The FADER’s “Songs You Want” are the tracks we will’t cease taking part in. Examine again day-after-day for brand new music and observe alongside on our Spotify playlist.
Kenny Mason is a rapper who seems like he idolizes Chino Moreno and Slipknot as a lot as Gucci Mane and André 3000. Earlier than rage rap turned the sound of the second, Kenny Mason adopted within the tracks of rappers like XXXTentacion and Rico Nasty, incorporating metallic sounds into rap songs that may very well be chilling, enjoyable, or heartbreaking. By way of weblog protection, tracks like these are inclined to overshadow Mason’s vary, which covers rattling entice, dusty boom-bap, and extra.
True to kind, Mason’s new mixtape RUFFS doesn’t stick to at least one model. “HALOS” covers an angelic soul pattern with oil-thick bass as Mason recounts the dire circumstances of his upbringing and shifts to deal with his present grind; the Amindi-featuring “RX FOREVER” combines cloud rap with John Frusciante guitar; “DIP!” strips the whole lot again to glowing, pleasant melodies and a sparse beat.
“333 / ATOM,” nonetheless, is the best abstract of RUFFS‘s strengths: The primary half is White Pony-era Deftones produced by Metro Boomin. The second is all large 808s and ambient synth pads, and Mason blanks on each. What unites them is Mason’s celebration of his crew, the “demons” who’re as huge part of Mason’s raps as nouns and verbs. Appropriately, the 2 songs don’t really feel totally distinct, however like siblings, complimenting one another with their respective paces and tones to ship a well-rounded image of the artist’s imaginative and prescient.
