Weekly Billboard Theory — Starboy
How can you review something that is completely subjective in an objective way? I find this problem whenever I stumble upon music reviews. Between websites that contradict themselves, writers that kinda miss the point, and ones that can’t be bothered to write more than three run-on sentences (Okay, I’ll admit I have a personal investment in that one); there has to be someone that can do a reasonable job. I’m certainly biased with my own views but I hope to take a more analytical approach to discussing the most popular songs in the country than other writers rather than giving an empty opinion. Basically I’m gonna ramble about music theory and intersections of pop culture with the number one song each week. Realistically these will be more of an analysis than a review because you’ll probably already have heard these songs but whatevs.
The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk
Tempo: 93 BPM
Key: A minor (C major, who cares)
I actively try to not be a hater. Yeah, there’s a lot of terrible media out there and old people always tell us that new things aren’t as good as the old things they had but they’re wrong. What I’m trying to say is that I really don’t hate most music. There’s a lot of stuff I don’t care for but I don’t feel strongly enough to say that I hate anything. I don’t hate The Weeknd, but I don’t really care for any of his stuff that I’ve heard (which I will discuss a little bit later). However, “Starboy” is a very unique song to be the number one in the country this week.
Let’s talk about what makes the most sense with this anomaly. The tempo, key, and length are nothing out of the ordinary. Simple vi — V — IV — V progressions have been used millions of times. Having Daft Punk as part of the production team adds a level of legitimacy for electronic music purists. It’s 2016 and synthwave is somehow still relevant. Lyrics centering about topic of excess wealth and consumerism. Yeah, boring pop music stuff.
But hold up, “Starboy” has a lot of really cool stuff going on for a top 40 song. We’ll start at the beginning because the bassline (or lack thereof) really helps to define this song. For the vast majority of the song, the bass drones on an A. This is what is called the “tonic” note and is basically what all of the other pitches revolve around. Although this note very rarely changes, the chords that are played over top of the bassline DO change. This creates a tension that you’ve definitely felt and heard before in Phil Collins’, “In The Air Tonight.” As a matter of fact, the chords are the exact same just relative to D minor instead of A minor. A more recent example of this tension between a drone bassline and changing chords would be Eminem’s, “Lose Yourself.” ANYWAY, the important thing here is the tension that is created against the stagnant bassline and the chords that shift over top of it. In “Starboy” that release comes in the second half of each chorus as the bassline finally changes to match the chords.
Although I’m not crazy about how the bass works in this song, it certainly has a unique function for Top 40 music. Most memorable basslines are very syncopated and have a lot of space between notes. A lot of the best Bruno Mars songs are perfect examples of this. The bassline in, “Starboy” is pretty constant and boring compared to some of his previous singles (“I Can’t Feel My Face”). Remember how I wrote that I try to actively not be a hater? Well, that boring constant bassline kind of has a function that helps out of the rest of the song. The piano chords that help with that tension are very sparse and create great contrast. Every four bars, a new synth or background texture gets tossed into the song, which could become overbearing but this works out because of that simple bass.
Okay, I know I’ve probably gone way too in depth about a song you already have some feelings about but this next topic is about why I never have been into the Weeknd’s songs. As a quick overview, most pop music will only utilize eight notes and realistically only four chords. The bass will normally follow those four chords on the strongest beats of the song and will play less important notes on less important beats. Make sense? I hope so. Anyways, The Weeknd tends to go against these rules, which certainly makes his music unique but it personally doesn’t make me want to listen to it. And that’s okay! Some of the more “historic” examples of this in the Weeknd’s music can be found in the prechoruses of, “I Can’t Feel My Face” and the verses of, “In the Night.” He sings notes that aren’t part of the standard eight in those melodies. It’s cool that he goes against the norm, but I’m not crazy about how he does it. Basically the notes that aren’t those eight are supposed to be used certain ways blah blah blah he’s made more money than me whatever.
When that stagnant, “Starboy” bassline FINALLY changes during the chorus repeats it does a similar weird thing. Remember how I said that the there’s only a few chords ever used in pop music and the bass normally follows it pretty strongly on the strong beats and other stuff that’s hard to explain in a one sided piece of writing? Essentially, the bass plays a chord that is traditionally never played on a strong beat as the last strong beat of every chorus. Again, does that make this good? Not necessarily. Does this mean I like it? Nah, but it’s definitely a unique trait for a top 40 song.
There are still a few things that can be discussed about, “Starboy” but realistically I’d be amazed if anyone gets this far with my writing. If it’s still number one next week maybe I’ll write about how sparse the chorus melody is or maybe I’ll just write about the number two song in the nation. Irregardless of how I feel about it, “Starboy” is an interesting song that hopefully opens the door for more complex works at the top of Billboard.
I know that if you have no background in music theory some of these concepts might be a little abstract so I’ll try to address them as they come up and realistically I’ll probably make a guide at some point to help with these write-ups. If this does happen to pique your interests and you have any questions about anything, slide on into those DMs!
