Arizona Baby - Kevin Abstract: Review

Kevin Abstract

is a Texas rapper and singer who released two albums of his own in the mid 2010's, the second of which American Boyfriend being met with critical acclaim. But in 2017 Kevin became the main brain behind internet rap collective Brockhampton and piloted the group through a trilogy of acclaimed releases skyrocketing them to relevancy and setting the stage for their 2018 album iridescence to score a #1 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums chart. This meteoric line of success came faster than anyone could have anticipated and certainly had its speed bumps, many of which Kevin addresses directly for the first time on this project, which is serving as a springboard for more Brockhampton content supposedly coming later this summer. 

Review By Lavender:

There was really no reason not to be excited for this thing. I fell in love with Kevin's unique blend of styles on 2016's American Boyfriend and that thankfully led me to be on the ground floor for the Saturation trilogy in 2017. I really enjoy all four of Brockhampton's studio albums, in particular Saturation II, and given my positive history with Kevin Abstract I was excited for everything this project had to offer. Kevin releasing this album in small chunks felt to me like more of a detriment than a positive for the overall experience. Given how back loaded this album is and how underwhelming some of its early tracks are the initial releases for this project didn't thrill me but ultimately whats here is pretty satisfying. 

The first leg of this release came in the form of the Arizona Baby single that contains the first three songs on the album. It opens up with Big Wheels a track with a sharp rattling beat, excellent lyrics and a fast paced delivery. Unfortunately the song is pretty short and after it's one prominent verse it kind of flames out in the last quarter of the track. This is followed by Joyride which isn't a Killers cover despite my excitement for the prospect, the song is actually a pretty deep instrumental but not one that is particularly catchy or enjoyable. The songwriting isn't really as sharp as I'd like and Kevin's various vocals effects serve as the nail in the coffin for my enjoyment of the track as they seem to do more harm than good. Georgia is the best track of this initial crop, it's a pretty sharp ballad with some well done vocal effects and great personal lyrics from Kevin that sets a tone for an improvement in the album going forward.

The next drop of music came in the form of the albums next three tunes, which are an improvement on the first, but still aren't perfect. Corpus Christi has a lot of personal lyrics that serve as fan fare for long time and personal Brockhampton fans but the song itself isn't quite there. While the verse is good when it transitions into sung vocals it loses quite a lot of its charm and fizzles out for most of the second half. Baby Boy is a song that deserves a review in itself, and is a name to remember because I guarantee it'll land on my Songs Of The Year list later this year. What a brilliant tune with catchy refrains one after another on the back of some amazing performances from Kevin and Ryan Beatty. Mix in a fantastic instrumental and you have a brilliant ballad that blends together everything that Kevin has learned so far into one of the best tracks of the entire Brockhampton run so far.  Mississippi ends this section off with another auto crooned ballad but this time there is a better tune at its core. The songwriting is sharp and even though I'm not thrilled by the vocal effects they aren't distracting and the song actually executes some solid closing moments unlike some of the other tracks here.

So that leaves us with five tracks of new material at the tail end of the album and frankly it is the best run of songs here. It opens up with Use Me one of the most shining moments for producers Romil Hemnani of Brockhampton and Jack Antanoff of Bleachers and Fun. Kevin is much colder than in most of his other appearances here but his ruthless delivery and sharp bars fit perfectly into the production tricks to make a very solid track. Peach was the big single from this section and it features Brockhampton staples Joba and bearface, as well as up and coming emo rap voice Dominic Fike. Dominic is slick as hell on the hook and it's one of the best on the entire album, even though the song is meant to highlight two very solid verses from Kevin the best performances it has to offer come from its singers.

Next up is American Problem a track split up into two segments with an absolutely awful transition between the two, In the era of beat switch-ups why Kevin includes the mumbled rambling between the two halves of this song is beyond me, but besides the moment the track is solid. The first song is a more grounded and blissful moment paired with the second half which contains a fiery beat and killer flow to create a damn good final product. Crumble and Boyer are both good tunes that do the same things well that the entire album so far has. They have great instrumentals and Boyer in particular is an absolute banger that re-contextualizes Big Wheels as a good introduction track. 

In closing Arizona Baby overcame a rough start to ultimately become that album I was hoping it would be all along. A personal moment for Kevin as well as an emotionally packed musical expression the Kevin side of this album is purely his own. But on another side of the coin Romil and Jack Antanoff bring a variety of sounds to this album that provide Kevin the palette he needed to express all kinds of songwriting desires. Even though it is a little rough in the first half looking back on Arizona Baby there is a lot more good than bad here and I'm excited to see what Kevin and Brockhampton do next. 7/10

Best Track: Baby Boy

For more hip hop check out my review of Anderson .Paak's Ventura here.