Rapid Review – 10/19/21

Zack Fox – shut the f**k up talking to me: A phenomenal, short, crude, humorous record that reminds me of some Odd Future or Earl Sweatshirt-esque aesthetic features. None of the twenty minutes are wasted with interesting beats, funny lyrics, and hard-hitting flows. The phenomenon of comedy transforming into music that can be taken seriously is so present here with small breakthroughs of humor because of certain over-the-top lyrics. I love bane and menace. 7.5-8

FINNEAS – Optimist: Co-writer and producer to his absolute phenom of a sister Billie Eilish is FINNEAS. The behind-the-scenes brother releases this debut project, seeing him take hold of the spotlight and giving identification for half the mind behind Billie’s music. His songwriting immediately parallels Eilish’s with vulnerable and love lyrics sewn into amazing melodies. He continues to produce grandiose, layered instrumentals that accompany his vocal delivery. Naturally, the listener will encounter his “never-before-seen” singing voice, which is very polished and capable. The versatility is great on this album, too, with overwhelming instrumentals like Happy Now? and substantive commentary like The Kids Are All Dying. I got to say, it creates adequate competition with Billie’s album from this year. 7-8 (as of now, I would score Billie’s record lower than I originally did, at 7.5).

Young Thug – Punk: Coming off a well-received previous record, Young Thug releases a bloated record with an attractive cover art, cool name, and notable features. However, very soon into the album problems arise. The “Punk” name is not unexpected from Thugger as many trap and hip-hop artists have taken influences from such a subculture and movement, but the use here exemplifies the pinnacle commodification of the genre name to a point of no relevant cultural value. Not only does the entire tracklist lack any Punk influence at all, the name is obviously used for no reason but that it sounds cool. This lack of understanding is an immediately bad look, and the only valid rebuttal I could see is that his acoustic-guitar-centric, soft songs are supposed to counter the counterculture that was Punk. This argument is easily disputed by the commercial execution of the majority of these songs with no inclination to counter anything. It was a conventional, money-grab, bloated record with extra flaws. The only good elements holding it together were the few trap bangers like the Juice WRLD feature, Scoliosis, Icy Hot, and the Mac Miller feature. 3-4

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly: Finally experienced this contemporary classic that will be remembered forever. Not only did it live up to the hype of political/social commentary, but its aesthetic qualities also blew me away. A truly moving album.