Articulating the Feels of my Favorite OVO Artists

tl;wr — OVO Sound has a monopoly on my feels music. With Frank Ocean’s absence and no mention of a next Tiller album release, there’s a high chance this isn’t going to change any time soon. This is a breakdown of the emotional state I associate most with these artists. Though the sounds are similar in their miticulous production and overall instrumentaion, each artist has an equally miticulously procured image and character that distinguishes them from the rest.

Drake

I find myself going to Drake specifically for the pettiness. When the heartbreak victim feeling strikes me and I need to validate my pain, I listen to Drake. When I want to spite my ex and be childish on Twitter, I listen to Drake. He’s opened the door for male pettiness and rebranded it as masculinity. Drake has found the way to play the victim no matter what. In Redemption off Views, he’s complaining that this girl stopped hitting his line because he left for 2 months and didn’t keep in touch. What did you expect? This is for the player in me that’s convinced that he’s an honest lover and just has bad shit happen to him undeservedly.

Masjid

Dance vibes. Emotional dance vibes. Pounding synths compelling my feet to move and a sireny voice longing for connection. My favorites are Just Hold On (It’s a Majid song voiced by Drake let’s be real), Tracks 1-5 off Masjid Jordan, and ‘Every Step Every Way’. When I really got into the duo, I played them nonstop and dance nonstop. Working, Gymming, etc. I walked down the Mass Ave bridge in Boston one night dancing through the album while trying to maintain a walking pace so no one would pass me. Masjid is 100% hormonal dance club vibes.

Weeknd

I’ve been a Weeknd fan longer than I have for any of the other artists. I started listening in 2011 and for the next 2 years I tried to be the best 16 year old straigtedge rendition of The Weeknd I could be. His sexually explicit sound spoke to my hypersexual high school ambitions. The don’t-fall-for-a-bird-like-me disclaimer became my calling card. It lowkey kind of works. After Kissland though I fell off the bandwagon. Madness wasn’t bad, but it still failed to bring the dirty euphoria that prevailed through Trilogy. I find myself having 0 inclination to listen to Weeknd anymore as I grow out of the “have sex with anyone/everyone” phase to “i like you let’s go on dates and shit” phase.

Party

Party is the player. He got Kehlani to cheat on Kyrie. KYRIE. Party is the single-and-ready-to-mingle king of OVO. He’ll do anything to get the girl, then he’ll do even more to get the next. When my heart is compelling me to woo someone, I blast P-P-P-P-Party. Despite his most recent hit ‘Come See Me’ being more mellow and emotional, in the end he’s lamenting about a girl he liked to get with but never put in enough effort to make her feel special so she left (you can see why Drake is the perfect feature for this song). Most of his songs are beautifully rendered odes to an anonymous girl, but never the same girl.

DVSN

I hope you read this far. DVSN is…oh man. I would have brushed DVSN off as boring in all previous years of my life. But this year the perfect storm of personal growth and a long term relationship came together when I listened to their album. DVSN is the most mature personality in OVO. When I listen to DVSN, it’s because I’m committed to the person on my mind, and I find myself committed to their sound as well (currently on my third repeat listen of the album). DVSN speaks on a committment that’s absent in the rest of OVO. They’re sound is a less embellished, more grounded Bryson Tiller.

Feels music and artists tend to embody the steps of a relationship: Meeting, The Chase, The Honeymoon, Comfort, Tolerance, Downhill, Breaking Up. DVSN is Comfort. They encapture the familiarity of seasoned, romantic love that speaks to my deepest emotional longings.