Atlanta cloud-rapper Thouxanbanfauni splits a short record into bad-and-good halves on October 34th.
Following up the prior Seeing Colors with another 7-song project, Fauni improves upon this previous release, however slight the difference may be. Kicking off the record with “State of Emergency,” we receive a trap beat that stales out within the first few minutes and remains unenjoyable with additional listens. Further, the vocal performance on the track provides no breath of fresh air from a generic flow and even more generic lyrics. Normally, I feel like I wouldn’t pay as much attention to lyrics in a song as I did with this one, but the production that quickly fades into the background leaves me with nowhere else to go. Perhaps this is not necessarily a bad thing - maybe I should thank Fauni for being one of the few artists to help me notice the lyrics more than the production. My thoughts on this track also make their way on to the nearly identical “Destroy Em,” whose play is practically indistinguishable from the previous track aside from a more aggressive delivery in lyrics. Another instrumental misstep is seen on the first half of “Killin Shit/ Saiyan Pride,” which provides no elements of interest save for an unidentifiable singing sample throughout. We get our first enjoyable moment on the record with the latter half “Saiyan Pride,” where Thouxanbanfauni finally tracks down a delivery that indicates he actually enjoys rapping. This marks a turning point for the project, as everything from this moment on isn’t as absolutely forgettable as the first leg. The haunting production, memorable lyrics, and purposeful delivery all align here to form a good song for a change. The following “Solid Pt II” is decent at first, but ultimately melts as it comes across as a replica of many other songs from his discography. The chorus is the best up to this point on the project, however. “On My Mind Valentine” signifies the moment at which the record becomes very good to great. Here, we get a hint of some of Fauni’s music that was soon to come after this record, with the crooning, long-hitting vocal notes delivered. My favorite chorus of the album comes with this track, with the easily remembered “I was thinking ‘bout you all day, yeah, yeah, yeah,” quickly chiseling itself into my mind. Another excellent Fauni track comes with “Diet Plans,” with more of the same great things about it as from the prior track. The most memorable lyrics appear here, with the somewhat self-aware, somewhat misogynistic “She want me under her spell, I want her under my command” topping them all. Another evidence of his evolution toward his future sound, “Best of Me” ends the record on a great note as Thouxanbanfauni goes 3 for 3 on the back end. Though the first half of this review may seem like I hate Fauni, his following two projects were among my favorites of 2020 and propelled him into one of my most listened to artists of all time. I can, however, appreciate this project in terms of his artistic progression toward the sound I came to love him for. Songs to listen to from October 34th are “Diet Plans,” “On My Mind Valentine,” and “Best of Me.”
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AuthorEnrique Cardenas III Archives
November 2021
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