11/16/18
11:55 PM
Surprising, in the most pleasant way.
One of 88rising’s preeminent artists, George Miller, otherwise known as Filthy Frank, Pink Guy, and Joji, released BALLADS 1 on October 26th, 2018. In his past works as youtube troll and viral personality as Filthy Frank to a bizarre comic rapper Pink Guy, Miller often plays with social mediums and musical platforms to gain viral status on the internet. Going off of his preexisting persona as an entertainer, the artist Joji becomes a stark contrast to his past selves, dropping the facetious acts to portray a more serious and seemingly sober character.
It’s like that one friend that nobody takes serious until they get genuine, then everybody just goes, “whaaaaaaaaaaaaa…?”
BALLADS 1 is a play off of ballads (wow who would’ve guessed?), adding his own personality into a established genre of music to form a new sound. Joji’s latest album can be seen as '“sadboi” music, but really becomes a personal memorandum of heartache and lovesickness, as well as loneliness and realizations of disconnect. The gritty, yet simplistic production and the raw emotion emanating from his voice adds an eerie austerity to what seems to be a personal remembrance to past relationships and his newfound lifestyles.
The split-screen outlook evident in his character throughout his album and also in his career is put on display for anyone to understand as they dig into the lyrics, “Give me reasons we should be complete/ You should be with him, I can’t compete” in “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” shows just a glimpse of his struggles with being lonely, as he compares his torn state as a metaphor of slow dancing in the dark (wow who would’ve thought?).
The element of duality is so apparent in this album, from being in love to longing, friendships turning into fake friends, the way that Joji bounces from one to the other is admittedly depressing, yet amusing and delicate. The forlorn content is only reinforced by the production— the deep and ringing bass, the calming wave-like synths, and piano instrumentation that has proved to be traditional to the ballad genre. Between production and writing, BALLADS 1 becomes a pensive piece of work to the artist Joji.
This album seems to be a highlight for Joji’s career as he creates a musical remnant from his head and heart, because (filthy)frankly, beneath every obnoxious and self-pleasing troll, there lies a sadboi that just wants to be genuine to themselves— just waiting for the platform and the right heartbreak to rely on.
Listen to the album below: