MAVI - Let The Sun Talk ALBUM REVIEW
There’s been a new sound of hip-hop on the rise, and it’s very unconventional. It consists of looping, lo-fi, sampled production, the short track lengths, and the vocals mixed really high. The best and most well-known example is Earl Sweatshirt’s 2018 album Some Rap Songs, an absolute masterpiece that I’ve talked about before. Anyway, Earl continued this sound on his EP FEET OF CLAY, where he had expanded on his sound and got lesser-known artists as features on this EP. One of those artists is MAVI, and after hearing him on FEET OF CLAY, I just had to give his solo work a listen. So, I gave his album Let The Sun Talk a couple of spins, and here’s what I thought about it!
Let The Sun Talk is a hip-hop record that’s very sample-based. His lyrics on this album can be described as "conscious", they cover a wide range of subjects: family, race, depression, money and politics, without ever seeming too obvious as we sometimes understand it by "conscious rap". Deeper than most other rappers, his lyrics also deal with alienation, existential anxiety, metaphysics, spirituality and its relationship to science. Production is like a ray of sunshine in a dark world, as free as it is abrasive and jerky. Cut-out samples, traveling with MAVI's thoughts as he travels through a metaphysical journey in the solar system. I'm yet to fully appreciate this project for what I know it is, but the production across this thing as well as the vocal performance is unquestionably incredible and made even more impressive considering his young age.
My only issues with this album are sometimes when the production is super minimal, MAVI doesn't really compliment it that well, he does very little over some of the tracks, which it's still great but not as interesting as his other performances. The other is that even though Mavi does stick out in a lineup, he's still very obviously wearing his influences on his sleeve a little bit too much. There were times where I was actively asking myself "Was that Earl?" and from what I know they have no vocal contributions.
Overall, Let The Sun Talk is a very jarring record, and like Earl’s Some Rap Songs, it’s a quick album too. Appreciate albums like Let The Sun Talk (and Some Rap Songs) for what it is right now because, in a few years, we will look back at albums like this and recognize it as an essential stepping stone for one of the most intriguing music styles of the new decade.
7/10
Stream Let The Sun Talk here
Spotify
Apple Music
Let The Sun Talk is a hip-hop record that’s very sample-based. His lyrics on this album can be described as "conscious", they cover a wide range of subjects: family, race, depression, money and politics, without ever seeming too obvious as we sometimes understand it by "conscious rap". Deeper than most other rappers, his lyrics also deal with alienation, existential anxiety, metaphysics, spirituality and its relationship to science. Production is like a ray of sunshine in a dark world, as free as it is abrasive and jerky. Cut-out samples, traveling with MAVI's thoughts as he travels through a metaphysical journey in the solar system. I'm yet to fully appreciate this project for what I know it is, but the production across this thing as well as the vocal performance is unquestionably incredible and made even more impressive considering his young age.
My only issues with this album are sometimes when the production is super minimal, MAVI doesn't really compliment it that well, he does very little over some of the tracks, which it's still great but not as interesting as his other performances. The other is that even though Mavi does stick out in a lineup, he's still very obviously wearing his influences on his sleeve a little bit too much. There were times where I was actively asking myself "Was that Earl?" and from what I know they have no vocal contributions.
Overall, Let The Sun Talk is a very jarring record, and like Earl’s Some Rap Songs, it’s a quick album too. Appreciate albums like Let The Sun Talk (and Some Rap Songs) for what it is right now because, in a few years, we will look back at albums like this and recognize it as an essential stepping stone for one of the most intriguing music styles of the new decade.
7/10
Stream Let The Sun Talk here
Spotify
Apple Music
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