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- [00:00]
A
Hey there, it's Wayfair here where delivery and setup are as easy as a few taps on your phone. You're relaxing in an old hammock, scrolling Wayfair's app when you spot it. A brand new patio set. Next thing you know, Wayfair delivers it right to your patio and sets it up. Oh, you need a new grill too. Alright, Wayfair's got you covered. With Wayfair's room of choice delivery and fast expert setup on qualifying orders, life gets a little easier. Visit Wayfair.com or the Wayfair app Wayfair
- [00:27]
B
Every style, every home paying 70 plus
- [00:30]
C
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- [01:04]
B
and the producers have asked me to bring my hip hop pop music maven analytical skills to bear to try to understand it. This is more than just a song though apparently it's a mystery wrapped in an enigma. I'm hearing it for the first time. This is Mafra. The artist has become a viral mystery across social media, inspiring hundreds of reaction videos due to her vocal transitions and range with tens of millions of views. But the weird part is no one knows her real name or where she is from. That's scary as her channel first appeared about eight months ago, launching with one continuous single shot cover song. Since then she's posted one new cover each month, with each video gaining more traction, ranging from 1.6 million to 15 million views. It should have been me. It's pretty good. With every release, her appearance has become increasingly dark and goth in style. This is really weird. Mafra who is so it's only covers. These aren't original songs so I'm really analyzing the performance and maybe the song choice. Alright, whatever. Take it away. Her voice is deeper than I'd have expected. I'm nervous about the bull nose ring though I've never seen it seem to turn out.
- [02:49]
D
You can have my heart. You can have my heart. There was a few. A room of ghost. No hand of movement, no sign of pos Only an echo. Just getting warm. They kick the ch but we we up to the room, huh? You can have my heart, You can have my.
- [03:25]
B
I guess the range is interesting, that first part, the tone of her voice wasn't that great in that low register, but. I guess the fact that she's going really low to really high to melodic to Screamo, I guess that's kind of interesting. And her appearance is just kind of jarring. It's not that she isn't pretty, she's kind of. She know she's fine looking, but she's kind of scary. And her. Her mouth is gigantic. And that itself is kind of scary. It's also unnerving that she's not looking at you. It's always a little off the camera. I've never heard this song before. I suspect she's also gone viral because she sounds kind of like a man, but she looks petite and feminine in this gothy way. And her physical movements, she has a lot of stillness, which is very powerful on stage. But then they're very jarring when she kind of breaks into the chorus or the bridge. And also it feels all more than vaguely sinister. That's the other thing kind of seems demonic, which is alluring to people. Because demons tempt you. I'm not calling her a demon. I'm just saying that's the aesthetic that people find interesting. And the juxtaposition of perfectly fine banal vocals to like with this, like that, that's very jarring and catches your attention. Feels kind of mid 2000s, doesn't it? Which I always. I think mid 2000s might be the worst era of music ever since the dawn of man. Since baboons started beating sticks on skins on drums. But now it's kind of vintage, I guess, because mid 2000s music's 20 years old. Yes, that stillness. It's just one shot, medium shot on her. There's a lot more to say. First, though, go to toothpillow.com code knowles. We've started calling dysfunction normal, even in our kids. Narrow faces, crooked teeth, receding chins, mouth, breathing. The list goes on and on. No one seems to ask why. Here's the truth. When a child's palate doesn't grow properly, their airway can't develop as it should. Breathing becomes a struggle. The signs are all around. Snoring, restless sleep, poor focus, constant congestion, teeth grinding. Does that Sound familiar? That's because most adults still live with it, too. That's where our sponsor, Toothpillow, is here to help Mr. Davies. His kids are the right age for this. Mr. Davies swears by Toothpillow. Says both my oldest daughter and son, who at the time were three and five, had palate, alignment and breathing issues. We were told treatment would likely mean waiting until they were older for more invasive options. Fortunately, my wife found Toothpillow online. In our case, we saw improvements in months, not years. Looking back at the before and after photos, it's remarkable what Toothpillow did for my family. Now my youngest son wants one just to be as cool as the big kids. There you go. There you go. Can't beat that right now. Go to toothpillow.com, use code knowleskanawles to get your kid assessed for free. And it doesn't move, so that feels very gritty and authentic. It's obviously very highly produced, but it has this gritty, authentic feeling. And she's never quite looking at you. I get why it's gone viral. And she has at least an interesting set of pipes. It might not be Pavarotti, but she's got an interest. Not quite Ella Fitzgerald, I guess. I probably wouldn't turn it on at a dinner party, But I kind of get why it's gone viral in this culture, which is alienated. The goth speaks to the alienation. The intimacy speaks to the alienation. She doesn't have a band behind her. The disillusionment of our culture. She doesn't smile and she's super gothed out. Angst. There's certainly plenty of angst. The starkness of the culture, everything. Notice even you see this in architecture. Everything's just black and white now. Like those modern cube, hideous modern monstrosity houses. People take an old beautiful brick and just boom. Bleaching it white, painting it white, ruining it. Everything is really clinical. This is a world that is understood through virtual reality, mediated through technology. So everything just becomes less ornate, less organic, much starker black and white. I kind of get that. Even the lyrics of the song, I think, were doomed. Just so much doomerism in culture. You'll hear this a lot on the left, which is a sort of fatalist, tragic ideology. But then even on the right, you see a lot of doomerism leading to political quietism. Sun don't shine. Just trying to feel anything. And we're also a very perverse culture because we're over stimulated all the time by colors and Lights and doom scrolling and porn and politics and sensationalism and just every. We're just very, very stimulated all the time. And so this kind of speaks to that. It lures you in with its stillness, but then it still keeps you there with the kind of crazy, jarring movements. I get it. I can't say I love it, but I kind of get it.
- [10:14]
E
Interesting set of pipes. That was your takeaway?
- [10:18]
B
Yeah. What, you think she's a great singer?
- [10:20]
E
I'm actually curious for you because what they're doing is nothing you would normally do to make a brand new channel go viral. Do you think it was just a musician that had a clever idea that happened to work, or is it an industry kind of plant where they found a talented artist and created it? Hmm.
- [10:36]
B
I think it's still possible for an individual artist to go viral. I think that can still happen. And I think that the industry, like the entertainment industry, is not nearly as brilliant as sometimes people give it credit for. So I don't know that she's exactly an industry plant. I don't think that's really how people come up as much anymore. It's not like, you know, I'm auditioning for the old casting agent.
- [11:04]
C
That's right.
- [11:04]
B
I'm gonna get a record deal with rca. That doesn't really happen anymore. So, no, I kind of lean toward. At the very least, this started in a somewhat organic way. Even if. I mean, it would be crazy if she didn't have executives beating down her door right now. But when you. Hold on. You're critical of my take on the quality of her voice, where I said she's got an interesting set of vibes. You think she's what? You think she's Ella Fitzgerald or something?
- [11:31]
E
I thought it was pretty impressive, the vocal range, which is why the reaction videos do so well, because it's usually vocal coaches being like, how is this possible?
- [11:38]
B
No, I acknowledge that it's interesting that she starts out as like, but it's not. The tonal quality of the voice doesn't do all that much for me. No knock on her. She's a very impressive. She's a better singer than I am, but yeah, she has quite a range. And the fact that she opens up singing like a man is jarring. But I don't think she's going viral because of the quality of her voice. I don't think she's like Adele even, to use a more modern example, than Ella Fitzgerald. I don't think she's like an Adele or I think she's just. I think it's much more aesthetic, and I think this is much more about social media and technology than it is about the quality of her voice, even though her voice is impressive. Is that enough? Is that nice enough?
- [12:21]
E
That's fair.
- [12:21]
B
Is that fair? Thank you. All right, we'll see. Maybe we'll get Mafra on the show. I'm Michael Knowles. I'll see you next time. Feels kind of mid 2000s, doesn't it? Which I always. I think mid 2000s might be the worst era of music ever since the dawn of man, since baboons started beating sticks on skins on drums. Look at this photograph. Every time I do, it makes me laugh.