July 1st 2023

Check these songs out while you read:

Da Intro

Howdy and hello, folks, and welcome to the fourth monthly blog post. Four, as you may have guessed based on my username, is my favorite number, so this makes this a special blog post probably!

Just as a disclaimer: I’ll only be showcasing submissions rated E or rated T. I have the M and A ratings turned off for my account, so if a user I showcase here has submissions with those ratings on their account, I may not know about it. Viewer discretion is advised and all that!

Da Recap

This segment is where I’ll be talking about stuff I’ve done this month here on NG (possibly other sites as well, if it’s notable enough)!

First thing (and only lol) I posted was Careful, a collab between myself and @robo2k which I am quite proud of! He did the instrumental and I did the vocals; check it out!!

A lot of my music work this month has been in the background this month, so I promise I’m not slacking off!! I’ve also been working more on the YouTube side of things + been busy with IRL stuff, but I promise I’m still cookin’ up some cool stuff.

Da Spotlight

“Da Spotlight” will be me going over three works and/or users from this month that especially stood out to me here on NG. It may be popular stuff that I want to celebrate even more, or it may be more lesser known things that I think need a bit more love. Who knows! Anyways, here’s da spotlights for this month.

Okay so originally da first spotlight was going to go to @duimaurisfootball for his original Shadow Wizard Money Gang artwork but then he posted “Super Shadow Money” and forced me to rewrite this section because holy crap this one is an improvement in almost every way. So erm…screw you dui for making me rewrite this…the shot composition and designs of the wizards are super sick i GUESS

Da second spotlight belongs to “GETTING 40 LETTERS A DAY FROM SOMEONE I DON’T KNOW” by @InventoryObjects and I have to say - this is my new favorite Inventory Objects track. It still has the trademark quirkiness that IO has made themselves known for, but it’s channeled in a surprisingly more straightforward manner here. The core melody the entire song is built around is so, so solid, and this tune just makes me want to get up and dance. I love IO’s usual crazed distortion, but this was a very pleasant surprise.

Da third and final spotlight goes to @Sony-Shock, an artist many of you may be familiar with! Their work has such an elegant fluidity to it, and it’s amazing just how curvy, twisty, and off-model Sony-Shock can make a character while still being recognizable. Specifically the way Sony-Shock portrays faces feels very unique, and it compliments the fluidity of the characters excellently.

Da N00bz

This segment is meant to celebrate the cool new users to the site who are just getting started on here. Whether they’re completely new to creative expression, or experts that are only new to NG, anyone who’s started their account in the past two months is fair game >:D

First we have @Poffim who specializes in character artwork but also has some gorgeous looking backgrounds! I especially love their color choices and shading techniques; everything they draw feels soft. In addition to some lovely fan art, they also have some great OC designs, my favorite being their pirate cat character. The crab being an earring is such a fun idea! Welcome to Newgrounds, Poffim!

Next we have @not160cm who posted the wonderful animation “FISHEYE LENS,” a funny and realistic depiction of being a kid and overthinking things. It’s a lovely animation with humor that genuinely made me smile and a very nice message! I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us. Welcome to Newgrounds, not160cm!

Last but certainly not least is @CrossCarrasco who is actually one of the musicians working on the Christmas in July album! Cross can absolutely shred it on a guitar, but is also handy with a DAW! When I say Cross can shred, I mean it - just listen to some of the crazy solos in these two songs! Absolutely incredible skill. Welcome to Newgrounds, CrossCarrasco!

Da Rest

This is the final segment and I’ll be using it to give any closing thoughts I have or mention anything that doesn’t fit into the other segments.

You may have noticed that I extended “da n00bz” to include users from the past two months instead of just one month. This gives me a wider net to cast in terms of artists I can highlight, in turn making those artists easier to find. Last month I lamented that there’s not really a great way to find new talent on Newgrounds without scouring the frontpage and/or the portals and hoping an artist is a fresh face, and I think extending the range to two months will help mitigate that problem just a little bit. I’m still having trouble though, so please oh please - if you find new talent, send them my way so I can talk about them on the blog!!

Also - YOU ONLY HAVE TEN DAYS LEFT TO SIGN UP FOR THE CHRISTMAS IN JULY COLLAB ALBUM!!! THERE IS LITERALLY ONE SONG LEFT AT THE TIME OF WRITING SO ACT NOW!!! Folks who have already signed up, your submissions are due in SEVENTEEN DAYS!!!

Lastly, I’ve mentioned this before but I am so dang jealous that I can’t go to any of the cool NG meetups happening around. If anyone wants to host one closer to Louisiana please be my guest LOL

That’s it for this month’s frontpage blog! Thanks for reading, everyone!