Why PARTYNEXTDOOR is the coolest
Bringing the sagas of ‘Sauga to you.
Favorite songs and preferred artists are all subjective. There aren’t any objective parameters I can check off in order to prove or persuade you into thinking that PARTYNEXTDOOR is as good as I feel he is. But I can explain just exactly why I am so enamored by him and his music. In this way, you will be able to experience this artist through my ears.
PARTYNEXTDOOR, aka PND, aka Party, aka Jahron B sits at the top of my favorite artists list. It’s come to a point where I feel like I won’t be able to be in a stable relationship unless my partner also has him in their top ten. I’ve also taken cues from his social media aesthetic and his fashion sense. I don’t even remember the first time hearing him. Rather, I remember the subsequent days I spent replaying his songs over and over in the dead of night with my headphones on to amplify the mood.
I won’t divulge anymore into my feelings towards him because I’m cringing super hard just writing it.
Anyway, on to the important stuff; Party’s vibe extends past just the party happening next door as his name suggest. The real fun happens after the party; where the hedonism occurs, where it’s dark and your head is muddled by the pounding music and the alcohol. He so accurately portrays this generation’s nightlife through unique samples looped into hypnotic instrumentals. His calming laid-back voice adds to the trance like instrumentals and creates an atmosphere that is haunting, but also enticing.
Jahron Brathwaite is able to consistently plunge the listener into his realm, this is because he writes and produces the majority of his own work. This allows him to create music that is supremely close to whatever vision he is trying to produce explicitly. Below are 4 of my favorite songs of his that are paradigms of his artistry.
Welcome To The Party
The perfect song to start with. “Welcome to the Party” is PND’s first song off his first self-titled mixtape under the name PARTYNEXTDOOR. Fittingly titled, it’s his introduction to the sound you can expect from him; something for parties, and also an introduction to the artist; welcome to Party himself. In it he sings:
Yeah, this is ‘Sauga where the sun sets
Marijuana in the complex
Sippin’ Henny cause my heart’s frozen
Stunna’ shades cause we all rollin’
Fuck em’ bitches, fuck em’ niggas too
Fuck em’ niggas, what I got’s to lose?
Mix my drink with some lime
Just to buy me some time
Then I’m spending it all on you
You know me very well
The coolest, oh…
This sets up his entire album, and largely his entire musical vibe. He hails from “Sauga” which slang for Missisauga in Canada. He welcomes us there and then he dims the light to set the mood. They drink Hennessy here, because come on that’s a boujee party essential. He has his shades on, uncaring of anybody that isn’t the person he’s after. Lime is often used in a variety of drink so we can easily connect with that. And in his alcoholic buzz he talks to someone who already knows what he’s about, simply; he’s the coolest.
The lyrics are placed atop this skittish beat that samples “Before We Talked” by Gold Panda. It’s quick and careless like the fast city life, but Gold Panda, a British electronic producer, often makes these very surreal abstract beats. This recursive sample lends a dreamy philter to Party’s song and makes it feel nostalgic; almost like his young rich nightlife was once yours.
Recognize
All artist are said to have “bandwagon” songs; the song that put them in the mainstream, and that newer listeners always quote as their favorite song. People who knew the artist before their bandwagon song tend to hate new listeners, but it’s all necessary, and “Recognize” is Party’s bandwagon song.
At launch it was one of his most successful songs, with ample help from fellow Canadian Drake. Right now it’s his most popular song from his second album PARTYNEXTDOOR TWO and is top 3 in streams on Spotify.
So why did this song blow up in particular? Well, partly because Drake is on it, and partly because it’s so fucking good; so good in fact that my personal twitter name is an abridged version of the word recognize.
One helpful component, at least for me writing this, is that the video does a good job at showing Party’s aesthetic. The old VCR TV effect works well with the instrumental, which has a plucked string that sound like something from a Sega Genesis. Neon lights and palm trees ghost past the viewer, and silhouettes of slender women saunter past Party. It’s classic late-night Miami beach-house vibes.
I guess the point I’m trying to get across with this song is that Party is a master at making the listener feel like they are right their with him enjoying the mood.
Only U
While “Recognize” was my favorite PND song for a while, “Only U” has recently replaced it. And this might introduce the most subjectivity into the matter but we’ve already established that musical taste is extremely subjective.
Only U is a cut off his most resent full-length album P3. The vibes are immaculate. Party really channels his Caribbean roots with an intense reggae feel in this song. Throughout the track you hear this iconic reggae guitar loop. It’s distorted, though it has a familiar sound and rhythm to it. The snare drums are also pitched differently, but this spin on antiquated sounds make for a very unique but familiar song sonically, and it introduces that nostalgic feeling again.
It progresses with Party using his accent to his advantage; it’s raspy like a reggae artist, and the way he says “Oh, you you wan fi pin the blame ‘pan me like a poster” really brings the accent out.
What hasn’t been mentioned yet is his writing ability. Though it is exemplified in all of the previous songs, and also realized through his #1 written song “Work” sung by Rihanna, it stands out well in this song to me.
The lyrics aren’t too special, but what is most important in songs like these is that the words fit into the production. Party uses his voice like an instrument in most cases. He “croons” almost like a wolf, and the lyrics allow sensuous suggestions to ease their way into your head. One of my favorite moments in this song related to his writing as when he says;
Stop the confusion
Stop the illusion
It’s only you on my mind
It’s only you all the time
And I need you to stop the accusations
Each “Stop…” is accentuated in a way where it stands out from any of his higher notes, but still it follows the general melody of the song. I don’t know how he does his writing process but the “Stops” are oddly on beat, on tempo, and seem to follow some sort of hidden sub-melody that bubbles up at this part. It’s weird, I know, but this part is almost like another song to me that happens to fit comfortably in this song.
Another part I enjoy is;
Just want to wake up in the mornin’ with you beside me
With all of our problems behind me
A large part of the importance of this segment is that it accompanies the “drop.” The bass kicks in and this beautiful undulating piano riff courses through the song like an orgasm and then Party sings a beautiful sentiment in the ecstasy. Truthfully, when I hear this part my brain climaxes and saturates itself with dopamine. It’s like that part in “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” where Kid Cudi goes “Beautiful Morning / you’re the sun in my morning babe.” Touching stuff.
Break From Toronto
Chronologically, this song came out in 2013 with his first mixtape. Personally, this song encompasses all the points in this article.
“Break From Toronto” possess that transportive quality of “Welcome To The Party.” In the background Miguel sings a long wavering chorus that becomes the melody to the track. It’s very organic, and the echoing effect gives it that nostalgic feeling common in Party’s other songs.
If the production isn’t fast enough to take you to the party, then the video will. What’s happening in the video is textbook young hedonistic behavior just like in “Recognize.” The viewer joins PND in his nighttime excursions. He drives recklessly with women flailing their arms out of his sunroof, he stops to have a quick smoke with the mandem, and then joins the ladies again to buy party paraphernalia. All the while their bodies are being flaunted. Towards the end they finally get to the main event where the audio gets drowsy and the colors get moodier. Scantily clad women walk leisurely around a pool, there is drug use, and party is back to being the coolest. At the end he seems to be idling at the foot of a bed, apparently not paying attention to the ladies enjoying themselves among the sheets. It’s journalistic, simple, and shot well in my non-video-editor opinion.
Lyrically, the ending sample of one of his previous works “Curious” contains his most memorable line. At he end, when he’s fidgeting with a camera, he says “She just changed her Twitter, to ‘Party gets me wetter.’” This was like an immediate call to action to all the women who like Party’s music to proclaim their love for him in their bio. If you search it up on Twitter right now, some still have it as their Twitter name.
So yeah…those are all the reasons why party is my favorite artist. His unique production is unlike any I've heard in r&b, and to put it simply; he just has that star factor. Also, for the record I’d like to include “TBH,” “Persian Rugs,” and “Codeine Bumpin’” as honorable mentions; just in case you needed some more recommendations. Tell me if you like PARTYNEXTDOOR! Why or why not?
