Author: Sonca Nguyen

Writer and Curator for Crowdsurfer Magazine

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Is music trendy now? //

Flared pants, little shirts, tote bags, hair clips, thrifting… 

These are all clear trends that stem from the fashion industry. 

But there is no line that can’t be crossed when it comes to trends. Tik Tok has been a huge contributor to its current rise. Depending on your algorithm, your FYP (For You Page) constantly funnels out the next fad of whatever you’re into in that everyone seems to love hopping on the bandwagon. 

When it comes to the music industry, this has made a huge impact on unknown singer-songwriters looking for an outlet and trying to gain enough attention for A&Rs to find them. They’ll find a trend that seems to be picking up, put their creative take on it, and find themselves on a major label’s radar in an instant.

While some have argued that the music made from trends have no use and will die out quickly, the plus side is the current new take of modern music has been entertaining to watch and has introduced a lot of people to newer, unknown artists. 

Here are some of the my favorite trends in music right now: 

BRINGING BACK 80s

  • The overuse of Synth leads and 80s drum patterns have inspired a lot of artists these past couple of years. You can hear 80s inspired music in 2022 from the entire DAWN FM – The Weeknd Album, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album, Harry Styles channels his ‘a-ha’ moment with the release of As It Was.
  • My personal favorite 80s inspired song is from a VERY talented upcoming artist, Amber Ais – Ordinary. 

POP PUNK (Angrier tho)  

  • I’m pretty sure we’ve all wanted to be in a band or were obsessed with them at some point. Artists had the chance to channel their inner emo kid during this movement. In Olivia Rodrigo’s breakup anthem, good 4 u, or in Willow Smith’s entire discography. 
  • My personal favorite POP PUNK inspired song is between Leah Kate’s 10 Things I Hate About You or Tate McRae’s she’s all i wanna be. 

WHAT IF THIS SONG WAS….? 

  • The biggest success story I’ve seen to this day was from LA based singer and producer, ASTN, on his incredibly sultry version of Billie Eilishs’ Happier Than Ever. 

SONGS TO SCREAM TO IN YOUR CAR (with your besties)

  • This isn’t necessarily a specific style of music that people are following. The trend is to sit in your car, explain your song, and prove why it’s good enough to be on aux worthy while driving through a tunnel while screaming it. This generally consists of angry breakup anthems or broken hearted ballads, no in-between. 

Mine is, abcdefu – Gayle or my favorite, EatSpit – Slushpuppy ft. Royal & The Serpent.

You can find my favorite takes on music trends on my beloved CROWDSURFER COLLECTIONS playlist on Spotify <3.

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Song Review // Jensen McRae – ”Wolves”

Beautifully crafted. Perfectly worded. Iconic. Show-Stopping…

This song made my jaw drop, put a knot in my stomach, all while simultaneously making me fall in love with music all over again. 

The instrumentation is simple and raw which is exactly how the song is supposed to be portrayed. When you think about what it represents, there’s nothing more you should add to the instrumentation because it’s the honest to God truth and we don’t need to cover it up as the wolves in disguise are. The guitar riff is consistent and stagnant yet haunting. This complements Jensen’s incredibly low vocal tone and gives excellent delivery to the message she has about the wolves.

We’re talking about the people who prey on people as wolves do. 

Let’s take a look at the first verse. 

I was 15, still in the valley

Walking in a parking garage

First time I met a wolf in person

At first I thought it was a dog

I tried to dodge him, he was faster

Than I’d ever had to be

He smiled and howled in the same moment

It knocked the wind right out of me

Let’s point out that when she means – ‘‘At first I thought it was a dog’’ – it simply means what it is if you’re looking at it as a wolf from an animal perspective. But in the perspective of a wolf being (in this case) a man, this hints at the ‘‘nice guy’’ persona that these predators put out and victims mistakenly fall for. 

Verse 2: 

I was 19, still fun at parties

He plied me with shot after shot

He assured me he was harmless

Why did I ever trust a fox?

I ignored all of my teachings

How I survived, I can’t believe

I almost let him get his claws in

Still knocks the wind right out of me

This part stopped me in my tracks. Now if it wasn’t obvious, she clearly nods to the wolf as a human cisgender male. 

‘‘I was 19, still fun at parties’’ – at which now, she longer can be ‘‘fun’’

‘‘I ignored all of my teachings’’ – women are raised differently from men to be wary of them 

The way she sings ‘‘I almost let him get his claws in’’ – truly breaks my heart because the vocal performance sounds as if she’s choked up from this traumatizing incident, even as it was noted an ‘‘almost’’ incident

Chorus: 

Now I bury my smile and show no interest

Now I carry myself a little different

Now I avoid the woods

Now I know the wolves

This! Chorus! 

There’s a reason why we don’t smile or ‘show any interest’ because we’re afraid of what might happen to us. Jensen has done an incredible job writing from the perspective as a predator in the wild and working that into the realities of victims of sexual assault. She’s truly created one of my favorite songs and one of the best lyrically written songs (IMO), but take a listen to Wolves, as well as her newly released EP, ”Who Hurt You?” and tell me what you think!

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Photo ID // REMI WOLF ft. DOMINIC FIKE

Woo! Let me just tell you. This is a collaboration I didn’t know I needed. 

If anyone could’ve made this song even better than it already was, it was Dominic Fike. We all know and love him from his 2020 Album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Which is an absolute treasure. Vampire, was stuck in my head for days.

I’ve been a huge fan of Remi Wolf and Dominic Fike, so hearing that they released a new version of one of my favorite songs, I’ve never clicked on a video faster.

Remi’s vocals have been lifted to new heights with the help of Fike’s backing vocals at her already crazy, catchy chorus. They shared the release alongside a new music video showing each artists’ character and personality. Wolf being bold and goofy as expected. Fike, known for his melancholic and focused expression, showed more of himself in the new and playful verse. Put them together, it’s just a fun song that you can’t help but dance along to and that’s exactly what they’re doing.

Do yourself a favor and check it out:

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LA Rain // ASH LEONE

First of all, I just want to say thank you to Ash Leone. For gracing us with the gift of your vocals. I cannot wait for everyone to hear her newest release, LA Rain, because not only does the production go crazy, but Ash’s performance on the track shows that she’s really got something to say. Honestly, the melancholic piano in the beginning grabs your attention because it’s such an odd chord progression to the ear, but when that beat comes in, you can’t help but nod along to it. The production is so rhythmic and busy yet doesn’t overpower her. It perfectly compliments the R&B/Pop vibe that she creates. 

Tequila on the counter

To counteract what’s going on 

You give me good days bout the same as it rains in LA 

You know that that’s like never 

This is a beautiful contrast that shows the highs and lows of relationships while still cleverly rooting to the concept of a relationship that does not work, comparing the good days to LA Rain which ultimately doesn’t happen. Definitely a song that’ll hit different on those rainy, sad days. Stream LA Rain now!

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Music News

drivers license // Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo drops her song, drivers license and that’s all we can talk about…

I’ve been a huge stan of HSMTMTS since it came out. And with all spinoffs, I was so skeptical, but this show had just the right amount of teenage drama and love triangles and enough homage to the O.G. High School Musical series that I couldn’t help but watch. But, what really caught my attention was the music. 

The music truly is top tier and that reflects well on the cast as the two main leads are all anyone can talk about nowadays. Majority of it being, singer-songwriter & actress, Olivia Rodrigo, who gained some buzz on Tik Tok from her first HSMTMTS-related and self-written release, All I Want, the sad anthem for sad teenage girls, but now she proves to be more than just a product of Disney, with her latest explicit song (only one cuss word but still counts), drivers license. 

On January 8th, 2021, Olivia was said to have ‘saved 2021’ as superfans called it. 

Here are some worthy tweets since the release: 

  • @chartdata – ‘‘@Olivia_Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license’ earns the biggest weekly streaming debut for any song in US Spotify chart history (30.433 million).’’ – 10:53 AM – 1/15/21
  • @amazonmusic – ‘‘Congrats to @Olivia_Rodrigo! ‘drivers license’ broke the record for the most requested song ever in one day on Alexa globally + the biggest first week streaming debut ever globally on Amazon music.’’ – 2:47 PM CST – 1/14/21
  •  @spotify – ‘‘@Olivia_Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license’ now has the most record for most streams for a song in a week on Spotify’’ – 3:04 PM CST – 1/15/21
  • @billboard – ‘‘We’ve never seen anything like this’’: @Spotify reacts to @Olivia_Rodrigo’s recording -breaking ‘Drivers License’.’’
  • Olivia also became the first Asian American Woman to reach #1 on Apple Music Charts and U.S. iTunes – according to @womenpowhermusic on instagram.

But the moment we all knew she won was when the one person she looks up to the most, acknowledged it. 

Now what makes the song so special? 

It pulls from experience. And, we can all relate to that. The song has been said to hint at a possible relationship between her and HSMTMTS castmate, Joshua Bassett, and all the theories come from – none other than, Tik Tok. From clues that I’ve gathered prior to the release or have to recently come to discover, I would believe the theories are true. In one example, Olivia’s original demo that she posted on instagram originally had the lyrics:

‘And you’re probably with that brunette girl’

Which in the official lyric was changed to:

‘And you’re probably with that blonde girl’ 

Who people believe to be Joshua’s potential new girlfriend, Sabrina Carpenter. 

I’d suggest to do some more research and come up with your own interpretation, then we can discuss! While we have no real confirmation that any of this is true, we can still appreciate the song that holds true to Olivia’s musical inspirations, Taylor Swift, and Lorde. I mean, this song is literally the love child of the two. And respect that she is killing it in the music industry at only 17 years old.

Anyways, stream drivers license and let us know what you think about the theories, the song, or if you’re crying in your car too!

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F*** Yourself // Leyla Blue

There are many paths the title of this song could’ve led to, and I am so happy to see the direction Leyla Blue took in her latest song,

F*** Yourself. 

Talk about timing! We’re in a space where we see politicians who are predominantly cis white males define rules and build laws about women’s bodies, and Blue speaks out about this in her lyrics, pointing out the irony in it all: 

Ain’t it funny how a man who’s never met me

Tries to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body?

Ain’t it funny how we tell our little girls

Don’t be a slut like it’s my fault

He held me down at that party

When you think about the whole concept of double standards, it doesn’t make sense and Blue makes it clear that she’s had enough. The song is kept very simple with only an acoustic guitar, with slight drum programming, and bass during the chorus, and I think the intention of this song reflects that. It is simply a call-out song to talk about the differences in expectations between men and women, and she finally says, ‘‘F*** Yourself, You don’t know what I’m going through.’’ – Because they really don’t. 

Don’t mind me, I’ll just be adding this song into my ‘‘Songs everyone needs to hear’’ playlist, and you should too. 

Watch the music video for here!

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Interviews

BANNERS // Artist Interview

You’ve probably heard his voice somewhere on Tik Tok, or maybe even on Spotify’s Global Chart, or I don’t know — maybe even on tv for the trailers of Hulu’s up and coming show, Love, Victor. Familiar yet? Well BANNERS is one artist that you should get well acquainted with. He offers a beautiful mix of haunting yet inspiring anthems that never fails to put a smile on your face. We got to talk to him about music, inspirations, and the huge change he’s had to transition to with the success of his hit single, Someone To You. 

BANNERS: My name is Mike Nelson and I’m from Liverpool. I’m writing this just round the corner from Penny Lane and I’ll probably go up to strawberry fields in a minute because what else is there to do when there’s a pandemic on? I like singing and playing music but mainly I like football. Which is probably the description of everybody born in Liverpool really.

CROWDSURFER MAG: How did you first get into music? 

B: When I was 6 years old I was, for some reason, a singing Ox in a school Christmas play. You’d honestly think more would be made of the fact that there was a singing Ox at the birth of Christ (being dressed like an Ox, put on a stage and made to sing at the age of 6 was the first I’d personally heard of it) but I suppose there was a lot going on with the birth of our Lord and Saviour so the Ox clearly took a bit of a back seat. Still, pretty great. So yeah it turned out I had a lovely little 6 year old voice and I auditioned for the Cathedral Choir in Liverpool. Then did that like every night after school and on weekends while everyone else was doing cool stuff like watching Terminator 2 and having coming of age experiences like in Stand By Me. My Dad is a record producer, so I also spent a lot of time being in recording studios and fell totally in love with them and wanted to be in them with people that do music for the rest of my life.

CSM: Can you talk about your writing and recording process?  

B: Well at the moment, there’s a lot of Zoom in my life. It’s quite nice really. I’m staying with my parents whilst we all figure out this worldwide health emergency the news is always talking about, so I’m genuinely writing a lot of songs in my bedroom. Which is weird. I can’t believe I’m still doing this from a bedroom at my mum’s house. Really thought I’d be further along by now. Man, I hope I’m better at writing songs now than when I was like 10. What if I’m not? What if being 10 was as good as it ever got?! It probably was actually. I really had it figured out then. I’ve got NO IDEA what I’m doing now. So yeah there’s a lot of writing over the internet at the moment but it’s working out pretty well. There’s a lot of writing lyrics with people over email, which considering a lot of them are love songs, it works nicely. Nothing says I love you like a properly formatted email.

CSM: Your Song “Someone to You” has got a lot of attention! Tell us how that changed your life as an artist. 

B: Yes it has. It’s been weird because I can’t play any gigs so my only way of experiencing that has been via emails that say things like “LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE LISTENING TO THAT SONG” or by looking at Spotify. So there’s a huge chance that you’re all playing a joke on me. That this is like The Truman Show, you’ve just hacked into my Spotify, artificially inflated the numbers, and are observing how someone acts when they think people really like their song. I’ll save you the trouble. I’m generally relatively freaked out, feel pretty much like an imposter that will get found out as a charlatan and am hiding in a bedroom in my parents’ house. 

CSM: What inspires you?

B: I really just want to play a small part in making people happy. Just making their day a tiny little bit better. 

CSM: What’s coming up for you next?

B: The forecast is a lot of being in a bedroom in my parents’ house. Worrying about a song that’s already out and also worrying about if songs that are done but aren’t out will do as well as the one that is already out.

CSM: Anything you want your fans to know?

B: That I love them and that I can’t believe how nice they are. That they send me lovely messages all the time and they make me feel better about the world. They’re so much nicer than me. I love loads of bands but it would never occur to me to open up social media and go “Hey The National/Arcade Fire/Elbow/Joanna Newsom/Regina Spektor/London Grammar I really love you so thanks.”  So thanks for being lovely everyone.

We look forward to hearing more music from Banners and I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next while we’re all stuck inside. The next time you hear Someone To You (which is highly likely), be sure to remember the wonderful artist behind it.

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Music News Reviews

Now // OLIVIA O’BRIEN

In the classic Olivia O’Brien style, her latest single “Now” calls out another toxic guy but plays on the tune of Akon’s “Right Now”

“I wanna make up right now, na na

I wanna make up right now, na na

Wish we never broke up right now, na na”

Olivia O’Brien’s lyrics juxtaposes Akon’s from the female’s point of view:

“Maybe we could be in love right now, now, now

Maybe you would be the one right now, now, now

If you didn’t fuck up right now, now, now

We’d be making love right now, now, now.”

Not only does the music tribute the early 2000’s but the music video references pop culture such as the Disney Channel popular series, Lizzie McGuire as well as the trademark Mouse outline. 

After the massive success from TikTok viral song, ”Jossalyn,” Olivia never disappoints and you should check out the music video and stream the song right now, now, now.

Revisions by Sonnie Nguyen.

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Music News Reviews

It’s Ok If You Forget Me // ASTRID S

Take break-ups and heartaches, but make it mature and full of growth.

This is what Norwegian pop star Astrid S has given us in the sneak peak of her upcoming debut Album, Leave It Beautiful, to be released on October 16th, 2020. 

The singer has already built herself up in a solid foundation within her music career from her 3 previous successful EPs as well as collaborations with artists like Shawn Mendes, JP Cooper, and more. 

Not only does her vocal performance kill me in this song, the songwriting within itself could break my heart and sew it back together all in one. 

Patience is a thing that I learned from you

That some things can’t feel wrong even though they’re true

Went through all the hard times together

Kept me calm when I’d lose my temper

I’m just really grateful that I had you

From everything to nothing at all

Every day to never at all


I mean, seriously?! It makes me think about how some relationships aren’t meant to be heartbreaking but full of growth and a lesson learned. We should all follow Astrid and take note of her optimism that she’s shared with us in this song. I am very excited to see her experiences with heartbreak and relationships when Leave It Beautiful drops. Check out It’s Ok If You Forget Me here.

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Music News Reviews

Everybody Wants You // JOHNNY ORLANDO

Johnny Orlando introduces his latest song, Everybody Wants You, as his first single released from his upcoming EP. Prior to this single, he released ‘‘What If (I Told You I Like You)’’ which features Mackenzie Ziegler and has gained traction as a popular TikTok song. 

Fans have been eagerly waiting for more of Johnny and I can understand why. At not even eighteen years old, Orlando has already signed with Universal Music Canada / Island Records, surpassed the two million monthly listeners on Spotify,  and even took home the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Canadian Act in 2019.

Everybody Wants You talks about a common feeling of  jealousy and how he sees attention that comes to someone that everybody else also wants.

And I wish that you would look at me

The way you’re looking at your own reflection (your reflection)

Now everybody’s watching you

And I can tell you’re loving the attention, hah

He teams up with director, Alex P. Smith and animator, Gabe Sapienza for his music video that draws attention to the dark and sad connotation to the song. I’m excited to hear more from Johnny and as we patiently wait for his upcoming EP, stream Everybody Wants You. 

Check out the music video here: