As Puerto Rico’s independent music scene continues to go deep into the field of trap, more musicians are trying to blend the genre with elements of emo and lyrical rap while approaching it with a bit of a punk rock attitude. Blackwill’s debut project, Greyborn, does exactly this while being an introspective album that provides a look into the rapper’s inner demons while sharing a few potential bangers. (cover art for the project) Greyborn kicks off with the title track, a slow-paced dark and atmospheric tune that serves as the album’s thesis. Afterwards, Blackwill delivers two songs,”Cycles” and “(I’m Not Dead) I Swear,” which have the potential to become mosh pit starters if performed live. Then we are provided with “Don’t Call My Phone,” a collaboration with Lucid Haze which has the potential to be a banger. However, it is with “18” that we truly receive a banger that will have people dancing, head banging and/or creating mosh pits in live shows. Finally, the album’s first half closes with “Unreal,” an introspective boom bap influenced song which shows Blackwill rapping about his inner demons. (picture of the artist as found on his Facebook) The second half of Greyborn starts with “Blind (Interlude),” a great transition from the previous tune which shows an interesting use of dark vocals mixed with static and a ukulele providing a bit of a surreal experience. Then we are provided with “Roses Smell Like Violence,” a lo-fi acapella that feels like a freestyle rap which serves as a nice transition to the following tune, the emo rap influenced “Used to It.” Afterwards, we are provided with the trap influenced “Elephant,” a song that is possibly influenced by the Gus Van Sant film of the same name. Then the album delivers the very danceable banger “4k-Virus,” which transitions to the closer ”I Wanna Be Immortal.” This final track shows a bit more of Blackwill’s experimentation as he starts with a punk influenced and bass heavy beat that changes to a more boom bap sound which fuses lyrical rapping with a few melodies. (Blackwill performing as found on Facebook) Blackwill’s Greyborn is a project that shows the artist’s ability to explore a variety of sounds, from punk fueled trap to emo rap and even lyrical boom bap rap. However, the short running time leaves one to question if the ideas could have been fleshed out a bit more. Nevertheless, the album is a display of the musician’s potential for the future.
Listen to Greyborn on Spotify All of the pictures in this article were found on his Facebook
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AuthorFernando E. E. Correa González is the author behind over 30 self-published poetry books. He has been published by literary magazines & journals [Id]entidad, El Vicio del Tintero, Sábanas Magazine, Smaeralit, The Occulum, Tonguas and Hound Magazine. Other than writing, Correa is also the host of FENCast, a podcast dedicated to documenting the Puerto Rican independent art scene. Aside from this, he experiments with filmmaking, photography, drawing, painting, multimedia and transmedia. He currently lives in his native Puerto Rico. Archives
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