So, as fans of Northwest rapper Grieves probably already know, the well renowned musician has spent the last several months dropping occasional tracks as a way to "express both his growth and hunger since releasing Running Wild" (his last full length album). The result is The Collections of Mr. Nice Guy, an EP that takes these singles as well as a few previously unreleased tracks and puts them together as a collection. A new release from Grieves in any form is great news for his hardcore following, considering the two year long period since his last full length offering.
I do want to state at this time that I'm not particularly a fan of Grieves. I actually don't dislike his music, and my hat is off to him for consistently releasing well produced, well written and well conceived songs that run the gamut from catchy to thought provoking. This sounds like an endorsement, and it is. However, my personal observation is that when I hear a track by him I find myself enjoying, I tend to listen through to the end and immediately forget about it. His style doesn't tend to vary much on any given release (especially his work following 88 Keys & Counting), and as he's grown as an artist I find his music has taken on a bit of bland and uninteresting quality. I have the same issue with Atmosphere, I feel like they reached a point where Ant and Slug know exactly what to do to make good songs, and the time and energy they used to spend creating the style in the first place and trying out new things has become unnecessary.
Grieves' music is all good, it's just not really anything to get excited about for me. That said, you guys may have already guessed that I like the weirder stuff, so please don't take my opinion to heart if you've somehow slept on Grieves and this is the first you're hearing of him. He's amazingly talented. I just want it known that I'm coming at this review from a place of some ambivalence. Anyhow.
The Collections of Mr. Nice Guy is still music that I don't find particularly original, but it's definitely worth a listen, and if you like Grieves' work to this point I guarantee you'll love this. The songs are polished, and his lyricism and dry wit are ever present and in top form. Songs like "Man Down featuring Chris Webby" display complex rhyming and a style that would certainly be at home on the radio alongside more well known artists (like Chris Webby lol). Catchy beat as well.
Stylistically this album is a bit closer to what's popular these days than we've heard from him before. There's less of the R & B / soul influence that made up the bulk of Running Wild and a bit more electronica. Lots of auto-tune, some trap drum sounds, and the cadence popularized by Lil Wayne that's popping up all over the place can be heard in a few places here. I guess at this point Grieves is mainstream (not sure what that even means anymore), and he sounds it. I do know he's worked his ass off to get where he is, and for that he has my respect.
So I don't know who gets production credit for any of these tracks, I did try to find out (maybe Grieves himself or Budo). The musicianship is superb as always, with lush and beautiful sounds from the keys, guitars and strings. Songs like "December" and "Caliber" are truly works of art production wise. And while I enjoyed them I did find myself thinking that Grieves could have injected a bit more personality into them somehow, maybe trying out different voices or topics. As it stands, The Collections of Mr. Nice Guy sounds quite a bit like what a lot of people are doing. The upside to that is that at least Grieves does that style well, maybe even better than most.
Get The Collections of Mr. Nice Guy as a digital download from Grieves' Bandcamp here, or pick up a physical (preorders start shipping around 8/27/19) and support the always dope Fifth Element Online here! See you guys Friday!
No comments:
Post a Comment