The world of hip hop is on notice this week as Northampton’s Slowthai returns to the public with his sophomore album TYRON. This hype album is a thirty-five minute mix of subtle similarity from his first album along with a fair bit of newness, showing that Slowthai isn’t a one trick rapper who doesn’t attempt to evolve. Half the songs are reminiscent of his debut album in how they ‘sound’ though they differ in content, whilst the other half ventures into new territory. With fourteen songs to jam out to and a few notable collaborators taking part, TYRON is an easy way to pass the time.
TYRON is an easy way to pass the time.
With his breakout album, Slowthai’s message couldn’t have been confused with anything else. The U.K. rapper aired his beef with his home country in Nothing Great About Britain. He has clearly been in a ‘defiant’ lane as far as addressing the establishment and his local government. In TYRON, there is certainly a hint of this defiant nature in earlier tracks though it’s not in any way politically assailing as was the first. The later tracks showcase his growth and quite possibly where he intends to go later down the road. He doesn’t grow without assistance however. Throughout the album he’s joined by a variety of artists including Dominic Fike, Denzel Curry, Deb Never, James Blake, Mount Kimbie, Skepta, and A$AP Rocky. With their much added boost, Slowthai delivers a striking album that at best makes him worthy of producing a third.
The trap style is there and at the forefront, especially in the first half. The opener 45 Smoke is an example of this. It jumps the album off to the races with the first minute full of clever rhymes and with high energy rhythm; the second part of the song is the same yet not, keeping with sharp lyricism but slowing things down with an alternative cadence. CANCELLED features Skepta, he and Slowthai addressing ‘cancel culture’ which is becoming a topic of discussion across all industries of entertainment. The track backed by what sounds like a distant flute is produced with a quick pace and a contentious attitude from the rappers. Slowthai starts to shift things when he gets to i tried, displaying a more personal touch and moving away from any sort of grievance. Focus continues on this tone, the title symbolizing an obvious meaning. The entire second part is actually more contemplative in feeling, the sound production also almost completely in contrast to the first part of the record.
This is simply a taste of what’s in store for the full listen. Slowthai shows two sides of himself in this album, one that is stylistic and one that is human. As a collection there are parts of it that are less coherent than others, but this may have also been done so intentionally. Only he would really know, but as rappers are often times metaphorical, there will be much to pick apart for those who were fans of the first album.
