With perfect harmonies layered over hip hop beats and that soaring, soulful voice, Lorde has brought a fresh sound to the music industry. Hailing from New Zealand, Lorde (née Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor) has achieved critical acclaim and popular success at the ripe old age of sixteen. Her single “Royals” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and her album Pure Heroine was released on Sept. 27. While some may attribute her success to her poetic lyrics or unique style, for Kadeem McCarthy, her appeal comes down to one word: swag.
McCarthy, a junior at Connecticut College and member of the a cappella group the Co Co Beaux, says he quickly became obsessed with Lorde’s music after hearing her EP /The Love Club/. “I don’t know how I heard Lorde at the beginning of this year, but I did. I heard her EP /The Love Club/ and I was just like, ‘This is dynamite.’ All these songs are unreal. I was in love with every single one of them,” McCarthy says. For him, Lorde is compelling because of her music as well as her raw attitude. “It’s because she’s dirty, honestly. She’s sixteen, which is unbelievable. She has that little accent thing, and she has so much swag in her voice alone.”
As he continually listened to her music, McCarthy noticed something else about her songs: they would be perfect sung a cappella. “As an a cappella group, we have to have things to do in the background: nice harmonies. She has really good harmonies. The beat and the rhythm is great for our beatboxing and for our basses. Her harmony is great for our tenors. Some songs you just can’t do a cappella, and some songs you can. You can do a majority of Lorde’s songs a cappella. Honestly, they would all sound great,” says McCarthy. And so the idea of a Conn Coll all-group a cappella Lorde competition was born.
After casually mentioning the idea of the competition to a friend, McCarthy started to think more seriously about it. He e-mailed members of other a cappella groups and received a very positive response. McCarthy then brought the different groups together and created rules for the competition. While he was nervous at first about organizing this event, there was a high level of enthusiasm. When the a cappella groups gathered, “everyone was laughing,” McCarthy said. “It worked so well. Everyone was pumped.” The groups picked numbers out of a hat to determine the order in which they would choose their song and the order in which they would perform at the concert. They were then given 25 days to arrange, practice and perfect their songs. “Each group has its own sort of talent anyway, but then each song has its special moment. I’m excited to see what each group does with that special moment, because everyone would do it differently. Everyone is going to bring it,” McCarthy said.
As the competition will be held in Evans Hall—a first for an a cappella concert—McCarthy emphasized the need for the groups to think about lighting, costumes and other aspects of the performance. “For me at least, I guess because I’m a theater kid, I want it to be more than just an a cappella concert. I want it to be a full-blown performance,” McCarthy said. Because the concert falls right after the Dance Club show, McCarthy hopes that students will support the arts by attending both shows. By collaborating with student videographers and photographers, and by taking advantage of Evans Hall’s professional sound equipment, McCarthy hopes to make this event the best a cappella experience Conn has ever had. “If we can get the best of everything, it will be the best concert ever.”
As this idea unfolded, McCarthy realized that the event would achieve something remarkable. It would bring the Conn Coll a cappella groups together. In the past, McCarthy says, there has not been much cohesion among the groups, and he wants to change that. As soon as the idea took off, McCarthy embarked on a media frenzy, creating an all-group YouTube channel (CC Acapella [sic]) and Facebook page (Conn Coll Acapella [sic]). These sites not only offer students a chance to view all upcoming a cappella events in one place, they also allow people to easily learn about the different groups. “It’s so simple, though. I’m thinking, ‘Why did we not have it before?’ It’s kind of ridiculous that no one thought to do so, but now we have it,” McCarthy says. He says he is having fun playing with the sites – posting links of a cappella videos, Lorde videos and otherwise promoting the concert. According to McCarthy, this concert will solidify Conn Coll A Capella [sic], and he hopes that the YouTube site will draw attention to the concert.
McCarthy says that as of now, there are still no high-quality videos of really good a cappella groups performing Lorde songs, but the video from the Conn Coll Lorde competition will change that. “I honestly think we can get 100,000 views within the year,” McCarthy said. McCarthy rests assured that the concert will be a success, and he also believes that Lorde’s popularity will continue to rise. “We’ll see more of her definitely, but will this sixteen-year-old from New Zealand be able to take over the world? I don’t doubt it; she’s talented enough to do so. It’s the sort of music that everyone can like and listen to. I think she has all the potential in the world to take over at sixteen. I’m going with Lorde, I’m rooting for Lorde, I’m rooting for this concert. Hopefully she sees it!”
The Connecticut College all-group Lorde a cappella competition will be held November 1st at 10 p.m. in Evans Hall. Admission is $2.
