Yes and no… As the title of this article may lead you to suspect, this article is not, in fact, about the impact that silverback gorillas have on the modern music landscape. Rather, it is about what you get when you mix comic book art, a mogul in the music industry, and a whole lot of features: Gorillaz. For decades now, Damon Albarn’s fictional band Gorillaz–made up of virtual members 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs–have been one of the most prominent names in alternative music. With blockbuster hits like Feel Good Inc. and Clint Eastwood, it would be hard to find someone who has not heard a Gorillaz song once in their life. And while at first listen, it might be easy to categorize them as another 2000s alternative band with a couple of platinum records under their belt, who slowly faded away into obscurity, that could not be further from the truth. In fact, they just released a new LP a few weeks ago, The Mountain. And upon first listen, it reminded me why Gorillaz are so special. You cannot place Gorillaz under one genre because, throughout their 26 years of existence, they have never conformed to the “norm”. They have covered everything from synthpop to experimental hip hop to alternative rock to even Hindustani Classical Music on their newest album. If you can think of a genre, chances are Gorillaz have probably covered it. In essence, Gorillaz is music in its entirety, and what they are creating through their music transcends the boundaries that we have set for this form of art. Gorillaz is a representation of what music can accomplish in affecting listeners’ perception of what constitutes culture.

While that may seem far-fetched, we have to understand why music is made in the first place. For as long as it has existed, music has served as a form of expression. That could be an expression of yourself, a group you belong to, or even an interpretation of someone else. While it is hard to categorize culture under a specific definition, I think it would be fair to say that all of these “expressions” could be compiled into a cultural understanding of who someone or some people are. Certain genres of music can be seen as expressions of specific cultures. The genre we most often associate with this goal is Hip Hop, which has explained African American culture through music over the past 53 years. The bond created between Hip Hop and the African American experience is so interconnected that you cannot understand one without the other. But again, this connection between genre and culture exists in every genre or subgenre you can think of. It does not have to be a connection to racial or ethnic culture like Hip Hop: maybe it’s connected to a social trend or ideology. What makes Gorillaz sound so multifaceted is their diverse use of genres to blend into each project. This, in turn, allows them to explore and display a wide variety of cultures through their music. 

A premium example of this can be heard in their latest LP, The Mountain. The album takes much of its inspiration from Damon Albarn and Gorillaz animation frontman Jamie Hewlett’s time spent in India in recent years. The sights, art, and history of the country stood out to the duo during their visit, giving them insight into Indian culture. In tandem with their own conflicts, this enchantment with Indian art led them to create The Mountain. Yet Albarn did not simply try to rework India’s sonic traditions on his own. Instead, he collaborated with multiple Indian artists and producers on many of the album’s tracks. This collaborative instinct that Albarn has is what makes Gorillaz click. It is what allows for the seamless exploration of culture throughout the Gorillaz catalogue. Because not only does The Mountain feature Indian artists, it also features Reggaeton artists like Trueno, and Hip Hop legends like Black Thought and Yasiin Bey. And what at first seems like an eclectic yet disjointed cast turns into a cohesive listening experience unlike any other. This is what makes Damon Albarn and Gorillaz so remarkable. It is not his own musical talent, even though he is a very talented musician; it is his knack for arrangement. He can mix the unmixable and create great music in the process, which is something I see very little of in the modern music landscape. Integrating these artists into his visions allows them to exhibit their authentic culture through music.

The fact that Albarn and company have been successfully doing this for over two decades further proves his specialty, as he has consistently found the right people to put on his records regardless of industry trends. Gorillaz are constantly innovating and giving listeners something new to indulge in. This gives their fanbase exposure to sounds that they might not have previously heard or wanted to hear, which I think is a big plus for music as a whole. The more we understand music, the more we understand ourselves and those around us, and what Gorillaz provide is the opportunity to do so in a much smaller package, making it more accessible. So yeah, if you have not yet, check out Gorillaz, because maybe you will broaden your music taste in the process, or at the very least, you will have found one of the greatest bands of the 21st century.