“DICKHEAD!” appears to be London based trap rapper Lancey Foux’s new favourite adlib, as he yells it on 7 out of the 11 tracks presented. Aside from his newfound proclivity for this word, Lancey manages to string together a solid track listing - for a b-sides mixtape - in FIRST DEGREE. With the hunger and desire of Kendrick Lamar to kill the competition (perhaps even literally), we see Lancey at his most energetic here, rapping over excellent and sometimes horrifying trap beats.
Coming hot off of his exceptional 2019 project FRIEND OR FOUX, Lancey continues to prove just why I listen to him in the first place. On “MURDRR TALK,” we hear an aggressive delivery of what’s been on Lancey’s mind over a house of horrors type beat. Although it took me a while to come around to this track, I understand that it’s integral to understanding his struggle to make it as an artist that so often gets compared to the likes of Young Thug or Playboi Carti. The strange, whiny vocal intonations presented in “DONT TALK” somehow make the track all the more appealing. The track also serves as a somewhat cynical anthem akin to A$AP Mob’s “Please Shut Up,” dedicated to those incapable of speaking the truth. This song also has some of the more slick bars presented on the project, like “Empty the sink, mouth running like water, I’m breaking the tap, don’t talk.” The following cut “WHAT U WANT” unfortunately stagnates both instrumentally and vocally, even with the appearance from Skepta (although I did enjoy his reference back to the 2016 track “Put That On My Set,” which he featured on for A$AP Mob). Not offering much new or interesting, it acts as filler on a project that isn’t exactly long to begin with. “DONT! - TRUST ME” takes a better turn, including some of Lancey’s better flows on the tape both in the chorus and verse. Next, “BASED!” acts as a sort of midway point for the record, splitting the front half of heavy, dark trap beats from the back half of more soulful and vulnerable takes. The track itself is decent, with references made both to Lil B and to Lancey being based (true to himself, not liable to copy the style of others). “CONTROLLING ME” was the first track I truly loved on the project; coming off almost as a cry for help, Lancey speaks on how his accidental rise to fame has been marked with the loss of his friends as well as his loss of control over his life in general. Turning to drugs in order to medicate and cope with these losses, Lancey feels as though he needs something to help him see clearly in order to escape a depraved cycle. This is followed up with an incredibly confident cut, “BIPOLAR BAG,” where Lancey takes an out of the box approach to his bipolar disorder over one of the better beats throughout the project. Similar to Kanye’s “I’m a superhero” take on his own bipolar disorder, Lancey raps “I’m in my bipolar bag,” meaning he’s feeling himself even through his condition. We can perhaps even see some of his instability seeping into the music when we hear how many friends he’s cut off that, in his eyes, have tried to cross him. Reminding me of some of the sticky, out of pocket bars on Paris Texas’s BOY ANONYMOUS, Lancey also states here “I’m about to delete every song I have, I don’t give a f**k,” which is just about the last thing that I expected to hear from any musician. Even more of Lancey’s bipolar disorder becomes apparent on “SEX MONEY MUDER & EXTORTION,” where he talks about his inability to speak to a therapist and his paranoia. We also see his habits of drug use resulting from paranoia, and how the cycle of becoming more paranoid from drugs takes a toll on him. Although the succeeding track “CLARITY” does meddle a bit in terms of execution, I can absolutely appreciate that Lancey tries something new here by speaking on some of the injustices he sees in the world. The track still does come off as trying to be too many things at once, however, even attempting to speak on things that seem out of place in this project. Lancey saves the best for last with “HONEST,” where he opens up about the experiences that shaped who he is today. Many of the bars here hit their mark dead on, sticking with the listener after only a few listens. This is done over my favorite instrumental on the project as well, with a brilliant drum pattern and running synth melody. Though this project is far from perfect, it works well for what it is: a mixtape including tracks cut from the finished product. Many songs here provide great insight into Lancey’s character and would work well for introductory songs to the artist. I’m beyond excited to see where Lancey Foux takes his next album, LIFE IN HELL, after hearing FIRST DEGREE - that is, if he doesn’t delete every song he has before then. My favorite tracks here are “HONEST,” “BIPOLAR BAG,” and “CONTROLLING ME.”
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AuthorEnrique Cardenas III Archives
November 2021
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