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Half Waif on How Driving, Mother Figures, Sibylle Baier, and More Inspired Her New Album ‘See You at the Maypole’

Mythopoetics, the remarkable record Nandi Rose released as Half Waif in 2019, wove together stories from her life and family, contending with ideas of legacy and aging in grand, sweeping fashion. It’s so densely packed that listening to the album now feels almost like revisiting a greatest hits collection; I remember hearing many of its songs for the first time as if it were yesterday. But a single glance at material collected on Half Waif’s brand new LP, the 17-track See You at the Maypole, is a stark reminder of the violent and miraculous passage of time, just how much a few years contain. Rose made the record in the midst, or the edges, of immense personal turmoil: she found out she was pregnant in the summer of 2021, then endured a miscarriage that December, followed by months of medical complications. Working with co-producer Zubin Hensler, Rose hangs onto the music to capture the cosmic tide of anticipation, the magnitude of hurt and exhaustion, the hunger for a road ahead, the sounds of rejoicing in beauty and community, all swirling into one. It’s the kind of album we tend to call an emotional triumph, but it’s also a marvel of attention: to Rose’s immediate surroundings, to her stream of consciousness, to the particular cadence and melodic potential of words, to the textures and colour in music and beyond. It’s in this transformative wavelength Rose hopes we can all meet: feet firm on the ground, head up to taste the sky, moving on.

We caught up with Half Waif to talk about some of the inspirations behind See You at the Maypole, including driving, Sibylle Baier, mother figures, Sufjan Stevens’ The Age of Adz, and more.


Driving

Driving is referenced throughout the album, but the song that stands out most is ‘I-90’. It combines a lot of what driving signifies on the album – searching, loss, freedom, sunset hunting. Tell me what it brings up for you.

For a while, I lived in New York City, and I toured a lot in the 2010s, coming up as a band. At that point, I actually really didn’t like driving, so I had my bandmates drive. To this day, I still don’t drive in New York City. But driving where I live now, in upstate New York – I live less than an hour from where I grew up in Western Massachusetts, so these kinds of roads, this landscape, it’s so familiar to me. When I learned to drive, I was driving these kinds of roads – small county roads, county highways – which is so different from getting on a big open highway, which I’ll get to about I-90. I was doing a lot of driving that winter around country roads near my house, listening to music, but I also came up with this technique that I ended up using a lot on the record – not that this is an innovative technique, but it was new to me – which is to record voice memos. Sometimes I would sing, but sometimes I would just speak. A couple songs on the album, like ‘Shirtsleeves’, have voice memos in them. But ‘Sunset Hunting’ actually started as a completely spoken voice memo. I got in the car, turned on the voice memo on, and just started narrating. I later went back and added a melody and chords to that.

‘I-90’ also began as a voice memo. That whole end section – “driving into purple twilight” – was me improvising and them transcribing it to the chords of that song. You mentioned freedom – it’s funny, I hadn’t thought of it that way, but there’s a certain amount of freedom you have in the container of your car, to sing and try things out. And I never really thought to press record before and capture those moments. But it became a way to ground myself in the moment and describe my surroundings and what was happening. The end section of ‘I-90’ is just me singing about, yeah, driving into purple twilight, and there’s a truck, a sunset, white lines on the road, green trees – it was really just narrating as a way to put a stake in the ground at a time in my life where it felt like things were getting away from me.

My life had taken a detour. It looked so different than I thought it was going to look. I just had a miscarriage out of nowhere with no signs or symptoms. My body was not recovering, I was not moving on, I was very stuck in this physical vessel. And so, to get in the car and feel that sense of motion, and then be able to ground myself in a moment that felt so difficult to be in, but I was forcing myself to be there – to say,  “Okay, this what’s happening, this is what I see,” and, “There is motion, even if I don’t feel it in my body,” because I was moving forward in the car. I think that was a way to give myself something that I was lacking. And it’s really cool that these songs were born out of this very specific way of writing.

More specifically, you mentioned sunset hunting, and that was almost a spiritual practice I developed during that time. I literally felt like I was hunting something – I was hungry for it. I needed to feed off this phenomenon that happened every night and that I couldn’t see at my house, there’s too many trees surrounding us. So I had to get in the car and physically go find them. It was a way of, first of all, bringing color into my life at a very colourless time. It was winter, not a lot of colour in the landscape, my life felt very bleak. I needed to see this glorious display in the sky. I needed a reminder that there was still motion, change, and transformation cycles, even when I felt like I wasn’t moving forward. And just wanting to find beauty. The winter is a brutal time – where I live, there’s not a lot of easily accessible beauty. You kind of have to go and find it, because I didn’t love my life. I didn’t like what it looked like. But I knew that I wanted to get back to the land of the living in a sort of sense – driving, getting in the car, fed into that idea.

I love this idea of motion as being grounding – at the same time, I’m thinking of another line from ‘Sunset Hunting’, about how getting in the car can also be a reminder that the world just goes on without us. Maybe you go out and find beauty, but you may also get the sense that the world is spinning at a rate that you can’t keep up with.

Absolutely. At that moment, I just felt like I had dropped out of the world. I think when we go through times of personal turmoil or crisis or catastrophe, you just feel you’ve been chucked out of orbit. And you’re like, “Wait a minute, everyone is going about their lives, and it’s all happening, and I’m not a part of it anymore.” That’s what that line is about: “I’m going sunset hunting, I can’t stand the thought that the world is going on without me.” And again, that was a narration. I don’t know if you’ve ever done morning pages from The Artist’s Way, but it sort of felt like that process of: you can just say anything, and you don’t have to use it, but it was interesting, the things that came up when I just allowed myself to talk to myself and recorded that.

I did want to briefly mention ‘I-90’, because I think that’s an interesting one where, I was driving on this major highway – I don’t love driving on the highway, and there’s something sort of terrifying about it where you’re facing your own mortality. That song is a lot about aging and facing what’s ahead for us – the “explosion on the road ahead” that we’re all sort of moving towards. So I think that song has this ominous undercurrent. I actually hadn’t put it together before, but it’s interesting that that’s the one that’s the highway song, and the other driving songs were these barren country roads. I think that feeling got transmuted into that song as well.

Sufjan Stevens’ The Age of Adz

Musically, the density and scope of the album seems to be a reference pointon See You at the Maypole.

Spot on. [laughs] I’m definitely a Sufjan fan, but I hadn’t heard Age of Adz. I don’t know how I missed that era. During one of my recording sessions in Brooklyn with Zubin Hensler, my dear friend and co-producer, who was very much at the heart of this entire album, he brought that album up. I believe it was in reference to – I actually think it might have been ‘I-90’, but specifically talking about how to bring sounds forward in moments of density. You said the word “density,” and that’s exactly what it was. He was like, “Well, you should hear this Sufjan record.” I’m relating it to us getting on a Revel, one of those mopeds you can rent around the city –  I don’t live in the city anymore, so I don’t know, but I think it’s called Revel. [laughs] Zubin and I got on one, driving through the night streets, and I think he had just told me about this record.

In any case, it was a big light bulb moment for both of us, to build a reference of music that was built around songs — I mean, he’s a songwriter, very clearly and very brilliantly, but he’s also so interested in textural arrangements. I think I’ve felt a little self-conscious in the past about how drawn I am to density, and maybe in the past didn’t have as much skill to carve around it. In general, with this, Zubin and I were trying to pare down the arrangements, but in moments where we wanted a mix of synths and chamber instruments, Age of Adz provided a really helpful reference. It’s hard to find exact references for what you’re working on, but when you do, it’s like such a beacon to be like, “Ah, someone has done this!” Because so often when you’re in the studio, you’re fumbling around in the dark and trying to put words to ideas and trying to put words to ideas about sound – it needs new language. I think Zubin and I have come up with a really good working language where we get each other, but in those moments when we’re struggling to find a way forward, pulling in a reference like that is so helpful. That was a big turning point specifically in the production for both of us.

I’m also thinking about it from a lyrical standpoint, in the sense that that album saw him leaning more heavily toward personal themes. I don’t know if you thought about this in relation to See You at the Maypole, but there is a different level of exposure and intensity that you allow for, too.

That’s another thing that I really admire Sufjan Stevens for, is that he has historically – and I love Javelin, his new record, too – mined these intense personal moments and infused them with a shot of joy and celebration. There are moments that feel ecstatic on all of his records, particularly the newer ones, where you just feel your body want to abandon, surrender – almost religious in the way that it feels ecstatic. Certainly spiritual.

For me, with this experience of miscarriage, and then my mother-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a month later, it was just like thunderheads of intensity. Experiencing this kind of grief was – [laughs] I was going to say it was almost joyful, but I don’t think that’s the right word. There’s a feeling of moving through grief –  when you go so deep into that place of soul annihilation, you connect more deeply with the world. When I went through this experience, I felt like I understood this vibration of humanity in a way that I was not attuned to before. I think that’s where the celebratory piece comes from, this is just part of the human experience, and I see you. I see you in that. I understand you more deeply, and we can connect in this place. That’s the idea of See You at the Maypole: I’ll see you there, my friend. We’re all going to be there, dancing out our demons and calling in springtime after this really intense winter. We’ll all be there together.

I think that specifically was something I wanted to do with this record. I always try to inject a feeling of hope into the music, but I really felt it in this experience. I felt both devastating grief and isolation, and then on the other side of it, total connection and resilience within community. There’s a Glennon Doyle quote that I keep coming back to in regards to this, and it’s something like, “I entered this ache alone, and on the other side, I found everybody else.” That was how I felt and how I wanted the music to feel. So, we had a lot of players come in, a lot of different sounds, and much more live instrumentation. Getting back to Sufjan, I think that is a real hallmark of his music. You hear Carrie & Lowell – talk about the most gutting material, and there’s a lot of shimmering beauty and uplifting feeling even in that most devastating moment. I love that about his music.

Alexander Chee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

This was a book that I was reading when I first went away to really consciously start crafting a new body of work, which became See You at the Maypole. At the end of August 2021, I went to a cabin that my husband’s family owns in the Catskills. So I went on my own little writing retreat, and I had never been there alone before. It was a really amazing experience. It was a little scary; it’s like out in the woods, and I would hear all these animals calling at night, just waiting for the morning. [laughs] But my days were just overflowing with ideas. It’s where I wrote ‘King of Tides’, ‘I-90’, and ‘Heartwood’, all within that three-day writing session. I’d take breaks from writing, and I would go and read Alexander Chee, so I feel like the essence of his writing and some of his themes wove their way in, whether consciously or not.

Specifically, I remember there’s an essay about Tarot and his experience of coming to Tarot, and it was something I was thinking about a lot at the time. I was really looking for signs. I was very open-hearted, like, “Bring my universe closer,” the line from ‘King of Tides’. I was right at the precipice of my journey to motherhood. I knew when I got back from the cabin, I was taking out my IUD, and that was the beginning of this journey. A month later, I was pregnant. It just felt like this time of reading the world for these clues and signs. I really had my ear to the ground – my future calling to me, I felt it. I felt the future calling. I think he was talking about king tides, which are like these extremely high tides. And then I was working on this song, and I called it ‘King of Tides’ because it sounded like a Tarot card. And right before my trip, I had gotten this Vedic astrology reading from a friend of mine, and he told me my moon was in my ninth house, and I didn’t even know what that meant. But I was like, “In the time of the Tarot, the ninth house moon,” which is how the beginning of ‘King of Tides’ goes.

So that was directly related to that song, but more generally, this idea of peering into the future and it’s all swirling with mist, but you’re looking so intently ahead, just wanting to know what’s going to happen. And of course, I had no idea. We can’t know. I had no idea that that record, which I thought was going to be this… I mean, that song, “Bring my universe closer,” I felt like I was at the threshold of something so sweet and magnanimous and magnificent. I was about to be a mother, and then it was totally taken away in this very brutal and visceral way, and I went on such a journey throughout the next year until I conceived again. So we can’t know what’s ahead, but that was a time in my life where I felt hopeful about the future, perhaps naively so. But anything that would tell my future, I was eating up.

Harmonizing speech videos on YouTube

Quite different from everything else we’ve been talking about.

[laughs] Yes.

But seeing that listed, I can hear the influence on songs like ‘Shirtsleeves’  and ‘Heartwood’. What took you down that rabbit hole?

I’m happy to talk about this, also because obviously, there’s a certain amount of seriousness and gravity to a lot of my work and a lot of what I write about, and certainly the material that inspired this album. It’s heavy. But there’s also a lot of play and experimentation in writing music and creating albums. I just absolutely adore the process, and I think I will do it for the rest of my life, no matter if anyone will hear it or not. Writing those songs is so integral to my being and the way I process the world, but it’s also crucial that there’s this lightness to it as well. I need that in the process, so it’s not just like ringing my heart out at the piano, you know? There is a lot of levity and joy in the process of writing, and this was part of it, this technique that I was exploring on a few songs.

I think ‘Shirtsleeves’ was the first one that I did it on, but it very much came from – I hadn’t watched these in a while, but I was remembering that as a category of YouTube videos that people would do with these memes like, “Oh, my God! A double rainbow!” And you go, [harmonizing] “Oh, my God! A double rainbow!” Following the cadence with melody is such a fascinating technique, and as a vocalist and someone who thinks of voice as my primary instrument, it really unlocked this new way of thinking about creating rhythm. I actually made a video for Ableton’s series One Thing, where I talked about this exact process of taking spoken word and creating a melody over it. It’s slightly different, because that’s how you create a melody from spoken word – this is actually just harmonizing the spoken word, keeping the spoken word, but the same seeds of the idea. But I think it sounds really cool. I think it’s fascinating to hear the voice in a really familiar way of talking and the familiar speech patterns, but then refracting it through melody and harmony feels like a prism on the words.

I saw that Ableton clip, and it got me thinking about how you conceptualize the relationship between poetry and melody. Like you said, in the video, it’s more about turning words into melody, but with this technique and the album more generally, it seems like you’re drawn to the malleability of spoken word itself; you’re playing with that middle space between spoken word and melody.

Yeah, I think that’s absolutely right. I like that idea of there being this middle space that neither one can quite get at, so when you bring them together, you kind of get both. And that is something in general I was doing more on this record, writing from poems and from pre-existing words. My process with writing lyrics historically has been a lot of stream of consciousness, things just kind of come out, and I’ll edit some of it. But sometimes it’s really impossible to edit whatever came out, and you just end up leaving it, but maybe it’s not quite what you want to say. So I liked having a bit more control over the messaging and just how I wanted to convey it. ‘Velvet Coil’ and ‘Heartwood’ were complete poems that then became songs, and I feel like I was able to explore language in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to if I was singing as I said the words. So, I think you’re right that these ways of using the voice get at different things, and thus, there’s something even exponential that occurs when you bring the two together.

Mother Figures

I thought I was going to be a mother in a very specific way at the start of this record. That year of writing, until I did get pregnant again, was in part a journey to open myself up to other ways of mothering and broaden the definition of mother, because I was denied access to the very specific familiar notion of motherhood. I felt like I was denied. It was like, “Nope. This is not for you.” And then I couldn’t get pregnant again for a while, and it was maddening and heartbreaking. There are so many people who are living in the land of denied access to motherhood, to parenthood, and it can be a deeply painful space to be in.

Part of what I wanted to talk about is broadening the definition of mothering and coming to find how I could exist as a mother even when I wasn’t, physically, a mother yet. I think part of that was a conversation that I had with a good friend of mine where we were talking about the idea that creative collaboration is sort of inherently a mothering space, because when you become a mother, you decentralize yourself as the main figure. You’re subsumed by this other being, and you of open yourself up. You dismantle the ego, and you open yourself up to new energy. And that’s what the creative process is like, also. When you open the doors onto your work and you bring other people in, that’s a form of mothering. In creating this record with Zubin and with all of these players, it felt like a really mothering space. In that way, I felt like I was a mother. I was decentralized as the person who wrote a lot of these songs and my story, and it became less about that and more about what we were creating together. But then I also felt very mothered by the process. It was very nurturing, especially working with Zubin in that little room. It was this very dark, warm, small space. It was really womb-like, honestly.

And then, of course, Mother Earth and Mother Nature became sort of my ultimate mother, and where I came back home and found a lot of guidance and solace and inspiration in nature. I would go for walks almost every day all through the winter. I hate the cold; I absolutely hate the cold, and I forced myself to get outside and walk just to – again, I didn’t want the world to be going on without me. But nature and this land became such a mother to me in that time. Watching my beloved mother-in-law go through this really intense illness, and not know if she was going to survive the year. She’s still with us today, which is incredible. She’s beaten the odds. She still has stage 4 pancreatic cancer, but she is just showing such incredible resilience.

That was another piece that I wanted to touch on – looking at these mother figures in my life. My own mother had just finished a year of chemo for breast cancer. She had a mastectomy, so I’ve got my mother and my mother-in-law going through these illnesses, and then me going through this miscarriage, and then the land going through its own devastation with climate change. Looking at the flora and fauna where I live, and not knowing if it was going to be here when I did become a mother, and would my child know this land? Just looking at these mother figures that were all very wounded and yet so resilient through it all – that was an underpinning of spiritual inspiration. How do I get through this? They were modeling it for me.

And you become a part of it, that lineage. The “I” becomes “we.”

Yes. And thinking about generations and legacy – there was a feeling of history in this album, too. I don’t know whether that’s palpable or not, but I just remember when I wrote that song, ‘Mother Tongue’, I was in Wyoming. The geology out there is so rich, and you feel just surrounded by time; you can see it in all the layers of the rocks. They’re so ancient. I felt just like such a part of this lineage; even if I wasn’t a mother yet, you feel held by what’s come before. And I felt held by all the mothers before me.

Sibylle Baier

She’s one of my favorite artists, but I realize I’ve never actually said her name out loud.

It’s pronounced “Sibylla,” which, I’ll tell you why I know that.

YouTube betrayed me, then, because I looked up the pronunciation – it was one of those “How to pronounce…” videos.

Yup. [laughs] I thought it was “Sibylle” too, but that’s the traditional pronunciation, I think.

What drew you to her music and her story?

That fall when I was writing in 2021, a friend of mine came to visit to take some photos and hang out, and he was the one who played me that record, Colour Green. I think he just played me ‘Forget About’, and then I went and listened to the whole album. But I was just immediately stunned. It’s one of those songs that you hear and you remember exactly where you were. I remember exactly where we were. We were actually driving down my road, and there’s tons of goldenrod everywhere – it’s that time of year, early September. And I was just so struck by the rawness of her singing and the recording. It’s just so of a moment – you put a microphone in a room and forget about it. It felt very bold to record music that way, to release music that way and not dress it up. Here I am making this very produced music, and I was bowled over by how much was conveyed with how few tools.

It was something Zubin and I came back to a lot through recording, the idea of really recording performances as much as possible – not comping and editing together a bunch of takes, but letting things be a performance, letting things have little moments of imperfection. ‘Sunset Hunting’ was a full take of me singing and playing piano. We tracked ‘The Museum’ live with the band, though I did record the vocal after. A lot of the vocals on the record are scratch tracks or demos that never got re-recorded. I talked about this with driving and doing voice memos –  capturing the moment – and that got translated to the recording process. I can trace it back to the moment of hearing that first Sibylle Baier song and being like, “This is it. This is everything.”

And then learning about her story, which is, I believe it was her son who found these recordings of hers years and years later and released it. So there was just no ego at all, and that was also just such a beautiful part of the story. How much those songs nurtured me, and how giving she was, ultimately, of herself without even trying. And I know a lot of people feel that way.

In a really magical twist of fate, after my miscarriage – I had this really bad recovery, which we don’t have to go into because it’s a long story. But I just didn’t really get proper care and had a lot of medical complications and sought out other kinds of healers because Western medicine failed me in that experience. One of the people I went to was a friend of my mom’s, who’s a sound healer. She does something called acutonics, which is like moving the body’s energy and vibrating the water in your cells through gongs, chimes, and tuning forks. I had a really amazing session with her that felt really transformative. And it turns out she was married to Sibylle Baier’s son. They’re no longer together, but Sibylle Baier was her mother-in-law.

No way.

I actually just saw this woman the other day because she’s a really good friend of my mom’s, and I told her that I was going to be doing this interview and talking about Sibylle, and she’s like, “Oh, we should go see her! She lives nearby, we should go, and you should tell her how much that record meant to you.” So we’re going to set up a meeting, which is going to be so incredible. I’m talking about going into this time of my life looking for signs and trying to bring the universe closer to me, and… this happened. That felt like a big wink from the universe.

Thich Nhat Hahn

My dad actually studied with Thich Nhat Hahn at Plum Village, his monastery in France. But he’s been this figure in my life. We had a quote of his up on the wall growing up: “You have arrived. You are home.” So his presence sort of seeped down into me as a child and growing up. He passed away the day after my mother-in-law got her cancer diagnosis at the end of January 2022. I remember sitting in this parking lot reading that; the rain was hitting the windshield as I was reading about his passing, and remembering this story my dad had told me about one of his experiences with Thich Nhat Hanh at Plum Village, when he came upon him talking to this group of schoolchildren. He was teaching them these ideas of continuation: there is no birth, there is no death, things just continue on. He’s like, “I’m gonna burn this piece of paper, what happens to it?” And it becomes smoke. The kids are like, “Oh, it became smoke.” And then he’s like, “Yeah, and then the smoke is going to go up into the sky. So if it rains later and the rain falls on you, you could say like, ‘Hello, little piece of paper,’ because you know that that paper became the smoke that became the clouds that became the rain.”

I love that story. It’s such a simple idea, it’s told to school kids, but it contains so many seeds of wisdom. So in that moment when I was reckoning with, “Oh my gosh, this person who I love so deeply is maybe going to leave us in a matter of months,” it was almost like Thich Nhat Hanh’s passing within 24 hours was like… I don’t believe that this was a message for me, but I did take a message from it. The timing of it was pretty remarkable, and it raining in that moment, I was like, even in his passing, he’s giving me his teaching. At that point, I was reading a lot of quotes of his while I was writing, so his words are actually woven into a number of songs on the record. We’re talking about forms becoming interwoven into other things; I can see this direct line of a tiny, tiny piece of his magnificent spirit becoming part of this music.


This interview hs been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Half Waif’s See You at the Maypole is out now via ANTI-.

Hinds Release New Song ‘Bats’

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Hinds have shared a new single, ‘Bats’, which serves as a bonus track to their latest album VIVA HINDS. Check it out below.

“We wrote ‘BATS’ the week after watching ANOTHER ROUND (DRUK) in the movies,” the band explained in a press release. “we couldn’t stop thinking about it, especially the last scene where Mad Mikkelsen starts dancing frenetically until he jumps fully dressed to the water. ‘BATS’ is accepting everything is blurry and confusing. in spanish and in english. it’s a dance with your darkest thoughts. a dance with your ugliest demons.”

LISA Shares New Single ‘Moonlit Floor’

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LISA has dropped a new solo single, ‘Moonlit Floor’. The Blackpink singer debuted the track, which interpolates Sixpence None the Richer’s 1998 hit ‘Kiss Me’, during her headline performance at the Global Citizen Festival in NYC last month. It follows herJune single ‘Rockstar’ and the Rosalía collab ‘New Woman’. Give it a listen below.

Machine Girl Release New Single ‘Psychic Attack’

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Machine Girl have dropped ‘Psychic Attack’, the final advance single from their upcoming full-length MG Ultra. It follows previous offerings ‘Motherfather’ and ‘Until I Die’. Check it out below.

MG Ultra is set for release on October 18 via Future Classic.

 

Does Delta-8 THC Make You Hungry? Here’s the Scoop!

So, you’ve heard about Delta-8 THC, and you’re wondering, does it make you hungry? You’re not alone in asking. Let’s dive right into it without beating around the bush: yes, Delta-8 can make you feel hungry, but it’s not as intense as the infamous “munchies” people get from Delta-9 THC. Let’s break it down so that you can see why this happens and what it means for you.

Why Do People Love the Hunger Effect?

You’re probably wondering, why would anyone want to feel hungry from Delta-8? Well, for some folks, it’s a huge win. Here’s why:

  1. People who struggle with a low appetite: Whether it’s due to medical reasons, stress, or other factors, some people find it hard to eat enough. Delta 8 can help get their appetite back on track without overwhelming them.
  2. It makes food taste amazing: Delta-8 doesn’t just make you hungry, it makes food taste extra good. You know when you have a bite of something, and it’s like a party in your mouth? Delta-8 might just help you get there.

Delta 8 Gummies and Hunger: A Tasty Way to Get Your Appetite Going

Let’s talk about one of the easiest ways to get your Delta-8 dose: Delta-8 gummies. They’re perfect for people who aren’t into smoking or vaping, and they’re discreet. Plus, they taste good. It’s like eating candy, except these candies might get your stomach growling a little more than usual.

If you’re interested in trying Delta-8 for its hunger effects, gummies are a solid choice. They’re easy to control in terms of dosage, which means you can start with a small amount and see how it works for you. Plus, they tend to give you a longer-lasting, slower onset compared to vaping or smoking, so the hunger might come on more gradually.

Just a heads up: Delta 8 gummies might take a little longer to kick in (think 30 minutes to an hour), so don’t be surprised if you don’t feel the effects right away. But once they do, you’ll probably notice food starts sounding more and more appealing.

So, How Hungry Are We Talking?

We’ve established that Delta-8 makes you feel hungry, but how hungry? Honestly, it depends on the person. Some people notice a light increase in appetite, while others feel a bigger shift. It’s not going to have you emptying your fridge, but you might find yourself thinking about snacks more than usual.

People who use Delta-8 often describe the hunger as a more manageable version of the munchies. It’s like you get a tap on the shoulder from your stomach, not a full-on alarm. You might feel more inclined to reach for that slice of pizza or finish off your fries, but you won’t feel like you’re losing control over your appetite.

The Science Behind Delta-8 and Hunger

Delta-8 THC is kind of like the chill cousin of Delta-9 THC. They’re both cannabinoids, and they interact with the endocannabinoid system (that’s the part of your body that helps regulate things like mood, pain, and, yep, appetite). Delta-8 specifically binds to the CB1 receptors in your brain, which can kickstart hunger signals.

But here’s where things get interesting: while Delta-9 THC can hit you with some serious munchies, leaving you raiding your kitchen at midnight, Delta-8 seems to work on a more subtle level. You’ll probably still feel hungry, but it’s not overwhelming or uncontrollable. Instead of eating everything in sight, you might just notice that food suddenly seems tastier, or your appetite is more stimulated than usual.

What About People Who Don’t Want to Feel Hungry?

Not everyone’s looking to bulk up their snack game, and that’s cool too. If you’re using Delta-8 but don’t want the hunger effect, it’s all about dosage. Lower doses of Delta-8 seem to produce fewer hunger-inducing effects. So, if you’re not trying to add extra snacks to your day, stick with a small amount and see how your body reacts.

And hey, if you’re using Delta-8 for other reasons (like relaxation or sleep), but don’t want to feel extra hungry, try pairing it with activities that distract your mind. Sometimes the hunger is just your brain having fun with the Delta-8 signals, so keeping your mind busy can help keep the munchies at bay.

Delta-8 vs. Delta-9: Who Wins the Munchie Battle?

We’ve mentioned it a couple of times already, but it’s worth diving into the Delta-8 vs. Delta-9 comparison when it comes to hunger. With Delta-9 THC (which is what’s in regular weed), the munchies can be wild. People often talk about how it makes them want to eat everything in sight. Delta-9 has a stronger psychoactive effect, and that seems to come hand-in-hand with a stronger hunger response.

Delta-8, on the other hand, gives you a lighter version of the munchies. It’s more about getting into a chill, content state where food sounds good, but you’re not raiding your fridge in a frenzy. Delta-8’s hunger effect is much more manageable and doesn’t come with the paranoia or intense psychoactive effects that can sometimes happen with Delta-9.

The Benefits of Delta-8’s Hunger Effect

Feeling hungry isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, for people who struggle with appetite, it can be a real game-changer. Delta-8’s hunger-inducing properties can help people eat more regularly, which can be especially helpful for those dealing with medical conditions that suppress appetite, like anxiety, nausea, or certain chronic illnesses.

It’s also a good option for people undergoing treatments that affect their appetite (like chemotherapy). Delta-8 can make eating feel more enjoyable, which can be a huge relief when keeping food down feels like a challenge.

Things to Keep in Mind

As with any cannabinoid, Delta 8 affects people differently. Some folks may experience a noticeable boost in appetite, while others might not feel much of a change at all. It’s always good to start slow and see how your body responds.

Also, keep in mind that Delta 8, like other cannabinoids, can cause dry mouth, so have some water handy. And while Delta-8 can make food taste amazing, it’s still a good idea to keep things balanced. You don’t want to go overboard on snacks and feel sluggish afterward.

Wrapping It Up

So, does Delta-8 make you hungry? Yes, but not in an overwhelming way. It’s a gentle nudge toward the snack cabinet, not a shove. For those who need a little help with their appetite, Delta-8 can be a great way to make eating more enjoyable. And for those who are just curious, well, it’s all about finding the right balance.

If you’re thinking of trying Delta 8, they’re a tasty and convenient way to test the hunger effect for yourself. Whether you’re using Delta-8 to relax, to help with appetite, or just to have a chill time, gummies give you an easy way to control the dosage and see how it works for you.

Albums Out Today: The Smile, Coldplay, Geordie Greep, Half Waif, and More

In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on October 4, 2024:


The Smile, Cutouts

Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner are back with another album, Cutouts. It marks the Smile’s third studio LP, following January’s Wall of Eyes and 2022’s A Light for Attracting Attention. Produced by Sam Petts-Davies, the LP was recorded in Oxford and at Abbey Road Studios during the same period of time that Wall Of Eyes was recorded, and the cover artwork was painted by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke. The album features string arrangements by the London Contemporary Orchestra. It was preceded by the singles ‘Don’t Get Me Started’, ‘The Slip’, ‘Foreign Spies’, ‘Zero Sum’, and ‘Bodies Laughing’.


Coldplay, Moon Music

Coldplay have returned with a new album called Moon Music. The follow-up to 2021’s Music of the Spheres was promoted with the singles ‘feelslikeimfallinginlove’ and ‘We Pray’ featuring Burna Boy, Little Simz, Elyanna, and TINI. Speaking to Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Chris Martin said: “It’s sort of our manifesto or my way of looking at things right now in terms of how to continue, how to not give up, how to accept reality, not run away from it, not hate anybody, even in the midst of always being filled with so many difficult emotions, and it’s with Max Martin, so he made sure that it’s really good.”


Geordie Greep, The New Sound

black midi’s Geordie Greep has announced his debut solo album, The New Sound, via Rough Trade Records. Over thirty session musicians were involved in the making of the LP, which took place across São Paulo and London. “With recording The New Sound, it was the first time I have had no one to answer to,” Greep said in a press release. “And with every impulse I had, I was able to completely follow it through to its conclusion. Being in a band (black midi), we often have this ‘we can do everything’ feeling, but you are also kind of limited in that approach, and sometimes it’s good to do something else, to let go of things.” The singles ‘Holy, Holy’ and ‘Blues’ arrived ahead of the release. Read our review of The New Sound.


Half Waif, See You at the Maypole

Half Waif, the project of Nandi Rose, has put out a new album titled See You at the Maypole. Rose worked on the follow-up to 2021’s Mythopoetics with longtime collaborator Zubin Hensler. Additional contributors include percussionists Jason Burger and Zack Levine, guitarist Josh Marre, violinists Hannah Epperson and Elena Moon Park, clarinetist Kristina Teuschler, trombonist Willem de Koch, harpist Rebecca El-Saleh, and upright bassist Spencer Zahn. The record includes the previously shared singles ‘Figurine’ and ‘The Museum’.


Wild Pink, Dulling the Horns

John Ross has unveiled a new Wild Pink album, Dulling the Horns, which is out today via band’s new label home Fire Talk. The follow-up to 2022’s ILYSM was written in the aftermath of frontman John Ross’ battle with cancer. “You zoom out, and I’m very fortunate,” Ross said in a press release. “But Dulling the Horns came from the feeling of figuring out how do you deal with things and move forward and just keep creating.” The 10-track effort was previewed by the singles ‘Eating the Egg Whole’‘The Fences of Stonehenge’, ‘Sprinter Brain’, and the title track.


Drug Church, PRUDE

Drug Church have dropped their fifth album, PRUDE. The follow-up to 2022’s Hygiene was produced and recorded by longtime collaborator Jon Markson. “I’m hesitant to say this album is more emotional, but I think there’s definitely some emotional songs on the record,” vocalist Patrick Kindlon said in a press release. “I wanted to avoid some of the topics I’ve been hammering for years, but I almost can’t, I’m limited to what interests me, or upsets me, or grabs my attention. So there’s certainly classic Drug Church stuff–people derailing their lives, a strong pull to some type of individualism, frustration with mob mentality, this idea that maybe community isn’t what it’s sold as–but I would say that this album approaches it from sort of a sad storytelling way. This one feels more earnest to me.”


Godspeed You! Black Emperor, “NO​ ​TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28​,​340 DEAD”

Canadian post-rock titans Godspeed You! Black Emperor have issued a new album titled “NO​ ​TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28​,​340 DEAD”, which refers to the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, 2023, as of February 13, 2024. The follow-up to 2021’s G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! was engineered and mixed by longtime collaborator Jace Lasek of the Besnard Lakes. “every day a new war crime, every day a flower bloom,” the LP’s Bandcamp description reads in part. “we sat down together and wrote it in one room, and then sat down in a different room, recording. NO TITLE= what gestures make sense while tiny bodies fall? what context? what broken melody?”


Pharmakon, Maggot Mass

Margaret Chardiet has released a new Pharmakon album titled Maggot Mass. The follow-up to the New York noise musician’s 2019 record Devour features the early tracks ‘WITHER AND WARP’ and ‘METHANAL DOLL’. “Maggot Mass is bred out of a disgust for the dysfunctional relationship that humans have developed with our environment and the rest of life on earth,” Chardiet explained in a press release. “It touches on the wounds of loneliness inflicted by that broken bond, and asks us to face the mirror in acknowledgement of our personal and systemic culpability. What peace can be made with privilege, when we understand the true cost of our comfort is death and not dollar? What peace can be made with death when we impose on it the same bankrupt pecking order in which we organize our lives? To what extent is life worth living in the solitude of this self-imposed species loneliness?”


Finneas, For Cryin’ Out Loud!

FINNEAS, Billie Eilish’s brother and producer, is back with his sophomore album. For Cryin’ Out Loud!, the follow-up to 2021’s Optimist, was preceded by the single ‘Cleats’, ‘Lotus Eater’, and the title track. Rather than making the album in his own recording space, Finneas opted to work in a classic studio environment with a band. “I’ve made a point to be hyper-collaborative,” he told Rolling Stone. “Fortunately, most of my friends are producers.”


Yasmin Williams, Acadia

Acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and film composer Yasmin Williams Yasmin Williams has released a new album called Acadia. The follow-up to 2021’s Urban Driftwood includes the previously shared Aoife O’Donovan collaboration ‘Dawning’ and ‘Virga’. “Acadia has several meanings: a place of rural peace and pastoral poetry (Italian), a refuge or idyllic place, (Greek and Italian), fertile land (Mi’kmaq), a place of plenty (French) … all of this relates to the ethos of this album,” Williams explained. “The songs are seeds I planted, and the seeds grew into the album, Acadia: a place of peace, a place where creativity can blossom, a place where everyone can fit in together and collaborate effectively, a place where the fruits of my own labor in music can fully flourish without judgment or prejudice. One of my visions for this record was to expand the potential for current folk music to encourage collaboration across various genres. Blurring those somewhat arbitrary lines has been a natural tendency for me since I started writing music at twelve years old and Acadia is a full circle moment.”


Blood Incantation, Absolute Elsewhere

Denver death metal band Blood Incantation’s latest – and longest – LP, Absolute Elsewhere, has arrived via Century Media. The album was produced by Arthur Rizk at Hansa Tonstudios in Berlin, Germany, and it features Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning, Necros Christos’ Malte Gericke, and Hällas’ Nicklas Malmqvist. It draws inspiration from the 1970s prog-rock collective Aboslute Elsewhere. “Absolute Elsewhere is our most potent audial extract/musical trip yet; like the soundtrack to a Herzog-style sci-fi epic about the history of/battle for human consciousness itself, via a ’70s prog album played by a ’90s death metal band from the future,” vocalist-guitarist Paul Riedl said in a statement.


Caribou, Honey

Caribou has come out with a new album called Honey. “One thing that hasn’t changed for me from the very beginning is a manic curiosity of seeing what I can make out of sound,” Dan Snaith explained in a press release. “Not so much what someone can make out of sound – a ‘professional’ with a host of collaborators and resources at their disposal, but me.. in my little basement studio. There’s more equipment in here than there used to be but essentially it’s the same as ever: still chasing that thrill of when something hits really hard and I find myself jumping up and down or the hairs standing up on my arms in excitement. How lucky am I that that’s never gone away? That the chance of making something new and exciting is still as exhilarating as ever. And as much fun as ever. Starting the day with nothing and (finishing most days with nothing good but occasionally…) having something that didn’t exist before stuck in my head by the end of the day. It still seems like a kind of alchemy.”


The Hard Quartet, The Hard Quartet

The Hard Quartet is the self-titled LP by the new indie rock supergroup made up of Emmett Kelly, Stephen Malkmus, Matt Sweeney, and Jim White. Out now via Matador, the record features the advance tracks ‘Earth Hater’, ‘Rio’s Song, and ‘Our Hometown Boy’. In a statement, Kelly said: “Leave yourself behind and go into something where you’re actually listening to others and trying to come up with a solution to whatever kind of esoteric thing you are attempting to do in your life. You know what I mean?” Sweeney added, “The way Jim plays really affected the way I hear things. He has this way of making everything sound good. All of a sudden, you really pay attention to everything else that’s going on because of what Jim is doing.”


Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn, Quiet in a World Full of Noise

Dawn Richard and multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Spencer Zahn have followed up 2022’s Pigments with a new collaborative album, Quiet in a World Full of Noise. It features Bryan Senti on strings, CJ Camerieri on brass, and the 26-person Budapest Film Orchestra. “I wrote all these stream-of-consciousness pieces on piano, and they were eerie, spacious piano tracks,” Zahn said in a press release. A day after listening to Zahn’s piano recordings, Richard went into the studio to write and record melodies and lyrics. “I did not write this down—I purged it out, and then I didn’t change anything after it,” she explained. “Our family has a distorted view of therapy; I’ve had to do a lot of healing on my own.”


Other albums out today:

Balance and Composure, With You in Spirit; A Place To Bury Strangers, Synthesizer; Jonah Yano, Jonah Yano & the Heavy Loop; Public Service Broadcasting, The Last Flight; Ivy 2, Less Precious; cumgirl8, the 8th cumming; Orla Gartland, Everybody Needs a Hero; The Bug, Machines I – V; Midland, Fragments of Us; Michael Love Michael, Bruiser; Fred Thomas, Window in the Rhythm; Undeath, More Insane;Mariam the Believer, Breathing Techniques; The Wild Feathers, Sirens; Torena, No Control; Gray/Smith, Heels in the Aisle.

How to Use Ethereum Transaction Trackers for Accurate Monitoring

Precision in control and visibility over your assets is paramount in the cryptocurrency world. An Ethereum transaction tracker is one helpful piece of software that enables users to track transactions on the Ethereum blockchain with a lot of precision. Regardless of whether you’re an experienced investor or just being exposed to this market, the application of a tracker could bring many advantages and enabled you to support your investment claims with real value.

What is an Ethereum Transaction Tracker?

An Ethereum transaction tracker is a form of web-based application designed for users to track and analyze transactions running on the Ethereum blockchain. These trackers give real-time information regarding the status of a certain transaction-whether it has been sent or received, how much gas it used, and even how long it took to confirm. They are expected to be essential for anyone looking to keep track of their Ethereum activity and ensuring that everything runs as it should.

Why Use an Ethereum Transaction Tracker?

  • Transparency: Ethereum Blockchain is open, which implies that every single transaction ever performed are recorded and publicly available. Merkel’s Ethereum transaction tracker provides an interface through which you’ll be able to study this data in a user-friendly format.
  • Accuracy: Manual tracking of the transactions might lead to some discrepancies. The Ethereum transaction tracker will ensure that you get sheer accuracy for your transactions.
  • Security: By monitoring your transactions, you can quickly identify any suspicious activity, such as unauthorized transactions or potential hacks.
  • Fee Management: Transaction fees may vary depending on the network congestion. A tracker can assist you in analyzing fees that come with your transactions so you can pick better times to execute a transaction.

How to Use an Ethereum Transaction Tracker

It is pretty easy to get up and running with an Ethereum transaction tracker. To get you started, here are the steps:

  1. Choose a Good Tracker

There are a number of different Ethereum transaction trackers available online. A few popular options include:

  • Etherscan: It is among the most usable Ethereum explorers, enabling tracking-including, pending transaction details, wallet balances, and contract details in real time.
  • Ethplorer: Ethplorer has its focus on token tracking and allows users to track ERC-20 tokens along with Ethereum transactions.
  • Cryptomus: This tracker provides you with a multi-chain explorer compatible with Ethereum and many other cryptocurrencies for extending the view of your assets.
  1. Enter Details of Transaction

You can commence finally tracking your transaction when you have selected a tracker. For this purpose, you usually require either the transaction hash, TXID, or the wallet address associated with the transaction.

  • Transaction Hash: Every transaction performed on the Ethereum network is given a unique hash. It is obtainable in your wallet or even from the confirmation email of your transaction.
  • Wallet Address: Through the use of your wallet address, the tracker will carry out and display all transactions that are connected to the address.
  1. Analyze Transaction Information

With the details appropriately entered, the tracker will display the following information related to the transaction:

  • Status: check if it’s in pending, confirmed, or failed status.
  • Confirmations: This is the number of blocks mined since your transaction was added. The more confirmations, the greater the security.
  • Fees: The transactional fees that are paid should be reviewed to determine whether or not these are appropriate given the prevailing market conditions at the time of the transaction.
  1. Keep an Eye on Wallet Activity

You can also track your wallet address for continued transaction tracking. That way, you will be able to track all incoming and outgoing transactions in one place and understand the overview of Ethereum.

  1. Configure Alerts (Optional)

Some Ethereum transaction trackers offer alert functionality, which can be set up to notify one in the case of certain transaction events. You can set alerts for your wallet address or big transactions that hold great importance for you, and this keeps you informed in real time so that you might take urgent or any other kind of action.

How to Use an Ethereum Transaction Tracker – Best Practices

  • Double-Check Your Details: Mistakes can happen with the transaction hash or wallet address, and one should always verify.
  • Keep Informed: The tracker updates are critical, so keep yourself updated at short intervals, since blockchain data may change within seconds.
  • Use Multiple Trackers: Utilizing more than one tracker for a more complete track by cross-referencing to assure accurateness.

Conclusion

An Ethereum transaction tracker will be helpful and one that is important to have on hand for anyone involved in Ethereum transactions. Transparency, accuracy, and security come tagged along with using a tracker; thus, one is able to manage investments accordingly. In this article, learn how you can leverage all the benefits from such tools and keep yourself notified with every happening associated with your Ethereum transaction. Be it tracking individual transactions or having an overview of the whole wallet, an Ethereum Blockchain Transaction Tracker will add much value to your cryptocurrency deal.

Album Review: Geordie Greep, ‘The New Sound’

When Geordie Greep decided to call his debut solo album The New Sound, he didn’t have the sound nailed down yet. He knew that was going to be the title before he even started recording it, when no one had any reason to believe there wouldn’t be a black midi album after Hellfire. Then, just a week before formally announcing the album – which he had already previewed live – the frontman revealed, via a series of Instagram comments, that the band was “indefinitely over.” What Greep teased as “new music, new group, new sound” while promoting one show in April immediately took on a different weight of expectation. Some fans already confounded by the black midi situation may not have been thrilled by the idea of Greep going in a totally different direction, but confusion and excitement have always been positively correlated in the band’s universe. The New Sound does leave you bewildered, which is at least partially a sign of its success. That it’s also enthralling in its own right is a huge plus.

Greep knows he isn’t reinventing the wheel here, but making “new sound” his mission statement seems to have been crucial in actually going through with it. It finds him venturing into an array of disparate styles that wouldn’t have gelled within the context of – or that he would have a hard time pitching to – the band, from Steely Dan to various strains of Latin music, without shedding its essentially iconoclastic influences. To actually nail it down, Greep recorded the LP over several sessions on two continents: in London, with former black midi members Morgan Simpson and Seth ‘Shank’ Evans, and in São Paulo, with a band of local musicians whose free-wheeling spirit and note-perfect delivery justify the record’s grandiosity. In some ways, the moments that musically define The New Sound are the grooviest and least chaotic, the tracks that coast a little on what’s new without the looming gravity of its thematic concerns: the instrumental title track, which boasts a slinky double bass solo and beautifully intertwining electric guitars panned left and right, as well as the brief but delightful ‘Bongo Season’.

The delicacy of its lyrical ideas is another reason The New Sound probably fares best as a solo album. Greep understood that anything less than an uncompromising – and, more importantly, rather focused – approach could easily drown the whole ship. “It was like, ‘Oh, man, if this comes off wrong, it’s bad news,’” he admitted of ‘Holy, Holy,’ the lead single that still stirred some controversy for its distinctly convincing portrayal of the kind of pathetic character that populates the album. One of the reasons MJ Lenderman’s fascination with similar kinds of men on the critically lauded Manning Fireworks – his song ‘Wristwatch,’ like ‘Holy, Holy,’ specifically nods to Andrew Tate – couldn’t be as divisive is that Greep favors over-the-top showmanship over subtle non-sequiturs; he’s the one observing drunk men in bars as well as the one bringing them to the stage, and the stench of male insecurity and sleaziness carries through the centuries (whereas Lenderman’s sketches are tied to the modern era). If ‘Holy, Holy’ isn’t up your alley, it’s unlikely the rest of The New Sound will be. But it does offer a fuller picture.

None of this is particularly new territory for Greep: the verbosity, theatricality, and vulgarity of The New Sound are all in line with the last couple of black midi albums in particular. But placing himself front and center (with the exception of ‘Motorbike,’ which hands the mic to Shank) allows him to flesh them into a more narratively cohesive listen. Some of the cheesy musical signifiers match the characters’ corniness without being totally subsumed by them, while the maniacal nature of the music directly flows through the characters Greep is embodying: their ludicrous flights of fancy, their overblown fears, their total disconnect from reality. Dismantling the line between the narrator and his subjects is Greep’s sense of humor: most lyricists would leave the joke at “Do you know what I mean?/ Is your favorite turn of phrase,” but Greep really makes it land by repeating the phrase over and over again, then saying it’s also “your second favorite turn of phrase.”

‘Holy, Holy’ is sleeker in presentation than other songs on the album, which means it’s harder to make that separation, but in case there was any doubt, Greep’s acerbity elsewhere cuts through any semblance of romanticism and sinks the characters to deeper lows of humiliation. Ridiculing “another lonely executive cunt” who only “knows how to pay to touch” is one thing; saying “I would’ve disemboweled myself just to hold your hand” or “With each itch of my loins, the music of your voice” is quite another. Sharp and persistent as his lyrics may be, sometimes it’s his inflection that gets the point across: “to earn you, to love you.” As much as it pokes fun at these people, what it’s ultimately meant to elicit is pity, which is a difficult feeling to engage with for an entire album. But The New Sound is bizarrely compelling in that it’s not just a collection of portraits: it tries to turn things around in the final leg, mounting its ambition, itching for sympathy. But even the greatest vulnerability Greep can muster for these characters comes up short.

Still, beyond the irreverence and debauchery of it all, something about where Greep leaves things cuts right to the bone. Something unusually poignant in the image of “the spouse happily married who still dies alone” on the 12-minute epic ‘The Magician,’ which ends with him wondering, “What’s left of the dreamer/ Who dreams and dreams and dreams/ But thinks he isn’t dreaming/ Thinks he is free?” Greep doesn’t provide any answers, of course, nor a wholly new sound. His ending with a cover of ‘If You Are But a Dream’ seems to suggest that none of this fantastical yearning is new, either. But his own reimagining is something else, and it’s enough to get swept up in.

Kelly Lee Owens Shares New Song ‘Ballad (In the End)’

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Kelly Lee Owens has released a new song, ‘Ballad (In the End)’, which is taken from her upcoming album Dreamstate. It follows previous entries ‘Higher’, ‘Sunshine’, and ‘Love You Got’. Give it a listen below.

Dreamstate, Owens’ fourth studio album, is set for release on October 18 via dh2.

Basketball and Popularity: The Effect of the NBA on Style and Music

It is not simply a game. Basketball is an entire culture that generates trends in fashion and music. The NBA has impacted the way we wear clothes, the sound of music we enjoy, and even our self-expression. Basketball is found everywhere, from the courts to the streets and even the ramps for fashion shows. There is no denying that the redissolving of this sport remains sinking into other industries as well, hence defining new pop culture.

The Growing Influence of the NBA on Style

The NBA has considerably altered the aesthetic in today’s society by incorporating high fashion and streetwear. Players like Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson revolutionized the image of how athletes would dress themselves, even off the pitch. Outfits worn for sporty activities became fashion statements and influenced even more clothing activities. The blend of basketball and fashion has also resulted in working with other brands that made jerseys and sneakers fashionable, not unlike the thrill of video gaming and placing a bet in a BD online casino. NBA fashion has borrowed the risk-return element, making the dressing more alive, albeit risky. Every day, every moment, and every outing, people come across and assert that the NBA fashion has come to influence everything from hoodies to haute couture. More than a sport. Basketball is a fashion statement.

Basketball’s Influence in the World of Music

Basketball and music come hand in hand, with the latter informing the former and vice versa. Areas of influence include:

  • Rappers mention basketball athletes and incidents in their verses.
  • Tracks of NBA superstars with their music in the background.
  • Visuals in videos of basketball courts adorned in jerseys.

The interdependence of the two sectors has made it possible for the melding of the two. Two worlds, two Michaels. Both involve maximum movement and creativity.

Cross-Cultural Influences

The game of basketball has penetrated society’s borders, and it has changed the lives of many cultures. Everybody around the world knows about the NBA, its impact on clothes and music, and even on some social movements. With such interchange, basketball started to be considered one of the forces that form trends on the world stage and more than just a game, but the medium between civilizations.

Iconic Collaborations

For instance, basketball and fashion have always been neighbors, and through the years, sports and fashion have come up with endless spectacular mash-ups. Such collaborations took the best sportsmen along with the biggest brands, which launched sneakers in limited editions, clothing lines, and even art displays. The fan zone and admiration upsurge from such partnerships are the same as what one gets while looking forward to the latest sports headlines on MelBet Insta Bangladesh, where highlights always have fans asking for more. This, however, increased the market share of the brands involved, promoting the game. Thus, basketball has managed to secure a position in the chaos of modern fashion and trends.

Music and Basketball Crossovers

Indeed, music and basketball are two aspects of life that have had a great influence on each other. This relationship is clear in:

  • Music videos that have NBA superstars as the protagonists or have a basketball backdrop.
  • Musicians-cum-athletes making individual albums.
  • B-ballers are mentioned in almost all rap songs.

The above crossovers have contributed to the growth of both industries, but also to the development of a unique identity that has music and sports fans rejoicing.

The Importance of Social Media

Social media has changed the game of basketball, its culture, and its connection with fans. Some of the notable roles played by social media in basketball include:

  • Marketing of the players and their personas.
  • Entertainment and sports mashups that attract attention.
  • Establishing fan networks and connecting them with the real-time flow of content.

These platforms have made basketball more than just an activity or event on a given day. Rather, it is now an activity persistent in the virtual world.

Future Trends

Let us now bring forth our insights on the evolution of basketball in the fashion and music industries. We could see even more unprecedented synergistic approaches among professional athletes, the fashion industry, and music, letting the imagination run wild. Games may become even more entertaining and fashion-oriented through recreational technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. Besides, the concept of sportswear is also evolving, and we all believe that more eco-friendly materials and designs will be common in the future. As for basketball, it will continue to dictate fashion trends, and the influence of the NBA on pop culture will become even stronger.

Final Thoughts

The impact of basketball on pop culture will never stop. As the game grows, so shall its effect on style and music. There will come a time when fans will look to the future and wonder how basketball will not mean just a game, but identity, creativity, and a sense of belonging. This journey is by no means complete, and the thrill of what is next is just starting out.