Lil Nas X - 7 (Review)
Martin_Canine LIL NAS X7
★★★½☆
Trap, grunge, country: the perfect demo tape
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With Old Town Road, Lil Nas X rose from zero to hero through the unpredictable ways to the internet. Released in December 2017, the barely 2 minute long mix of the country and trap genres and lifestyles, it would take the song four months to be noticed - only to ultimately block the top of the American charts for several months and becoming a number one hit all around the world. A longer (and even better) version including a new verse by Billy Ray Cyrus may have helped a tad bit, but it was already huge before that. The secret to its success may be that it appealed to so many yet sounded so unlike anything else: it had banjos, 808s, a poppy chorus, and a hilariously casual rockstar attitude. Although it sounds very minimalistic, there is something for everyone, which may be the reason Billboard had issues classifying it as country (it is country by the way, but at the same time it's also trap and pop). The tune is just plain awesome, and the world still can't get enough of it. It's one of the big advantages of the internet: anybody can be a star even without any support from a major figure of pop culture. They just need to be discovered (and liked) by a lot of people. The question was whether Lil Nas X's future output would be able to continue the magic.
And yeah, it kinda does. Although Old Town Road, which is featured on the EP in both versions, is still the undeniable highlight, 7 offers more memorable moments than you'd expect. During its mere 18 minutes of length, it provides a surprisingly broad selection of styles the young aspiring artist - who has still yet to figure out where his place in the music landscape is - is capable of. While the Cardi B duet Rodeo may indeed be the Old Town Road sequel most people expected, it's the only other track that comes close to the sound that made him big. The most outstanding new song is the alternative rock banger Bring U Down. When XXXTentacion's Numb was already more of a rock number than anything, Lil Nas X takes it one step further and delivers a full blown 90s post-grunge number, complete with crazy distorted guitars, percussion and apathetically sung vocals. F9mily (You & Me) also dwells into the more rock oriented end of music, but it still has that poppy sound that the other song completely misses. Panini, which was picked as the EP's second single, is a typical modern cloud rap song, which succeeds in showing Lil Nas X's hand for pure trap as well. The similarities with Nirvana's In Bloom are likely authentically coincidental, considering the fact that Lil Nas X is from a generation that grew up with music impacted by Nevermind rather than the album itself. Cobain is still given a writing credit, though. The other trap song on the release, Kick It, could easily be just another autotune chant, but decides to add saxophone to it, giving it a bluesy film noir vibe. The only track left may be the one that bears the biggest significance to the singer: C7osure (You Like) is about Lil Nas X's decision to come out as gay, which of course is a welcome step, encouraging pride in LGBTQIA+ youth by showing them that even this cool guy with the biggest hit of the year is one of them. Unfortunately, the pure pop song is the musically weakest track of the record, due to its slightly off-beat rhythm pattern. It's probably intentional to give it a more organic feel as the rest of the song is very well produced, but ends up a tad bit clumsy.
7 may be the perfect demo tape. It has Lil Nas X give us a good impression of the styles he's capable of in a very short period of time (the songs don't last for all too long either). Whether he sings his music with traditional indie vocals, or mumbles over a hi-hat heavy beat while drenched in autotune, or continues playing a modern day cowboy: Lil Nas X always sells it well. Some may prefer his rock sides, others his hip hop swagger, but no matter which direction he heads to in the future: he'll be able to execute it entertainingly.
Comments
I definitely prefer his rock side. He is a terrible rapper. - I80
I agree with I80 on that. Rodeo and Panini are great songs though - visitor