SLEEPYHEAD

While he is often never my most listened-to artist in a given month, if I had to choose a favorite artist, it would be KYLE. I never had an iPod or a smartphone until high school, so I was never really into the music scene until then. One of the first videos I remember watching on YouTube was his music video to his single Raining Love. I would go back and listen to his whole catalog on YouTube, and his debut album Beautiful Loser would become the soundtrack to my underclassmen days of high school. What initially drew me in was a happy-go-lucky flow and catchy punchlines, but as I’ve gotten older, his content on that debut album has resonated with me.

After Beautiful Loser, he dropped SMYLE in 2015, which propelled me through the rest of high school. I could probably write endless articles on how my life is reflected in his music, and I suspect that will be a few articles down the line discussing some of his other works.

Once I got into college, KYLE didn’t drop another album until 2018. He dropped singles periodically during this time, including his hit song “iSpy”, which is when most people heard about him. For me, the song was a shift from KYLE being more of a rapper with pop flavor to a full-blown pop artist who occasionally raps. The KYLE I loved was not the KYLE on “iSpy”. His subsequent albums in 2018 and 2020 cemented his transformation from rapping to almost entirely pop and almost nothing from these albums ended up in my rotation.

I learned a hard truth that people change and do what they feel is best for them. I still held onto the old KYLE and frequently played his early tapes, but I effectively disassociated with his new material. Every drop, I would hold out hope that he would come to his senses and revert to his previous style. It never happened.

Flash forward to this year, KYLE dropped a new album. I had accepted that there would likely be minimal rapping, but I would still listen to support my favorite artist and see if I could add anything to my rotation.

Pop has never been a personal favorite, but I have a variety of pop songs that I resonate with in my rotation. Yet to amazement, I had a pop album that I really enjoyed for the first time since Justin Beiber’s Purpose in 2015. It’s Not So Bad is Not So Bad. It’s fuego.

Currently, my favorite track on the album is Sleepyhead, which opens as follows:

I been sleeping, I was
Whole time, I'm dreaming 'bout ya
Woke up and it was too late
Good things is gone by
Tuesday morning if you wait too long
When I made my move, yeah, she was moving on
Op-op-opportunity, why can't I hear you ring?
Stop making a fool of me
Op-op-opportunity, how could ya be so mean?
I guess it wasn't meant to be

The most important aspect of my song selection process is interpreting the lyrics. As I began memorizing the lyrics, I hypothesized what the song was about and what had specifically caused me to constantly replay the song.

I realized that the song was a play on words. The song frequently alludes to dreaming and waking up too late. In order to “dream”, you have to be asleep. Thus, the song is titled, Sleepyhead. More specifically, throughout the song, I realized that often, we dream about certain things but never put those ideas to fruition. Whether it be pursuing a relationship, career goal, or other important things, we eventually lose the opportunity to pursue certain dreams when we wait too long. Thus,

Good things is gone by
Tuesday morning if you wait too long

Thus, in our minds is the only place these old dreams can live, and at the same time, new dreams are also living here. Growing up, I have always described myself as a risk-averse person. I don’t take many risks and still frequently make conservative decisions. So, while I may not be sleeping through opportunities like KYLE, I often have hesitated or overthought my goals and aspirations instead of simply acting upon them. There are relationships, goals, and other opportunities that have passed me by due to my own inaction. As I reflect on life, those decisions eat at me the most. What if I had simply taken a risk and pursued my goals? Maybe I still wouldn’t have achieved them, but I would’ve had closure on the situation. The other option is to live a life full of what-ifs, which is a terrible way to live, trust me.

KYLE ultimately urges us to live and act in the moment instead of sleeping through our dreams. Wake up and grind for your goals, no matter how improbable they may be. Ain’t none of this shit promised anyway, so we might as well shoot for the stars and try to live out our dreams.

KYLE is living out his pop dreams; I suppose it’s my turn.