- Everyone's a critic. But for our episode on music criticism, we chose to focus on YouTube music critic, Anthony Fantano's The Needle Drop. - Bam! Hey everyone, Anthony Fantano here. The internet's busiest music nerd. - One, because his scoring
system makes it crystal clear what he considers better or worse music. And two, because one of
our producers is a huge fan and gets really upset when he
gives Young Thug low scores. - I'm feeling a strong four
to a light five on this thing. - So we want to unlock the code of how to get a good rating from Anthony so that we can create our own
Needle Drop approved song. - Lenarae and I are gonna produce a track with the help of Anthony Fantano. - We're trying to find a
track that you can join us on. - Cool. (distorted audio buzzing) - What do you feel like the
purpose of music critics is? - I think it's more of
a service of curation and allowing the audience to know in this very saturated field of music, this is stuff that I
think is worth your time. - How important do you feel it is for critics to actually be musicians? - I don't know if it's super essential. Because I know there are a lot
of super successful critics whose opinions that I think over the years have proven to be super valid, who haven't necessarily prided themselves as being musicians. I think that there are
certainly aspects of music and music production
that maybe as a critic you should do your due
diligence to try to understand, to at least be able to comment on. And giving that I'm reviewing records, understanding and knowing production, or at least the basics of
it, that's kind of essential because that is literally the
process of making the album. - That's how I think. - Since 2009, he's
released over 3,000 videos on The Needle Drop as well as on his other
channel, simply called Fantano. And he's developed a rating scale that goes from zero to ten, with qualifiers such as... - Feeling a light to decent six. Feeling a decent to a strong eight. It's not good. (explosion) - He's only ever given
a ten out of ten rating to these five albums. ♪ Get get get get ♪ ♪ Got got got got ♪ ♪ Blood rush to my ♪ ♪ Head lit hot lock ♪ ♪ (Vocalizing) ♪ ♪ I love myself ♪ ♪ The world is a ghetto with
big guns and picket signs ♪ ♪ Moving forward ♪ ♪ Keep moving forward ♪ ♪ Breezes into the driveway
and kills the engine ♪ ♪ Sits for a spell ♪ - He did give a ten to the album Pink Flag by Wire in a
special classic review, but since then the
video's been taken down, so we'll just leave it out for now. - And for a counterpoint,
we also looked up the two albums to receive
a zero out of ten. ♪ Seems I hate him too ♪ ♪ Seems my collar's blue ♪ ♪ And my lawyer say it's urgent ♪ ♪ I'ma call him in an hour ♪ - So how does a piece of music
get a perfect 10 out of 10 rating, and avoid the 0 out of 10? Fantano is the first to call
his own criticism subjective. - Even though I try to
explicitly tell people over, and over, and over,
this is just my opinion, its not doctrine. Just like, please like, you
know form your own opinion, disagree with me all you
want, I'm not hating on you for disagreeing on me. - After doing this for a decade,
have you given any ratings to an album that you'd like
to change in retrospect? - Nothing like super crazy, I once hated, and I thought it was garbage - Just love it
- and now its amazing now. - All right, okay. So that's it, video's over right? Just do your best and
hope he likes your music? Well not exactly, we did
find 7 key elements that all of his 10 out of 10 albums shared. - I'm lovin' this record,
freakin' lovin' this record. And it just happens to be
fantastically enjoyable. - And 7 key elements that his
0 out of 10 albums lacked. - No and I'm, I'm not interested in that. - Our first tip is to go big or go home. One aspect that will get you
into Fantano's good graces is to make your music epic. - And grand and rich. So dense, lengthy. Color, the volume, the
texture, its all on high. This whole new record is
an undertaking in length. What's grown into a 30-story monster. Its two hours long! - All that said, don't think
just making your music longer and louder is an automatic
ticket to a higher score. - I do love loud music, its important to have dynamics though. - Contrast, okay
- You know because Loud is not significant
if you don't have soft. - Our second is probably the most obvious. If you want a perfect
score; don't be sloppy. - This album is a pile of slop. They're so weak, they're
so badly performed. Terrible singing, terrible
bars, flat production. - Cultivate the skills
in order to be precise, crisp, and meticulous. - Tons of precision. So crisp, they sound so
fantastic, they sound so clear. So meticulously placed together. (upbeat rock music) - Of course we don't want
to say that there isn't any artistry or enjoyment in sloppy music. Not everyone has to be a virtuoso. But if you're putting out sloppy
and poorly executed music, you probably weren't going
for that 10 out of 10 perfect score anyway. - Maybe the most striking
point uncovered in the making of this video, was that
Kid Cudi received a rare 0 out of 10 rating. But then 2 albums later,
received a 10 out of 10 rating. Could the low expectations from the first 0 out of 10 record have lead
to the perfect score with Kid's See Ghosts? Fantano does use a lot of
language that expresses his appreciation of progress. - I was left after this
album wondering "Where could Kendrick go after this." He has gone through this
artistic metamorphosis. Since that album was released
I think they've done, a great job of improving
upon that formula as well. Also sounds completely unlike
anything Kanye has dropped so far this year, really dropped ever. (eerie vocal reversed) ♪ It feels so good it should cost ♪ - And by contrast his frustration
with the lack of progress. - Its like its gotten worse than ever. Progress is good, its,
its not always necessary. I would say the Daughter's
record is a bit of an example of that. Because the thing is like, they
had almost a 10 year hiatus between those 2 records. And certainly I agree that the,
the newest record is better. I wasn't really like "Oh man
is this one gonna live up to the last one?" You know the last one was pretty decent. - The fourth thing you need to
know about 10 out of 10 music is that Fantano likes his music to be. - Just beautifully cohesive. Seamless, they move so fluidly. Its always consistent,
its present, its on point. (energetic rock music) If you want your listener
to become truly immersed into your entire piece. You have to try your very best
to make sure your music has. - Some kind of common
thread running through them. - It was seen, another thing
that Fantano gives high ratings to is music that is troubled. - Tortured and demented sounds. Sickening murder scene. Insane. Emotional and mental problems. Unsettling, disturbing. ♪ Let me off, screeching halt, ♪ ♪ Concussion blinding, not my fault ♪ - Does this taste for dark
music give us insight into Fantano's character specifically? Or might it indicate something about 10 out of 10 music itself? Billboard recently published a study saying that 73 percent
of independent musicians, report symptoms of mental illness. So either we have to be
brave enough to make art with our inner darkness, or, those
of us with darkness inside are statistically more likely
to create the kind of troubled music critics like Fantano value. - I was looking back at like
some of the records that I put in my top 10. And some of the records I
gave 10's to, I was like "Man, why are these albums
(expletive) depressing?" And then recently somebody
made a meme where the golden retriever said "Anthony Fantano,"
and then the giant scary beast said "music Anthony Fantano likes." I mean I don't personally
buy into the notion, which I think is kind of overplayed in a lot of music writng circles. That like, (Hands clap) sad art is the best, its
all about sad art dude. (expletive) That,
(expletive) that happy art. And also I'm sorry am I swearing too much for PBS, I don't know? I think there's some really
great records that I love and that I've supported over the
years that have, you know some like supremely, bouncy, bright,
colorful qualities to them. - Music critics love
listening to music so give them something that they really
have to actively listen to. For Fantano, it seems
that 10 out of 10 music demands you to be. - Tied to your chair and
your, eyelids are peeled back. - It demands attention. - Songs on here do require
quite a bit of attention. ♪ 40 acres and a mule?
A piano, a guitar? ♪ ♪ Anything, see my name is Lucy ♪ - This is essential, if you
want them to give you their highest level of attention,
you've got to infuse your music with nuance, detail, and variety. - The record is a fantastic nuanced and very detailed character portrayal. In short, don't make background music. I do agree with this, but I
would attribute a lot of it to like a reviewers bias. Because I'm listening to
the record in a way that your average casual listener might not be. - No amount of complexity
is going to save you if you're not being genuine. - Well it doesn't feel like
a genuine expression of love. - Be free with yourself,
be free with your music. - Throwing out this idea of freedom. - Be open. - This world is opening up! - Get face-to-face with your listener. - Pop, being just so in your face. - And above all, do it unapologetically. - This really trashy,
unapologetic character that MC ride depicts. - Its funny, but while making
this video we came across an amusing Reddit conspiracy that
Fantano only gives positive reviews to artists who go
shirtless at some point. It's a ridiculous conspiracy,
but whether or not showing your critics your skin gets
you higher marks, opening up and showing your vulnerable
side will be rewarded. - I agree. - So, no barriers. Just connect. - I do love a feeling of a
record that is, authentic. That feels kind of raw emotionally. That is delivering some kind
of intense emotion to you. - Mm-hmm
- It doesn't have to be like anger, it doesn't have to be
sadness, it can be an intense sense of happiness as well. - Sometimes artists get rubbed
the wrong way when they get a negative review. We just want to point out that
from what we've seen, Anthony genuinely wants the music
that he's listening to, to be good. He's often rooting for the artist. - I wish it didn't hurt feelings. I wish it didn't create negativity. I wish it didn't, but I
don't know what to do, I don't know what to do. If you put yourself out there
in any way, you're a vlogger, you're a reviewer, you're a musician, you're this, you're that,
you're going to catch criticism. People are going to say
negative things about you. I've had horrible things said
about me over the years that I have been doing this. In my view, especially
since I do my best not to make anything in my reviews on
a level of a personal attack. I feel like in the grander
scheme of things, you could get worse stuff than a review. - Do you know many or
some of the artists that you've reviewed personally? - I've met some and have had
some acquaintanceships with them, but I try not to, get to close for professional reasons. - Or does it help that you
don't know them to be free to criticize as harshly as you want? - I try to prevent myself from
going to that point where I know them in such a way where
it would be difficult to critique there music in
an open and an honest way. Because openly at the end
of the day what my channel is for my fans. - So even if you do get a bad
review, its likely that some critics just don't like
your kind of music. So the best thing to do, is
to get out there and find an audience that does. So I have a question, what if
you provided us with maybe one of your ideal grooves - On a baseline?
- That you play? Yeah, and then we can,
we can go from there. - That could potentially
work, I can work with a drum beat as well. - I can send you the drums I did. - Yeah why don't - Yeah!
- Instead of it going from LA, me, Anthony, we
can go LA, Anthony, me. - Boom.
- Yeah exactly, because then you've laid down the rhythm
section essentially and then you can just do whatever
you want on top of that. - We think its just so
interesting if we could see, you contributing to a track that, maybe the audience can then review that amongst themselves. But just to, flip the script a little bit. - We're trying to make
a 10 out of 10 right? (gentle jazz music) (upbeat jazz music) - What did you think of our song? Did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it? And if you like our show,
please subscribe to see more episodes where LA and I
travel across the country. (gentle audio reverse)
Should've had Cal spit some fire over that instrumental.
tbh thier vid with Adam Neely is freaking amazing too
I give that track a light to a decent 8.
Love this channel. Every episode is fascinating.
Is it me or does the song suck serious asscheeks
They posted it on October 10th.....
10/10 indeed
thought this was really shallow honestly, and the track they produced is not good