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#70 | Now that's what I call music

Ever blank out the lyrics to that new song you *really* like? Or want to know what Taylor Swift means in ‘All You Had To Do Was Stay’? The actual, deep meaning of the song?

Let me introduce you to Genius, one of the best music-related apps ever made.

It’s got news! It’s got songs! It’s got lyrics! 

And the occasional inside scoops from fans – even if the scoops are sometimes unreliable. Unlike ice cream scoops. Isn’t ice cream the best thing ever invented?

But I ramble. Ooh, chocolate chip.

Originally launched as Rap Exegesis in 2009 as an annotation platform for the rap and hip-hop community, it quickly changed its name to Rap Genius because that was easier to say. It’s seen its fair share of controversy – being penalised by Google, suing Google, getting sued by music publishers. 

Since its 2014 rebrand to its current form, it has become one of the most popular sources for crowdsourced music esoterica.

Big-name artists, including Nas and Eminem, have signed on with verified accounts to annotate their music. The annotations are often hilarious. Check this one out. 

The news is one of the best things for me. It’s reliable. (Such privilege) Shame, it’s only music industry-related. It’s a lyric app; what’d you expect? The company attempted several offshoots, the most prominent among them being News Genius, launched in 2016, with even the White House using it. Then came a President who didn’t believe (in) news and News Genius hasn’t been updated since 2016.

Unlike other lyric websites, Genius gives you an in-depth summary of the meaning behind the music, the artist’s comments (sometimes with the original artist chiming in) and what the lyrics mean to them. Just don’t expect Seal to explain what Kiss From A Rose means, though.

Search is powerful enough to show you songs based on a fragment of the lyrics. Plus, it has charts, new releases and artist discographies.

If the song is on Apple Music, Amazon and Spotify, you can listen to it inside Genius, so you know you have the right one. 

So go on and lyric away!

Until next time,
Factory