thought this might be interesting for some of u who have talked to me about this song and the immense amount of effort that went into it. 

this original demo version was what i would loop on my car stereo while writing the song, probably like 100+ times as i drove around or sat in the grocery store and guitar center parking lots while recording. 

as i continued to update and expand the track, this version, which was at once way too muddy and fucked to sound fully release-able but also somehow better than every other version i made until the final one, would taunt me with how catchy it was. i was so addicted to listening 2 this shit and basically couldn't do anything else until the song was done.

looking back i think it's mostly just that the synth is so prominent in this version and there isn't a bunch of other stuff distracting from it.

i was also horrified at having to call this "vibe check" - i wrote a completely different set of lyrics for this originally which i thought were much more intelligent and meaningful, but when i actually recorded them they sounded totally forced and flat.

the subsequent cringe that followed that recording session was what led me to start writing my lyrics as I was recording based on how different words sounded actually coming out of my mouth. it's like a half-freestyle. i think this is what kanye does based on some of his demo recordings that i've heard, but i'm not totally sure lol, so don't quote me on that. 

but yeah, i realized that aside from typing the occasional catchy line or phrase in the notes app on my phone, there's no point in writing lyrics ahead of time which won't even sound good on the actual instrumental itself. and i think in general, stuff you "think about" is just less valid than stuff you feel in the moment, because you can respond contextually to what's going on when you hear a beat rather than trying to plan some genius thing that sounds awkward and uncomfortable when you actually deploy it in the context where it will be received.

the phrase "vibe check" sounded painfully good on this beat, and i was really groaning about this at the time because i was trying to move away from doing meme rap shit that directly referenced internet stuff..i thought the "vibe check" shit was probably on its way out since i saw anthony fantano earnestly post a fit pic that he captioned with it. lucky for me, the phrase has been pretty meme-lindy and persistently resiliant. we'll see how this song ages over time, but i feel like it came out pretty eternal - the concept of a vibe check is just a basic and powerful human thing that people have always done and is present in lots of belief systems, religious or secular.

so - i like posting the work-in-progresss versions of my album covers on my instagram story, along with the snippets of me making shit. so idk how often i'll do this but i thought it may be cool to show you guys some of the original demos of stuff here on soundcloud like this. enjoy :-)

Vibe Check (Original Demo Instrumental)

Buum