6. All For Us (feat. Zendaya)
It wouldn't be fair to talk about this song out of the context of Euphoria, the incredible series on HBO Max, starring Zendaya who is featured on this track. The series deals with drug abuse, physical abuse, as well as overall high school drama without being sappy. The primary focus is on Zendaya’s character, Rue, who is severely addicted to drugs, having been hospitalized at least once. We see her deal with her family, her single mother and younger sister, quite a bit. “All for Us” begins with gospel vocals from Labrinth’s own family members who are musicians themselves, making for quite the impressive family. The gospel lyrics feel almost ominous and enticing; just as we get comfortable with the soothingly slow chants, we’re thrust into another deep bass line - simple but effective. The gospel gets pushed to the side as fillers cranked up a few octaves, electronically edited. Zendaya holds the bulk of the first verse with Labrinth adding vocals in the background. He comes in for the hook as they pass the lyric-ball back and forth, leading into the chorus.
The song focuses on the struggles of thriving, or even just surviving, day-to-day in the midst of famine and poverty. Though it can be taken generally, the song focuses on these struggles in the context of a young individual dealing with substance abuse, raising their family with a single mother, and smiling through the pain. The speaker is willing to do anything just to be “a star in your eyes.” Drug abuse is a prevalent theme, “Too much in my system (Famine, famine)” alluding quite directly to there being too many substances in the speaker’s system, starving them of the proper nourishment. Zendaya continues to sing of hardships with money and work, a powerful line being “Working like a slave (Mississippi, ayy, ayy).” This album is written, produced, and performed by an English man of Jamaican descent, accompanied on this track by an African American woman. This verse of “working like a slave” and the mention of Mississippi, the last state to abolish slavery, is incredibly impactful, though short lived in the song.
A pop-culture reference that may go unnoticed is the name drop of Michael Corleone, the infamous ‘Godfather,’ portrayed by Al Pacino in the classic film series. His name drop in this song comes after “Gotta be a man,” implying that the individual must act as a calculated mobster, a man held in high regard out of fear and respect.
After the deep bass and powerful vocals, Labrinth plays around with the instruments, adding a harp? Chimes? Some twinkly effects, likely added in after-FX. Footsteps and light, twangy sounds accompany the bridge in a completely different tone from the rest of the song. The strong bass and hard-hitting beats cut out and we’re met with yet another ethereal sounding backing instrumentation, reminiscent of the Euphoria soundtrack which has this almost fairy-like sound to most of the filler tracks in the series. The familiar beat and verses return soon after, ending on a digital sounding cymbal.
Being the first track to feature another artist, Labrinth did a phenomenal job incorporating appropriate effects and style to add Zendaya to the track. Their voices work very well together, both possessing great strength and power. There are so many components in this song, from the second lead vocalist, to the euphoric background effects, to the nuanced sounds added almost like Foley in a music recording studio. That seems appropriate being that this song is the main featured track from Euphoria, so we would expect to hear some hints to the show. However, the song truly lives independently from the HBO series. The way Labrinth meshes together all of these sounds and effects creates one influential, easily cohesive piece.
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