Mike Shinoda
Grandson – Blood // Water
"I don’t think I could name a single album that I could say is the best of 2018, but I’ve loved a lot of tracks individually. The ones that immediately come to mind are Blood // Water by grandson, Baby by Bishop Briggs, You Should See Me In A Crown by Billie Eilish, Grand Paradise by Foxing, Saint Nobody by Jessie Reyez, and Numb by Meg Myers.
"Music has to pass a two-part test with
me. Firstly: does it connect with me on that immediate, visceral level that makes me want to listen more than once? Secondly: if a song deserves multiple listens, is it rewarding when I hear it again? Is there a craftsmanship, a care in its creation and a magic hidden inside of it that unlocks when you hear it over and over? Sometimes that second part is harder for younger, less experienced artists. And as I’ve met them in my travels, it’s been super fun for me to be a mentor and a sounding-block for some of them as they grow into whoever they want to be.
“More generally speaking, I think there’s a huge shift in the musical landscape coming soon. I think young people who have grown
up listening to nothing but music made on computers are about to start a new wave of artists who play instruments well. Some people will mistake that statement for ‘rock will come back’ or whatever, but that’s not what I mean. There are 13-year-old kids who grew up on trap and EDM, who have never truly seen another young person who is insanely talented at the drums or guitar or piano, and when they see that, it’ll be undeniable. I don’t think it’ll be a young kid looking at an old rock dude onstage. I think it’ll be a super-young kid looking at another super-young kid on Instagram, killing it. And it’ll be infectious.”