This Week in Music History (Feb. 15th -21st)
5 min readFeb 18, 2021
I apologize for being late — the snow screwed me.
February 15th
Birdman is born in New Orleans, Louisiana (1969). His father refused to sign his birth certificate, meaning he technically didn’t have a name for a month. His family called him “Baby” — a nickname that stuck.
Megan thee Stallion is born in San Antonio, Texas (1995). However, she grows up in Houston, Texas.
February 16th
Lupe Fiasco is born in Chicago, Illinois (1982).
The Weeknd is born in the Scarborough neighborhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1990).
Denzel Curry is born in the Carol City neighborhood of Miami, Florida (1995).
Frank Ocean releases his debut mixtape, nostalgia ULTRA (2011).
Album Fact #1: The car on the album art is a BMW E30 M3 — at the time, Frank Ocean’s dream car.
Car Seat Headrest releases Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) (2018).
February 17th
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day is born in Oakland, California (1972).
Kate Bush releases her debut album, the Kick Inside (1978).
Thelonious Monk dies of a stroke — he was 64 (1982).
Darkthrone releases Transilvanian Hunger (1994)
Album Fact #2: Backmasking — hiding messages in music that can only be heard when played backwards — was a genuine fear in the 1980s “Satantic panic”. However, backmasking is actually rather rare in metal.
One of the few genuine examples of backmasking in metal is on the track “”As Flittermice as Satans Spys”:
“In the name of God, let the churches burn”
Against All Logic aka Nicolas Jaar releases their debut album (under that name), 2012–2017 (2018).
Album Fact #3: This is the back cover. Let me be clear — 10/10.
February 18th
Yoko Ono is born in Tokyo, Japan (1933).
Dr. Dre is born in Compton, California (1965).
Juelz Santana is born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City (1982).
Chief Keef releases the mixtape, Sorry 4 the Weight (2014).
February 19th
Comus releases their debut album, First Utterance (1971).
Album Fact #4: The cover artwork was drawn in ball point pen by Roger Wootton, lead singer and songwriter of the band.
The Mountain Goats release the album, All Hail West Texas (2003).
Pop Smoke is shot and killed in a targeted attack in Los Angeles — he was only 20 (2020).
February 20th
Kurt Cobain is born in Aberdeen, Washington (1967).
The Smiths release their self-titled debut album (1984).
Rihanna is born in St. Michael , Barbados (1988).
Boldy James & the Alchemist release the EP, Boldface (2019).
February 21st
Nina Simone is born in Tyron, North Carolina (1933).
Low releases their debut album, I Could Live in Hope (1994).
Emperor release the seminal black metal album, In the Nightside Eclipse (1994).
Roc Marciano releases the album, Rosebudd’s Revenge (2017).
Arca releases the hour-long single, @@@@@ (2020).
