Welcome to “Cut Through the Noise” an entertainment column from the St. Louis Park Echo covering new music releases. Every week, a different Echo staffer takes on the role of writer, reviewing recent single releases from a variety of artists.
“Thought I was Dead”— ASAP FERG ★★★★★
“Thought I was Dead” is an amazing single by ASAP FERG. He is a well known rap artist, particularly for his songs “Plain Jane” or “ Coach Cartier.” The song starts off with a marching band-esque beat, and immediately ASAP starts a freestyle rap that got me really into the song. There iss no build up for the song, just immediate rap, which I loved. It is so fast paced that I couldn’t catch up, but it was really good at the same time. Then, during the middle of the song, the beat switches abruptly. The tempo gets a lot slower and ASAP switches the way he is rapping to a mellower tone. He was dynamic in his rapping by starting off at a very fast pace, then slowing it down, while still making it sound good throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this song, and the versatility made it very unique. I would recommend this song to people who are into the rap genre and enjoy freestyle quick fire rap.
“Fantasy” — JADE ★★☆☆☆
This song gets in your face during the first 10 seconds. There are electric style beats from the get go, which forced me to get used to it immediately, but I quickly loved them. It was very ecstatic. I loved the song until I heard JADE sing, which, to be honest, did not fit the beat of the song—her singing just didn’t flow with the tempo of the song. That ruined the vibe of the song. I just wasn’t a fan of her voice. Her initial vocals fit the beat of the song until the beat dropped. The beat dropped while she was singing, and the whole song changed, which I didn’t like. But, the beat built back up to the level it was at in the beginning, which offset that error. Overall, there was much of this song that I didn’t like because it was completely different from the high-energy snippets.
“Smoke”— Ari Lennox ★★★★★
I really enjoyed listening to this song. I thought that Lennox’s voice was really beautiful and powerful, which drew me more into the song and made me pay attention to the lyrics. “Smoke” has a very orchestrated beat, but also incorporates an electronic beat that mixes in well with the song. Another aspect of this song that I enjoyed was the chorus of this song. It is a whole group of people singing, and it feels very cheerful and gospel-like. There is also great chemistry between the chorus and the artist singing, and the switches from the chorus to the artist flow well. The entire song was just really refreshing and just had a good vibe. I would definitely recommend this song to someone who is into very upbeat, positive music. This song is something people of all ages will enjoy.
