-Get behind me, British man. I'm going to defend you
from strangers on the internet. -Jacob
-Jacob. -Jacob.
-What's up, everybody? My name is Jacob Collier. [music] -He started by making
covers in his bedroom, and now he's got cosigns
from legendary artists, a growing collection of Grammys,
and a passionate fanbase. Jacob has truly made a name
for himself, which is wild, because he already had one. He didn't need to make another name. Stop me if you've heard this one before. I think Jacob Collier is
a prodigiously talented musician, but I don't always click
with his music as much as I'd like to. [applause] Yes. At no point have
I ever been some overzealous fan of Jacob's musical output, even though I think
that he is immensely talented, and he strikes me
as a pretty nice and chill dude. Recently, he put out the
fourth and final installment of his Djesse series, and the discourse
surrounding him has felt-- different. "Mathematical AJR." "Both gay." "This theater kid Nickelodeon crap
can't go away fast enough." "Horrible."
"Ha ha." "This guy has never made a song
anyone actually likes listening to." "You suck at music, Jacob Collier. Please get better. Thank you in advance." "Good one, @awildparrot719." "How'd they manage
to pack so much cringe into this album? Kinda impressive." "No one can touch Drake."
That bland voice, that soulless try-hard quirkiness,
those repugnant crocs, whose use should only be allowed
to hospital professionals. And he could play 30 instruments,
but if the ideas behind them are as old as his dad and stale as F, then the perfect storm
of cringe takes place. Monkey." Oh, okay. Come with me, friends,
as I now defend Jacob Collier. Let's first lay out
what I think are core truths, common ground about Jacob
that we can all bond over. One. Jacob Collier is
a technically gifted musician. Even if you don't like the execution,
you've got to go pay respects to the mechanics behind it. That's been the case ever
since he broke out on YouTube with covers of the Flintstones theme
or Isn't She Lovely. Dude knows his stuff. Two, Jacob Collier is an eloquent speaker about music
and the creative process. Jacob's been doing the press rounds
for Djesse Vol. 4 recently, including an interview
with Creator Economy figures Colin and Samir. It is two and a half hours long. Some of you will think that's too long. Some of you will think
those are rookie numbers. I believe anyone who likes
or dislikes Jacob should watch this interview. I think it's valuable
to hear other people speak on their creative process,
even if, and especially if, we don't care for the finished product. Again, even if you don't care
for the execution, the vision is still there,
and Jacob speaks well on it. -Great art is when you walk down
the mountain, from the chilly, cold lack of oxygen
to the warmth of the village, and you exchange stories
and food and energy, and you meet people, and you meet people where they are, and you say,
"This is for you." You can make totally pure art
any way you want, including reaching a ton of people for that purpose.
It's okay to be ambitious. It's okay to want to reach
people and move people. Three. Jacob Collier usually sounds
great on other people's songs. Have you heard SZA's Good Days? The way he's like [music] That's delicious. Lizzie McAlpine's Erase Me. A good chunk of Stormzy's
latest record or parts of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres, which might not sound like an endorsement,
but some of that record is solid. Don't make me get out
the business card again. He's like the inverse of Kevin Parker,
who makes excellent music as Tame Impala, to the point where you say,
he should be producing for pop stars. Then he does, and you're like, oh. It's one thing to lay out facts
about a person or thing, and another to see them manifest out
in the real world. There's this thing that happens
when a person or thing becomes popular, where they get boiled down
to one element, or one personality trait. Jacob Collier is the music theory guy. There have been multiple instances
where a media outlet will get him to explain Sir Duke, or teach harmony to people,
or answer music questions on Twitter. On one hand, Jacob seems
to lean into this persona, I imagine because he is enthusiastic
and knowledgeable about music theory. On the other hand, media outlets
seem to find value in bringing him on for content. On the third hand you have, people tend to like explanations
about music, why certain chords
or melodies impact them, why they like the music they like. It's all three of these things
that have led Jacob to be pigeonholed. Beyond just waxing poetic
about Dommy Sevs on the internet, Jacob has also released music. As of now, he's got
five records under his belt. The first was In My Room,
mostly an extension of the bedroom videos that made him famous. Then we got the four Djesse Records,
starting in December 2018. Each record represents
a different part of the day, and in tandem, a different sonic palette. Volume 1 represents Daybreak,
and it's a collaborative album with Metropole Orkfest. Volume 2 is Afternoon Folk Music. Volume 3 is Nighttime R&B. Volume 4 is, according to Jacob-- -It's a sort of combination
of all these different forces. -In practice,
it's the poppiest album of the quad. I've followed along with these records
as they've come out, and they're fine. I don't love them,
but I respect them and their maker. Back when I did album reviews,
I covered Djesse Volume 2 and did a mediocre skit where I pretended
I wasn't jealous of his skill. When I did a big Grammys video in 2021,
I talked about Djesse Volume 3 and how I wouldn't have nominated it
for Album of the Year if I was the sole person running
the recording academy. For Volumes 1 through 3, the discourse has basically
stayed the same. The people who liked the record liked it,
and the people who didn't moved on after maybe a bit of venting
on the internet. I should also say that I'm not here
to defend Volume 4 specifically. For me personally, Volume 4 is in line
with the past three volumes, in that I enjoy some songs wholeheartedly,
like Bridge Over Troubled Water, I respect some parts, like the vocal build
in the middle of Wellll, and I don't care for a handful of parts,
like when Jacob raps on Over You. Just to be crystal clear,
if you don't care for Jacob's music, that's fine. You're not the reason I'm here talking
about him today. I'm here today
because with Djesse Volume 4, the discourse has become way more toxic. Why that is, I'm not super sure. It might be that Volume 4
leans the most into pop music, which means it's operating in a genre
with a lot of eyeballs on it. It could also be part of the reaction
to Volume 3 and that getting nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys,
since that has been the first major point of backlash
for Jacob thus far. Whatever the reason is for the toxicity,
we're here now. Let's run through some of the reasons
why people don't like Jacob or his music. Jacob's music
is often very busy and chaotic, and doesn't give ideas space to breathe. This first one is
the biggest complaint I see towards Jacob's music,
and it's not unfair. A lot of Jacob's songs
can be out here doing a lot. He's living proof
that you actually can put whatever you want into your art. Allow me to revisit my point about diving
into the processes of musicians, because Jacob himself has stated that this
is a big component of his musical style. -I find myself having ideas
always perpetually on the edge of something I know
or understand. I've always had this since I was, 7, 8, 9 years old
with my little Casio keyboard making samplers. I think I committed myself
to the discovery and exploration of the edge, the whole way through my life.
I'm still there. Oh, actually, I haven't mic'd
the snare in the right way. -Now, does that mean
you must then like his music? No, you can still not care
for the execution. The extraness that Jacob employs
in the music is intentional. Is the extraness
in Jacob's music necessary? I reject that question. Art is incredible, and it's important,
and the world is much better with it, but it is not necessary to us as humans.
You want to know what it is? There are five things. Food, water, oxygen, sleep, shelter. Everything else is a bonus. Jacob's music
is not essential to any of us, but that can be said of basically
every piece of art ever made. That's also what makes art great. Somehow, people find time and energy
to create meaning and tell stories and relate to others through,
in this case, the intentional organization of sound. All I'm saying is, to determine
what is necessary in art, I think that's missing the point. Art can be anything. Have fun with it. Be yourself. Whaaaa- I believe in order to engage
or criticize something properly, you should meet it
where it's at to the best of your ability. For example, I saw complaints
about his rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water
with John Legend, Tori Kelly, and Yeva. People saying
that it was too much. Too much showing off,
too much riffing, not enough of the intimate power of the Simon
and Garfunkel original. Maybe that's the point? You get three ridiculously good singers
on a track, you'd want to show them off. The point of this rendition,
in my opinion, is to demonstrate
the tremendous vocal dexterity of the lead vocalists, as well as Jacob's firm handle
on choral voice leading. That's where the emotion lives for me. If you don't want the thing
that Jacob is giving you, that's fine,
but that is the thing he's giving you. It's not fair to take Jacob's thing
and miscategorize it by putting it up against different things
that give you different emotions or different value propositions. It's a distinction that matters. Are you criticizing something,
or are you just asking for a different thing? Both are valid, but not
when they're conflated. It's not like Bridge Over Troubled Water
isn't one of the most covered folk songs in history. You can easily find a version of it
that gives you the thing that you want. Let me put it like this.
When you're at a Subway, and you order a particular sandwich,
and the sandwich being made in front of you, and you pay
for the sandwich, and you bite into the sandwich,
you don't get to go "This does not succeed
as beef fried rice." Jacob makes generic Disney music. I'm not going to yell too much about why that's not accurate. This point seems
to directly contradict the first one. I don't know what Disney musicals
are randomly throwing in djent breakdowns. [music] Did Home on the Range do that? I haven't seen it in a while. Maybe this complaint is
about the more traditional songs by Jacob. Stuff like Little Blue or Never Going
to Be Alone off Volume 4. Conventional love songs. I suppose they're similar
to Disney musicals in that Disney musicals also have love songs,
but that's such a big generalization. "Hey, check out
my favorite Disney musical song, Girlfriend in a Coma." Also, let's be real here. If you're using the Disney complaint
to call Jacob annoying, at least call him the right annoying. He's not Disney musical annoying. He's music composition
undergraduate annoying. He's not going to write
the metalcore songs for Home on the Range 2. He's going to see a sign that says "30/31"
and then bust out a 30/31 polyrhythm. Is that annoying? Depends on who you are. All I can say is that when Adam Neely
did the same thing five years ago with 7-11 polyrhythms,
everybody ate that s**t up. Jacob's music is boring
because he has perfect pitch. What do you guys think perfect pitch is? I'll tell you what it is. It's the ability to hear a note
and identify it without any reference. That's all that it is. On its own, it's basically a party trick,
like what Charlie Puth does. You could say that having perfect pitch
reframes your relationship with music and how you look at notes and pitches, but that doesn't automatically
make you a better musician or songwriter, and it certainly doesn't put you in some shadowy organization
of perfect pitch hatters. Jacob's music is poorly mixed. Not to be the guy who's like, oh, I have a degree in this,
but I do genuinely have a degree in audio engineering. This complaint annoys me,
but not because it's wrong. I actually enjoy talking with people
about how mixes make them feel because I think it reveals what they value
the most in a song on a pure sonic level. Do vocals matter most? Does the beat matter most? Do you like mixes
that authentically recreate real life spaces,
or do you want to hear something that could never exist in the real world? If Jacob's music
isn't mixed to your liking, then that's fine. However, if you just say
that it's poorly mixed and you don't provide
any examples or further details, that's what annoys me. Because then, "it's poorly mixed"
is just the buzzword you picked out of the music discourse hat. "Jacob's lyrics aren't very good." Who cares? Really, this is, again,
the question of what do you go to an artist for? What value are you getting
from their work? I don't need to be blown away
by Jacob's lyrical storytelling. That's not what I go to his music for. I'm willing to bet that's not primarily
what other listeners go to him for either. Instead, why don't you go
to Sufjan Stevens? Phoebe Bridgers? Pitbull? "Jacob's collaborators
are incredibly random." Okay, but that's fun. His Djesse albums are a chance
for random musicians to come together in a low-stakes environment
and work with someone who seems to be enjoyable to work with. It's like the Smash Brothers of music. "Lizzie McAlpine raises the ceilings." "John Legend gets lifted." "Michael McDonald
takes it to the streets." In other words, it's gorillas
if Damon Albarn went to the Royal Academy. "Jacob's crocs are too loud." Now this is a good point. Jacob has wild taste in footwear. Why am I doing this in the first place? Why do I feel the need to defend
a man whom I've never met and whose music I usually just like? First off, stating that opinion,
that I don't always love Jacob's music, means that I now have to share
oxygen with people like this, and I don't want to do that. I very much hope we get
back to a point of equilibrium with this discourse very soon. Second, while he's not a huge celebrity
or an outright pop star, I think his work says a lot
about us as people in 2024. On a pure music level, Jacob could end up being
a defining artist of this decade. Shoot, I'm spoiling the video. Okay, maybe defining is the wrong term. Perhaps he represents this decade. You say he makes
hyperactive music that can't stick to one consistent thought? Does that not sync up with a generation
largely stereotyped by ADHD and constant social media, who, according to stereotypes,
can't consume visual media unless it's paired with subway surfers? I said in a video a while back
that the music we don't like can often reflect the parts of ourselves
or our world that we don't like. I think Jacob is
a good current example of that, even though he's not making
the world a worse place by any means. Third and last, I admit that I think Jacob
and I are pretty similar. We both have backgrounds
in music, we're both 29, we both developed platforms on YouTube,
we both got our starts in acting by playing Tiny Tim
in productions of A Christmas Carol, we both own U-Basses, and we both enjoy
the posts of Instagram meme page The Surreal Bank. Despite his insane technical
knowledge of music, I, as a regular dude,
see a lot of myself in this guy. Which leads me
to a question I'd like you to consider. What if Jacob is just a dude? Just a guy. A guy who makes music that is informed
by his background and his interests, who wishes to share it with those
who are receptive to it. He's not modern music's devil,
but he's also not its angle. He's just a guy. I think he'd like to be seen in that way. -I think it's a label that people,
that's quite a tidy way of people understanding you. In a sense, it's actually quite
an impersonal thing to tell someone. Like "Oh my god, you're such a genius." There's no bridge there,
you can't meet the person if they're a genius. It's like kicking them up
into the sky and being like, "You can just be up there,
I'm going to be here." It's far harder to meet
someone where they are and say, "You are a flawed human being
just like me, and you also have this big world of yours,
and I respect that." -What do you think of Jacob Collier? Do you like his music? Do you not care for it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments,
as long as they don't look like this. [music]
