TYRON Review

    U.K. grime is a largely untapped genre within the U.S., and while some hit tracks have broken the mold and become popular among us Americans, artists like slowthai are still puzzling unknowns. His first release Nothing Great about Britain was in an echelon of quality all by itself, genuine in reflecting his surroundings and the struggles he endured growing up poor in England. Slowthai gave a phenomenal performance on that debut and brought the unpleasant side of his country out into the light. This sophomore release, TYRON, is more vulnerable but still manages to be seeping with the same raucous, evocative and unfiltered qualities grime embodies. The record also conceptualizes a message layered in dichotomy with his outward personality and inner struggles split among this project, able to communicate it with decent execution while being readily accessible to first time listeners. Slowthai has crafted a fun, harsh and sometimes sorrow-filled glimpse into his poignant style and his ordeals offering a softer side of his to be dissected, often times laced with withered sadness and heartfelt emotional struggles that highlight his depth as an artist, even if the record’s overall quality isn’t as evolved compared to slowthai’s contemporaries.

    The project TYRON is 14 tracks long and only runs at about 35 minutes. I began to assume that this would not be nearly enough time to fully encapsulate the themes of this album but slowthai manages to pace and formulate his ideas quite well throughout. The first 7 tracks are titled in all caps and are what he reflects on the outside, the things we usually see from him that are indicative of his nightly escapades and the plethora of qualities akin to a rapper. The track “CANCELLED” is a daunting piece of grime music layered with menacing flute and whistle synths, backed up by percussion that is demonically textured and reverberates with a wicked nature, accentuating the dread-like lyrics that slowthai and fellow grime feature Skepta deliver. slowthai and Skepta are rapping about how they deem themselves as “too big” to be cancelled in today’s society, with bars like “Show me your face, Let me see who’s really tryna stop me, I pay the price, don’t care what it costs me, I just gotta spit, can’t put a sock in it, Endless poetry like Jodorowsky, Super suss, super off-key, Run through the streets with a few G’s, We ain’t killing them softly.” The cut MAZZA features A$AP Rocky and comes off as a trap/grime combination due to the heavy bass laced into the drums and the whirring synth chords that ungulate in a legato fashion constantly throughout the song. Mazza is British slang for something that is madness, so the track sees slowthai rap about drug use and depression and has Rocky reflect on the craziness of New York and his friends, with them gracing us with two very different forms of what madness might personify. “WOT” is the shortest cut on this record at 48 seconds but has some ingenious production, layered with some raw, head-banging percussion and a gorgeously evil piano loop. The lyrics on here from slowthai are braggadocious and sometimes downright offensive, however this plays into his disjointed confidence and his perilous nature as evident by bars such as “In a rave, drop an eccy with your mum, Young mum’s drunk, slowthai too cute, No effort and I do it nonchalant, Bendy Wendy, had to doggy that down.” Translate that into regular American English and he pretty much said he got your mom high on ecstasy and fornicated with her. “PLAY WITH FIRE” is the last cut from the side of this record that conveys his outward personality, but is crafted in an interesting way to serve as a transition into the next half of the album. The song is absolutely beautiful, packed with  numbing synths and these feathered guitar chords that are endlessly layered and project feelings of misery and despair while also exuding a feeling of urgency as slowthai contemplates the subject matter of this track. He raps “Soft lad stop acting like a bitch, I wish I pressed skip, everything is negative, It gets hectic, Stressing if you’re from the place I live, They couldn’t catch my drift with your nose in my business.” We can see here that slowthai feels his environment and his upbringing were not kind to him and this has forced him into the man he is today. He later raps “If you love the world for its flaws you will never be disappointed (Honestly, honestly), You’re my everything and I have no words (I fucking hate you).” The listener can see here that slowthai is as conflicted as they come, as the “fire” he is playing with is his own persona.

    The latter half of this record sees all the song titles in lowercase as if to convey the feeling that they are mellowed out and more insightful in the subject matter they touch on. “i tried” has slowthai rap about the struggles he endures, accompanied by spacy piano melodies and some guitar chords that resonate in the background giving this track a very reflective balance. The track almost has an old-school Kanye vibe as slowthai raps “Running from my struggles back and forth like the Chuckles, As morbid as it seems, I’ll never wake up from this sleep, If hell’s meant for sinning, then heaven’s never been for me, I’ve got a sickness, And I’m dealing with it, Feels like I’m sinking all of the time.” It is evident that slowthai has tried to overcome his issues but he still feels the weight of the world and his inner demons bringing him down, no matter how hard he tries to defeat them. “terms” features Dominic Fike and Denzel Curry, with the production on here being unlike anything else on the record, sonically engaging with dreamy synths and percussion rushing in tempo while being relaxed and introspective. The cut sounds like it could be off of a 6lack album and everyone on here fits their part with unwavering execution. Fike sings the hook and his voice is damaging and infatuating all at once. Denzel has his vocals chopped up and sounds very devilish like the inner voice you don’t want to listen to. Slowthai takes up the bulk of the rapping and his flows are astounding, rapping bars such as “National treasure, tried burying me, Tryna pick a rose but it’s got thorns, They be judging me like I got horns, When we die we don’t respawn.” The song deals with the thoughts associated with being judged by those around you and how you constantly doubting yourself can lead to your downfall, as highlighted by these lyrics. The track “push” is a mellow slow jam that features some euphonious vocalization from Deb Never and vulnerable verses from slowthai. The track delves into the idea of believing in yourself and blocking out the negative thoughts of others. The production is angelic, with it carried along by gorgeous acoustic melodies and psychedelic synth percussion. The cut “nhs” which one could guess stands for “never had shit” is a track about being grateful for what you have even when those around you have so much more. The instrumentation is intoxicating, spurred along by some super clean and relaxed drum sounds complimented with some tame Hi-hats and sparing piano chords. Slowthai raps “What’s a flight without turbulence? A life without circumstance? Boxing without another stance? Country with no coat of arms? Estate with no barking dogs?” slowthai makes all these comparisons with things that have absolutes but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t the same without them and when applied to our own lives we should feel complete even if we don’t have much at all.

    TYRON is a record that takes influences largely from the trap genre and sounds reminiscent of old A$AP Rocky projects. slowthai is able to put his own unique spin on it with his trademark gritty and darkly vibrant nature. This project is like a tale of two records from slowthai with it split down the middle having the first half contain the grimy punk-trap bangers and the second delving into a more introspective and vulnerable subject matter. Few artists can stylistically and thematically attempt a project that incorporates different elements with the confidence and execution that slowthai embodies and have it turn out so well. TYRON may not have a long runtime and it may not be the most concise music slowthai has ever released, but one cannot deny the gorgeous textures and qualities this album has pouring out of its contents and the dual natures that this record attempts to explore have been done so in a colorful and satisfying fashion.

Score: 7/10