Back to School

Melanie Martinez. You may know her as the little girl on “The Voice” in 2012, or you may know her as a 22-year-old who produced the album “Crybaby” back in 2015. Either way, she’s back with another album now called “K-12.” If you didn’t know, every Melanie Martinez album features the main character “Crybaby” from her first album, and it shows her story and the world around her. That’s what really amazes me: how she connects all her albums. The album released September 6, 2019 along with the “K-12 Film” that was free at first. (At first Melanie wasn’t going to release any music videos since the “K-12” film was for everyone at first. Then she decided to put out some music videos and make the actual “K-12” film for Youtube Premium members only.)  I personally really love this album, but if you’re bothered by language, I wouldn’t listen to it.

You may ask why it took Melanie four years to produce another album. It’s simply because all of her songs have a story behind them. Melanie works hard to make sure it’s her very best and nothing but top quality. If you want an example of a song in the album that has a story, listen to “Show and Tell.” In the song she says, “If I cut myself, I would bleed / I’m just like you, you’re like me / Imperfect and human, are we?” This gets the message across that she’s just as human as the rest of us, even if she’s a celebrity that produces music. In another line, “Harsh words if you don’t get a pic with me / Buy and sell, like I’m a product to society,” Melanie makes it clear how it hurts her when you treat her like some sort of doll that’s supposed to be praised when she’s just a human. In the music video for this song, she’s in a classroom, and she’s a string puppet being controlled by the teacher while the rest of the class is demanding more. That symbolizes society having high expectations for not just her, but the rest of the role models like actors, musicians, etc. 

If you actually look back on her whole music career, you’ll realize that Melanie kind of created her own genre of music. She was so different, and everyone loved her for it and everyone still does! What surprises me is that they haven’t created a genre based on Melanie! What doesn’t surprise me is her saying, “I have my next two albums and films planned out.” I guess that means Crybaby’s adventure isn’t finished yet, so hold on!