Saints Row just handed me their mix tape

Goes without saying, but I don't know if that applies to writing as well so I will write this:

Music is one of the foundations of the arcade.

Great arcades have great music. Whether it is DDR, Cruis'n, or Killer Instinct the music needs to show up and show out. It defines part of the experience.

Saints Row (2022) OST gives it credibility. It feels like a mix tape you would get while waiting outside of a venue. If GTA is Post Malone, Saints Row is Bishop Nehru. These aren't songs you will know if you just listen to Spotify, unless you are really into 90s hip-hop or classical music.

Everything is divided into stations. There is the Classical station, a Mariachi station, a Western Folk (as in cowboys) station, a throwback Hip Hop station, a new school Hip Hop station, a Reggaeton station, an EDM station,  a Synthwave station, a Metal station, and a Punk station. 

The Classical station is probably the least inspiring station. Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, and Chopin all show up. It is boring, not because it is Classical, but because it is like Top 40s of classical. I like Fur Elise, Nocturne, and Symphony 40, but chances are you have heard them even if you don't know the names. I would have preferred a surprise like Marjan Mozetich, or some ultra chill Gustav Mahler.

The Metal station is also not very inspired. Metal fans are accustomed to Meshuggah, In Flames, Slayer, and Hatebreed. These are the Large Coke and Fries of Metal. The rest are a mix of Nuclear Blast label artists. It would have been cool to see more diversity here. Metal is incredibly diverse. I am sure that Volition got a great deal from Nuclear Blast, but I would have loved to hear Witch Mountain, Royal Thunder, or Horn of the Rhino in this mix. Maybe even some Author and Punisher. Sometimes you need a little sludge or doom with all the death. It all comes down to pacing.

The Mariachi station is good just because it is there. I am a fan of popular American Mariachi music like Latin Playboys, Los Lobos, or Mariachi El Bronx. But this radio station is full of Mariachi music you might hear on your local radio (my local La Zeta is AM band, but still jams). It is kind of weird that they didn't spring for a Selena song, especially with the game's setting.

The Western Folk station is really far off the main road. I say Western Folk instead of Americana because this isn't Cash or Nelson. This isn't even Billy Strings or the Avett Brothers. These songs sound older than Merle Haggard. I am surprised Volition could find so many of them.

The Synthwave station is probably made by very local talent. The artists and song titles remind me a lot of Kavinsky. That reminds me of this story that floats around musician circles and pop culture nerds. Mike Patton is storied to have created Faith No More's radio hit "What Hits" because Red Hot Chili Peppers were so popular and Mike Patton thought "anyone could do that". I wonder if someone at Volition was tired of hearing about how great the Kavinsky album was and thought "I could do that" and then did that.

The throwback hiphop station features A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, Busta Rhymes, and KRS-One. Enough said.

Now we really get into the mix tape territory.

The EDM station features Dillon Francis as the stations DJ and some of his own productions. RL Grime has a remix on there. All together it is a mix of producers that have probably made something you have heard at some point and just not known who was behind it. This is mix tape stuff. This is the Hobart Europe EP someone hands you at a music festival. It isn't Future, The Neptunes, or Scott Storch. This is for EDM fans.

The Reggaeton station shines too. There was a brief time that Sean Paul and Daddy Yankee were bringing Dancehall and Reggaeton to American ears. That time passed pretty quickly, but it doesn't discount how great Reggaeton is. Latin beats and timing give extra flavor to fundamental pop structures. Princess Akaina's Da Da Da deserves special attention for bridging the language gap and making Reggaeton accessible to English speakers. The production in all of these Reggaeton songs is worthy of taking note of.

The Punk station received special attention. The video game OST alums Cage The Elephant return with a song featuring Iggy Pop. Starcrawler, Modest Mouse, and The 1975 make the list and give it some recognizable names, but IDLES really give it that "party in some dudes basement" feel. Things are dirty and fuzzy and smelly. You will definitely have stories to tell later.

Finally we have the new school Hip Hop. Y'all can call it trap or whatever. Its all the same when you see it happen enough. This wave is definitely similar to the Tricky, Kool Keith, MF Doom, Rawkus wave. This is the heart of mix tape. It pushes boundaries, definitions, and threatens to be noise at some points. This is usually where legendary producers and MCs are born. 

    The appearance of J. Cole is surprising, but welcome. Stadium shaker Rico Nasty shows up, and while I like Own It, I would have preferred Rage or OHFR purely for their tone. When Rico Nasty gets punchy things get tense. Denzel Curry shows up too, but oddly is less aggressive, just less though, in this smooth remix. Lunice makes up for it in Calm Down, a song that would definitely be at home on some burned CD, DIY distribution album. Marlowe's Future Power Sources is steps above that with production that sounds like Madlib and flow that reminds me of Talib Kweli. 

   It all sounds like music that you hear locally. It isn't high profile, tightly controlled, radio edit stuff. This is more like Wu Tangs aggressive sound breaking away from G-Funk, or Outkast's Atlanta before Ms.Jackson. It all feels regional or local. 

     In the end the entire OST has benefitted from budget constraints. Imagine if it were big budget and you get to hear Roddy, or Posty, or Lizzo, or Royal Blood for the millionth time. There is a reason these songs are great at first, but don't retain the kind of reverence that a Slum Village or Neutral Milk Hotel song maintains. These odd songs that aren't radio perfect get to play with sound. They make new methods, new standards, new ways of doing things. They challenge your concept of rhythm and scales. If you listen for a second you have to listen for a minute because you don't know where the song is going. It is unconventional, sometimes even jank. That is good because jank things get to be fun. They aren't rigid and award-winning. Jank things get to sacrifice what is proven to work for what is proven to bring joy. Sometimes being jank is just keeping it real.