Rap Recap - March 2020

Artists Covered: Kamaiyah * Knxwledge *  Lil Uzi Vert * Megan Thee Stallion * R.A.P. Ferreira

The March edition of my monthly series sees the underground outshining the dominant stars as I cover everything from a miscellaneous beatmaker's second official album to both a TikTok sensation and a notorious remnant of last decade's trap scene making an unexpectedly successful (dual) comeback. Without further ado, here are the reviews...


"Got It Made"
Kamaiyah
21st February 2020
GRND.WRK

Despite the failure for Kamaiyah's career to take off in the same way that many of her peers and collaborators have, there's a formidable sense of success and personal achievement that she exudes in a display of personality that's clearly been influenced by Missie Elliott.

In a world where music is dominated and driven by rap music, I can't quite call this album a breath of fresh air or a release from the clutches of the mainstream, but Kamaiyah is far enough away from the likes of Drake and Cardi B to be considered outside the realms of popularity. She's equally unafraid to pull from trends and tropes of the genre she occupies, and it's lucky that she can pull it off. Despite this, you have to look no further than track 3 "Ratchet" to see the kind of of fun in exploring the outside and perhaps unconventionally upbeat when it comes to an instrumental that sounds gloriously out of place alongside the tedious replicas delivered by the likes of DaBaby, Drake, Nicki Minaj and countless other trend-abiding artists who seem never to deviate from the most trodden of contemporary paths.

The biggest selling point of Kamaiyah would have to be the tension and space she plays with, the talent she has for manipulating your focus through pauses taking a bold leap away from the generic full stops that most rappers opt for in modern music. Rather, on the fantastically simple "Intro" she leaves you on the edge of your seat with periods of silence and a minimal beat not as a cheap way out but to emphasise the severity of her lyrics. Perhaps a little cliched is the use of strings to similarly increase the tension, it's a trick that occasionally works in favour of the song but more often comes across as a cheap addition to beats that generally never disappoint.

Overall, this is quite an impressive album that, whilst not straying from the formula as much as it should, attempts to capture the essence of modern rap music without falling prey to the engulfing trends of the genre. It's mostly a success, and probably better than my review has made it sound.
7.5/10
Best Tracks: Get Ratchet; Still I Am; Digits; Set It Up; Whatever Whenever
Worst Tracks: 1-800; 10 Toes High


"1988"
Knxwledge
27th March 2020
Stones Throw Records

At twenty-two songs long and only 37 minutes in length, it's hard to imagine that any of these songs would have the time they need to establish and develop themselves. For Knxwledge as a beatmaker, this was likely a reasonable challenge - there are definitely tracks I'd feel hard pressed calling finished or "songs" due to how fragmented they can be, but that isn't to say this album isn't worthwhile or respectable, as Knxwledge interweaves vocal and soul samples in order to help fill the hole left by this record's lack of a consistent lead in order to capture the vintage stylings yet modern production in the right light.

It's definitely important to understand that this album is intended to be a proper album, the followup to his debut that dropped back in 2015, but you'd have a hard time distinguishing this from one of his frequent, seemingly monthly mixtapes and beat tapes. The difference for me is that whilst I feel inclined to check out something he proudly refers to as a strict album, I don't care for the countless and all-too-similar tapes he puts out all-too-often full of all-too-many songs. And that's my problem with Knxwledge, he could be so much more interesting if he dialled back the frantic releases in favour of a more conventional and consumable discography that forced him to limit the number of songs he puts out (and therefore operating as the much-needed quality check in order to cut off much of the nonsense).

Thankfully, where many of his tapes feel disposable and detached, 1988 comes across as more heartfelt and personal, likely a result of the abundant soul samples and the lively, funky direction he takes his sound in order to (thankfully) set this release above the hordes of forgettable beats. It's worthwhile, but it still feels overcrowded and flows almost too well together to be distinguishable. All in all though, it's a good solid rap record for people who want to listen to instrumentals without feeling the guilt of going for your generic "Lo-fi hip-hop study beats".
7/10
Best Tracks: don't be afraid; do you; howtokope.; gangstallthetime; itkanbe[sonice]; makeuseofthetime; makeitliveforever
Worst Tracks: solivelife; watchwhoukallyyourhomie; minding_my business


"Eternal Atake"
Lil Uzi Vert
6th March 2020
Atlantic

Despite an incredibly promising 30 second start, Lil Uzi Vert's "long awaited" and "highly anticipated" comeback is one of the most derivative, overstuffed and misogynistic trap album I've heard in a long, long time. Yes, there are some incredibly catchy choruses and the higher-than-usual budget results in some deceptively crisp production that only acts as a thin sheen to hide the wholly basic beats and flows that make up the substance of this album.

For as moody and frustratingly enjoyable Uzi's big hit "XO Tour Llif3" was back in 2017, the progress from that stage in his career is dismally minimal and the main difference I notice from a three year absence is primarily that the songs tend to be more upbeat now, a predictable result of the midtempo sad-rap that Uzi came to represent going out of fashion. In place of this "slow-fi" atmosphere is Uzi's insistence that this is some sort of a cosmic concept album that is exemplified by short, irritating clips of him being captured by and escaping an alien abduction. It's a pointless and shallowly explored theme that pays off a total of one time on the track "You Better Move", a repetitive and mediocre cut that is only partially excused by its admittedly cool laser sounding synth that is criminally overused and done to death by the end of the stuttering and sluggish three minutes.

I don't want to spend too long on Eternal Atake given Uzi put out 2 albums in March, both of which I'm reviewing, but I can't avoid discussing the cheap sounds that come to dominate lots of this album in an effort to justify or qualify the sci-fi elements. It's something that works on "I'm Sorry" given the Postal Service-esque synthline, although there are far too many awful and insensitive lines that make light of this girl's mental health all whilst objectifying her in a way that results in all this song's early charm being lost simply due to Uzi's simple attitude and the direction he takes. It feels natural coming from him, and that might just be the worst part.

At the end of the day, I've spent far too much time listening to this painfully long album in the hopes of taking something from it that would qualify my suffering. I'm here to tell you that the hype on this thing is, at least in my opinion, completely unjustified. Aside from a really small group of decent cuts, this is a bad album that I really don't care about.
3.5/10
Best Tracks: Silly Watch; Prices; P2
Worst Tracks: You Better Move; I'm Sorry; Bust Me; Venetia; That Way


"LUV Vs. The World 2"
13th March 2020

Partially dropping the oversold, cheap sci-fi gimmicks in favour of a more down to Earth and yet more generic sound palette seems to have been the best move for Uzi with the second album he released as part of an allegedly "deluxe" edition of Eternal Atake.

Whilst the first few tracks don't leave a particularly positive impact with me, I will say that for the most part this album is a more tolerable if less ambitious version of EA that still spends far too much of its time being less than likeable and less than necessary. The track "Yessirskii" is the first potentially worthwhile track, and that's due to the 21 Savage feature that essentially takes over the track as Uzi effectively becomes the feature due to how pathetically weak his verses are. For me, this just proves how unnecessary it is that we're getting this much music from an artist who can't sell his own presence on a song when he boasts a feature, and all he can do when he is the focus is offend me.

I suppose the stuttering beat on "Moon Relate" is arguably impressive, but I'm always too distracted by Uzi's dire delivery to appreciate it and it still manages to be one of the best tracks the album has to offer. The problem is, where Eternal Atake had more variety between its best and worst tracks, LUV 2 is much more an offender of the mediocre and regrettable as the majority of tracks ar subpar but not actively bad enough to be as frustrating as EA. This album has less highlights, and in an odd way I think I dread listening to it more for how insufferably unengaging it is. I'll pass thanks.
4/10
Best Tracks: Yessirskii; Moon Relate; Come This Way
Worst Tracks: Lotus; Bean (Kobe)


"Suga"
Megan Thee Stallion
6th March 2020
1501 Certified Entertainment

I suppose this is what wasted potential sounds like.

In spite of the believable, exciting and infectious brag-rap of the fast-paced and incredibly fun opener "Ain't Equal", thinks take a turn for the worse and fast on "Savage", the current dominant force in TikTok that seems to follow me everywhere I go. It's a song that might show off Megan's personality and brute force as a good rapper but there's so little of substance and worth on the song that a little bit of me dies every time the insufferable chorus comes in again. It's the wordplay I find frustrating, each rhyme perfect and yet the word choice feels solely for the sake of having something to rhyme with.

As the album goes on, the flaws continue to expose themself as Megan's attempt to capitalise on her success is demonstrated through her choice to trade out her admirable rapping for a more R&B vocal approach that essentially compresses and discards all the electrifying personality she brought on tracks like "Big 'Ole Freak". I suppose it's all excusable given this is being marketed as an EP to preview her eventual debut album, but I honestly doubt that a development like this is just going to be forgotten and the excruciatingly personality devoid autotuned singing she devolves into on the album's second half was a huge mistake.

Not a total failure, but a confident step in the wrong direction that I hope she manages to come back from. Still, there are a few legitimate bangers on here and I'm not going to overlook those highlights.
5.5/10
Best Tracks: Ain't Equal; Captain Hook; B.*.*.*.*.; 
Worst Tracks: Stop Playing; Savage; Crying In The Car 

"Purple Moonlight Pages"
R.A.P. Ferreira
6th March 2020
Ruby Yacht

There's no doubt some will brand this as unnecessarily preachy and a caricature of established jazz rap, but this is far from a derivative album.

R.A.P. Ferreira is one of many pseudonyms taken on by Rory Ferreira and, for somelike like myself who hasn't heard much from his other projects, this is a very promising window into the mind of a genius. Despite a slow and pretentious introduction with the song "DECORUM", things pretty quickly pick up with the focused "GREENS", a song that looks at the detachment that unhealthily comes with fame in a world embracing more and more people into the spotlight. Alongside some pretty, almost Shakespearean metaphors, the message of the song is rather down to earth; a fact that helps the album land so well for me.

Rory is constantly subverting expectations as a modern rapper, neither choosing to shallowly brag about fame and riches nor spending all his time directly confronting society and the system. Rather, his direction is a more perceptive offshoot of the confrontational that might point out and comment on what's wrong with the world, but is also spending much of his time just recounting the world as he sees it and as he interprets it. This extremely personal direction is excellently highlighted in the gorgeously sparkling minimalism of the track "DUST UP", with its trotting bass and twinkling keys backing Rory's short dissection of his place in society.

It's just as easy to get lost in the lyrics of this album as it is to float in a pool of the beautiful jazzy instrumentals, and I think a lot of credit has to go to The Jefferson Park Boys who contributed a whole lot to the music and production of this record. Without their influence, I doubt it would have the same chilled yet direct vibe that it has and I'd likely have forgotten the bulk of the record's qualities in favour of something more demanding. I do think this album could have done with cutting some of the songs, as 18 tracks is a lot to process even when the quality of writing is as consistent as this. Nevertheless, it could deal with being shorter.
8/10
Best Tracks: NONCIPHER; OMENS & TOTEMS; DUST UP; CYCLES; ABSOLUTES; NO STARVING ARTISTS; LEAVING HELL; PINBALL
Worst Tracks: DECORUM; RO TALK; MASTERPLAN



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Thanks very much for reading, April seems to have turned into my most productive month in a long while as far as my blog is concerned and I appreciate every single reader. I'll be finishing off April with the usual recaps, then moving onto a potentially quieter May as many artists have been delaying albums.


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