Slowthai's 'Tyron' - 'A Heavnely Devil'.

 

In his sophomore album, TYRON, Slowthai brilliantly brandishes his flow over thumping trap instrumentals while showcasing fervency in anthems of perseverance and his battles against cancel culture.

TYRON begins intriguingly with '45 SMOKE', where over murky trap beats, Slowthai delivers a catchy outro reflecting his tough upbringing. The thumping 'CANCELLED' follows, where Slowthai reunites with Skepta to take shots on cancel culture. The trap instrumental is pleasingly cacophonic, corresponding with a Skepta flow that shoots bullets through brags in the chorus and his verses. How can you cancel him? when he has 'cranium shots ready for those zombies.' Meanwhile, Slowthai would kick them like 'Ong Bak.' Madness then ensues in the revving 'MAZZA'. Slowthai's ad-libs are an earworm, like his hook, while a braggadocious A$AP Rocky is a pleasing touch.

As a rather energetic first half of Tyron ends,  the tracks name become lowercase, anticipating a more stripped back tone. Slowthai becomes raw, especially in the track 'i tried.'  A pleasingly mellow production, almost BROCKHAMPTON flavoured,  is fitting for a strong anthem of perseverance and self-love. Despite taking a tumble down the black hole, stuck in Sunday league, Slowthai maintains self-belief by comparing himself to 'levels with Ronaldo, a legend in the making.' The introduction of Kenny Beats' production in 'focus' is harmonic. The 'mhmmm' vocal and the raw and minimalistic bass corresponds Slowthai continuing his persistent stance by 'making it out the rubble and rose as a diamond did.' 'terms' revisits Slowthai's battle against cancel culture, this time with Kenny Beats' production consisting of pleasingly spacey bass. Dominic Fike delivers a catchy hook as he comes to terms with people getting his words twisted no matter what. However, Denzel Curry's feature is somewhat disappointing due to his limited presence.

In 'push', the guitar is sweetly blossoming, as Slowthai and Deb Never deliver another stunning anthem of perseverance. Deb Never's intro and outro are soothingly uplifting, while a passionate Slowthai encourages his listeners to push when 'push comes to shove.' Following the decent 'nhs' and 'feel away', Slowthai concludes TYRON finely with 'adhd.' The guitar is dreary, the bass becomes bombastic, Slowthai is explosive in the track's final verse. His ADHD has seemingly clouded his mind with suicidal thoughts as if he was 'caught in Charlotte's Web' while mind complexity was the death of him.  Slowthai implies he was close to going through with it through 'Heaven, let me in,'  but fortunately, he 'fails to exit like he ain't got a visa.'

The contrast of TYRON's blood rushing first half and emotional second half showcases Slowthai's excellent range from elegant energy to thoughtful introspection. A diverse array in the production of booming trap beats and stripped back acoustics is the sweet icing of TYRON's rollercoaster ride of emotions.

8/10

Favourite Tracks: push, MAZZA, CANCELLED, focus