SEARCH FOR: D0LLYWOOD1

“Get Refreshed” is a monthly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here. On Sidia… and Dolly’s Midas Touch I’d like to introduce everyone to the world’s best A&R. You’ve probably never heard her name before, just hear me out. It’s d0llywood1. Yes, this obscure, unheard-of A&R doesn’t work for a major label, nor is she even working in this little thing called the “music industry” whatsoever. She’s actually just like all of you out there – an admirer of modern underground music; a proponent of the future; a real music listener, if you will. Many of your favorite artists working today were originally discovered by her, and just because you’ve never heard her name before, doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate her for this very fact alone. In all seriousness, Dolly is not just the best damn rapper and all-around performer for her age. She’s truly the best A&R who’s not really an A&R. From Lei, to Kyenn, to pretty much everyone in SillyTeam who wasn’t popping before the collective started, she’s co-signed some of the most talented acts in the grander Internet music landscape before practically anyone else did before. Much like being a “Paul …

“Get Refreshed” is a monthly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here. I Don’t Have The Stamina For This Blogging Shit Billy Bugara Hi. I’m back, and this time I brought my friends. So… I feel like this column could use a lot less Me every once in a while. I don’t treat blogging like a sport; I barely even blog at all. But even still, I know damn well that blogging isn’t really where I strive compared to others, and that’s okay! I have to write research papers every day… we are simply not the same. In all seriousness, I do want to explain what’s going on here before we jump into things. I am a person of platforming, a platforming person, if you will (it is my job for SoundCloud, after all). I just really enjoy turning the spotlight towards those who deserve it most. Most of the time – all of the time, really – I’m featuring musicians. But what about turning this spotlight towards other people who like to… spotlight musicians as well? Is this really ever done? Not often! Can it be done? Should it be done? Yes and yes! …

“Get Refreshed” is a monthly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here.  ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yung lean tik tok Okay so, usually (usually) I try and stay out of discourse like this. I did write a pretty lengthy piece nearly a year ago now on the topic of “gatekeeping” for Gum’s Halcyon.txt zine – which should be out sometime soon believe it or not. It sums up my thoughts about the matter pretty abstractly, but I wanted the article to highlight why gatekeeping occurs in the first place, which circumstances its occurrences are valid in, and most centrally here, the ways we can navigate around it. I’m only bringing this up now to say that… honestly… that’s as O P I N I O N A T E D as you’re gonna see me get for a while. And that was a year ago, even; I’ve become even more jaded towards the idea of participating in these types of discussions in any public sphere since then.  That being said, when it comes to the most formative artist of my life, I feel like I HAVE to say something. I recently tweeted out a response to the crowd …

“Get Refreshed” is a weekly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here.  Cover by IllustratorFile Maple: PLASTIC SURGEON If online music’s limitless boundaries were to symbolize any single notion in regards to its own working status, it would have to be the fact that there’s no such thing as “too much” anymore. Today’s online acts are able to freely string together as many genres, scenes, and collaborative showcases as they’d like, and if the product is resounding enough, nuanced enough, or just downright effective as a standalone creation, it becomes yet another contributing piece of evidence to the above belief as it is.  I could go on and on about the pure and utter freedom of the online music world, but that would be pretty damn boring after a while (even that intro paragraph… pretty boring, yeah?). So just like with most, if not all forms of art, it’s always better to show, not tell. And fittingly enough, resident super-producer and all-around musical exhibitionist Maple just dropped an all-encompassing project that does a lengthy amount of showing… 20 tracks worth of showing, that is.  PLASTIC SURGEON is an hour-long romp through just …

“Get Refreshed” is a weekly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here.  Cover by Parent Company doxia: “hopeouttheroof” The level of admiration I have for someone like doxia is unreal. Every single time they come through with a solo offering, the track never fails to get lodged in my head for weeks on end. It’s honestly something about their gripping, yet soothing inflection combined with just how unorthodox their delivery is that does it for me; these two aspects make for some of the catchiest hooks and even verses alike within the digicore scene and beyond. Their greatness, even in all of its unexplainable tendencies, is just so praiseworthy for being how it is.  Their latest release “hopeouttheroof” of course follows suit, because how could it not? It’s another ridiculously catchy single that sees its repetitive hook utilized in all the best ways possible with its infectious nature. This is another example of just how comfortable the trialx12 mainstay is in their own sound, and they have certainly earned the right at this point to settle in with such a consistently effective approach given how incredibly impressive their body of work is …

“Get Refreshed” is a weekly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here.  Cover by Brixton Yorker Ecco2k: “PXE” Before last week, the prevailing notion behind Ecco2k’s inevitable return after 2019’s still-unparalleled E was already set in stone: when it happens, it’s going to be something new, unfounded, and rooted in this magnificent creative’s ever-evolving artistry. And with the surprise release of “PXE” – a brief, 5-track EP with an accompanying short visual by Japanese-based artist Freddy Carrasco  – that’s exactly what we got in every sense of those terms. But based on how dramatic of a departure most of this project is from something as clear and defining as his debut album, we were given an even more nuanced experience than we could have ever asked for.  We certainly weren’t expecting such a clean slate to be presented to us here, but it’s safe to say that we’re better off for it. Ecco himself has dubbed the sounds both heard and felt on this project as “pixie music” — music that conveys something of a “live” atmosphere about it, yet transcends that simplistic description into something completely beyond that scope. It’s music …

As more and more faces begin to make their mark within the rising digicore scene, the cast of sounds, styles, and overall talent never takes a moment to slow down. This outlook has effectively been exemplified as of late by the immense work done by Tropes — perhaps the scene’s most exhilarating breakout talent thus far in 2021. The PlanetZero and Graveem1nd mainstay has spent this year either constructing or contributing to some of its biggest and best hits yet, and it is quite easy to see why considering their commanding vocal presence and natural sense of modern pop cues that have driven their artistry to the heightened point it is at now.  The latest of these smashes has come in the form of “Bemidji” — a collaborative offering with scene veteran d0llywood1. Because Dolly seems to have incredible chemistry with just about anyone and everyone she works with, it makes sense as to why this combination works as well as one would imagine. Tropes is on as blistering of a hot streak as it gets right now, and this is essentially her way of cementing this rise via her own contributions. These two are given the most optimal space …

Though the following statement may sound bizarre to those not yet in the know, the best pop music being made today is coming from paired acts who’s styles differ quite immensely. Today’s alternative pop landscape is less defined by acts who are clinging to tradition, and more so defined by the ones who are doing the absolute most to turn the furthest thing from “traditional” into the norm. Despite their signature styles differing in a variety of ways, that exact sentiment is at least shared in full by both AViT and d0llywood1. These are two of pop music’s most promising rising talents, and it only makes sense that they would attempt to make their styles clash in the most artful manner imaginable. Knowing the unmistakably rich talents that these two both have in their own respective manners, just the prospect of a collaborative effort between them would be enough to solidify it as being incredible.  But if that is not enough, the music does enough to speak on its own — for their track together entitled “All The Time” is a brilliant pop offering that represents everything great about pop music’s collaborative-based current state. These two take that idea to …

10. Typo – Kuru My insecurities with recency bias are unfortunately forcing me to place this song at the bottom of the list, but if I wasn’t so concerned with that it would certainly be placed much higher. Kuru is a prodigy of modern pop music, and though I could’ve picked any number of his singles throughout 2020 for this list, he has never made anything quite like “Typo,” plain and simple. It had to be placed on this list out of respect among anything else. Kuru was able to spin the usually-brash and detail-lacking stylistics of drill music into an atmospheric pop ballad that showcases one of the single best performances from a solely vocal perspective all year. This hook is genuinely unreal — defying all set conventions in order to craft something that will stick in the memories of this entire year as we look back on it in the future. The instrumental carries that exact same demeanor with it as well, just bursting with atmosphere and thematic weight all the same with its soaring synths and aforementioned drill-centric drums. This is a song that is unforgettable in ways that most other tacks couldn’t even comprehend nor at the …

The limitless scope of influence that the current generation of rising musicians hold today is practically defining modern music — or at least the coming setting that this landscape will eventually take shape within. Categorization has been thrown out the window, and in the process, these magnificently talented acts are proving that their immense artistry extends leaps and bounds beyond any given tag or title placed upon them. Two acts who embody this notion to arguably the most vivid extent possible are d0llywood 1 and Wubz — a pair of generational talents that are both at the cusps of superstardom in their own rights respectfully. Both of these figures have made a career out of flaunting their unprecedented artistry over a number of different styles, sounds, and overall artistic avenues with each successive release, all-but-resulting in distinct statuses that could only be found within themselves today. These qualities allow them to practically do anything they would like to in regards to their approach to music; in the case of making a tried and true alternative rock ballad, for example, the two are able to team up with noted producer and artist like in Thislandis to stun and impress beyond the …