Following the release of his colossal club track 'Temptations', we caught up with East-Coast artist Danny Aro to find out what music inspires him and his sound. Make sure to take a listen to 'Temptations' below and save it to your playlist!
1.) Belong To Te World by The Weeknd
I love The Weeknd. I’ve been a cult follower since he first released Trilogy and I love almost everything he’s ever made. His music and videos have an interesting storyline unlike anything I’ve seen from an artist; Belong To The World doesn’t stray from that narrative. The eeriness in the video as you see hundreds of people walking in order create a rat in a maze feel, and as you see The Weeknd fighting against the grain it shows his pursuit to leave the system. The Weeknd’s voice in the song creates an elegant buildup and climax towards the end, and the lyrics are nothing but exceptional. This is one of my favorite songs by The Weeknd because of the eerie feeling it gives me. Also, the concept of someone or something “belonging to the world” interests me. Is he talking about a girl? Himself as he gives himself to his fan base? I don’t totally know but that unknown is what always drives me back to The Weeknd. He’s so damn mysterious.
2.) City of Angels by 24k Goldn
City of Angels is such a banger. You only have to listen to it one time to figure that out. 24k’s vibe in the song gives a “I don’t give a shit attitude” and the video portrays him as a big baller as he walks past all the fear mongers with little to no care. I love 24k’s voice too, he always creates such a chill vibe. I’ve been listening to him since he was pretty young in the game, right before he dropped “Valentino.” I haven’t stopped since. I used to listen to this song on repeat but it’s taken a backseat since his recent album dropped. It’ll be on repeat again soon after its short break.
3.) God’s Plan by Drake
Music is about getting people together and this song and its accompanying video do just that. When this came out my friends and I used to belt this song out in the car. It’s too much of a hit. I know that’s very cliche to say about this song since it was such a renowned hit, but I love the vibe of it too much. I think the video added to that love a lot. I thought it was so cool he gave the whole video budget back to the community, and I like how he put the public in the video. Instead of making it all about himself, Drake put the viewer’s eye on community. And, for the first time in rap instead of flexing spending money he flexed giving it all away. That’s just so cool to me and I think the video was an innovative concept for its time. I’d love to make a vibey video like it one day.
4.) Tequila Shots (Official Visualizer) by Kid Cudi
Another artist I was a cult fan of since the mere age of eight. I’ve loved Kid Cudi since he dropped his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, and he’s been an inspiration to my music since he started. I love this song’s description of the inner fight. I relate heavily with the lyrics because I definitely have inner fights a lot of the time. I have my own insecurities and anxieties and I think Kid Cudi always made people feel ok for having them. That’s something I strive to do in my music and I admire how he does it in this song. I also love the name: “Tequila Shots.” It represents when the inner fight truly starts: when his lips touch the bottle. That’s understandable, especially for the rap industry. I would’ve included the official music video but I love visualizers so I wanted to share this one instead.
5.) Interstella 555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem by Daft Punk (2003)
Although this isn’t a single: this is one of the coolest videos I’ve ever seen. One of my friends put me onto this and I was shocked by its creativity. It’s an animated movie that follows the soundtrack of the 2001 Daft Punk album: Discovery. The story follows the abduction of an interstellar pop band and shows their struggle to fight back against the industry. The video opens up with a ton of energy with the first song on the album, “One More Time” playing and beautiful visuals of the created world. There’s a massive crowd in an uproar over the band and it makes you immediately root for the band and want to follow the storyline. I’d love to make something like it for a future album at some point about the internal struggles I have with my own music creation.
If you like the vibe of the songs chosen above - make sure to check out Danny Aro's new release 'Temptations':
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