Voice | 3 to 5 BOPS

Voice: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 48 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Rhythm Street Band, Jake Shears, Khalid, Lil Baby & Lil Durk.

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 48th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with VOICE in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Rhythm Street Band, 🎙 Jake Shears, 🎙 Khalid, 🎙 Lil Baby, and 🎙 Lil Durk. Okay, let’s get into it!

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1. Jake Shears, “Voices” (Ft. Kylie Minogue) 

💿 Last Man Dancing • 🏷 Boys Keep Swinging Inc / Mute Artists Ltd. • 🗓 2023

“I hear a single falsetto / Faces come out of the shadows / Are these the choices? / Here come the gentle voices.” 🎵 “Voices” marks an elite moment for 🎙 Jake Shears (Jake Sellards) from his 2023, sophomore LP, 💿 Last Man Dancing. He taps the one and only 🎙 Kylie Minogue for the assist – can you say #SLAY?! From the jump, this dance-pop, nu disco joint is a vibe-and-a-half.  🎛 Ryland Blackinton and Vaughn Oliver put in work behind the boards; those exuberant, rhythmic synths are EVERTYHING!. Furthermore, the queen, Minogue, is on autopilot.  Her chemistry alongside Shears in the chorus is utterly stupendous, creating one of the best collaborations of 2023. 

“Calling you to action 

Action (Ah-ha) 

Passion (Ah-ha) 

I hear voices 

Calling you to love 

Emotion (Ah-ha) 

The notion (Ah-ha) 

The voice is in me.”

2. TOOL, “Culling Voices” 

💿 Fear Inoculum • 🏷 Tool Dissectional, L.L.C. / Volcano Entertainment II, L.L.C • 📅 2021 

“Disembodied voices deepen my / Suspicious tendencies / Conversations we’ve never had / Imagined interplay.” WOW – that is some deep stuff right there, 🎙 Maynard James Keenan. Adding more fuel to the fire: “Judge, condemn, and banish any and everyone / Without evidence / Only whispers from within.” We have all been guilty of that, unfortunately. The 🎙 TOOL front man begins singing nearly a minute-and-a-half into 🎵 “Culling Voices,” the seventh track on 💿 Fear Inoculum.  Like most of the LP, “Culling Voices” exceeds 10 minutes in duration.  Yup, the 🏆 Grammy-winning alt/prog metal collective has lots to say! Once Kennan begins singing, he sounds amazing, showing off his clear, gorgeous tone.  Following an enigmatic, restrained start, “Culling Voices” eventually picks up steam, triggered by the reiterated lyrics, “Don’t you dare point that at me.” Complementing those lyrics are fully charged guitars which sound hellish to the nth degree. Ah, the dangers of internal discussion, and a wandering, paranoid mind are dangerous and terrifying: “Psychopathy / Misleading me over and over.” 10 minutes well spent.

3. Lil Baby & Lil Durk, “Voice of the Heroes” 

💿 The Voice of the Heroes • 🏷 Quality Control Music • 📅 2021 

“Just keep on bein’ the voice, I’ll be the hero / and everything I got is a profit, started with zero.” Two of the hottest rappers of the 2020s joined forces.  That’s right, 🎙 Lil Baby and 🎙 Lil Durk topped the Billboard 200 with their 2021 collaborative album, 💿 The Voice of the Heroes. Of course, what better way to commence the album than with the title track, 🎵 “Voice of the Heroes.” “Voice of the Heroes” is produced by 🎛 TouchofTrent and Haze, who certainly fuel Baby and Durks’ fire.     

Out the gate, Lil Durk brings it strong with his agile, melodic flow.  In the first verse, he’s very honest about life, whether it’s missing his kids, seeing an uncle die, or seeing his “Brother stack his bricks up and it look like Tetris.” Following the verse, Durk goes on to give us the heroic chorus, which highlights the titular lyric.  Next, Lil Baby drops his own slaughter fest, with his ever-distinct tone and compelling flow. Like Durk, he keeps things real, dropping the gem, “I showed all my niggas in the trenches it’s a better life / Never get too big for me to listen, I’ll take your advice.” A shorter Durk verse, followed by a shorter Lil Baby verse occurs before the chorus returns.  “Voice of the Heroes” is both a fine opening cut, as well as a totally, worthwhile single.  

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Appears in 🔻:  

• V: 5ive Songs No. 49 (2021) 
• 13 V Songs: No Rhyme or Reason (2021) 
• Hero: 5ive Songs No. 64 (2022)
• 13 Totally Heroic Hero Songs (2023) 

4. Lil Durk, “The Voice” 

💿 The Voice • 🏷 Alamo / Sony • 📅 2020

“Please don’t turn away from me / I got enough on my plate tryna turn away…/ Became the voice of the streets and my people ain’t believe in me,” Chicago rapper 🎙 Lil Durk asserts on 🎵 “The Voice”. “The Voice” is edgy throughout its course.  Even so, there are ‘kinder, gentler’ elements.  For example, the production by 🎛 TurnmeupJosh, LowLowTurnMeUp, and Ayo Bleu is gorgeous. Set in a minor key, some of the highlights include prominent piano, slick drum programming, guitar, and organ.  It sets up Durk for success. Durk, meanwhile, serves up his signature, melodic rap delivery.  Even so, he delivers a captivating flow with nice rhythm and cadence that bodes in his favor.  Thematically, he spits about his past life, including “Sleepless nights, barely changin’ clothes…” and “Plenty nights got me traumatized.” The end of the first verse is particularly potent:

“I can’t even vote for who I believe in, shit ain’t goin’ right
I didn’t drop a tear inside the funeral, I ain’t mourn right
And I nut in all the hoes I fuck, I blame the porn site.”  

Raw and street – no cap. Street talk continues in the second verse: “I know a nigga from the hood, he’ll serve with no scale / Watchin’ bands make a play, I seen him score in the mail / Gave him thirty-nine years, I heard him cry in the cell.”  Durk makes his point clear; he, indeed “Became the VOICE of the streets.”

5. Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Rhythm Street Band, “Express Yourself”  

💿 Express Yourself • 🏷 Warner • 📅 1970 

Two words: EXPRESS YOURSELF!  That’s right! Use your V-O-I-C-E! 🎙 Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Rhythm Street Band landed a quartet of songs on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1970 and 1971.  The highest charting, most successful record is 🎵 “Express Yourself” (💿 Express Yourself).  If you had the experiencing of growing up during the 1970s, you got to experience this no. 12 hit in real time.  If you’re a millennial (like me), perhaps your first experience with this gem was from 🎮 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 🛹 via the 🎙 N.W.A. song which sampled to soul classic. The original is a surefire vibe on its own pushing individuality.  

The chorus sums thing up perfectly – “Express Yourself!” Beyond it, the verses exhibit plenty of personality and sound advice. “You don’t never need help / From nobody else,” Charles Wright sings, later adding, “Whatever you do, do, do, Lord, Lord / Do it good.” WOO! The pre-chorus sections, which are varied throughout, are quite insightful. In the first pre-chorus, Wright makes it clear that you can’t judge a book by its cover:  

“It’s not what you look like 

When you’re doin’ what you’re doin’ 

It’s what’s you’re doin’ when you’re doin’ 

What you look like you’re doin’!”  

The wisdom is through the roof.  Also, you know what else is pretty cool about this funky joint? The music! The band is lit 🔥! Honestly, reflecting back on 🎵 “Express Yourself”, how did it miss the top 10 on the pop charts? It’s what we call a decadent earworm 👂🪱!!!  

via GIPHY

Appears in 🔻:  

• Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Rhythm Street Band, Express Yourself: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 88 (2023) 

Voice: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 48 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Alamo, Quality Control Music, RCA, Sony, Tool Dissectional, L.L.C. / Volcano Entertainment II, L.L.C, Warner; Emmanuel Ikwuegbu on Unsplash]