SOUNDBITE | The Philly Special
Giving the "City of Brotherly Love" the love it deserves!
The Passion of Philly
Philadelphia, PA. “The Birthplace of America”. “The City of Brotherly Love”. “Home of the Philly Cheesesteak”.
Okay, that last one isn’t an “official” nickname for the great city of Philly, but it is technically true!
Philly is tied to an awesome number of historical American events. It was where America’s forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 that severed our connection with Great Britain. It’s where the iconic fight between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed happened. More importantly, in 1933, it became home to the greatest sports team on the planet, The Philadelphia Eagles!
That’s right! I’m not just a music enthusiast. I have more dimensions than your average indiehead!
Over the past few years I have been participating in “NFL Fantasy Leagues” with some of my close friends. It’s fun. It allows me to get in touch with the game of American Football in a more intimate way. I have become quite passionate about the game.
Additionally, I have become closer with my team of choice, the previously mentioned, Philadelphia Eagles. Even though I grew up in West Texas, I have been an Eagles fan since I was a child, and if you know anything about Football, then you would realize the irony and ridiculousness of this fact.
Philadelphia is one of the most influential cities in America that is coated in passion and pride. This strong sentiment has reached all the way to me and I can’t help but feel close to this turbulent city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
However, we are not here to talk about Football or any other sports for that matter. No, no, this is a music blog through and through.
In delightful spite of this, I will be channeling my passion for The Philadelphia Eagles and honoring the start of their football season by highlighting music artists from Philly!
GO BIRDS!
Music Artists of Philly
Music within the city of Philly is like its people, it is diverse and full of soul. This city breeds music artists that break the mold to create sounds that spread across multiple genres. These genres can range from Hip-Hop, Jazz, all the way to Rock. They cover all the bases!
Unfortunately, I won’t be doing a deep-dive into the influence/origin of Philadelphia-based music. Today, I will just be talking about a manifold of artists from Philly that you may or may not have heard of. Moreover, for this article I would like to keep things brief, just to give you a little taste of each artist.
Additionally, I want to add that a few of the artists I will mention are somewhat new to me, but they are ones that I am at least a little familiar with. So, we will be learning more about them together!
Let’s get started!
Lil Uzi Vert
Oh, you thought we were just going to talk about Indie artists on the Electric Indie Music Machine. Well, in most cases you would be right, but I am feeling quite cavalier today, so I want to give flowers to some of my favorite mainstream artists as well, such as Lil Uzi Vert.
Lil Uzi Vert, or just “Lil Uzi”, is the embodiment of living life full, fast, and possibly a little bit introspective. Lil Uzi started his rap career in 2010 under the moniker “Sealab Vertical” in the rap group, “Steaktown”. His influences range from 2000s Emo-Rock bands such as Paramore and My Chemical Romance to prolific rappers such as Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill. These artists inspired him to expand upon the genre of emo-rap & punk-rap with his mix of somber and energetic songs.
Lil Uzi’s first album, Luv is Rage, was released in 2015. However, he would not reach his breakout until the following year when he was featured on XXL Magazine’s 2016 Freshman Class Cypher alongside upcoming, and now prolific, rappers: Kodak Black, 21 Savage, Denzel Curry, & Lil Yachty. This “Freshman Class” of rappers is considered one of the strongest among the rap community since the start of XXL’s Freshman Cypher features.
Lil Uzi would continue to release highly anticipated albums such as Luv is Rage 2 (2017), Eternal Atake (2020), and his most recent release, Pink Tape (2023).
My personal take on Lil Uzi is one rooted in good memories. Anytime I listen to him I think about my time in college. This is a time where I was getting to know more about myself, hanging out with new friends, expanding my music knowledge, and just learning about life. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I often find myself just vibing out to his discography if I am feeling reminiscent.
Favorite Songs: 20 Min, Neon Guts, XO Tour Llif3, Sauce It Up
Japanese Breakfast
Started as a side-project in 2013 by Michelle Zauner in Philly, Japanese Breakfast has an unique origin with the first project released being a sort of music production challenge called, June (2013).
The first Japanese Breakfast release was June (2013), the result of a month-long project in which Zauner and Rachel Gagliardi recorded one song a day and posted them on the Tumblr blog rachelandmichelledojune.
This lo-fi pop/rock, DIY project would show off Zauner’s unique vocals and style of music that would be consistent to this day. Furthermore, one of songs from this project, titled Day 6, would be rerecorded into the song Boyish from their album Soft Sounds from Another Planet (2017).
My first encounter with Japanese Breakfast came through listening to random songs and playlists on Spotify around 2021, which I believe can be marked as a breakout year for the band. This would make sense as her highly acclaimed album Jubilee released in 2021.
Japanese Breakfast explores many themes while sticking to its Indie-Pop roots. From grief, trauma, joy, relationships, memories, etc., listeners can find a lot of relatable, niche, and inspiring songs to latch onto.
Additionally, with the support of Zauner’s dreamy vocals, this band has an almost ethereal feel to it at times, which I have come to enjoy, greatly.
Oh! Also, Japanese Breakfast did the soundtrack to an Open World, Puzzle-Platforming game called Sable. If you are an avid listener for video game OSTs, then this band has you covered there too!
Favorite Songs: Be Sweet, Boyish, Kokomo, IN, Slide Tackle, and Paprika
Dr. Dog
Dr. Dog isn’t just a band with a cool-sounding name, they can be seen as a highly influential band for a plethora of Indie-Rock bands across the genre.
Dr. Dog’s sound can be attributed to influences from 60s rock bands, such as The Beatles, which you can definitely hear in their music. It’s jaunty, psychedelic at times, but overall it scratches an itch in your brain that you didn’t know you had in the first place.
This band has a long history as it was formed back in 1999, and has a plethora of members come and go through it. Because of this, I can’t help but feel like I am late to the metaphorical “party” when it comes to talking about Dr. Dog as they have recently stopped touring and the members have begun to do solo work.
It’s crazy I didn’t hear about Dr. Dog until last year! My guess to why I am just now finding out about them is that they have made some sort of resurgence in the modern-day via music streaming algorithms. I salute you, music algorithm gods!
Honestly, I wish I had more to say about this band. I have only scratched the surface of Dr. Dog. Once I get more acquainted with them, then it would be nice to do a proper article about their influence and music.
Overall, Dr. Dog makes for an interesting listen as they have a large discography that spans from the turn of the century to the modern-day. Plus, if you are big into American or 60s-70s Rock, then they are a band to check out!
Favorite Song: Where’d All the Time Go?
Alex G
Alexander Giannascoli, known by his stage name, “Alex G”, is the embodiment of what Philly Indie is “supposedly” all about according to this one website I came across trying to learn more about Philadelphia-based artists:
Philly indie is a music genre that originated in Philadelphia and is characterized by its DIY ethos, lo-fi sound, and experimental approach to music making. The genre is known for its use of unconventional instruments, such as toy pianos and circuit-bent electronics, and its focus on introspective and personal lyrics. Philly indie bands often have a strong local following and are known for their intimate and energetic live performances.
Alex G is another artist that has recently blossomed in the past few years within the indie genre to critical acclaim. This is with good reason as his music is intimate, consistent, relatable, and overall genuine.
Being genuine in the music industry, in my opinion, has to be one of the most important and admirable aspects of great music artists. For me, I want to know what an artist is really thinking and feeling through their music. That is why I love indie music so much. It is because of artists like Alex G, that I am inspired to learn more about this genre.
You wanna know something funny? I don’t even listen to Alex G regularly. In fact, I didn’t know about him until a year or two ago. While writing this part of the article, I perused through his discography like I do with every artist, but I could understand immediately why he is loved. It could also just be my infatuation with lo-fi, 90s-sounding, Acoustic-Rock that I am really digging in this time in my life… Who knows.
Regardless, if you want to hear authentic and unique music, you have to check out Alex G. Personally, I will implementing his music in my rotation moving forward!
Lastly, this dude has like 9 studio albums that each have their own charm to them. I have a lot to look forward to as I listen to Alex G more.
Favorite Songs: (No favorite songs YET, but there will be!)
Honorable Mentions
There are many artists that I would like to list within this article, but to keep things brief, I had to cut down on who I was going to cover.
Below is a list of Honorable Mentions that I just want to touch upon quickly:
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
The iconic hip-hop duo that has become a household name across America. Not gonna lie, if anyone from Philly reads this, they will have my head if I didn’t mention them somewhere.
An indie-pop rock band that I had discovered back in 2018-2019 that has a feel-good, almost guilty pleasure sound that I don’t usually dig. However, they are an exception!
I have heard about this band a few times, but I haven’t listened to much of their music yet. As I am writing this, I am checking out a few of their songs, and they have a cool, Springsteen vibe that I wouldn’t mind hearing more of. In the words of WWE Wrestler, Chris Jericho, “You just made the list!”
American, Emo-Rock band that may be just a little bit out of my taste, but I can still understand why people like them! Rock on!
Fly, Philly, Fly!
Ah, Philadelphia. This city has certainly blessed us with great food, great people, great music, great sports, and just overall greatness! If I wore hats, then I would definitely tip mine to them.
I am excited to learn more about these artists from Philly as I watch my Philadelphia Eagles make their way to the Super Bowl once more. They will win it this time, mark my words!
God Bless, Jalen Hurts and all of Philadelphia! Here is to another great NFL season and to more music in my playlists!
Fly, Eagles, Fly!
Thanks for taking a ride on the Electric Indie Riff Machine!