Review: "SOLO": The Ballad of Solo Star Album by Solo Star
A sense of hope guides Solo Star’s uplifting, debut album “SOLO”: The Ballad Of Solo Star”. His lyrics have a poignancy to them, recited with such a personal, powerful message, and the tracks have a tremendous power with the arrangements going for a nimbleness.
With a contemporary quality to the beats, the Trenton, NJ based rapper incorporates elements of hip-hop, pop, easy-listening music, and even jazz. Eclectic to its core, the many pieces neatly fit together. By allowing the stories plenty of room to roam, Solo Star explores a whole universe one that has its own tenderness, and the characters within the pointed stories are given so much depth.
The realistic, highly thoughtful lyricism does justice to Kendrick Lamar’s output. Like Lamar, Solo Star ensures that the pieces possess an honesty to him. Elements of the low-slung funk/jazz inflections further lend credence to Lamar’s influence, in particular his earlier work. J. Cole proves to be an important reference point, for the flow has a similar intimacy behind it. Finally, the production has a crystal clarity to it, as the hit of the snare alongside the flourishing blooms of strings draw from Kanye West’s toiled-over productions.
Opening things up on a high note, “The Ballad” begins things off with an uncanny swagger. On “Highdrate” the mixture of pop and folk gives the song a bit of beauty about it, and Solo Star’s voice has a richness to it. Bossa Nova inflections skitter about on the playful “Star Power”, by far the highlight of the album. The usage of neon-hued beats further adds to the song’s appeal.
A rather lovely melody emerges on the confessional approach of “Nights On Fire”. Raw with a great degree of edge comes through with “Rugged (Interlude)”. Bass rumbles through with a physicality on “American God”. Hard-edged “T.A.T.O.” has a muscularity and fragility to it, never neatly settling into either. Full of a celebratory spirit, the carefree “Neon Nights” has a party attitude to it. Minimalism defines the rather low-key introspection of “The Glow”.
Solo Star’s “SOLO”: The Ballad Of Solo Star” revels in its uncanny ability to explore an entire lifetime. It is an incredibly great introduction to an emcee that we expect will continue to release DOPE music for years to come.