Tag: Bryson Tiller

Bryson Tiller – “S O L A C E & The Vices” review

Louisville, Kentucky singer/songwriter & rapper Bryson Tiller dropping off a double 5th full-length album. Beginning over a decade ago off his debut mixtape Killer Instinct, he would eventually sign to RCA Records & release the ground breaking debut T R A P S O U Lcelebrating it’s 9-year anniversary this fall. The sophomore effort True to Self was underwhelming & A N N I V E R S A R Y proved to be a step in the right direction but coming off 4 more tapes & EP since (more recently the Slum Tiller trilogy, Bryson’s coming off a divisively received eponymous LP to put out S O L A C E & The Vices.

“Strife” opens the 2-disc experience singing over a trap soul instrumental with some synthesizers about a toxic relationship whereas “No Contest” blends R&B & drill to apologize for cheating in the past. “Workaholic” produced by Charlie Heat is a favorite of mine singing about being afraid of going broke in 2018 & the same can be said regarding “I Need Her” from Charlie handling the drums, synths & bass to the yearning lyrics.

Boi-1da brings a woozier R&B vibe to “Autumn Drive” singing about having to take a leave from the city while “Crocodile Tears” has a bit of a cloudy pop rap approach to it looking back at the fun times of when he was down financially during the late 2010s. Charlie Heat kills it with the instrumentation once more on “Genuine” singing about having a hitlist prior to “Uncertainty” calling someone out for false pretense.

“Damn” once again combines cloud rap & pop rap figuring out how this dude stole his chick while “Sick” feels less of an interlude, singing for 100 seconds about being fed up with all the judgement around him. “Star Signs” embraces a contemporary R&B sound feeling like his lover’s heart belongs in his home & after “Harley’s Outro”, we have “On My Way” setting the tone of Disc 2 with an average attempt at sample drill talking about his global travels.

Charlie Heat’s sampling of “I’ll Give All My Love to You” by Keith Sweat throughout “1st Place” was done tastefully finding Bryson running up $25M while “Cut Ties” featuring Bossman DLow talks about turning off their phones for the evening to hang with friends, except I could’ve done without DLow’s verse. “Mini Kelly” featuring Rick Ross flips one of my favorite Kanye songs “Flashing Lights” to ask why try finding solace through their vices when they’ve split up while “200 Bands” featuring Plies & T-Pain throws it back to the late 2000s.

“Money Shower” a lot like “Sick” comes off as an actual song of it’s one from the ghostly trap beat to directly tackling the topic of his wealth while “More Than Money” sings about giving all the fame & paper for the woman he’s seeing currently over another Charlie Heat instrumental. “Make Life Easy” featuring BabyDrill team up for a moderate take on Chicago drill while “No Sharing” featuring Luh Tyler shows the hoes who they really cherish.

The song “Last Call” asks what it’ll take to have the female in mind drunk call him over synthesizers & fingersnaps from Hitmaka referencing the iconic Ginuwine single “Pony” while “Burnout” featuring Bun B gives a nod to H-Town down to the chopped & screwed undertones of it. “Finished” ends the album with a trap closer rapping about the criticism he got for his association with OVO Sound when Drake almost signed him to the label at 1 time.

S O L A C E & The Vices in 1 hand comes across as a somberly vulnerable R&B/trap soul therapy session considering Bryson Tiller says some things he wouldn’t normally say out loud inspired by the fall season that has only recently begun & in another, he’s leaning heavier towards his hip hop influences although the guest list is a bit of a mixed bag. I’d also consider Charlie Heat’s bulk of the production to be stronger than self-titled’s.

Score: 3.5/5

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Bryson Tiller – Self-Titled review

This is the eponymous 4th full-length LP from Louisville, Kentucky singer/songwriter & rapper Bryson Tiller. Beginning over a decade ago off his debut mixtape Killer Instinct, he would eventually sign to RCA Records & release the ground breaking debut T R A P S O U L celebrating it’s 9-year anniversary this fall. The sophomore effort True to Self was underwhelming & A N N I V E R S A R Y proved to be a step in the right direction but coming off 4 more tapes & EP since (more recently the Slum Tiller trilogy, Bryson’s looking reintroduce himself & show the world what he’s capable of.

After the “http://” intro, the first song “Attention” is a spacey R&B opener singing about being drawn by a captivating woman whereas “Stay Gold” clashes the pop rap & R&B styles together to address the value of the relationship & willingness to make things work. “Persuasion” featuring Victoria Monét is a trap soul duet detailing a flirtatious encounter between 2 people, but then the standout “Ciao!” sings about being finically taken advantage of over a laid-back instrumental from Charlie Heat, FNZ & Leon Thomas III.

“Peace” continues to mix passionate vocals derived from contemporary R&B with nocturnal & atmospheric trap production to admit his need for peace just before another favorite “Rich Boy” finds Vinylz, Boi-1da, Ging & Allen Ritter sampling “Throw Some D’s” by Rich Boy himself spending everything on his romantic interest qfrom the night. “R.A.M. (Random Access Memory)” brings some heavy synthesizers into the fold wanting the old him back that is until “No Thank You” blends hi-hats & lower register synths talking about an endured bond.

The summery guitars on “Find My Way” singing that believe in love except the problem is that he doesn’t know what else to call it while yet another highlight “Prize” fuses alternative R&B & pop rap to tell the woman in his life that no one ends can do it the way that she does. “Waterfalls” brings a psychedelic flare to the beat to sing about paintin’ waterfalls in his woman while “ÆON L U S T” goes afrobeats thanks to KAYTRANADA telling the story of being fascinated by someone special.

“Calypso” was a mediocre contemporary R&B choice of a single with additional elements of afrobeats & dancehall likening her body to Carribean music altogether while the cloudy albeit snappy “Outside” expresses his sexual desire to a freshly single woman who was unable to escape a disastrous previous relationship. “Undertow” strips things back saying he can feel her heartbeat in his chest while “F4U” flips ”Feenin’” by JoDeCi rapping his ass off. “Assume the Position” goes for a groovier approach telling her to put both her hands where he can see them prior to Whatever $he Wants” ending self-titled with a flavorful hybrid of pop rap, Detroit trap, alternative R&B & even hyphy music.

Decent album altogether, but the highs are high enough to the point where I’d actually put this eponymous effort right behind A N N I V E R S A R Y as my 3rd favorite LP of his. The production matches the caliber of that previous full-length combining contemporary R&B & none other than of course the trap soul sound he pioneered with pop rap, afrobeats, alternative R&B & electropop as Bryson invites listeners into a world where genre boundaries are not only crossed but reimagined in vignettes of his love life.

Score: 2.5/5

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