FWRYEYE puts the full weight of his intellect on display with his latest EP, “7 (Chill).”
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Release Date: March 26
Label: Gravity Music
Music Producer: FWRYEYE
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From the album’s very title, FWRYEYE puts the full weight of his intellect on display. “7,” pronounced “chill” in Korean, serves multiple purposes as the face of the album. Obviously the number of tracks, it also represents this as FWRYEYE’s seventh album. Once we begin to dig into the album, we also note there are seven very distinct styles on display. Seven different sides of the artist. Seven opportunities for him to (re)introduce himself to the public.
From the moment the album starts, there’s something a bit different from other releases this year. At this time in Korean hip-hop’s evolution it’s easy to perceive the genre as having become a bit stagnant. There are a few versions of the genre now: faux-trap, jazz-hop, or hip-pop, with a few variations therein. Very rarely will you hear artists who make heavy use of or give large nods to the old-school in their history with the West-borne genre. However, that’s exactly what FWRYEYE does with “Brand.” He wears his influences openly. It’s a characteristic of his music that’s shown in vivid color and form with his seventh offering.
I hear a lot of Primary’s influence in the production. It seems this is an album of themes, each track representing a certain facet of FWRYEYE’s personality. “Speakeasy” is what you get when you stroll into a club late at night, around one in the morning when the mood is just settling into the crowd. The atmosphere just feels … good. “Easy” is right. The mellow contentment of a late summer night, warm weather, but nothing heavy. The song certainly speaks to an easier time, serves as commentary on an era where music was made just for the sake of making you feel good, getting that head nod in your system, a groove in your body that won’t quit until you let it loose in your limbs.
Following the more easygoing atmosphere of the album’s opening, “7” takes a bit of a hard left. In the next few tracks FWRYEYE goes to work, showcasing the voracity of his delivery. “Doneatdone” is decidedly more aggressive than the songs that precede it. The beat pulsates with urgency. Combined with the buzzing whine of synth, the composition almost forces the MC to drive forward with the same energy. He does it with zeal, matching pace with production. However, the next couple songs take his skill to another stratosphere.
Suffice it to say “Fairplay” is one of the EP’s standout tracks. It oozes personality, class, unquestionable skill. FWRYEYE’s flow is meticulous. Not a syllable is misplaced. It’s easy to get lost in the production work. But the magic lays unequivocally with FWRYEYE’s skill. Honestly and truthfully, he’s got a level of control in his flow that speaks to someone who isn’t just in the business of hip-hop for the sake of making a minor splash or shaking a few tables.
He seems to live with the genre in his soul, studies and practices it. Insofar as his knowledge of Korea’s legends, it’s a given that he’s done his research. That much is obvious from his delivery. But the way his cadence dances around a beat speaks of a love of the craft, of hours spent hunched over a notebook in his room. Surrounded by cheap speakers or his ears wrapped in headphones, leaning in to catch the nuance of each artist. Poring over vinyl, tapes, and CDs. The added bit of sass as he takes a hard sip of something from a cup, as if to say, “Next, please,” makes “Fairplay” just that more ferocious.
Just as commendable as his ability to integrate so much of hip-hop’s origins in his delivery, FWRYEYE isn’t deaf to the trends currently making waves in his country (or rap as a whole). Even in this way, the “trap” cadences and whoops indicative of your standard “turn up,” the clank and clatter of the beat, the metallic warp, the very deliberate robotic imitation (compliments of my archnemesis, autotune), the production of “Manofmoods” adds a very nuanced slant to a subgenre that’s starting to become not only stagnant but relatively forgettable, a caricature of its Atlanta origins.
Barrelling right along, “Misunderstood” takes the moodier aspects of hip-hop, more along the lines of Lords of the Underground or (perhaps less fatalistically) Mobb Deep. There’s something a bit more sinister at the song’s edges, a darker production that allows FWRYEYE to pull more of his emotional delivery from within. His delivery is almost manic, as if he’s desperate to force his listener to understand him–thus the title. It’s very fitting that it acts as the EP’s penultimate track. In the same moment he feels misunderstood, he finally makes his way to explicitly expressing his desires for those who’ve taken a moment to listen to him.
Thus the album’s closer, “Want.” Here we get glimmers of Chance the Rapper. Heavy use of piano and an almost nondescript beat, meant to highlight both the lyrics and their lyricist. But there are notable shades of the same effervescence of the Chicago rapper, a brightness that even in his darkest tunes manages to seep through. Another facet of FWRYEYE’s personality. More peeks at who he is as an artist and just how wide his range is.
Conclusion
From note one the album employs the classic “boom bap” indicative of traditional hip-hop. From the obvious influence of Tiger JK/Drunken Tiger (“Brand”) to the brightness of more spiritually influenced fare (“Want”), “7” is a veritable encyclopedia of hip-hop’s evolution in South Korea. It’s something completely unexpected in this current wave of disjointed “trap” imitators and mumble rap. Even more unique is the fact that FWRYEYE opts to forgo any features. It’s definitely rare for an artist (particularly in contemporary hip-hop) to release an album on his own merits without the backing of better known artists. What makes this enterprise even more impressive is that every single aspect of this album represents the man himself.
From production to composition, and obviously lyrical content, FWRYEYE flexes the fullness of his musical muscle and has created an album that’s equal parts traditional and experimental. The combination brings the genre back to what it was meant to be: pure expression, built from the ground up to act as the voice of the artist.
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Edited by Lena