By John M. Morris
“Oops! All Berries,” otherwise known as “Plane 651” is a hidden gem by artist George Watsky. Before discussing the album, Watsky deserves a bit of an introduction.
His genre is typically labeled as alternative hip-hop, but it feels wrong to throw his music in any category that is not entirely its own. There has definitely been an evolution throughout his career, his earliest albums felt like hip-hop-infused spoken word, and the further he progressed, the further his music became its own entity.
His earliest album to reach the Billboard Chart, “Cardboard Castles”, felt like a dive into pop, lacking much of the sound of pop but matching in catchiness and style.
His next album, “All You Can Do”, the highest ranking album he’s put out, felt like it perfected what “Cardboard Castles” already had done well, while also showing Watsky’s maturing as an individual. One example is the way he handles talking about his epilepsy.
Before, he made light of it in songs like “Seizure Boy”, making jokes about the situation in order to keep it lighthearted, bringing in personal anecdotes like when he had a seizure in gym class in front of his crush and was worried about being embarrassing in front of her.
In “All You Can Do,” he releases “Tears to Diamonds”, which dramatically shifts to talk about the prescription drugs he has to use in order to live an ordinary life with epilepsy, how using them makes him a shell of his personality, and the practices done by pharmaceutical companies such as making the medication addicting in order to keep people on them.
He definitely matured, but the same album as “Tears to Diamonds” also had a fun, short song about a fan who was a stalker and their relationship. It still had a message, bringing in a point about how artists are seen in the idealizing eyes of their audience, but it was mostly just a fun song because Watsky keeps his music fun. As he matured, not only did his lyrical content grow, but his style did as well. Every album he puts out sounds different. He experiments, but doesn’t let the quirky, changing production overcome his personality.
It showed just what Watsky could do with 15 years of experience.
I could speak on and on about Watsky; he might be my favorite solo artist. I needed to set the stage for “Oops! All Berries” before talking about the album.
At the same time he released “X Infinity”, Watsky released “Oops! All Berries” on a secondary Bandcamp album. Posting an album exclusively on Bandcamp, a platform similar but less popular than Soundcloud for independent artists, is already making the music hard to find, let alone posting it on a secondary account.
“Oops! All Berries” was Watsky’s way of showing off that he could still be his old self, making an entire album of songs which could have fit on “All You Can Do” or “Cardboard Castles,” or even his goofy self-titled debut album.
The opening track, “Duke Smellington” sets a strong tone, being a goofy showing of good wordplay and good flow on a very strong beat.
It doesn’t really have a strong message, but it doesn’t have to. “Backburner” is a love song about love not always being about passion and feelings, but at times it can be a pain due to timing and location not working out.
More importantly, it leads into “Rome”, which is where the album begins to shine. In the older, wackier style of younger Watsky, the artist manages to craft powerful messages that resemble his more recent work.
“Rome” is a look at modern-day America and how people are too wrapped up in their lives to care about actual problems. The second verse tells a story about Watsky sitting on a train filled with strangers who only talk to each other after banding together to stop a shouting drunk.
It shows that while people do band together to solve issues, it isn’t until one presents itself that people are willing to take any action, and immediately after the urgent problem is over things return to normal.
The next song, “How it Used to Be”, has Watsky reflect on past historical problems, like equal rights, and how they are now getting resolved, and how in the future a similar scene will be painted for modern issues, like lobbying impacting political decisions, people fought each other over the small amounts of money given by those who hoarded it, and celebrity presidents who earn power through charisma.
These are just some of what Watsky does in a strange blending of his former and current self. Not every song is a powerful, perfectly crafted song, and even the good ones have their faults. Some lines are too strange or goofy that they can ruin the mood the rest of it builds up.
However, if you’re willing to overlook these parts, the album can be an interesting take on Watsky, and deserves a listen.
Even if you don’t want to spend the entire time listening, “Rome”, “How It Used to Be”, and “Duke Smellington” deserve a chance.
