I won't be doing a double review today. Jaden's new EP is basically a bunch of long remixes to some of the songs from SYRE and while Jaden experimenting with his vocals was interesting, I didn't end up getting enough notes for a full review. Okay, now back to the actual review.
Mansion Musick is the 30th (yes, you read that right) full-length solo project from Chief Keef, and the fifth project released in this year alone. I don't know what motivates them to do this but guys like him, Gucci Mane, and Waka Flocka Flame release a bunch of mixtapes and albums every year and they never really sound terrible. I haven't listened to much of Keef's discography outside of Finally Rich (which is a trap classic) and I really needed something to relieve my ears after Wiz Khalifa's bloated mess I reviewed yesterday.
Positives
This project is a tight-knit 11 tracks that run just over a half hour, which was nice to hear after suffering through Rolling Papers 2. As expected, the production is hard as bricks. Most of this project was produced by DP Beats and KE on the Beat. Pi'erre Bourne made the beat for the Playboi Carti-assisted "Uh Uh" and even Sosa himself produced a few tracks. While Chief Keef isn't a lyrical artist, he is certainly quotable. This project has some of the funniest bars of this year.
"I remember back in '94, wait I was born in '95 tho" - The one and only verse of the opening piano ballad "Belieber"
"Uh-Uh / Uh-Uh-Uh-Uh-Uh-Uh-Uh-Uh" - Playboi Carti on "Uh Uh"
"When I'm done counting money / I gotta take a fuck me break" - The hook of "Sky Say"
When he describes different types of dollar bills in the hook of "Get This Money"
"AK go A B C de-de-de-dede-D" - Verse 1 of "Get This Money"
"Shawty say, she on me, got a crush / She ain't even got her ass crush-ed...yet" - The hook of "Yet"
"'member when my teacher told me I wasn't gon be shit / Now I can freak her, freak my teacher" - The opening line of the closing piano ballad "Letter"
Negatives
Chief Keef's melodies throughout this project can be hit or miss. They either sound really nice or really grating and there's no in-between. Sometimes, he even sounds like an alien. Not too many crooners can pull off the alien autotune sound and unfortunately, Sosa isn't one of the few. There were also quite a few moments that I thought were kind of weird. The outro of "Sky Say" consists of these off-putting noises. The transitions in "Hand Made" break up the flow of the track. Also, I wasn't too big on Sosa's production on "Tragedies" because the instrumental outro sounded a bit grating and went on for too long.
Features
1) Playboi Carti (Uh Uh) - He only contributed to the hook of this track. Half of it is the word "uh." His flow and delivery made it sound catchy. I honestly think that Playboi Carti has transcended beyond mumble rap because the more incoherent the lyrics, the better he sounds.
2) Tadoe (Sky Say) - Tadoe is a frequent guest artist on Sosa's projects. His verse was okay. He basically sounded like Chief Keef in a different voice register.
Singles
Part Ways was the only single released prior to Mansion Musick. I thought it was just okay. The instrumental from CBMIX sounded atmospheric and spacey and I thought Sosa's vocals were tolerable. I don't really see myself going back to this track.
Best Tracks
1) Rawlings - This was probably my favorite song on the project. The production from DP Beats is amazing and I love the piano. I thought the spoken word intro from Ballout was a little weird but this song is perfect otherwise. Sosa doesn't normally do drill-rap anymore, but he brings back that style for this track and it sounds amazing.
2) Uh Uh (feat. Playboi Carti) - Pi'erre Bourne continues to kill it on production. It's funny because before Die Lit I didn't think Pi'erre could make any beats that didn't sound like "Magnolia." His sound has improved so much this year. Carti's hook is basically nonsense, but it's catchy nonsense. I loved Keef's fast-paced melodic flows throughout his verse. Since Carti takes a lot of influence from Sosa for his sound, I thought a father-son collab on this project was a nice touch.
3) Get This Money - This was another track where Sosa brought back his drill sound. I mainly love this track because I find it hilarious. Especially when he describes a bunch of dollar bills throughout the hook and that AK singing the ABCs line.
Worst Track
Belieber sounded kind of weird to me. I thought it was an interesting choice to make the opening and closing tracks piano ballads. I enjoyed "Letter" but I couldn't get into this one. This was one of the instances where Sosa's melodies didn't sound good. However, the line about trying to remember something from the year before he was born was pretty funny.
Conclusion
This was a pretty fun listen. I got to hear some hard slappers, some catchy quotables, and some good old Chief Keef.
Score: 7/10
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