20 February 22 - 28, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Holy Funk Musician/full-time mortician Valenti Funk debuts new album with a PowerPoint presentation. BY CARLY MAY GRAVLEY M usician, writer and producer Valenti Funk, formerly of Dallas-based funk-rock band The Effinays, debuted his second album, Valenti 2, to an intimate gathering of friends and press at the Alamo Drafthouse in The Cedars on Feb. 8. As guests filtered in, Valenti worked the room, urging everyone to eat and drink on his dime (somehow, everyone ended up having mozzarella sticks) and hyping the new album, which he describes as “genre-bending” and “a buffet variety pack.” “Everyone says, ‘Oh, we need to find a single,’ but I’m like … I feel the whole album is a single,” the Irving native says. “There’s something that can go here, there’s something that can go there. Something that’s not successful here is going to be killing it over there.” As guests took their seats, Valenti opened with a Power- Point presentation titled, “What the heck is a Valenti Funk ....…?” The slideshow reviews his adolescence as a band kid in Irving, his day job as a licensed mortician and his musical journey that led him to Valenti 2, including how he came to know his many collaborators. The tracklist for the record caught the crowd’s attention before Valenti even pressed play. Featured North Texas art- ists include Stan Francisko, 88 Killa and Rakim Al-Jabbaar among many others. Guitarist Max Townsley contributes to most of the tracks and is one of the few credited instrumen- talists who isn’t Valenti himself. The album was mixed and mastered by MouseQuake, who is known for his work with Nas, Lil Wayne and Pimp C, among other legendary artists. Aside from Mousequake and Valenti, only one other producer is credited on the record: Flava Dave, Valenti’s longtime friend from his marching band days. The record itself was exactly as promised: diverse and eclectic. It opens with the jazzy and futuristic “The Think- ing Intro” before weaving through all kinds of musical influ- ences: ‘90s R&B on “Say Less,” LGBTQ-inclusive rap on “It Is What It Is” and even French-language coffeehouse jams on “Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs.” “Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs” and Spanish- language “Musica Valenti” are meant to “[spotlight] Valen- ti’s global appeal” and “[transcend] all cultures, genres and musical personalities,” according to a statement released to the press. Four of the tracks on Valenti 2 come with music videos, and all four were screened at the listening event. “Ani- mal,” which features Rakim Al-Jabbaar, was given an ani- mated video of a towering version of Al-Jabbaar rapping into Reunion Tower as if it were a microphone. The ani- mation style and visual puns have an Adult Swim type of feel. The video for 88 Killa collab “Come On Through” stars Dallas-based artist Alex Blair as its sultry leading lady. The collab with Dallas-based rapper Breakfast Santana, “It Is What It Is,” has Santana announcing to Valenti that she plans to propose to her girlfriend and Valenti taking her to shop for rings. “I’m an ally,” Valenti later tells the crowd as to why the story of this video was important to him. The fourth video, for “Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs,” depicts watercolor paintings that tell the story of a woman who turns her life around when her kindness is no- ticed and repaid. After we finished listening to the album and the applause had died down, audience members immediately began re- questing that certain songs be played again. “Say Less” and “Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs” received the most requests and were each played again three times by the end of the event. The guests clearly saw these as the standout tracks on the record, and we can’t say we disagree. Valenti 2 was released on all streaming platforms on Feb. 14, which is both Valentine’s Day and Valenti’s birthday. ▼ TAYLOR SWIFT THE TORTURED POSTY DEPARTMENT WHAT IS TAYLOR SWIFT AND POST MALONE’S UPCOMING DUET ABOUT? BY CARLY MAY GRAVLEY A t the 66th Grammy Awards on Sunday, Taylor Swift announced during one of her acceptance speeches that her new album, The Tortured Poets Depart- ment, will be released April 19. As if that wasn’t enough to stir up Swifties’ excitement, she dropped the tracklist for the album on Instagram the next day. The titles of the new songs alone are fueling speculation: “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “So Long, London” have fans bracing themselves for sordid details about Swift’s breakup with English actor Joe Alwyn last year. More tongue-in-cheek titles such as “But Daddy I Love Him” and “I Can Fix Him (No Really, I Can)” call to mind alt-pop singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, whom Swift has named as an inspiration several times (most recently in her Album of the Year acceptance at the Grammys). “Clara Bow” is sparking renewed interest in the silent film star of the same name and is drawing comparisons from fans finding potential parallels between the careers of Bow and Swift. Another notable reveal in the tracklist drop was the list of featured artists, which include legacy indie darling Florence Welch and, in a treat for North Texas fans, rapper and singer Post Malone, who will join Swift on the opening track “Fort- night.” We’ll admit that Swift and Malone were not a pairing we would’ve come up with on our own. But now that we know it’s happening, we’re intrigued and delighted. Malone and Swift have more in common from a musical standpoint than you might think. Both have experimented with genres throughout their careers and both are loved by fans for relatable, often confessional lyrics. Seeing as Malone is pivoting into a country music career and Swift has roots in the genre, we hope to hear some of those influences in this duet. In the past, Swift has collaborated with other notable North Texans, including alt-rock goddess St. Vincent and Arlington native Todrick Hall. But what do Swift and Malone have in common, emotion- ally speaking, to duet about? To us, it seems almost painfully obvious. We can imagine Swift taking her Lana Del Rey devo- tion to the next level: not just taking inspiration from her downbeat brand of pop and her romantically moody and aloof aesthetic, but ripping off one of her signature songs. It feels not entirely unlikely Swift could be about to drop “Video Games (Taylor’s Version).” “Video Games” is Del Rey’s 2012 breakout single and is sung from the perspective of a young woman who, despite her best efforts, can’t get her boyfriend to look away from whatever game he’s playing and pay attention to her. Seeing as how Swift is a Del Rey devotee and Malone’s investment portfolio contains several gaming ventures, they would slot easily into these roles. We’re mostly kidding, but you have to admit it would make sense. Even the title supports this theory. “Fortnight” could refer to the amount of time it’s been since Swift has felt seen and cared for by her lover, but also to the game Malone is ig- noring her for: Fortnite. This scenario contains several recurring themes for both Swift and Malone: longing, regret, doomed love affairs and brand synchronicity. It also has the potential to be the clos- est Del Rey will ever come to winning a Grammy. Everybody at least kind of wins. | B-SIDES | ▼ Music Dennis Webb Jr. Valenti Funk’s new album, Valenti 2, dropped on Valentine’s Day. Vera “Velma” Hernandez/Natalie Perez Post Malone is a featured artist on Taylor Swift’s upcoming album.