Hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well.
Today, we're talking about politicians doing music, which they've been known to do. Enter in Michigan State Rep, Josh Schriver who is quite the individual.
First off, he has to have the most cursed Wikipedia bio photo I've ever seen of a living human being in my life. Even if this man's politics 110% aligned with my own, I would have a difficult time staring that pained smile with the squinty eyes in the face. There's some real pain behind that expression there, some real pain. I don't think I could smile like this if I tried. This is a smile of you're trying to cover some real trauma or something. Do I look happy? Do I look happy to you?
But yeah, not only does it turn out that this man's bio photo is pretty wild, his politics are pretty wild, too. He was stripped of his staff, his funds, and his committee assignments in the Michigan House because of a post he made on the internet endorsing the idea of great replacement theory. Which is this very racist conspiracy that I don't... Do we need to get into it?
So there's that. He's also on the record as wanting to overturn gay marriage.
"Has Obergefell v. Hodges not widened a portal where gays, queers, transsexuals, individuals, polygamists, minor-attracted persons, and other perverts advance attacks on our children?" - Josh Schriver
Not a great guy. Not the best guy. Obviously, a dude who has made it his life mission to make people suffer just because they're different than him. And apparently, that mission also extends to the world of music because now, Josh Shriver wants to make people suffer who enjoy it. Now, for Josh, this whole music thing is nothing new. He's released raps and promo music in order to get people really hype and excited for him representing them in Congress.
"My name is Josh Shriver, I represent you / I came to spit fire, let me tell you what I do / I do the best I can, trust in God and not in man / I post all my vote reasons, I'm consistent every season / Check me out." - Josh Schriver
Yeah, the man is just dripping with charisma. I mean, when he said, "Check me out," the chills that just ran down my spine. I can't describe them.
But you know what? What you've heard here is actually just the tip of the iceberg and very, very listenable and palatable in comparison to what I'm about to show you, which is apparently like some music off of an album he's put out, which, artistically, I would say, is like a musical decathlon of sorts.
Josh really explores the outer reaches on this song over here of his vocal talents, range, and abilities and just all the different genres that influence him. He's just a musical chameleon. You can't pigeonhole this guy. He's not just a rapper or a singer or a songwriter or any of those things. He is everything. He contains multitudes as you will hear on this track, I'm about to play you. Believe me, you are not ready for this.
And just when you think you're acclimating to whatever psychotic idea, musically speaking, Josh is trying to get across here, he hits you with another left hook, you're going to enjoy this. I do want to do a quick shout out, though, to Right Wing Watch, who posted this publicly and made it so that Austin and I caught it. They had a posting about this song saying, "Don't quit your day job, Michigan State Rep Josh Shriver."
I disagree. I feel like Josh should be doing this instead of politics. As bad as this song is, societally speaking, this is a lot less harmful to the world than him being in a seat of power and influence in any way. Josh, if you are watching this video, I fully encourage you to do more of this and just do only this. Don't do anything else.
But yeah, let's hear this complete and total banger that Josh has pulled together over here.
"I just took some pre-workout, I guess that means that I should lift. / Faithfulness replaces doubt. In this life, you'll have some dips. / I can stop myself from doing what I ought not do." - Josh Schriver
Okay, so as you can hear from the first section of the song here, Josh, really big early 2010s cloud rap influence going on. You could tell this guy's really on that early Lil B, ASAP Rocky wave. Really a lot of parallels to guys like Clam's Casino over here. He just loves those spacy trap beats.
And Josh, lyrically, he's telling it like it is. He's telling us about his real experiences. He takes some pre-workout, and then he's going to lift. Who would have thought to do that? The man's an innovator. He also starts gesturing toward the Holy spirit here as well, telling us that blood. In life, you're going to have some dips. You got to be faithful. And the advice continues deeper into the track.
"Self control is what the Holy spirit will produce / You've got to call on your God / You've got to call on your God" - Josh Schriver
Okay, first off, I feel like that lyrics about not doing what you ought not do, it's a bit of a mask off moment. What are you trying to not do, Josh? What desires or wants or dark thought that's lurking in your freaky little head are you trying to deny?
Oh, yeah. I don't know if you noticed there, but we have a total rap hip house change up there with Josh really leaning into his angelic singing voice. "You've got to call on your God. You've got to call on your God."
Now, for any normal song created by somebody who is obviously a weirdo, that would be the one bad cringe or strange vocal moment or unexpected shift that a song like this would have. But no, man, Josh, he's got more ideas than that lurking in his very tortured mind.
"Go to Ivy League. It's okay to read." - Josh Schriver
Thank you, Josh. I didn't know it was okay to read before you said that. I was a little on the fence about literacy before I heard this song, but now I have heard it and I'm like, 'You know what? Actually reading, sold on it. I think it's maybe a good idea to read.' Really glad that Josh is shedding some light on all of that.
But look, musically speaking, I've said this before and I've been building up to this. You are not prepared for what this song is about to do next. I feel like the only point of comparison that I could make here is that Josh is very clearly an Ariana Grande fan, big Mariah Carey fan. He loves hitting those whistle notes. Not only is the guy maybe more of a singer than he is a rapper, but he's not going to let something silly like pitch and key keep him from really reaching for the stars on this banger.
"I might just have to go off the bell. I might just have to go ahead and let it rip." - Josh Schriver
I'm smiling like him now. The power of music.
"Oh, shucks. You didn't have to bring any food." - Josh Schriver
Oh, he hit us with the 'Oh, shucks.'
"I've come to let it rip. We're in a predicament." - Josh Schriver
It's like if the B-52s were painfully straight or something. I don't know. Wow, wow.
State Rep Josh Shriver, A hidden, underappreciated musical talent right there. With a smile, only a mother could love. I'm going to leave it there because I feel like you guys don't deserve any more pain.
I can't help where I come from. Let me know what you think of this track in the comments.
I'm sure it's your song of the year. Yeah.
What do you think?
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