Music Releases from the Week of December 3rd

By Ronak Dsouza

Even though the Grammy nominations came out this week, signaling a wrap-up to this year, there are still many music releases to quench your constant thirst for new music.

The biggest album that was released this week was Skins by the late XXXtentacion. Even though his untimely death occurred earlier this year, he still has a lot of unreleased music, which was released on his album, Skins. The lone feature on the album is the hip-hop star, Kanye West. The standout track is “BAD!” which does not have any rapping, but is pretty catchy.

Another big rap release this week came in the form of Evil Genius, Gucci Mane’s brother. Evil Genius has nineteen tracks and numerous features from Atlanta favorites like Migos and Lil Yachty to relatively new rappers like Youngboy Never Broke Again and Lil Skies. The standout track is “Wake Up In The Sky,” which features Kodak Black and Bruno Mars. While song has been popular for a while now, it still stands a great song to lift your mood or spirits.

Switching genres to electronica, make sure to check out Benny Blanco’s new album, FRIENDS KEEP SECRETS. As with many electronica albums, the list of features is long even with the album only containing seven songs. While the album contains the hit “Eastside” with Khalid and Halsey, the song you must listen to on the album is “Roses,” which features Juice WRLD and Brendon Urie. While this may seem to be a weird pairing, this also turns out to be a pretty entertaining collaboration.

Also be sure to check out Brett Young’s Ticket to L.A., the Mary Poppins Returns soundtrack, “Good Years” by Zayn, and “Testimony” by Kodak Black.

Music Releases From The First Week Of November

By Ronak Dsouza

The amount of new projects and songs that were released the week of November 3 was insane and has been every music lover’s dream. From pop, to hip-hop, to R&B, every genre has received some great new music.

On Saturday, pop superstar, Ariana Grande dropped a surprise single titled “thank u, next,” right before the airing of Saturday Night Live. The song quickly gained a lot of attention and received a lot of streams.

It’s rumored she made this song to diss her ex-fiance, Pete Davidson, who is part of the Saturday Night Live crew. This theory is definitely confirmed by “thank u, next,” in which she talks about her past relationships, how she has moved on from each of them, and how she is now focused on herself. This song is perfect for those moving on from a breakup and for those learning to love themselves.

For hip-hop heads, the long-awaited return of producer Metro Boomin arrived with the release of his album, Not All Heroes Wear Capes. The album is filled with guest artists such as Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Young Thug, and Drake. The album greatly delivers in the production aspect, displaying Metro Boomin’s expertise with beatmaking with the different beat changes and transitions from song to song. The standout track on the album is “Space Cadet,” which features hip-hop newcomer Gunna. The track is melodic and hypnotic due to the beat and Gunna’s flow. This album for those wanting to turn up in their car with their friends, because of the amazing beat production.

For a more slowed down music listening experience, H.E.R. released her follow-up EP to I Used To Know Her-The Prelude EP titled I Used To Know Her – Part 2. The sequel contains more songs than the first EP with eight new songs. Part 2 also differs from The Prelude, having zero features. The standout track is the opening song, titled “Carried Away,” with H.E.R.’s dreamy vocals used on a enticing guitar loop. This project is great to keep in the background while getting some homework done, because H.E.R.’s voice will not distract you from finishing your homework.

Here are some other notable releases that you should give a listen: “Dip,” by Tyga, with Nicki Minaj being enlisted for the remix, “Machine” and “Bad Liar” by Imagine Dragons, the Calvin Harris and Benny Blanco collaboration, “I Found You,” and Takeoff’s solo debut album, The Last Rocket.

Why we need a later start time
By Ronak Dsouza

Aren’t you tired of feeling exhausted in the morning everyday, because you were up all night doing homework? Well how you would you feel if you we had a later start to school?

As a high school student, I know that we are often extremely busy with extracurricular activities, which we enjoy, but take time away from completing homework, which results in not having enough sleep or time in the morning to even eat breakfast. This is why we need to implement a later start for school, so students are no longer stressed out or slumped when they come to school.

“Teens from thirteen to eighteen years old need nine and a half hours of sleep, but the average teenager gets seven hours of sleep,” A spokesperson for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital said.

This is only one of the many reasons of why we should have a later start time. Another factor for sleep deprivation in teens is the heavy high school homework load which causes numerous kids to stay up late, further preventing them from getting the nine and a half hours that they need, settling for mere six or seven hours.

The most tragic part is those who are active members of our Legend community are the ones who are hit the hardest by sleep deprivation. These are students who willingly want to partake in before school and after school activities, in spite of all of the homework, and are, essentially, being punished by the school for participating in out-of-school activities, because of the early school start times. Students shouldn’t have to choose between partaking in a hobby and not being exhausted everyday. A later time would relieve active students from the stressful act of balancing their hectic schedule.

What we should push for is having something similar to a block day, everyday. While it seems like a foreign concept, this was actually what the schedule was like at Legend only five years ago! Block days not only allow more time to sleep but also more time for homework to be completed, getting rid of stress and other emotional or behavioral problems.

With a block day schedule, you are no longer going to be constantly tired when you come to school and with more time in the morning, you will start to enjoy coming to school more.