NF’s new video “Happy” – Is it happy?

NF must’ve made a New Year’s resolution to put out a music video every month and while most people fail with whatever goals they make on January 1st, NF is coming through with flying colors and listeners are the beneficiaries. The last two have been so good and I posted about them at the links below…

HOPE – The new NF music video – hope, goosebumps, and identical twins?

MOTTO – The New NF video for “Motto” is a fun red carpet ride!

And now there’s HAPPY. Take a look then scroll down for more thoughts and questions.

I guess this song presents the rest of us with a question… is this the happy version of NF? I thought it was interesting that 8 years ago NF tweeted about this exact emotion… happiness.

Is this the happy album he was hoping for? It’s called HOPE and when one is hopeful they can be happy, too. But they can also be desperate and unhappy. They can have hope because things are bad. They can have hope because things are great. The more I think about it, I’d venture to say this IS the happy album simply based on the lyrics for the song HOPE. He talks about having a lot of struggles for the past 30 years but at the very end he takes the reins. That’s a turning point. Something flipped. Perhaps all, or at least most, of his demons are in the rear view mirror. Ahead is blue skies, twists and turns for sure, but even with life’s curveballs, he is happy.

What do y’all think? I still need to listen to the entire album. I’m sure that will give a better understanding into the incredible artist we know as NF.

-Out of the Wilderness

The iPhone 14 Crash Test Commercial – The Music and the Dummies

Apple has released another commercial for the iPhone 14. This one highlights the phone feature that detects when you’ve been texting while driving and you end up flipping your car into a ditch. They call it “crash detection”…

The Music. We’re going all the way back to before cell phones existed for the music in the commercial. No, not 1995. I’m talking about the mid-1960s with Gene Chandler’s “You Can’t Hurt Me No More.”

The best song I know of Gene Chandler is “Duke of Earl.”

Working out the Kinks. This service from Apple also works on the newest Apple watches, as well. While it’s a good idea and may help save lives, it’s not perfect. Here’s a video explaining that sometimes the emergency number is dialed when the phone is carried onto a roller coaster.

Competition. The Google Pixel models also has “crash detection” so the iPhone isn’t alone with this feature. I checked my Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the closest it gets to this is “Earthquake alerts.” That’s a new one to me, but I suppose it can be useful if I ever visit California.

Dummies. Crash test dummies have been used in commercials for decades. I guess it all started with seatbelts in the 1980s. Here’s one advising drivers to take advantage of wearing seatbelts.

Lastly, here’s a funny one from KitKat in 2010.

See y’all tomorrow!

-Out of the Wilderness

The Best American Idol “Up to the Mountain” Performances

In a recent episode of American Idol, Megan Danielle chose “Up to the Mountain” for her individual Hollywood audition. She has the voice of a singer three times her age and I love it. It’s like she smokes a pack of cigarettes before each performance, a quality hard to match. Here’s her performance and then a few other past contestants singing the same song. Chime in with a comment on which is your favorite, although it’s hard to pick!

Megan Danielle (season 21)…

Crystal Bowersox (season 9)…

Jessica Cabral (season 15)…

Kree Harrison (season 12)…

Kelly Clarkson (“Idol Gives Back,” 2007)…

Honestly, it’s hard to decide my favorite between the legend Kelly Clarkson and newcomer Megan Danielle. Megan makes me think of what Brandi Carlile must’ve sounded like at 20 years old and Kelly Clarkson, well, she’s Kelly freaking Clarkson.

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol – The Performance Almost Ruined by a Drag Queen

If you’ve been keep up with American Idol, you’re aware contestants just made it to Hollywood where the stage and the chances of getting eliminated got bigger, that is if judges stick by their made up rules. This week, Katy Perry didn’t mock anyone like she did previously, so that’s good. We got a two-fer with episodes on Sunday and Monday. First night was individual performances, then Monday was all about duets. Because of the nature of the show and humans and circumstances, one duet turned into a trio and a few almost turned into solos. This was the case for Fire, who needs success as much as any contestant on the show.

**For recaps, check out my new American Idol Season 21 Episode Rundowns page**

Fire’s partner was Kaya Stewart, the woman I wrote about in this post. Daughter of a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and, while she isn’t a great singer, her spoiled brat attitude annoys me way more than her voice. She and Fire practiced for hours and when it was time to take the stage in front of the judges, Kayla announced that instead of caring about Fire and trying to make it through the performance, she just quit. Sounds like someone is scared of getting a “no” so she beat them to it. Meanwhile Fire was left alone on the stage until a selfless Jayna Elise stepped up to sing in Kaya’s place.

Another untouchable contestant almost ruined things for Cam Amen. I say untouchable because Cam’s duet partner was J Valerione, a man who identifies as non-binary, they/them, and androgynous. I still haven’t figured out if all those identifiers means Jay is a drag queen, but based on the dictionary definition and the way Jay dresses, I’d say he fits the mold. Therefore, it would be considered hate speech if someone were to call him out for, say, being extremely self-centered when he decided to leave the competition halfway through duet rehearsals because it was just too much for him. Well, that DID happen and Cam, unfortunately, was stuck between a rock and a hard place… that is, until Jay returned to heroically save the day. There’s a lesson here: A person who starts a fire should get no credit for putting it out.

After their messy duet performance and along with the judges, Jay treated Cam like a child who got a boo boo. Such a condescending aura even though Jay is the whole reason Cam fumbled through the performance! Gosh, that ticked me right off. But because Jay is in such a special class, we aren’t allowed to tell him what he did was selfish, stupid, and when he quit the show he should’ve never came back. With that said, Jay DOES have a nice singing voice. But he totally screwed Cam over. Can’t you just feel the patronizing going on in this picture?

Besides the two quitters, there were great duets in the show. If I had to pick a favorite, I’d go with Hannah Nicolaisen and Warren Peay who performed, “It’s Your Love.”

And I gotta mention Zachariah Smith and Isaac Brown who improvised their way through “I’m Still Standing,” and did it with gusto. Zachariah’s voice, backstory, and personality could take him really far in this competition.

See you all tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness