Review: 3 out of 5.
Kbon to review yet another music piece, again from one artist up in North, Lil Simz. Stratosphere 2, no it's not an airline people, but a mix-tape. Who is she, you ask? The Princess of Rap does it all; write, produce, dance and act. She is also well known in playing Spirit Warriors on CBBC; my cousin, 7 now, showed me. In my rampage of finding stuff to review, I came across some clip on YouTube from around Summer time and viewed her at an event on stage. "Hold on, this girl's good", is what racked in my brain. I needed to get in touch with her somehow. The next few days, I check out my little coz watching some next Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Whatsoever, but with kids. Next thing I know, I see a young black woman doing kicks and suddenly I get deja vu. "Wait, ain't that the same artist I saw on YouTube?" It took me a few minutes to recollect, but as the weeks soared, I check she's dropped a mixtape. The rest is history.
Good:
Lil Simz is a decent artist, for all intents and purposes, her mix-tape was enough to get applauds. She did justice to both interpretations of Drake's tracks "Dreams Money Can Buy" of the same name; in more up tempo, semitones plus heavy base and with "Space" inspired by "Marvin's Room". However, I'm not too sure about "Rose" an obvious influence of Eminem. What I found brilliant about the mix-tape is she held out her own throughout the whole set. She didn't bother much about bringing along many artists' on board and I commend out to her that is a very brave thing to do. This shows confidence in her abilities and it allows reverence too. Another thing, which I admired about Lil Simz is her feisty persona and "down to earth" traits and her individuality. She does not try to be anyone else but stay true to who she is. When Simz did get other artists, it actually enhanced the concepts to another stage. An instance of this level-up is "Words I Never Said" feat. Chucks.
This mix-tape had some great tracks and I do relate to what Simz has said. Her punch lines are on point e.g. "They call me an alarm clock, I'mma end your dreams whatever the time" and this one "Turn it up coz you're listenin' to duh mix-tape, whether it be on a train or a whip, who cares? Dem ah act greedy like Hershey's". Those are from the start alone. The soundtracks mostly sound edgy and intense but other times it is more tranquil and mellow. "Rose" did make a point about how you must not always depend on people, even those who are your true fans and telling a story in the character of the fan and as herself but I had a little issue about how this was tackled. No one is perfect, though, so I can't really complain. Simz always manages to pick herself up and come up with something quip and fluid.
Bad:
Stratosphere 2 has some content in it that speaks for itself, but to be honest its not a jaw dropper. At times the music blares out at you which is good for attention but can be a bit much. The lines are catchy but sometimes its quite off. "Adidas Shoes" and "Rose" were the least choices I made. The latter sounds forced and not too convincing, at the same time, I do understand where she is coming from. Nevertheless, the majority of the tape managed to carry its way through. Tracks such as "No Minutes Wasted" make me think otherwise. At least her music is positive, there is more that can be done that could elevate it more. Sometimes less said is more, what I mean in relation to this is I want to be kept guessing and I do not mean subliminal messages. What I'm saying here is to step out the comfort zone and try to go beyond your limits. I just feel Simz is holding back, I'm not sure how. Mixing was fine and the production was okay, but some beats could be spiced up a bit.
Overall:
Stratosphere 2 had some fitting tracks to every young audience, man or woman could enjoy but its shaken a bit with not much expansion on the subjects at hand. Some tracks did better than others and some better melodies on a few beats could be called for. The flow was there, other than that, it is great and "Words I Never Said" is the one track that could rocket into the heavens and proves she can hit stuff way out of orbit. My next review will be Misfits Season 3.
- Written by Kbon.
