themes of self-empowerment, insecurities of womanhood and depression–all topics with which women of all ages can resonate.
Although the remarkable album deserves much recognition for the talent it exudes, the hype has mostly been around the way in which the album was released. Taking a closer look reveals that Beyoncé was not in fact the first artist to release an album without publicizing it first. Death Grips, an innovative hip-hop group labeled as “experimental”, consists of three men from Sacramento, California who created their band in 2010. At first listen, the band seems to possess a heavy metal or rock quality; but, lead vocalist Stefan Burnett, (also known as MC Ride), is actually rapping to an offbeat jam that is quite unique. From their quirky, pixilated music videos to their loud, rough songs, Death Grips is not a music group that would seem to have anything in common with Beyoncé. But both released an album entirely unannounced, with no marketing or advertising leading up to the drop. Death Grips released its album Government Plates on Nov. 13, 2013 without any notice or forewarning. They also uploaded 11 corresponding music videos to YouTube to accompany their mind-blowing tracks. Sound familiar? Their previous two albums, No Love Deep Web and The Money Store were also both dropped with little warning. These deep, raw songs and abstract meanings have attracted a wide fan base with a number of critics who highly praise their talent.
As a band that uses a photograph of a penis with Sharpie scribbled on it for an album cover, one would not think that Death Grips is as popular or has as large of a fan base as Beyoncé, who practically rules the world as queen of the B-hive. Although Death Grips might go to the extreme, they still incorporate a deeper meaning into their music. It might be challenging to discover a hidden moral within their music, but they are still worthy of respect and recognition within the music industry.
“[The cover] really has to do with acceleration and getting past homophobia–the idea of being okay with yourself no matter what. People should be able to look deeper into something rather than just seeing [a penis],” said drummer Zach Hill to Pitchfork Magazine. “It is also a spiritual thing; it’s fearlessness. People’s hang-ups with sexuality, gender, and nudity—it is similar to how I feel about organized religion. It’s toxic and poisonous to the human mind and the development of humans in the modern world. That is what it represents: pushing past everything that makes people slaves without even knowing it.”
You may not like or be interested in the rambunctious tracks of music made by Death Grips, but credit should be given where credit is due. So feel free to look up to the powerful diva as the amazing artist she is, but do not take her most recent accomplishment into account.
