Lil Skies Picks up Where "Life of a Dark Rose" Left off on His New Emotional Album "Shelby"
Atlantic Records rapper Lil Skies has received mixed reviews since he broke on to the scene last year with his mixtape Life of a Dark Rose. While some are turned off by his basic lyrics and standard flow others can’t get enough of his creative auto-tuned melodies and infectious swagger. This week Skies followed up his 2018 mixtape with his debut album Shelby. The album only contained one pre-released single, that being the slow and emotional “Name in the Sand.” Skies rarely calls for back up on Shelby with the only features being from Gucci Mane, Landon Cube, and Gunna. Prior to release Skies took to Twitter to preface the album and let his fans know exactly how emotional of a project this was for him:
The album starts hot with potentially the best track on the album. While “i” has been heavily teased on Skies’s instagram over the past year, it doesn’t take away from the addicting nature of the pulsing hook and swirling instrumental. The chorus on the intro track encompasses Skies at his absolute best: hitting simple yet impactful bars with a certain kind of painful energy that few can achieve as well as him. The third track “Breathe” achieves a similar energy as “i” and Skies raps about his current love interest who means everything to him. Somehow Skies still manages to sound depressed while rapping about who he makes out to be the love of his life.
The fourth track and sequel to Skies’s breakout hit “Nowadays” doesn’t live up to the OG cut but is still listenable. “Flooded” and “Blue Strips” hold the fastest tempos on the album and contain a boastful Skies with a certain confidence that seemed to evade him on the first four tracks. After “Blue Strips” the album slows down and the songs start to become indistinguishable and overly generic. Fans who love his sound and were fans of Life of a Dark Rose shouldn’t have an issue with this as it was the same story on the 2018 tape, but the casual listener probably won’t make it to the end of this tape.
On Shelby Lil Skies gets personal about his depression and other issues. While it’s always great to hear rappers channel deeper emotions, listeners are already very familiar with sad boy Skies and his debut album shows minimal growth from the Pennsylvania MC. On the same note, Lil Skies’s palpable passion is excellent but still cannot fully make up for his lack of diversity in his flows and lyrics. Shelby picks up exactly where Life of a Dark Rose left off, delivering a handful of bangers but still leaving the listener dissatisfied with the project as a whole. Skies will always be worthy of our attention but at this point it seems safe to say that we should know exactly what to expect from the young artist.
Best Songs:
i
Breathe
Blue Strips
Rating: 6
Stream Shelby here:
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