A$AP Rocky

Week 8: Slowthai- Tyron

~ honestopinions19 ~ Leave a comment

What is there to say about the lad from Northampton? He’s a ball of energy that rubs people up the wrong way, and his antics have landed him in trouble, most notably at the NME awards, where he later made a statement saying it was all in good nature rather than malicious. They should have known what to expect from him after the release of his debut album “Nothing Great About Britain”. Even the title would upset those flag-waving loon balls. It had the spirit of Punk in it and has been described as an updated version of the Streets’ classic debut “Original Pirate Material”.

It’s worth noting I am not a fan of Slowthai’s music, but I respect his lyrics and his persona in general, so I will try my best to give a decent review on “Tyron”. Since the first album, he has been out on the road with Liam Gallagher supporting “Why Me. Why Not”, which has garnered him more fans, but enough of that. The record is extremely short, considering it’s a double-disc at 35 minutes or thereabouts with seven tracks on each disc. For most of the first disc, Slowthai is consistent with what we saw on the first album and most of the tracks he collaborated on. There’s still that punk spirit and aggressive attitude blended with hard-hitting bars. However, “I Tried” is inspired by West Coast American rap from the 1990s. Even for a relatively short song, clocking at just over two minutes, it gets his message across, and the production compliments it.

I should have stylised the song as mentioned earlier as “I TRIED” because Slowthai defines the two discs by capital-lettered tracks on the first and lower-case lettered tracks on the second. It doesn’t reflect his mood in any way, as he still keeps up the levels on both. 

Unfortunately for Slowthai, it could also be interpreted as the caps side is, well…shit and the lowercase side is an improvement from the first half. I would describe the album as schizophrenic in that regard. I’m sorry, but I am, by and large, not a fan of most rap out of America at the moment, and that’s precisely what the first disc sounds like. I don’t think he wanted that. Instead, it was forced upon him because that is what sells now. It ruins “CANCELLED” because it doesn’t fit into his flow and delivery. It needed to be harder and have a grime or drill instrumentation. I want to hear that from rappers on this side of the pond. For me, it makes it more authentic. I don’t want to fucking hear Drake-style production over here. The only time this works is when Slowthai collaborates with an American rapper. For instance, A$AP Rocky on “MAZZA” because he is used to rapping over those beats, and it works, but Slowthai’s flow seems unsuited to it. I mean, there’s a track early doors he does with Skepta, and it’s just fucking awful because the wrong production was chosen. Again, it should have been a grime or drill beat.

Of course, then you have tracks like “WOT”, which is Slowthai in his original form at his very best. No shitty American beats ruining the listen. Although the aggression and the attitude are still up, because of the use of the American rap commercial beats, a lot of the Slowthai temper is nullified, and therefore it doesn’t add to his sound. Overall, the first half of the album is very disappointing. However, in the second half, the American beats are at a premium, and we get to see Slowthai being sincere yet laid back, a change from the angry side we are used to seeing. The bars are even more thought-provoking.

I especially liked “Push”, which featured Deb Never, as Slowthai brings some conscious bars over soft beats throughout the second disc. Deb Never is one of the most unlikely collaborations you would think of to be on the record, but as Slowthai gets more relaxed, the collaboration fits quite nicely. On more of his aggy material, it would look entirely out of place. 

However, with it being such a short record, you need to remember what you heard on the first disc, so you have to listen again to recall what happened. You have to commend him for an original approach, even though he does fall victim to the shitty commercial American rap and RnB beats that never saw the light of day on his debut. It’s great that he has evolved and is forward-thinking, but that aggression has yet to be lost here by the watered-down beats. I enjoyed the second disc more than I enjoyed the first. The more relaxed and serene side is great to listen to; if only the songs were at least four minutes long, he has plenty to say, and it’s great hearing his many fables of the struggles of life and his social commentary. As I said earlier, he isn’t my cup of chai, but I respect him for what he says and does; he is very much like the late Joe Strummer with his outlandish comments and unapologetic attack on the establishment. It’s apt that he supported Liam Gallagher when you come to think of it. Both of them have the same outlook and energy. It will be interesting to see what Slowthai does with his third album because he has shown that he dares to change it up and keep the listener interested. The best body of work I have seen by Slowthai is on Mura Masa’s “Deal wiv It”. Give that one a listen.

Song recommendations: “push”, “adhd”, “WOT”

6/10

Week Thirty: Lana Del Rey- Lust for Life

~ honestopinions19 ~ Leave a comment

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Since Lana burst onto the scene back in 2012 with her second album, “Born to Die”(As this is the album that made her.), with her baroque pop that was somehow mainstream friendly, she has managed to be on both sides of the establishment vs anti-establishment wall. Blending both pop and indie with such little effort and controversy. She is also something of an enigma, yet very accessible as well.

Lana Del Rey released her self-titled debut album with her alias included on the cover (Lizzy Grant.), which is her real name, Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, which a wealthy family raised in the city of New York (Lake Placid to be exact). Anyway, enough of the history lesson and back to the review. Lana didn’t make an impact in the UK until “Video Games” after She uploaded videos on Youtube of that song and “Blue Jeans”, which would feature on her forthcoming album, “Born to Die”, the following year. Those videos also would be the template for how Lana would be sonically from there on in. The sound would hark back to the early 1990s trip-hop, laced with her soulful vocals.

She hasn’t changed sonically nor lyrically with her fifth album, “Lust For Life”, yet this record is her best since her breakthrough, “Born to Die”. There are many featured artists on this 71-minute, 16-song tracklist. Some I have never heard of, and other artists like rapper A$AP Rocky, who I think are shit and are not fit enough to touch 2Pac’s mike stand, let alone his microphone. Another rapper, Playboi Carti, also features, and then we have the likes of Fleetwood Mac’s, Stevie Nicks and the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon (The lesser known of the Brothers.). And let’s remember the very talented rnb artist, The Weeknd.

So, with such a long guest list, does the record deliver? From the opening track, “Love”, I would say that it does. It starts off very moody before building into a majestic chorus with consummate ease, a hook that gets stuck into your head. This theme continues on the title track featuring The Weeknd. Expect provocative lyrics on the title track, but if you have seen some of her videos, you should know what to expect.

The standout track has to be “When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing”, which is a politically charged song about how to deal with and live your life in America under the presidential rule of Donald Trump, which has brought with it plenty of controversy with sexism, fascism and pro-NRA baggage. This has to be the best song Lana has written for its theme and the message conveyed within the lyrics. I like very conscious lyrics, so this song jumps out at me. The political theme continues with “God Bless America (And All the Beautiful Women in It)”, which attacks the Republican government on their views of women’s rights in the country. Again, I was very impressed with the conscious lyrics and had even more respect for Lana for daring to challenge the establishment. Such subjects can make record companies recoil in horror, but more power to Lana for going against the grain.

Some might moan about her collaboration with Sean Ono Lennon on “Tomorrow Never Came”, saying it sounds too much like the Beatles or Bob Dylan, but I like this. Unfortunately, just like his brother Julian, Sean sounds precisely like his father John, which certainly didn’t help Julian on his musical quest (Whether it’ll help Sean remains to be seen.). Therefore, many might be disappointed with this track, but I couldn’t care less if Sean sounds like his dad. If anything, it’s a reminder of what John would sound like in the modern era with modern technology, so think of it that way, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it rather than throw criticism at it; plus, you have the Dylan-esque aura on the song. 

The most disappointing track on the record has to be “Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems”, which is a shame as it has Stevie Nicks on it. Still, the track seems like Lana’s momentarily lapse in creativity or just a filler to make up the tracklisting. It’s such a shame that the track turned out that way, as Stevie’s contribution is monumental, as you can imagine.

The record has a strong ending with “Muted Heroin”, a piano ballad leading into the final track, “Get Free”, where there are some very poetically beautiful lyrics about crossing over from the ordinary world into your heart. This is a good album that could have reached monumental status with some tweaking here and there, but this is her best album since “Born to Die”, which keeps her legacy very much intact. Although I would still rank “Born to Die” above this and any other of her records, yes “, Lust for Life” (Inspired by Iggy Pop? I don’t know.) does deliver.

8/10