Lil Uzi Vert "Pink Tape" (2023)

Dense, sporadic, unstructured and certainly zany, Lil Uzi Vert drops a lengthy lovable mess suffering its own madness. Pink Tape feels built for the streaming era, these ninety minutes, twenty six tracks, hint at playing the numbers game. Curation and focus set aside, a loose thematic grip lets this manic music meander in all sorts of directions. Uzi himself often plays second fiddle to instrumentals as his erratic performances flips from rhymes, to auto tune blurbs and feisty shouts. With a waving presence, vibeing and vocal aesthetics often seem central to his restless expressions.

The production leans into spacey Trap vibes, embracing its digital incarnation, thumb printing a synthetic style leaning heavily on auto tune. Suicide Doors embraces the dark side with mean distortion guitars complimenting its gristly atmosphere. Uzi can't stay on track however, it becomes evident quickly as inspirations jump between a handful of tones. Endless Fashion raises an eyebrow, borrowing the Blue melody to great effect, a smash hit in the late 90s by Italian DJ duo Effile 65.

A few of the following songs also seem to borrow elements from pop culture and music too with familiar sounds and lyrics cropping up. The wildness reaches new heights when suddenly a karaoke cover of Chop Suey! erupts. You can feel the passion for the Metal classic yet Uzi's style has such an odd resonance. I think my enjoyment mostly lies with the original. The following Werewolf is an absolute banger, a collaboration with Bring Me The Horizon. Its clear who handled the song writing, with the band and Oli dominating. Uzi offers just a handful of words to compliment the brief bass guitar sections that arise. A shy guest on his own record.

A similar affair unravels again with Babymetal at the records conclusion. The hints of Metal reflects my issue with the whole record, a lack of focus. It goes in many directions without settling on a key idea. It typically appeals to the emotive artistic expressions of Uzi, lacking conceived depth and meaning, instead simply reveling in the vibes. Thus its lengthy style levels it to the curation of a few favorite cuts I will return for. Without offering a key distinction the whole thing feels like a hot bloated dump of new studio material. Uzi is still one to keep a close eye on of course, when hitting a spark these songs do hit hard! Just not to often.

Rating: 5/10

Redzed "Bohemian Psycho" (2019)

 

Hailing from the Slavic regions of Europe, this young Czech's distinct accent embeds sharp flavors on top his nasal pitch. Loaded with obscenities and violence, his rapid fire shout raps drop sharp and vicious, making quite the impression. As one in a roster of many Trap Metal artists in rotation on Spotify, his maniacal flow caught my ear.

Tight, snappy and obnoxious in presence, the harsh delivery and brutal tone lured me in for more. Sadly, it seems Redzed is somewhat of a one trick pony here, emulating the same cadence for most of the record. In intervals, the pace softens with songs leaning into half sung hooks, looking for a catchy knack that seems out of reach. His pitch and range unable to muster charismatic charm previously bestowed among his venom spitting, ferocious raps.

So to do the instrumentals stiffen. Its somewhat typical Horrorcore theming leans heavily on hard bass kicks, jittery Trap hi-hats and harsh snares strikes. The groves are competent yet narrow in scope as each song circles the previous one. So to did the comprehensible lyrical content seem slim. A race to the bottom! Violent, foul, over the top braggadocio laced with cuss words and graphic obscenities.

Bohemian Psycho was fun for a minute but lacked a reason to stick around once its merits were proven. The closing Bleed For Me / Drumin' Hard had a touch more excitement. The inclusion of distortion guitars and what sounded like a drum jam session had some personality not heard elsewhere on the record. Ultimately Redzed's wild energy on the mic has a punch but lacks a depth to flesh out this record.

Rating: 3/10

Ho99o9 "Skin" (2022)

 

In my camp of awe inspiring, adrenaline pumping music, a spot is reserved for the gritty punk duo known as Ho99o9. Their crossover of Horrorcore, Hardcore Punk and rebellious persona has been enthralling in recent years. Skin, their sophomore album wedged between many mini albums and EPs, has sadly failed to reinvigorate the wild energy they usually conjure effortlessly. Opening with a brief offering of Thrash guitars, manic percussion and unhinged screams, a couple of tracks get the blood flowing with the best the record has to offer coming from Corey Taylor of Slipknot.

His timeless scream is a great fit as the one working chemistry from a few collaborations. Jasiah inducts the group into the adjacent Trap Metal scene with tropes and tones perhaps heard best by City Morgue. Those harsh hitting, volume peaking bass drum aesthetics crop up on other songs to little avail. That sentiment extends to much of what Ho99o9 aim for on Skin. Not looking to circle back on previous successes, the many chemistries they forge just fail to vibe with me sadly.

With a lack of songs sparking the right words to describe the experience, I simply fall back to a sense that the pair looked for unsettled atmospheres, moments of mania and a dystoian grittiness less dependent on Metal and Hardcore guitars. These tracks also feel like a jumble of ideas, rarely resting in one place for long and jumping into a variety of odd temperaments along the way. Whatever the vision was, it failed me in feeling cohesive. I'm left quite disappointed but hopeful they'll get back on track.

Rating: 4/10

City Morgue "Toxic Boogaloo" (2020)

 

The City Morgue duo are back with another barrage of obnoxious violent raps, spitting hate and threats in all directions. Following up on the first two style defining volumes, this twenty minute EP brings a firm, metallic tinted production to their typical arrangement of hook oriented outbursts of intense energy. Better enjoyed in brief stints, Toxic Boogaloo benefits from a swift lineup touting quality over quantity. As to be expected, vile raps, boastful aggression and abhorrent attitudes guide the lyrical assault on the listener as we are plunged into the fury of violent youthful rebellion.

Further developing their fusion of Trap Metal, the instrumentals toy with big dirty bass lines pushing deep into peak distortions. This noise foray paired with gritty FL Slayer distortion sounds pushes the chemistry further into dark urban avenues. Although a little groove a rhythm arrives through the guitars, its mainly an aesthetic compliment to tracks driven by pounding Trap percussion with darkly sounding samples and synths brooding moods. Its a clear step up from what they achieved beforehand.

Lyrically, its the same game again. For me that is mostly a novel gawking session at the level of ridiculousness on display. The two have an undeniable talent for style, delivery and catchy hooks but the slew of spiteful anger has little in the way of depth. Hurtworld '99 gets a shout for its running letters of hurt, which yield a personal angle with its timing of the world you. It feels like they reach in and grab way more from a single word with how its worked into the hook. Its a keen moment among a few others. If the duo keep moving in this direction it sounds like their is room for growth.

Rating: 5/10

City Morgue "City Morgue Vol 2 As Good As Dead" (2019)

Following up on last years Hell Or Highwater, the young duo ZillaKami and Sosmula are at it again fronting another arsenal of overtly aggressive songs to grab your attention. Vaguely known Trap Metal, the duo represent a strain of modern Rap so harsh and aggressive it picks up the metallic nod. They actually deploy distortion guitars on a couple of tracks but the main ploy is dark and sinister sampling amplified by harsh, snappy drum grooves and over the top vocals. The pair spit their rhymes with ferocious energy, many words bordering a shout in its aggression. Unsurprisingly the lyrical content is mean and murderous but ultimately hollow.

Although the theming is of my flavor, the music lacks depth and songwriting is routine. Most the tracks aim to deploy throat grabbing lyrics for a harsh hook, often over played. The two exchange threatening verses that mostly revolve around excessive violence, gang life and boisterous show boating. It quickly turns dull as the continual aggression becomes monotone. I found my attention mostly picking up on what became annoying, like the "woah woah woah woah" hook on the track Woah. Its monotonous, repetitive and just doesn't add much to the song.

The instrumentals behind them are also a bit routine, only a few beats stand out in the slew of songs. Initially most are impressive as they reach to a particularly gritty nastiness however they are often very repetitive with the short loop filling up these mostly short songs. One notable thing that does occur is a handful of songs leaning into Emo Rap territory. Moody guitars drop in and the lyrics pivot to dreary self reflection and depressive outlooks. Very akin to Lil Peep but nowhere near his level of charm. Overall a disappointing follow up with not much to take away from.

Favorite Tracks: Draino, 16 Toes, Peeling Scabs

Rating: 4/10