Weekly Billboard Theory — Yes Indeed
Hey there. Did you miss me? Sorry that we missed last week, life’s been crazy. As you might have noticed, this will be a DOUBLE WEEK BAYBAY! This particularly write-up will be pretty short because there isn’t too much to talk about (spoiler warning: this song stinks). Let’s not waste any more time!
Lil Baby & Drake
Key: F Minor
Tempo: 120 BPM
This is the fourth time I’ve written about Drake this year and regardless of what Pusha T has to say, people are here for it. This song shouldn’t be this high on the charts. I was about to write that there’s no chorus in “Yes Indeed” but upon closer inspection, it turns out there is. That’s right, you probably missed the chorus too because there is nothing to differentiate it from Lil Baby’s verse. Yes, his flow changes but there is no change in the music whatsoever. More percussion could have been added for the chorus, the drums could have dropped out for the beginning of the verse. Simple steps were not taken and because of that, what is supposed to be the most memorable aspect of the song is glossed over. This is not the first time I’ve talked about this stuff before.
Some quick actual theory stuff. The song consists entirely of a i-VI (vi-IV if you think major) progression. Plenty of pop and rock songs use this progression, it’s fine. However, will occasionally skip the i chord during Drake’s verse because I don’t know? Actually, as I’m listening to this song and the progression closely, nothing seems to line up. The chord changes don’t match up with lyrical cues and it feels as if the song is going to fall off the rails at any moment. In most cases, a beat would be made first and then lyrics would be written to be placed on top. Obviously, there are variations in this formula. But I have no idea the writing process for this song. If the lyrics came first, then there’s no reason for the shifts to happen when they do. I don’t mean to come off as a snob or elitist, but it really seems as if whoever made this either had no idea what they were doing or simply didn’t care. I’d have to assume that it is the former because putting that little effort into a song that is literally titled “Yes Indeed” seems like a recipe for disaster (which it is).
So, why is this song so high on the charts if it’s so bad? Because people are starved for Drake content. Dude has had two solo singles in the top ten for a little while now. As corny as he is, people love Aubrey. Here in Philadelphia, we have Drake night and I’m sure other cities have their own varieties. It seems like putting Drake on a track is a recipe for a top ten song right now because let me tell you I had no idea who BlocBoy JB or Lil Baby (terrible name) was. Also, with some finessing the beat to “Yes Indeed” could be pretty cool. It’s pretty reminiscent of “Mask Off” but Future’s hit from last year was actually coherent. Alright, I told you this would be short. Listen to something else because this song is a mess.
Not gonna bother much with the next week spiel (had no idea that’s how that was spelled) because I’m posting this at the same time as what would have been next week’s write up from last week (?). Anyways. Click here for number eleven, Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood”.
