Artist of the Week: Quinn XCII

My first Artist of the Week is Quinn XCII.

​​​​SMXLL

I’m going to emphasise from the go that I’m not going to be writing a bio about these artists – that’s what Wikipedia is for. This is about the effect that his music has had on me. As mentioned in the “About” page, we use music to ride our highest highs and get through our lowest lows. Just like everyone else, I have moments where I feel I can take on the world which come in the same package as the moments where I lock myself in my bedroom to shut everything out.

Quinn XCII is an artist I came across in 2015 after hearing his songs “Another Day In Paradise” and “FFYL”. When someone asks me what genre or what kind of music Quinn XCII it’s actually quite difficult to explain. A trend you may pick up with a lot of the music I listen to is the multiple layers the beats of their songs have – you can listen to one song 5 times and hear something new on every play.

Specific parts of songs that I recommend you focus on include:

The bass drop & horn combo in Bootleggin'

The trumpet in the pocket of Walls and Straightjacket just take you to another world.

The smooooth transitions from verse to chorus to verse in Tourist.

The guitar in the verses of 60 Seconds

The 2nd verse of Fake Denim

The progression and complete change of beat in Stung

I really appreciate artists that have messages in their lyrics. Quinn XCII’s 2017 album, The Story Of Us is overflowing with lines that make you feel. The honesty of his words and vulnerability he shares is something I welcome in a world of mumble rap.

The line “For some reason you don’t think that you’re the one for me” in Always Been You has probably had the largest impact. One of the biggest things that I’m trying to address in 2018 is my self-esteem and self-worth. Due to deep insecurities and often unrealistic expectations for a long time I’ve been judging myself on what other people think of me.

For example, in any romantic interests, it took me until November 2017 to figure out that I was depending on someone being interested in me in order to prove to myself that I was worth something. I was more interested in the idea of being with someone than I was in that person. I was looking for that comfort and reassurance that someone thought highly of me. That’s how I would get my self-esteem fix. Then when it eventually didn’t work out, I’d focus on what was “wrong” with me. Although slightly out of context, the line “I need you more than I need me” in the same song does a good job of expressing how I – and possibly others – approached relationships.

This mental behaviour filtered into the competitive sport (which I did for the best part of 10 years), social settings, and work too. Not reaching these expectations led me to coping by remaining in a safe zone. “If I don’t try then I can’t fail” was a motto that I adopted without realising.

In other situations where did I go to get my self-esteem fix? Where else do people get an accurate representation of what people think of you? Social media, of course!

“All jokes aside, don’t tell me the way that I feel … there’s more to us that what we choose to reveal – or we don’t” in his song Walls about how people are portray themselves on social media. “Behind these walls we’re different – we’re judged off these minor glimpses”. This is also visited in Intro (Slow), “Don’t feel inspired by the faces I see – flawless on socials but can’t possibly be”.

This is where the lyrics in Walls and Intro (Slow) resonate because of the façade social media creates. Even though we all know that we only see a snippet of what people “choose to reveal” about their lives, we rarely have the faintest idea of what’s going on in their minds. This has engineered an environment where you’re constantly competing against people in order to seem like you’ve got the best job, the best social life, the best holidays, the best body, the best relationships. This is a topic I’m going to cover in more detail as I’ve had numerous conversations about it and would like to do it justice.

“I’m not looking for perfect, just for somebody who // holds it down when I’m hurting, lifts me up when I lose // There will days when I can’t function & there will be nights I won’t sleep…”

​Having said all that, I find it interesting how different a single song will make you feel at different points in your life. 60 Seconds is the song that you put on when you don’t feel like interacting with the world on a bad day but the guitar and flow of the verses gives you a groovy “screw-face” feeling on a good day. Looking back to where I was at the end of 2017 and where I am now makes me think of how I’ll interpret the song in 6 months-time. With a number of Quinn XCII’s songs I’ve noticed this as, despite how emotional the lyrics may be, I am still swept away with how the melodies and beat interact by complimenting and contrasting each other (see suggested focus points above).

I’m going to try and keep a 1,000 world limit on this post as I know how short our attention spans are these days. In the Song of the Day section there will be similar paragraphs about how lyrics of songs have had an effect on me at a specific moment in my life. In my Views & Reviews section I’ll go into further detail while following a more structured approach on topics instead of focusing on a single artist. There will be some cross-over but eventually you might have an idea of how my brain works (I reckon I’m saying this more to convince myself than to tell you …).

The final thing I want to get across in this inaugural post is that despite how I portray myself when I’m around you or how I may come across on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, what I’m writing about is simply another side of me. I’ve only exposed it to a handful of people and want to use this website as a platform for others to relate and share these experiences.

And remember, these are simply my opinions and interpretations – not facts. I’d love to hear what other people think of the Quinn XCII, his songs, his lyrics, and anything else they’d like to share!

"I'm fearing that I lose my place inside of your picture frames" - One Day At A Time

#music #quinnxcii #artistoftheweek #mentalhealth