![]() ![]() In the interest of being fair, I will admit “Let It Go (Higher Brothers and BlocBoy JB)” is such an earnestly ass-shaking N.E.R.D. I can’t say he comes across poorly, necessarily, but considering the fact he’s almost directly lifting the style of the various guests that float across HEAD IN THE CLOUDS, it’s hard to justify why you wouldn’t be better off just listening to BlocBoy JB, Playboi Carti, or Famous Dex on their own right. Rich Brian, meanwhile, checks every box there is to check. Higher Brothers are hard to take seriously, to be honest, easily getting routed by anyone they share a track with (03 Greedo’s appearance on “Swimming Pool” is the only proof you should need). I am an avid Yung Lean apologist and stan so I can’t get too rustled up, but whereas his more appropriative aspects are at least juxtaposed with a genuine effort to experiment and push boundaries (STRANGER can’t really be considered a rap album, after all), Rich Brian and Higher Brothers literally copy-pasting the music, fashion, and mannerisms of the trap movement they fell in love with online comes across as unsavory. But with the two singing hopefuls out of the way, we’re left with a dearth of functional-at-best, probably-problematic-on-a-conceptual-level rappers on our hands. Taken from the cutting room floor of The Chainsmokers, Joji works as a lilting presence above the EDM synth punches that perfectly sticks the landing, making reconciling his earlier appearances all the more baffling. at least until “Head in the Clouds” rolls around. Having been unable to take him seriously due to his infamous online past, I was severely disappointed to find a strained, weak voice entirely incapable of carrying a hook. But mamma mia is the rest of this a misfire overall. ![]() Her voice is inviting and perfectly fits in with the en vogue pop artists getting radio play and the production she works with is bouncy and uplifting she’s overall a highlight and I’m sure her debut full-length ZEPHYR is a perfectly pleasant experience. Built around the core of Joji, Rich Brian, Higher Brothers, and NIKI, it’s a shame, then, that HEAD IN THE CLOUDS would suggest maybe one of these artists is worth seeking out in earnest: Indonesian alt-R&B vocalist NIKI. If I step far back enough, it’s nice that a group of friends making music within the same general ballpark got together to record an extended posse cut in the same year a large number of them are releasing debut EPs and albums. įavorite Tracks: “Poolside Manor (AUGUST 08 and NIKI),” “Let It Go (Higher Brothers and BlocBoy JB),” “Warpaint (NIKI),” “Head in the Clouds (Joji)” And God, we hope it’s not much longer than that. This irony is heightened with the melancholy of its hook: “ Trapping from state to state / Hope we never make mistakes.” Indeed it is a dark period for 03 Greedo’s music however, if he was really able to pull off the impossible, we could see a consistent stream of new releases for his minimum stay of five years. “Paper Plates,” a vivid memory of a young 03 eating from paper plates in the LA projects, has a dark irony seeing that now he eats from cold trays in a crowded prison cafeteria. “Like I’m Fabo” is 03 at his best, a constant flow that transitions from verse to hook and back to verse seamlessly. While GOD LEVEL seriously tackled his pre-incarceration thoughts, 03 RAPPA hosts a Greedo with a lighter take. Aside from the standard trap drums, the production fiddles with fluttering pianos, crunk-ish synth, orchestra hits, and 8-bit gaming sounds. Working exclusively with fellow Watts artist Rappa, 03 Greedo ignores the sometimes unmastered beats to layout a grabbag of scenarios with a blitz of rap content. ![]() Setting such a high bar while the timer moves faster and faster can lead to subpar work from such a unique voice, and while fortunately that’s not the case here, it could affect future releases coming down the pipeline. 03 Greedo has done all that he can to make the summer his while he begins his sojourn, and his latest released SoundCloud project is just a testament to the amount of material he has in his head. 03 RAPPA delivers the goods with his third release since the statement, following GOD LEVEL (which is a behemoth of an album), a feature on the new 88Rising record, and a quick collab with Nef the Pharoah which was released only weeks ago. We’re here to tell you what’s hot and what’s not in this week’s music roundupįavorite Tracks: “Stic “Em Up,” “Paper Plates,” “03 Rappa”īack in April when 03 Greedo pronounced he would record 30 albums before starting his 20-year prison sentence in Amarillo, Texas for drug and gun possession, he sounded just as we would expect a rising West Coast rap icon who had just lost his chances of achieving greatness to sound. This article previously appeared on Crossfader ![]()
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