Philly rapper and singer, Tierra Whack dropped her first full-length studio album in March, titled WORLD WIDE WHACK, which is long awaited considering it feels like she's been around for years now as she's been dropping singles since 2017, the infectious song Only Child was the first tune that I had heard from her. Meanwhile, Joyner Lucas someone who has a much more extensive discography, with a few mixtapes, a couple LP's and a billion singles, has also dropped an album in March called Not Now I'm Busy.
Tierra Whack - WORLD WIDE WHACK
Describing Tierra Whack's music can be quite difficult, but I'll try anyway. This album is quite snappy and punchy, and it's really girly and fun, Tierra's full of confidence and a sort of bubblegum-attitude. There are braggadocios moments and vulnerable, dour moments as well. Tierra can rap well, but is versatile too and makes for a really solid singer. The production is experimental and varied, giving lighter moments like CHANEL PIT and the whimsical and dreamy IMAGINARY FRIENDS. Her voice is charismatic and infectious, the track SHOWER SONG is probably the best example of this on the album. The album flows smoothly and plays quickly, and in and out of the tongue-in-cheek tracks, we get darker ones in there too, like SNAKE EYES, which is a menacing trap banger, and I really liked her ominous hums on the hook.
The song NUMB is far from fluffy, with introspection and discussion of her mental health struggles, talk of depression and anxiety, the lyrics "final stage of bein' numb, felt this way since I was young, tell me, what could I have done different, different, different?", I thought were very potent and the track was a touching moment.
The campy track INVITATION was another highlight mainly for the cute little cadences she puts on her flow during the verses, for example when she says, "every song I drop I change the sound". She does the flow I'm on about on this line, and I think the lyric itself sums up Tierra's intention on this project.
I think the overall song-writing is impressive, despite the record being quite short, she packs in some brilliant choruses, perfect delivery of her lyrics, and some creative and experimental Hip Hop. By the end you feel like you know Tierra much better and her creative licenses, as well as her complex disposition on being both happy-go-lucky on the surface but anxious and weary inside, I applaud her for displaying such raw feelings.
The only criticism of the album is the rapping on the track X, which was quite GSCE music and sounded less professional and more amateurish than the other songs. The flow was just quite clunky and basic, and the rhymes were overly-simplistic. But yeah, to conclude, I think this project is really interesting, it's sonically very fun, it has some quality songs, and there's depth in the lyrics despite the shallow run time. I still reckon Tierra will improve more and release some great future projects.
Star Track - MOOVIES
7/10
Joyner Lucas - Not Now I'm Busy
Now, onto an album where off-the-bat, some of the song-writing is less experimental and accessible at the same time in its tone and catchiness, but the lyrics achieve a level of bravery in other ways instead, and the album is daring in moments also. We know Joyner is someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, tries to push creative boundaries in terms of what a rap song can be about, for example his song, I'm Not Racist. He's so often caught between making popular trap-style rap that can be played far and wide, and also a more technically-focused, backpack type of rap. And on Not Now I'm Busy, I feel this once again. This album is like a blend of his last two, ADHD which sounded more commercial, and Evolution which was a more pad and pen, lyric-heavy record. He has a couple of braggadocios songs where he delivers techy, impressive and skilled flows, for example on, Put Me On which is a great opener for this, Waiting on This and What's That? are more of the same, Sticks & Stones featuring Conway The Machine was a great change of pace, with a soulful, woozy boom bap beat (the song sounds more of a Conway than Joyner song), where both MC's deliver sharp and focused verses.
However, I still can't deny, when Joyner is in his storytelling bag, this is when we see the best version of Joyner, this is him at his artistic peak in my opinion. From Ross Capicchioni and Keep it 100 on his early mixtapes, to Snitch on Evolution, and now to the storytelling concepts on Not Now I'm Busy, Joyner has such a pen for detailed vivid narratives that are easy to follow, and intriguing to listen to. On this record, the song Broski sees Joyner rap from the perspective of his friend who loves Joyner and is proud of him, but feels like Joyner hasn't helped him financially and personally in a way that he might expect a friend of such wealth to be able to do so. The magic of the song is in the subtle tone change you get throughout the track as the friend slowly transitions from a grateful and loving pal, to a jealous and bitter enemy, and then finally back to a friend once more (but only in words). The jarring static in the instrumental comes in and adds to the atmosphere brilliantly when the tension of the lyrics build. He's made some quality videos to match in the past, and Broski is the same, where Andre from Power plays the friend talking to Joyner. Highly recommend the song, and the hook at the start and end of the song is really nice too. Three Little Pigs is another concept track, where Joyner is telling his son a bedtime story, but flips the famous children's tale on its head, and uses the song as to metaphorically depict police in America as the pigs, where the wolves are misunderstood African-Americans, flipping which characters are the 'good' and 'bad' guys of the story. I think the song is absolutely brilliant, super cold-blooded and Joyner sounds crisp in his delivery which matches the chilling, boom bap beat. Quick shoutout to the song Still Alright featuring Logic and Twista, they all kill those verses, smooth, fast-paced bars and the tone of the track was really positive and cool as well.
Any negatives of the project? Yes. I've always thought Joyner was less corny than people claimed he was, but no doubt some of the bars on here strayed into cringe territory. I found Fake Promises quite nauseating because of its self-involvement and judgemental nature. DMX's feature on I Didn't Go was incredibly awkward and totally ruined that song, as well as the awful bar from Joyner where he says about his girlfriends being his slaves. But overall, the biggest crime of this album is the wider 'concept' of the project. Yes Joyner can make good storytelling tracks, but what he was attempting with this album as a wider message, I do not know. Throughout the album, at the end of songs, we often heard someone channel-hopping, flicking through various TV channels and we'd only hear a couple of seconds from each one; news reports, stand-up comedians, chat shows, films and so on. At the start we briefly hear Joyner talk about how to get a camera to work. This was intriguing and I did wonder where those skits were going. At the end, Joyner reveals on a home tape, that he murdered his 'old self'. I guess in an attempt of self improvement, becoming more ruthless, honest and resistant, him killing himself was a huge explosion of energy and release of pent up struggle and pain, however, the pay off being that Joyner reveals in a home-tape that he has murdered his old-self, is a complete mis-match from the skits we hear throughout the album. Furthermore, that message of self-improvement isn't one heard that often throughout the album. A better series of skits would've been the sounds of, I dunno, a murder scene, Joyner hinting of his crimes in previous home tapes, and then of course a song talking about self improvement, or songs that include that as a theme. But we don't get any of that. So yeah, I think the concept of the album does not get delved into anywhere near as deeply as it needed to. So on one hand, there's a decent enough record with some solid songs. But unfortunately, the concept of Joyner killing his former self does not get explored a whole lot in the music, unlike for example, every song on Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city which helps to display where Kendrick comes from and what life was like for him in Compton. To conclude, if not a bit confused, slightly too long, Joyner still proves he is a dope rapper, I just think there's a few issues with the album that would need to be addressed before I could call this project a really good album.
Star Track - Broski
5/10
Bonus Content
ScHoolboy Q - Blue Lips
I did write a full review for this album a few weeks ago, however, due to explicit content (I think from the lyrics I quoted), it got put behind a log-in wall, so you can access the review if you log-in to a Google account, but as that is quite a lot of hassle, I have boiled my opinions down to the below and put in this article as bonus content:
What I really like about Q's music is the mix of tough gangster rap, mixed with punchy choruses and forward-thinking production that always sounds full and polished. I think we get that to a decent degree on BLUE LIPS, for example, the opener Funny Guy is a solid start to the record, a short song that has a soothing, whimsical piano beat, and soft guitar chords that contrast with Q's typical lyrics. It is a nice opener to the project, but not sure how much replay-ability it would have as a solo track.
The next song Pop featuring Rico Nasty is a complete juxtaposition, with an aggressive sound that Q has done so impactfully in the past, with a simple but menacing guitar riff making for a rock-rap track where Q delivers greazy, smack-in-the-mouth lyrics with a flow that doesn't get going until around half-way through his verse. Rico Nasty performs well matching Q's energy, tone and delivery, though her verse ends abruptly. The track Blueslides carries a lot of sentimental weight to it, with piano keys and strings and vocals that make for a very sombre tone, and the subject matter does as well, spitting the line "lost a homeboy to the dr*gs, man I ain't going backwards", sounding like a reference to Mac Miller, and also the name of the track similar to Mac's album Blue Slide Park. Yeah the content was emotive, the instrumental was understated and beautiful and Q's flow and delivery were perfect as well.
The next track Yearn 101 is a real key change, into a much more frantic and hype track with heavily digitalised drums and Q spitting with a faster flow over the beat which has claps coming in and out to build and subtract momentum from the bars. I think the rapping here is pretty solid, I just feel as though it was strange to follow Blueslides in the tracklist. The lack of cohesiveness and 'method to the madness' is something that I can be said about the whole album though in my opinion.
My personal favourite track is, Cooties, we get a charismatic and an off-kilter flow from Q that sounds excellent and this is the Q we know and love. This 1-verse track has Q keeping us entertained over the 3 minute run time by standing back to reflect on what he's achieved and what he's been able to accomplish financially, such as looking at his impressive digs. The verse transitions into social commentary as well, discussing mass shootings and the safety of his own kids. He then closes by singing some catchy refrains and hums. Overall the flow is on point, the beat is nice, and the content, and delivery of the content, is engaging and sick.
After a couple of high-note features from Freddie Gibbs and Ab-Soul, then the next song of high-quality comes in the form of, Lost Times, where Jozzy really give the song its identity. Q's performance is passionate and cool over those Alchemist keys and stripped back drums, but Jozzy's familiar and child-like vocals in the hook really make the song what it is and for me give it real memorability.
So, to conclude, the album is quite varied in its approach. We get a view of Q's current state, but also a reflection on his past as well. Though we definitely have a theme of a softer sounding and mature Q, we do get those adrenaline, high-energy tracks as well, all with that west-coast flavouring which makes his music so appealing, as well as experimental and forward-thinking, ambitious production. There's much to like about Blue Lips, and Q rapping over beats that are different from the usual, and structuring his songs in an unconventional manner means that even if the songs aren't sticking so well, they will atleast be interesting, and although I'm not mad for this album, it hasn't turned me off him, and when he does return with new music, I really hope that isn't too many years away, I will be here ready for it, with excitement and anticipation.
Star Track - Cooties
6/10
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