Review: "Little Black Book." Album by Travarius
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Travarius is an RnB artist based out of Florida City, FL who finds inspiration from the likes of Childish Gambino, Andre 3000 and Drake, but has managed to carve out his own smooth sound in the release of his project “Little Black Book.”
“Little Black Book.” is a rumination of past hardships, infidelities and pain suffered through the eyes and soul through Travarius.
“Batphone” features a smooth electro-infused soul melody and a synthy solo that’s straight up ear candy, almost reminding of a Frank Ocean track. The drunken attitude continues to swing into “Page ’95 & ’98” with harder hitting percussion and a show of the artist’s rap chops.
Tracks are easy to digest and catchy without being getting boring.
Travarius combines both rap and RnB in this project but doesn’t interweave them as much as an artist like Drake might. Instead, his rap songs elicit a very different feel from his softer tracks.
However, “U Ain’t Shit” does take on a subtle sing-song Drake-inspired energy and shows us Eastern string influences in the instrumental while hearkening back to an older era of hip-hop beats.
We get to see the yin and yang of Travarius on this album - his vulnerabilities in bedroom tracks like “Beeper 423”, and the harder persona presented on tracks like “Page ’95 and ’98”, forged out of built up walls and resilience.
Travarius’s past works include “April’s Fool” and his 2018 album “FRUSTRATIONS”. The growth between those projects and this one is clearly visible. This time around, the artist brings us more innovative production and less conventional rap tropes, reaching farther within himself for something deeper.