Numbah 4,080: LitKaby's Just Because (Japanese Import), Brown's 7:22

LitKaby, Just Because (Japanese Import)

Although LitKaby’s new EP may be titled Just Because (hear it via Soundcloud or after the jump), there’s nothing about this project that suggests it was created or released on a whim. Quite the contrary, actually. Just Because (Japanese Import) is potent, concise and unquestionably one of the more impressive pop records released locally in quite some time.

The five-song EP finds Kaby and longtime producer Nathan Zensen picking up right where they left off on 2013’s Best Hip-Hop Album, H.E.R.E., except this time they’ve brought fellow LitVisions member P.A. Lit. into the fold. Kaby and Zensen displayed an uncanny chemistry with their previous full-length. On Just Because, they’ve only gotten tighter and more mature with their sound. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But the addition of P.A. Lit, whose distinct style perfectly complements Kaby’s, doesn’t at all fuck with the formula. Rather, it builds on the vision, helping to further realize the unique universe that is Just Because.

Just Because is marked by its ethereal and orchestral production. Each song is filled with wistful and soulful melodies that seamlessly combine ingredients from R&B/soul, dance and pop. None of the tracks abide by any conventional structure, creating a soulful electro-pop soundscape that gracefully blends from one song into the next. The EP’s true brilliance, though, is born from how Lit and Kaby operate on these songs. The two seem to have stepped up their songwriting chops and honed their rapping. There’s an endless array of flows on display on Just Because, from the love song “Stealing Your Heart” to the lead single “I Don’t Know.”

At five songs and hovering just around 20 minutes, this is the kind of EP you listen through twice, pretty much every time. It’s the kind of sonic achievement that makes you hope that is is just the first of many releases by the LitVisions Conglomerate in 2014.

Brown, 7:22

Brown is a Nashville MC who was abruptly thrown onto my radar after I got wind of his debut EP, 7:22 (stream below or on Soundcloud), which dropped last week. It’s a highly enjoyable listen and the most memorable local debut I’ve heard since BZRK arrived on the scene with ThirdEye G’s Sacred Geometry.

There are no dull moments on 7:22. Brown raps his heart out throughout: from the opening track “7:22,” which begins with a nearly three-minute barrage of rapping, to the closer “fukit.,” which fades away with some soulful crooning. The 20-year-old rapper’s flow and lyricism are personable, witty and honest. Brown is a college dropout, and throughout his debut he evokes a humor and insight similar to that of another college dropout's debut. (Kanye West on The College Dropout, of course.)

On “The Release,” Brown shares acute observations on a variety of social issues, including organized religion, before finally ending with “I’m always texting God about all of this shit / But hearing back from him is like texting a light-skin bitch.” On “My Hennessy Song,” he laments a lost love, before concluding that, although everybody has problems, “ ... a glass of Hennessy is all you really need to solve ‘em.”

“The Dollar Menu Ballad” epitomizes Brown's everyman approach. The song finds Brown sharing his thoughts on dropping out of school to pursue music, as well as humorously ruing the difficulties of trying to hit on women at his work while serving burritos. It features a sing-along hook that’s the catchiest thing I’ve heard all week.

It’s refreshing to see a young rapper so unassuming and enthusiastic about his craft. Brown wears his influences on his sleeve, citing Southern icons UGK, OutKast and The Geto Boys as personal favorites. He’s also a soulful guy, noted by the Pete Rock & CL Smooth and D’Angelo samples found throughout the EP. 7:22 is an uplifting listen, and points to a promising future for the young Brown, as long as he continues to hone his sound.