Matt Proxy is a 19 year old rapper & producer from Minneapolis, Minnesota who began making music as a teenager several multiple aliases with the most prominent ones being cloutedmatt & mwru. He has since dropped a total of 5 extended plays, with his previous one Horse Play under Sony Music last fall coming out not too long after receiving co-signs ranging from JPEGMAFIA to fakemink & even Playboi Carti. Looking to further capitalize on his popularity, he’s releasing a full-length studio debut.
The self-produced “5” opens up with a rap rock intro talking about his life being in a rearview mirror although I wish fakemink had a verse whereas “Stars” hits us with a 2-parter detailing his every move being watched & smoking blunts for therapeutic purposes. “Atlanta” samples “Father”by The Christians along with “Answer” by Tyler, The Creator & “Forever” by The Marvelettes to talk about his dad just before “All You’ll Hear is My Song in Your Head” featuring JUSQ addresses insomnia.
“Misery” chops up “Hate Me Now” by Nas, “Just Too Much To Hope For” by the late Tammi Terrell & “Devil In a New Dress” by Ye featuring Rick Ross talking about his girlfriend still riding for him regardless of his own imperfections just before “New Solution” talks about being faithful to the money. “Blue” ends the 1st leg of Trojan Horseremembering his late sister who passed away back in March while “Never Kill Yourself” by never goodbye denounces suicide ideation.
We have “Meant2B” splitting itself into 2 separate portions talking about being destined for this music shit while “Love&Addiction” fuses experimental hip hop, drumless, sound collage, slacker rock, space rock revival & neo-psychedelia to ask if you can see the vision. “Sorry” later blends pop rap, neo-soul, experimental hip hop, neo-psychedelia, cloud rap & alternative R&B for another single addressing a breakup that he’s been going through.
“God” featuring Current Joys interpolates “Survival of the Fittest” by Mobb Deep talking about not wanting this life going full slacker rock & “iPhone” featuring Aiden Farley sends off Trojan Horse with a synthfunk/pop rap outro having Matt at the beginning of it talking about going fast, then we get a beat switch & Aiden hoping that nobody listens to the probable. I also found the guitar solo near the final moments to be exciting.
Trojan Horse marks a conclusion to a trilogy in which Beating a Dead Horse began & Horse Play bridged by taking more risks than Matt Proxy did 7 months earlier, resulting in the most powerful statement of his career so far. The experimental production dabbles with more live-instrumentation varying between slacker rock, chipmunk soul, industrial hip hop, sound collage, drumless, space rock revival, neo-psychedelia, pop rap, neo-soul, cloud rap, alternative R&B & synthfunk to take an prominently introspective approach to songwriting other than some occasional abstract & conscious detours.
Score: 3.5/5
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