Review: Future - Save Me

The last time Future didn't drop at least two projects in one year was 2013. Since then he's dropped a slew of albums and mixtapes, two collaborative projects, and even a movie soundtrack. To add to the ever-growing list of music is an EP, a first for a rapper that's been actively working since 2009.

Throughout his career, Future has explored the topics of pain and heartbreak using different approaches, such as singing or rapping or doing both over different types of production. The approach to Save Me can be compared to Future's 2017 album HNDRXX which became one of his most critically acclaimed projects due to his melodic crooning over more poppier sounding beats. His melodies on Shotgun are strikingly similar to Fresh Air on HNDRXX, with Future hitting falsettos and yearning for a companion on his daily endeavors. The intro to XanaX Damage has Future hitting lower notes and speaking on a woman he only seems to love when he’s at his lowest point. Future's various deliveries can be grating to some but due to the topics he uses, he makes these notes work.

While his singing on this EP is reminiscent of HNDRXX, the production is more similar to 2016's EVOL, which featured some of the darkest production he's ever been a part of. This type of production makes songs like Please Tell Me and Extra hit harder and gives Future an extra layer to work with alongside his singing.

Two issues hold this EP back from being a high level Future project, which are its length and a lack of diversity. Tracks like XanaX Damage and Love Thy Enemies are cut short and while they are still good in their current state, they could be even better if there was more time for those songs to develop. Government Official is also the only song to switch the EP up from its constant theme of pleading for love. Future excels the most when he diversifies himself and gives himself more time to present his thoughts.

It is rumored that there will be at least two more projects around the same length of Save Me coming in the near future. While Save Me was a solid effort from Future, he still leaves more to be desired, and there are growing expectations of a high quality project from Future as a result.

Final score: 7/10

Review: Skepta - Ignorance is Bliss

Skepta can be considered one of the elder statesmen of the grime genre. He turns 37 this September and has a history of rapping that goes back to 2005. Almost fifteen years and five mixtapes and albums later, he’s become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful rappers in the grime genre.

Ignorance is Bliss is Skepta’s fifth album and his first since 2016’s critically acclaimed Konnichiwa. In between that time, he went on tour across the United States and Europe, dropped an EP and appeared on A$AP Rocky's hit single Praise the Lord (Da Shine). He even changed the album title from what it was previously known as SkLevel due to it being a "2018 pattern" according to Skepta himself.

It is not known what else was changed besides the album title but the album in its current state has some contrasting differences to its predecessor. The production on Ignorance is Bliss is more colorful and has even more bounce to it than on his last album and Skepta is able to compliment this production with his straightforward raps. Songs like No Sleep with a beat structured around a Tokyo inspired melody and Gangsta a Boy Better Know posse cut that has an abrasive bounce to it similar to tracks off Vince Staples' Big Fish Theory. Skepta has more production credits on Ignorance is Bliss than on his previous album which can explain the difference in this album's sound.

One factor that Konnichiwa has over this album though is its features. Outside of a soothing hook on Glow in the Dark performed by both British artist Lay-Z and WizKid, as well as a catchy and enjoyable hook delivered by fellow grime rapper J Hus on What Do You Mean? and an entertaining verse from rapper Key! on Redrum, the rest of the features either don't add to the song or are just simply forgettable. While Gangsta has one of the best beats on the album, it's ultimately a worse Boy Better Know posse cut than Detox, which appeared on Konnichiwa. Ultimately, it's predecessor had more standout features, with none of the guests going to waste on the tracks that they appeared on.

Skepta also decides to add more introspection to his raps, with Glow in the Dark being one of the key examples of this. He starts the song with these lines, "I knew what it was to be black way before I was on the GQ cover/How you gonna question me about colour?/What you know about Nelson Mandela?" and from there raps about his views on the British government, his struggles with his insecurities and how his parents raised him to become the man he is currently.

But Going Through It is the peak of him examining himself and the struggles that he goes through on a day to day basis. Backed by its dark, almost sinister beat, Skepta raps "Said they wanna be like me, you don't know what you're sayin'/Always been a daredevil, man, I was born from pain/They say ignorance is bliss, but I think that's a shame" on the last verse. Despite Konnichiwa being a great album in its own right, it lacked introspective moments like these. The birth of his first child late last year could be one of the factors in Skepta showing more of this side of him.

A lot has changed in these last few years for Skepta. These years have been busy and almost chaotic. Still, he's managed to put together another great effort and solidify his place as one of grime's greats.

Final score: 8/10

Review: NoCap - The Backend Child

NoCap is from Alabama, a state that doesn’t exactly have a rich history of rap music. Even the most notable rapper that was born in that state, Gucci Mane, bases his music in Atlanta and their ever-evolving trap scene. And with the ever-growing presence of street rappers from various areas around the States during the last couple of years, it's hard to not only keep up with all the names but for the rappers themselves to separate their music from their peers.

NoCap attempts to separate himself from the rest of the pack with the release of his latest project, The Backend Child. This is his first batch of new material after his quality features on Lil Baby’s Street Gossip and Quando Rondo’s From the Neighborhood to the Stage.

Clocking in at less than 40 minutes across fourteen tracks, the project only has three features. This gives NoCap more time to be the focal point of the music which is beneficial for him at times, such as on tracks like No Jewelry, Ghetto Angels, and Blind Nights. Solar Sisters is one of NoCap’s most impressive attempts at wordplay and imagery, with lines like “In the jail, I wish I was Barry, I couldn't get no bonds” and a hook that describes him counting hundreds on Neptune and wanting to get away from other people like Pluto was separated from the other planets.

These ideas continue from his recent string of guest features which also included strong wordplay and vivid imagery about life in his area. Tracks like Set It Off and My Time show a braggadocious side to NoCap’s raps, which is a key switch up from his more darker tracks. Features by fellow Alabama rappers OMB Peezy and Rylo Rodriguez on the tracks, Demons and Dead Faces respectively, help give NoCap another voice to complement his raps.

But while NoCap is obviously comfortable in his pocket, he can sometimes get too comfortable. Almost all of the tracks on the project only have one verse and are typically structured in a chorus-verse-chorus format, which can get tiring to listen to over fourteen tracks. Some of the production isn’t exactly memorable either, with a majority of the beats coming from little known producers who have just a recent history of work like NoCap. As a result, there are hits but also glaring misses and NoCap is left to try and carry tracks like Vacant Inside and Around Me from uninteresting production. NoCap also doesn’t give himself more time to celebrate which hinders his versatility.

The Backend Child overall shows some growth but NoCap still has some things to fix before he’s ready to drop a high quality project and become the neighborhood hero for his hometown of Mobile, Alabama.

Final score: 7/10