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.
“4×4” -Travis Scott ★★★★☆
Travis Scott finally released the highly anticipated song that he has been teasing for months this week after performing it during halftime at the college football national championship. The song starts with a sample he pulled from a highly talented school band. These trumpets have attracted many fans from the very first time he teased this song. The chorus was the biggest attention grabber of the whole song due to the great beat drop. When I first listened to it, it reminded me a lot of a song that would be played during a sporting event similar to the songs “Hot” by Young Thug or “All of the Lights” by Kanye West. I like how it brings that same kind of stadium atmosphere energy as those other two songs I mentioned. Although the beat and sample are amazing, I do have to say the lyrics are kind of bland and basic. He’s not really singing about anything significant. The song is also not that very long, clocking in at two minutes and 20 seconds. I would recommend this song to people who are big fans of Scott and who enjoy the kind of music you would maybe listen to to get hyped up for something big.
“GBP” -Central Cee Ft. 21 Savage ★★★★☆
In this song Central Cee collaborates with 21 Savage, which is a very interesting combination of artists. Although 21 Savage is from the UK, he still is considered an American rapper and would be put into that column of artists. Cee, on the other hand, is the top dog of UK rap. Some of Cee’s biggest hits come from when he collaborates with an American artist due to the unique flow that comes with switching from American hip hop to UK rap. That is exactly how this song went. The beat was very solid, and when I listened to this song it kind of reminded me of the sample from the song “Power” by Kanye West but with more flow and heavier bass. My favorite part of the song was when the singing switched from Cee to 21 Savage for the chorus. It was like flipping a switch from the UK to the USA. The lyrics were pretty solid in this song as well. One thing that stood out to me was when it switched from Cee to 21 Savage, Savage’s first line is “the price go up if it’s USD.” I liked that because ,as I was saying, it flips the switch to a different flow which scratched my mind the right way. I would recommend this song to someone who enjoys both of these rapper’s cultures and flows since it is all put together as one.
“DJ’s Chord Organ” -Mac Miller Ft. SZA ★★★★☆
“DJ Chord Organ” from Mac Miller’s latest posthumous album shows a beautiful production of sound and beautiful vocals from SZA. I thought this song was super creative due to the production aspect. The song is called “DJ’s Chord Organ,” which is actually the instrument being used as the base of the beat. Before the song starts, the person playing the instrument names each note used in the beat and plays just that one note for a few seconds before putting it all together. I thought this was unique and something I hadn’t seen before. SZA’s vocals were amazing, as usual. She never fails to show off her talent when singing, and there are not many people out there as good as her. I definitely enjoyed this song, but there were two things I noticed that I wasn’t as much of a fan of. First of all, it takes a long time for SZA to start singing, though I would say it’s worth the wait. Second of al,l this album is by Miller but he doesn’t even come in until the very end, let alone say any words. He just kinda sings a bunch of adlibs at the end of the song. I just thought it was kind of odd since this is his album. I would recommend this song to someone who likes SZA for sure and who also enjoys the very creative aspect of music that Miller has always displayed.