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“10 Songs Centered on Fear” features music courtesy of 6LACK, Hikaru Utada, Kendrick Lamar, Lights, and $uicideBoy$ among others. 

“Living life with no fear / Putting that truth in my baby girl’s ear /… You can’t circumvent life, you gotta earn it.” Ah, such wisdom from Common on “No Fear,” the second track from his underrated 2014 album, Nobody’s Smiling.  Here, the veteran rapper – ‘inspired’ by The Notorious B.I.G. – doesn’t allow fear to hold him back.  The same can be said in most cases on this playlist of 10 Songs Centered on Fear. Musicians contributing to this most fearful (or unfearful) soundtrack include 6LACK (“Pretty Little Fears”), Hikaru Utada (“Face My Fears”), Kendrick Lamar (“FEAR.”), Lights (“New Fears”), and $ucideBoy$ (“I No Longer Fear the Razor Guarding My Hell (IV)”).

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1. Hikaru Utada, “Face My Fears”

Ft. Skrillex

Face My Fears [EP] • Epic (Japan) • 2019

Japanese pop sensation Hikaru Utada has been killing it in Japan since 1998.  She’s experienced worldwide success as well.  Interestingly, this marks the first time she’s appeared on The Musical Hype for any reason.  The timing is perfect considering the release of her EP, Face My Fears, led by a most ‘fearful’ title single, “Face My Fears,” co-written and co-produced with Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd and Skrillex.

“Face My Fears” opens delicately with warm, minor key piano.  Once Utada enters the mix, she sings beautifully with beautiful, buttery smooth vocals.  Soon enough, “Face My Fears” intensifies, with harder synths and rhythmic drums toughening up the sound.  Likewise, as Utada ‘faces her fears,’ her vocals pack more of a punch, moving beyond the easy-going sound initially employed.  Even so, she never really has to break a sweat – she maintains a poise while delivering the goods.  Fears faced y’all!

Hikaru Utada Socials: Twitter • Instagram

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2. 6LACK, “Pretty Little Fears”

Ft. J. Cole

East Atlanta Love Letter • Interscope • 2018

“She know my stick nothing but magic babe / I be swinging it back and forth, ‘til you in your casket, bae, mm.” Confident, freaky, and just plumb nasty 6LACK, but also one of the most memorable lines from “Pretty Little Fears,” a highlight from East Atlanta Love Letter.  While 6LACK’s game as the lead artist is intriguing on this song, the deepest lyrics hail from J. Cole.  On his guest verse, J. Cole is chocked-full of dedication, rapping, “You the flower that I gotta protect / To keep alive in the winter time, aye, don’t you die yet.”  Sweet.

Going back to 6LACK, his chorus, sung somewhat stoically, is also worth mentioning.

“Now I just wanna know

Don’t you sugarcoat

I’ll say it all if you won’t

Now could you tell me like it is?

Pretty little fears

Music to my ears.”

“Pretty Little Fears” appeared on a previous playlist, 15 Beautiful, Gorgeous, or Pretty Songs.

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3. $uicideBoy$, “I No Longer Fear the Razor Guarding My Hell (IV)”

I Want to Die in New Orleans • G*59 • 2018

I Want to Die in New Orleans serves as the proper debut album by $uicideBoy$ – Scott Arceneaux, Jr. ($crim) and Aristos Pertrou (Ruby da Cherry). The majority of I Want to Die in New Orleans features shorter songs. The lengthy, eight-minute-long “I No Longer Fear the Razor Guarding My Hell (IV)” is the exception, closing out the LP. Perhaps the best way to describe this is as an ‘ambitious juggernaut.’ A multi-part joint, “I No Longer Fear the Razor” features three distinct parts: ‘No Salivation for the Promise of Salvation,’ ‘Try Howling at the Moon While Being Strangled,’ and ‘Missed My Cue for Curtain Call.’

Each part also finds Arceneaux and Pertrou taking on different personas.  ‘No Salivation for the Promise of Salvation’ features Papa Pine (Pertrou) first, followed by YUNG CHRIST (Arceneaux).  Both rappers flex hard, asserting on the chorus, “GREY*59, bitch, I signed my life away.” On ‘Try Howling at the Moon While Being Strangled,’ Pertrou’s main alter-ego, Ruby da Cherry returns briefly, before a hook courtesy of Project Pat (“You can feel the bullets from my steel son, steel son”). Then, the rhymes come courtesy of LIL CUT THROAT and 7^th WARD DRAGON.  The rhymes continue to be unique, including 7^th WARD DRAGON’s Biblical reference:

“Flames all around me, man, I hope they fucking drown me

Crown made of ashes, only way they fucking found me.”

Finally, there’s ‘Missed My Cue for Curtain Call,’ which features Ruby Da Cherry (Pertrou) and Arceneaux embracing his role as $lick $loth as opposed to $crim.  Once again, it should be noted that “I No Longer Fear the Razor Guarding My Hell (IV)” is quite ambitious.

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4. St. Vincent, “Fear the Future”

MASSEDUCTION • Loma Vista • 2017

“When the club come and go / To the top of your skull / I run for you, what can I do?” “Fear the Future” arrives as the ninth track of MASSEDUCTION, the Grammy-nominated, 2017 LP by St. Vincent (Annie Clark). “Fear the Future” keeps things ‘short and sweet,’ barely crossing the two-and-a-half-minute mark. The production is bombastic, noisy, and robust.  The overall sound is dramatic and hard-hitting.  While “Fear the Future” arguably isn’t the crowning achievement of the masterful MASSEDUCTION, it’s another consistent, enjoyable number.

“Come on, sir, just give me an answer

Come on, sir, now I need an answer

My baby’s lost to the monster

Come on, sir, just give me the answer

I fear the future.”

A piano version of “Fear the Future” appears on Clark’s 2018 stripped edition of the album, MassEducation.

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5. Kendrick Lamar, “FEAR.”

DAMN. • Interscope • 2017

On the intro of “FEAR,” the 12^th track from Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN., a voicemail from Carl Duckworth references Old Testament scripture Deuteronomy 28:28.  This isn’t the least uncharacteristic of the album itself, which features a number of Biblical and spiritual references.

On the first verse, Lamar’s mom warns him of the consequences for a variety of actions.  Essentially, she’s instilling fear into him should he do something wrong:

“I beat yo ass, keep talkin’ back

I beat yo ass, who bought you that?

You stole it, I beat yo ass if you say that game is broken

I beat yo ass, if you jump on my couch…”

On the chorus, he explores escapism, wishing he could “smoke fear away” because it’s destructive and detrimental.  On the second verse, the key lyric is “I’ll prolly die…,” yet a different take on fear. The focus is ‘27 years of age’ on the third verse, as Lamar looks toward 30. On a fourth verse, the key moment is, “I’m talkin’ fear…” The key word on the bridge, performed by Bēkon is god damn, which has multiple meanings contextually.

“God damn you, God damn me

God damn us, God damn we

God damn us all.”

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6. Lights, “New Fears”

Skin&Earth • Warner Bros. • 2017

“‘Cause I have these new fears / I carry with me / So you can feel stronger / And you can know peace.” Ah, “New Fears” appears as the fifth track from Skin&Earth, the under-appreciated 2017 LP by Canadian pop musician Lights.  “New Fears” is sleekly produced, characterized by its sharp synths and hyper-rhythmic beat.  As awesome as the production is, the main reason why “New Fears” shines are the high-flying, cutting vocals of Lights herself.

Lights is at her best on the chorus, where the overall intensity picks up a notch.

“So just, hold on tight

I’ll be coming, I’m coming for you, oh-oh

And every night I’ll be burning, burning for you, oh-oh

And I, I will back you up

I will show you love

I will give you all I got ‘til I cannot

Hold on tight

I’m breathing, breathing for you, oh-oh.”

It should also be noted that “New Fears,” and Skin&Earth overall, is conceptual – it’s a “comic-book” album. Furthermore, an accompanying ‘post-apocalyptic comic book series’ was released.

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7. Greyson Chance, “No Fear”

Somewhere Over My Head (EP) • Greyson Chance Music • 2016

“You ain’t got the right, baby comin’ round here / But you came around, came around here / never saw the world so fucking clear / Until you came around, came around here.” Hmm, is that really same Greyson Chance that was once signed by Ellen DeGeneres’?  Yep it is, only older (21 as of the publication date), and, oh-yeah, openly gay.  Not that age or his sexuality is key to the success of “No Fear,” which appears on his 2016 EP, Somewhere Over My Head.

“You found me in the dark baby

You said you like them real crazy…

You were looking for nirvana

Sand you wanted no drama…”

Besides the rebellious f-bomb, “No Fear” has that contemporary swagger, exemplified through its rhythmic delivery, repeated lyrics, and ultimately, the way Chance approaches and sings.  The chorus, mentioned at the top of the blurb, continues:

“No, we ain’t got a right to have a love this good

But they’d have it, honey, if they could

Bless their minds without the tears

Open their eyes and have no fear.”

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8. X Ambassadors, “Fear”

Ft. Imagine Dragons

VHS • Interscope • 2015

“Got ‘em running in fear, fear, fear.” Sometimes, life is just a little more fun with the company of friends.  The same can be said of music, sigh. On “Fear,” alternative rock collective X Ambassadors enlist fellow alt-rock band Imagine Dragons for what ends up being quite an interesting listen. The ambitious, experimental side of the record rears its head, so “Fear” requires a couple of listens to fully digest and understand completely.

“There’s a whisper, a rumor

Voices in the air outside

Got their eyes on the future

Yeah, the kids are coming up on the ride.”

Yeah, those are some ‘scary’ lyrics X Ambassadors. Even if “Fear” is ‘confounding,’ the big-time chorus, performed by Imagine Dragons, certainly exemplifies the spirit of rock… well, alternative rock if we’re getting technical about it (“Lights out / I’m afraid of everything that moves”).

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9. Kirk Franklin, “Hello Fear”

Hello Fear • Verity • 2011

“And never again will I trust you/ I’m tired of fighting it’s been way too long/ No longer your prisoner/today I remember/ Who I was and now it’s gone/ They’re gone / Hello fear…” Kirk Franklin commences his 2011 LP Hello Fear brilliantly with the uplifting, resilient title track, “Hello Fear.” “Hello Fear,” like so many Kirk Franklin-penned numbers, benefits from being written in an urban contemporary style as opposed to an overt, traditional gospel cut. “Hello Fear” features superb production work incorporating guitars, keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ, trumpet, flute, and strings. The vocal production on the chorus is made up of numerous people including contemporary gospel artist Myron Butler.

The songwriting can be described as clever, likening faith to a relationship.

“Never again will I love you

My heart it refuses to be your home

No longer your prisoner

Today I remember

Apart from you is where I belong.”

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10. Jazmine Sullivan, “Fear”

Fearless • J • 2008

Believe it or not, there were actually at least two notable albums named Fearless in 2008.  Yes, the Taylor Swift country-pop edition ended up taking home the highly coveted Grammy for Album of the Year, but the Grammy-nominated R&B album by refined contralto Jazmine Sullivan was pretty awesome in its own right.  Two key songs come to mind when thinking about Sullivan’s debut album: “Bust Your Windows” and “Need U Bad”.  That said, all 12 songs are stellar, including the fearful song at hand, “Fear.”

 

“I’m scared to start cuz I’m scared I’ll quit

 I’m scared that people won’t like my shit

I’m scared of fame and paparazzi

Rumors startin’ and people watching.”

As aforementioned, there’s ample fear throughout this well-rounded neo-soul record. Despite being the ‘scaredy cat’ she may be considered to be, Jazmine Sullivan makes a great point regarding fear:

“This may sound silly but it’s true

So don’t pretend it ain’t you too

We all afraid of something here

Cuz you ain’t human without fear.”

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[Photo Credits: Epic (Japan), Greyson Chance Music, Interscope, J, Loma Vista, Sebastiaan Stam / Stephan Müller / Worldspectrum from  Pexels, ambroo / TheDigitalArtist / Free-Photos / werner22brigitte from Pixabay, Verity, Warner Bros.]

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