Smino noir songs
(If they don’t) Bring it to they neck, tuxedo see-throughīlood suckas close, n- swat the mosquitos” K-Indie Artists That Will Enrich and Bring Fresh Air to Your Playlists For instance, “SUMMER SALT” stands out as an emphatic beaut, with its ethereal environment bundled with soothing strings, bass and vocals, but the rapper Bari propels the six-track even further with his distorted delivery on the closing verse. Though Smino only invites a small group of guests on “NOIR,” they are utilized well. In a quick change of pace, the second half transitions from the delicacy of the first part to a muddy bass line and a vocal blues flavor during its chorus, allowing the artist to flaunt his singing ability with a climactic isolation in the midst of the mystifying latter half.
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In this first part, his lyrics embody self-reflection, as he describes his current life to his audience. The two-part introduction “KOVERT” begins with Smino dashing through a subtle instrumental supported by gentle synths. As a result, the wordsmith glimmers with potential on his sophomore output. The project is laced with intoxicating tunes, uplifting anthems and soothing rhythms, and by including only a small number of features and spitting most of the bars himself, Smino puts his abilities on the center stage. We haven’t had a GOOD Friday in 10 years.On his 2018 follow-up project, “NOIR,” however, the Interscope artist finally seems to be exploiting his lyrical and sonic ambidexterity.It kind of felt like NOIR never left the bedroom and made its way into my heart.īottom Line: The album feels like a smoked-out day in the bedroom and never really leaves its confines to find any kind of emotion.īest Songs: HOOPTI, TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD, MERLOT In the end, this was a generally enjoyable listen but at no point blew me away. I did like the variety of sounds Smino tested here-so to not create a blkswn 2, but thought he still sounded best over the Monte-produced joints. His self-produced songs, MF GROOVE and KRUSHED ICE, use these super deep grooves with baselines that test the limits of your sound system. There are some obvious moments where Smino has left Monte off the production, with the most glaring being the ones where he’s actually produced the songs himself. It’s interesting to see Smino try his hand at producing on this album. But this album is undoubtedly a rap album. He’s been known to use his voice to produce neo-funk or even R&B at times. By just calling Smino a rapper is a bit of a misnomer. Smino’s vocal abilities seem almost confined on this album. NOIR is just a collection of songs with Smino rapping. There’s no love-drunk songs on here like Netflix & Dusse or Anita, no interlude-feeling songs like Innamission. It also doesn’t pick up it’s feet with any kind of emotional engagement. Though its playtime is actually shorter than blkswn (not by much though), the album feels like it drags. Is it a falsetto? Is it a parrot? Does it matter? It’s wildly uplifting.Īnd while I found this album overall enjoyable, I didn’t find it terribly engaging. This weightlessness also refers to Smino’s willingness to rap or sing in higher keys, something most artists wouldn’t be comfortable with. He folds these clever little rhymes into little origami stories, always inciting some kind of reaction, like did Smino just use 4 syllables to pronounce champagne? Smino’s accent pushes out rhymes that I wouldn’t dream of throwing together, “I get the dough like Homer/All this paper look like homework/Shorty a glacier in a cold world.” Repeat that 4 times and tell me if it rhymes. The allure of Smino is his weightless voice and effortless wordplay.
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And with the arrival of NOIR, I’m hoping to have more good times with the genre-pushing artist. I have been waiting for more Smino all year. Monte Booker’s production hasn’t hurt these times either-a mix of cluttered colours constantly seem to snap together to form beats. This has solely been down to the versatility of Smino’s voice and language as well as his ability to bend clever quips or wordplay into each of his rhymes. And he’s kept me company in the kitchen while I cook or clean more than any of my friends. He has helped me get through more words on herbicide application timing than any other voice.
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Smino has been my road-trip buddy more than any other person this year.