The emotion behind this track comes through almost instantly as the leading vocal begins to play. The idea of things being ok just a week ago implies a difficulty now, a difference in circumstance, an interesting and unique story to follow. This initial intensity and apparent honesty contrasts well with the light energy of the musical backdrop. The beat as well is fairly light natured, and the recording and the mix on he whole have a generally laid back ambiance. The track remains consistent in that the leading artist is expressing from a singular viewpoint, an otherwise not covered perspective. That kind of openness in artistry is always something worth running with – nobody does you better than you do.
The instrumentation throughout the track evolves a little as things progress, there’s a slight thickness to the distorted bass line, it adds character as well as a classic, almost vintage hip-hop kind of vibe. Adding further to this idea of character is the way the lyricism and the vocal performance varies throughout, changing in rhythm and tone as the music moves forwards and as the different moments within the story-line come forth. This change in performance style in particular shows a range of abilities, a willingness to adapt, and furthermore helps keep things interesting in between what could have otherwise been simply a verse to hook to verse to hook dead end arrangement.
The track has the laid back good vibes of effective hip-hop but with a level of emotion and intensity that really helps keep things real and bring the artist’s work to that higher plain. Pushing the boundaries even further, within listenable reason, could possibly make any longer projects really stand out and grab the audience’s attention.
By Rebecca Cullen
Rebecca is a Musician and writer from Manchester, UK, with an MA in Song Writing.
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