BY ELENA K. CRUZ
TRAVIS SCOTT’S “ASTROWORLD”; KELELA’S “TAKE ME A_PART, THE REMIXES”; JOJI’S “BALLADS 1”; AMINE’S “ONEPOINTFIVE.” SO MANY ARTISTS HAVE RELEASED ALBUMS RECENTLY IN WHICH EVERY SINGLE SONG IS TITLED FULLY IN CAPS. AND I WANT TO KNOW WHY.
IS IT TO SUIT AN AESTHETIC? MAYBE. BUT THE MORE ARTISTS WHO COPY THIS STYLE, THE LESS UNIQUE IT WILL BE. AND IT LOOKS WEIRD WHEN EVERY WORD IS IN ALL CAPS EXCEPT FOR THE “ft. Rico Nasty” OR “serpentwithfeet” ADD-ON THAT IS APPLIED TO SPOTIFY SONGS FEATURING OTHER ARTISTS. SUDDENLY, THE ALL-CAPS EFFECT IS RUINED BY SPOTIFY’S INDESTRUCTIBLE STYLISTIC CHOICES.
IS IT A TACTIC TO GATHER MORE ONLINE ATTENTION? IN A SPACE WHERE THERE IS SO MUCH INFORMATION, EVERY ARTIST COULD BE TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING THAT SETS THEM APART FOR THE STREAM-OBSESSED MUSIC CONSUMERS.
IS IT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE NATION’S POLITICAL STATE, IN WHICH THE ARTISTS ACKNOWLEDGE A LOSS OF CONTROL AND SANITY WHILE IMITATING OUR PRESIDENT’S COMMUNICATIVE TECHNIQUES ON SOCIAL MEDIA? DOES IT GO EVEN DEEPER THAN THAT AND ACT AS A REPRESENTATIVE EMBLEM OF THE FACT THAT WE ALL ARE SCREAMING INTO THE VOID AND ARE DEAF TO OUR OWN VOICES SO WE DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO BRING EXTERNAL ATTENTION TO OUR SUFFERING?
BUT THEN THERE’S THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARTISTIC FIELD WITH artistssuchas serpentwithfeet, milo and pink siifu, who write every song title in lowercase & mess  w/ spell ings, punctuation and common und3rstandings 0f shorthand. often electronically ro0ted artists, they play on subtlety to send the same message as their often HIP-HOP-BASED PEERS.
putting 2-and-2 2gether, we are all trying to find uniqueness and sanity in this ever-whirling, hectic world. some artists EMBRACE AND EMPHASIZE THE FRENZY, AND SOMe replace insanity a s  w e k n ow i t with a quiet nod d d d toward the loss of control, and then they direct another nod toward the creative freedom that can come to artists because of it.