88rising is an Asian-based label that has been showcasing a ton of talent from Asians and Asian Americans. There's the Indonesian Rich Brian, who started out as a meme who made "Dat $tick" as a joke. Joji, from Japan, made his claim to fame on YouTube as Filthy Frank and did shock value comedy rap as Pink Guy. He is now making lo-fi hip-hop. The Higher Brothers, hailing from China, got famous doing songs with Ski Mask The Slump God like "Flo Rida." They are basically the Chinese Migos. All three of those artists and many more are featured on the label's first compilation album.
Positives
I've been following some of the artists on 88rising and I absolutely love their music. There is so much talent on this label and there isn't a single artist I dislike. My favorites are Rich Brian because he's a great producer who has used his meme status to make a name for himself and make some seriously great music, and Higher Brothers because they remind me a lot of Migos and I love the way they integrate Chinese and English into their music. They all have great chemistry throughout this album even though they all seem to make different types of music. I also thought that integrating American artists like BlocBoy JB, Famous Dex, and Playboi Carti was a smart move on the label's part. It's a great way to gain more American listeners and their features don't feel forced because much of 88rising's artists make music with American influences. The production throughout this album is phenomenal. Many of the 88rising artists, like Rich Brian and NIKI, produce their own music, and they all do a great job. Other producers, such as CashMoneyAP, Frank Dukes, Southside, and Murda Beatz, all made some great beats as well. I also love the summer vibes throughout this album. It feels a lot like a cohesive project as opposed to a label project which just has a bunch of stuff thrown together to promote certain artists.
Negatives
I don't have too much to complain about when it comes to the music, but the rollout for this album was a little sloppy. This album was 17 tracks long, and I had already heard 7 of them heading into it. There were 5 singles released before this album, 2 of them released the week of the album. The remix to "Japan" by Famous Dex was released as a music video on 88rising's channel and the Playboi Carti track, "Beam," was leaked. I feel like they could have revealed less of the album and released 3 singles starting 3 weeks prior. While I felt like every artist did a good job, I felt like Higher Brothers and Joji were hit or miss. While I love Higher Brothers and I think their rapping in Chinese sounds great, they start to fall apart when they do mostly English or entirely English verses. It's really obvious that English wasn't their first language and it's hard to understand them most of the time. On the other hand, Joji is my least favorite artist on 88rising. His problem is that most of his music is really low-key and boring. His singing is good, but his tracks weren't very enjoyable or worth replaying. I also think that Keith Ape was heavily underutilized. He's one of the best artists on the label and his only contribution was a verse on the Japan remix. BlocBoy JB had more verses than him for fuck's sake.
Features
For this review, I will only include the American artists in this section.
1) Yung Bans (Red Rubies) - I've been warming up to Yung Bans lately and I thought he made a nice contribution to this song. I liked his hook and I thought his verse was decent, although it's nothing special lyrically.
2) Yung Pinch (Red Rubies) - I thought he sounded good, but it would have been better if they toned down on the autotune and vocal effects.
3) Don Krez (Red Rubies) - He didn't do much. He only had four lines at the end of Rich Brian's verse.
4) 03 Greedo (Swimming Pool) - I don't like Greedo's melodic stuff but he sounded tolerable on this track. He was okay.
5) BlocBoy JB (Peach Jam/Let It Go) - On "Peach Jam," he sounded really out of place. I always appreciate when one trick pony artists like BlocBoy try different things, but his singing at the start of the verse was horrible. I know he's not a great rapper, but he blatantly reused a line from "Mamacita" from his album and didn't even try to change it:
"Got her on her knees like she prayin' to Jesus"
The verse got better when he started rapping but he still stuck out like a sore thumb on that track. However, he was much better on "Let It Go." He actually fits the song, his ad-libs were on point, and his hook was great. His verse on that song might be the best rapping he's ever done because there were no stutter effects to be found.
6) Vory (Plans) - I didn't like "Plans" all that much but I thought his part was alright. His melodies sounded listenable and he wasn't bad at all.
7) Playboi Carti (Beam) - I thought "Beam" was a pretty average track, but I didn't hate what Carti did here. Although his verse was a bit repetitive, more repetitive than the hook, his flow still sounded great. I think he sounds like a different artist on beats that weren't produced by Pi'erre Bourne but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
8) Famous Dex (Japan 88) - I don't like that they only kept his hook for the remix. Although it is one of my favorite tracks on this album, I think that including one of his verses would have made it a little better.
9) GoldLink (Nothing Wrong) - I thought he was the best part of that track. He delivered some decent melodies and sounded pretty good overall.
Singles
There were 5 official singles, 2 of them being released the week of the album.
1) Peach Jam (feat. Joji x BlocBoy JB) - This was my least favorite of the singles. The one highlight of the song would be Joji's chorus, but there wasn't anything else in this song that I liked. The verses were very lacking, especially BlocBoy JB's because he sounded out of place. It could be a nice summer vibe but I'm not into this track.
2) Midsummer Madness (feat. Joji x Rich Brian x Higher Brothers x AUGUST 08) - This is one of my favorite songs of 2018 so far (I included it at #46 on my half-year list). Joji's singing is amazing on this track. AUGUST 08, Rich Brian, and DZ of Higher Brothers all did a great job on their verses. This is an underrated song of the summer contender.
3) History (feat. Rich Brian) - This is such a heartfelt song where Brian reminisces about an ex. He remembers bittersweet moments and recognizes that there's a deep history between them. He is struggling to let go of the past. The production samples the menu of a mobile game called Ski Safari. It was an interesting move that paid off because it sounds amazing. I also really liked the music video for this song, which has clips of romantic moments from shows and movies like Up, The Simpsons, The Office, Shrek, Naruto, and countless others.
4) Let It Go (feat. Higher Brothers x BlocBoy JB) - This song is such a banger. The production from Falcons is insane. Every Higher Brothers member kills it and BlocBoy JB's contribution was great.
5) Warpaint (feat. NIKI) - This song sounds like a less corny version of "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten. NIKI's singing sounds great and I love the guitar that backs her up. This is a song about dealing with a bad breakup and moving on by having a warrior mentality.
Best Tracks
1) Red Rubies (feat. Rich Brian x Yung Bans x Yung Pinch x Higher Brothers x Don Krez) - The beat on this song goes insanely hard. I thought Yung Bans' hook was the glue that kept this song together. Rich Brian's verse had some good flow even though he was barely rhyming in it. MaSiWei, my favorite member of Higher Brothers, did his verse entirely in English. I thought it was alright, but it was a little hard to understand. Yung Pinch's verse was pretty good aside from the excessive effects on his voice. I still love this song since the flaws are very easy to overlook. It's a banger, don't overthink it.
2) Disrespectin (feat. AUGUST 08 x Higher Brothers x Rich Brian) - This was my favorite track on this album by far. Falcons' production, especially the bass, was very hard. I also loved AUGUST 08's hook and the verses from Rich Brian and the Higher Brothers were pretty good.
3) I Want In (feat. AUGUST 08 x NIKI) - Both of their voices are amazing and they have great chemistry on this track. This is a beautiful song about secrets and mistrust in relationships. The production is amazing and I love the hook, especially when both NIKI and AUGUST 08 sing it together at the end.
4) Japan 88 (feat. Famous Dex x Keith Ape x Verbal) - "Japan" is Famous Dex's biggest hit and I thought it was a smart move to feature Asian artists on the remix. I don't think this is a better song than the original, but I think it's just as good. Although I wish they kept one of Dex's verses in, I thought Keith Ape and Verbal's verses were nice additions to it.
Worst Track
Plans (feat. NIKI x Vory) - I don't think there were any terrible songs on this album. However, I felt like this song could have been way better. It's way too short at just over 2 minutes. I thought Vory and NIKI delivered some nice melodies, but the hook is a little weak and repetitive. The verses felt very short and undercooked. I feel like this song would be way better if it was fleshed out a little more.
Conclusion
This is the album of the summer. Every member of the 88rising label made some good contributions and there were very few things to complain about.
Score: 8/10
If you are looking for new artists to listen to, I would highly recommend this album. There is so much talent on the 88rising label and I fell like there's something for everyone on here.
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