Rap Recap - January 2020
Artists covered: Atmosphere * J Hus * Mad Moon * Stormzy * Theophilus London
"Whenever"
Atmosphere
13th December 2019
Rhymesayers Entertainment
Our first album comes from established underground duo Atmosphere, comprised of rapper Slug and producer Ant. This album is a breath of fresh air that from a musical level feels like the waves of the past decade's problems rolling back and being replaced by this tropical, lively and fun set of warm, fuzzy and jazzy synthfunk beats. Behind this front and the sweetly simple lyrics, there's a lot of experience and world-weary warnings that hide behind a supposedly positive album.
Right off the back Atmosphere hits us with two of the albums most carefree songs, the infectious jazz-infused beats setting the mood for an album that promises to be captivating, slick and blissfully retro, whilst Slug's vocal performance proves this duo to be a thing of the past worthy of your time in the future. I will say that these tracks aren't particularly representative of the album in terms of attitude, as many of the later tracks explore much darker and more provocative themes, often in their characteristically overextended metaphors but more often than expected in somewhat blatant displays of the hardships of life such as on the title track "Whenever", a surprisingly hard-going and emphatic song that demonstrates an unfamiliar side of this duo, courtesy of a couple of prominent features. This later half of the album as a whole feels darker, even the music takes a turn for the intense and the focus of producer Ant switches from sunshine to glaring lights as reality comes to the forefront.
Even on the record's most humorous track "Postal Lady", there's more than meets the eye as Slug performs in a relieved manner that alludes to the frustration and dissatisfaction at the status quo that's really put into perspective and complimented by a more serious take in the form of "The Hands of Time", a song that illustrates the masterful balance between precision, catchiness, emotion and soundscape that this album is consistently great at achieving.
If there's one criticism I can see this receiving it's being branded "dad-rap", a statement that given the age and perspective of these artists is an easy assumption to make. As far as justifying this goes, there are definitely lyrics here that you aren't going to here coming from Lil Uzi Vert or Kendrick, but as opposed to being a cringy voyage into the scene they originated from Atmosphere succeed in presenting the sounds of their day through the lens of the present. What's more, their honesty and constant acceptance of everything around them and all that's happened over the last few years makes this just as relevant as a Kendrick album, the older perspective serving as an interesting alternative to the flood of young rappers that dominate today's mainstream and underground. All in all, this is a pretty great record and well worth a listen.
8/10
Best Tracks: Bde Maka Ska; The Hands of Time; Lovely; Son of Abyss; You're Gonna Go
Worst Tracks: Love Each Other
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"Big Conspiracy"
J Hus
24th January 2020
Black Butter
When a rapper matures this much between albums, it's a spectacular thing to behold. What a shame that J Hus is the least interesting thing about his music.
What exactly do I mean by saying that? Well, it's not that Hus's contributions aren't felt here, more that everything surrounding Hus (including his own lyrics) have a lot more substance than his vocal performances, which I find to be unfortunately lacking. Even on his last album, 2017's multigenre Common Sense, it was clear that it was Hus's musical ambition and interesting beats that earned him both a career and a fanbase and as much as each individual element has greatly improved on Big Conspiracy Hus himself is yet to impress me.
The afroswing beats are beautifully constructed and darker and more tense than anything on Common Sense, helping to expose the truths and surprising self and social awareness in J Hus's pretty outstanding lyrics, another reason this album is not just on another level to his last but perhaps even the reason I'd go as far as calling this one of the very best albums in this lane of adjacent dancehall and grime. It explores ideas of mistakes, retribution, poverty, success and violence, themes so ubiquitous with rap that simply listing them does no justice to the way he's able to spin his stories into not simply interesting but eye-opening and mostly fascinating if not enjoyable accounts of the life he's had and the perseverance he's displayed in getting through the countless challenges regrettably inescapable for a person of his background.
"Triumph" is an especially potent moment where Hus airs his grievances with not just the negative elements of the culture he's caught up in but also serves as an introspective moment that makes it clear that he has changed for the better as a person, proving he deserves the level of success he's achieving. The focal line being "they only respect violence" hits pretty hard given his past and it's clear that Hus's time in prison has helped him to recalibrate and this album is the incredible product of the time he's spent both inside and outside of the cell.
All in all, aside from a few misfires this is a pretty great record that amusingly enough seems to be the polar opposite to Dave's album from last year, in which I found the beats to be about as lacklustre as I find J Hus's vocals on the majority of songs here. Both albums being as personal and socially focused as they are they're sure to draw some comparisons even despite their musical differences, and although it's the narrowly shallower of the two, J Hus's Big Conspiracy is in my opinion the better album.
7.5/10
Best Tracks: Big Conspiracy; Triumph; Reckless; No Denying; Deeper Than Rap
Worst Tracks: Repeat; Fortune Teller
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"Mad Space"
Mad Moon [iblss, Akai Solo]
27th December 2019
Independent
This is exactly the sort of Bandcamp discovery I am in no way surprised by, and in this case that's both a good and a bad thing. Mad Moon, the collaborative project of rapper Akai Solo and beatmaker Iblss, is a dark, murky and troubled listen that takes what's essentially piano-driven rap ballads and fuses them with minimalistic, swampy beats that create an atmosphere that arguably takes precedence over the lyrics and instrumentals themselves.
In this case, I feel as though the duo spend much of their time coasting on their minimalist vibes and ultimately underachieving. For as great as the atmosphere is, they're at their best when there's slightly more to the track like on the bare bones "Chopped Cheese", a song that manages to stand out only as a result of a sweet albeit repetitive horn section that compliments the minimalist beat and rapping in a way that adds to the atmosphere. I feel as though the album could and perhaps should have started from this track as an intro, as it seems as though the album is predominantly more engaging from this point onwards. It's as though the first handful of songs were only there to extend the runtime in order for the album to reach its hour length, another frustrating aspect that prevents me from enjoying this as much as I want to.
It's clear from his performance that Akai Solo isn't too concerned with rapping on beat, and it often feels as though his bars and Iblss's beats were created entirely separately from one another, yet another detracting factor. Enough complaining though, because there is a lot to gravitate towards here in spite of the flaws. For starters, as spaced out as his delivery is the lyrics Akai brings to the table are reasonably provocative and perceptive, quietly breaking down the society that surrounds him aided by Iblss's curious choice of samples and the way he processes them, seemingly sucking the brightness out of them until each sample becomes as pleasantly mellow as the rest of the album.
Each time I listen to this album, it's around the track "Star Stepper /// Ageha's Stance" that I realise the interstellar vibes woven throughout the record and how human they're presented. Akai Solo may sound like just another raw, little-known underground rapper but he's incredibly self aware and confrontational, unafraid to use his platform to present his persistent frustrations and existential yet focused opinions into an album that thanks to Iblss is an oddball experience musically and lyrically. I doubt this sort of sound will go anywhere outside of this niche, but the development of themes is evident once you look past the problems I spent so much time pointing out. If this was more concise, it could've been great.
7/10
Best Tracks: Grateful 4 Aura; Kingdom Koi; True Truths; Black Sawada
Worst Tracks: '94 the Dog Year; F*** a 16
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"Heavy Is The Head"
Stormzy
13th December 2019
Atlantic Records
When Stormzy broke out, I was too young and too closed-minded to like his style of music... And yet, surrounded by the familiarity of surface level indie bands and pop dance music I found myself unable to discredit Stormzy simply because of my strong bias against rap music. I had respect for this honestly humble, enthusiastic and determined man who'd worked for and earned his success. Less than a year later, I couldn't deny the power behind a song like "Big For Your Boots" and although I never found much to come back to on his breakout album Gangs Signs & Prayer I found myself excited for his next offering, especially given the potency of the singles leading up to this release.
On his first album, there was a noticeable lack of direction and focus as his grime roots are undeniably compromised by his tangents into R&B and pop where he loses both his edge but moreso the quality and intensity that supposedly characterises his work. Thankfully, Heavy Is The Head progresses upon these flaws in spectacular fashion as each and everything good about his last album, from the honesty and intimacy to the drive and passion on the more aggressive tracks. In fact, this even builds upon and hugely improves on the R&B songs, feeling far more soulful and focused towards the final product which I'd argue is not only an development but a small evolution from previous material he's put out.
One of the most notable differences is Stormzy himself, excelling at leading and guiding the album at a variety of paces and genres. The songs on which he chooses to sing not rap even work really well, and the fact that he's often complimented by signature female singers either as features or a choir further accentuates the soulful side to this album, a flavour that surprisingly doesn't impede the flow of the album whatsoever. All this alongside the hugely improved beats and sparkling production adds up to possibly one of the best mainstream rap albums from the UK, a defining moment for Stormzy and for our culture.
Overall, for as apprehensive as a younger me may have been had I known my thoughts on Stormzy's future output, I thoroughly enjoy this album for its dynamic and unashamedly unchained approach to modern grime music and all its wonderful R&B and soul infusions boosted by some great beats, strong themes and competent writing. This is really good and I'm very thankful it is.
8/10
Best Tracks: Big Michael; Audacity; Crown; Do Better; One Second; Wiley Flow; Vossi Bop
Worst Tracks: Handsome; Rainfall
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"Bebey"
Theophilus London
17th January 2020
Independent
It's finally out, one of my most anticipated albums since 2018. Theophilus London has, after 5 years, released his third album. It does seem a little odd timing though, as there's no denying this thing is pure summer vibes all round.
First of all, some background on this now pretty obscure Trinidadian-American rapper who's worked alongside Kanye, Solange and on this album Tame Impala. From the inception of his career, there's been a lot of hype surrounding his genre-bending take on rap music and his often Prince-like amalgamations of soul, funk, jazz and post-punk with the modern electronic stylings you'd expect. This new album though takes a sharp turn into synthfunk, whilst simultaneously serving as an update on the classic sounds of calypso and reggae but presented in the bright and summery sheen of contemporary R&B and rap without the drawbacks of mainstream reggaeton (and thank goodness for that).
If this album feels unfocused that's probably down to the wide span of time Theo spent working on these tracks, many of which were completed two to four years ago at this point but all of which sound fresh and ripe for summer parties and Caribbean holidays to come. I hold onto the hope that this will somehow catch on but given the gap between albums and utter lack of press surrounding this album now it's finally out I doubt it'll reach anyone outside of the core fans, in spite of how perfect it would be within our modern musical landscape.
I suppose one advantage of such a long time gap is that each song does feel very much complete, something very different from what we're used to in the mainstream today with Lil Tecca and Arizona Zervas bagging two of the biggest (and least finished sounding) hit songs last year. From the tense, growly synth-hop of "Whiplash" leading onto the nighttime rap rave of "Whoop Tang Flow" you can experience the two hardest moments on the album and two of Theo's most outright and fantastic hip-hop songs to date. On the other end of the spectrum, the bouncy tropical energy of the titular track or the amusing advertising of album-opener "Leon" provide some of the most obviously calypso influenced and fun songs that he has to offer.
The only track that really flops for me is "Pretty" featuring Justin Timberlake/Jason Derulo wannabee Ian Isiah, who provides one of the most annoying and generic choruses that distracts from the otherwise groovy vibe of the track. To be fair, even Theo isn't on top form here and I choose simply to skip this one in the grand scheme of the album. The version of "Bebey" featuring Giggs is perhaps the next weakest moment, simply because of how out of place and awkward the British rapper's verse feels...ergh my geursh it does not work.
Conclusively, this is a great album that's only going to get better as we reach the summer months, and I think it's the best and most fun of all these albums. I would happily wait another 5 years for another album this good from Theophilus London, but it would be nice to hear new music sooner rather than later.
9/10
Best Tracks: Leon; Only You; Cuba; Whiplash; Whoop Tang Flow; Seals; Revenge
Worst Tracks: Pretty; Bebey [SN1 Road Mix]
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Thank you so much for reading the first installment of this Recap, I'll be covering other genres shortly and in the meantime I hope you all have a lovely week (or two weeks depending on how long it takes me to get the next one out).
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