ARTIST: STONE
SOUNDCLOUD
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SToNE is a bit of an enigma. His most recent release, simply titled Miscellaneous, is actually anything but. Each track melds into the next, creating a trippy, distorted and slightly disconcerting listening experience. At a mere twenty minutes, the project appears more longer and more fleshed out, as each song features a smorgasbord of weird vocal effects and straight up bizarre lyrical themes: ‘Won’t you take a feather and enjoy the fair weather’. The memphis influence dominates, and the production (primarily by NEPHEW but also DJFRMTX) is as impressively hazy as you’d expect. Thanks to the quality of the beats, each track feels like an atmospheric monster and SToNE’s abilities as a rapper (best expressed on highlight ‘IN N OUT’) are absolutely undeniable. Even on songs where the vocal effects take absolute precedence, namely the expansive soundscape of ‘PinK BERRY CoaT’, his discreet, quietly deranged delivery still shines through. Overall though, the best song on the tape has to be ‘SATIN’ SILK’, which features NEPHEW’s most luscious production offering and a hypnotic hook.
His most recent song ‘Freaky Deek’ follows a similar path, attacking the subtle beat with the enthusiasm of an OJ The Juiceman adlib. However, the song focuses more heavily on the rapper’s natural vocal inflections, giving him an advantage over others who rely more heavily on vocal manipulation to succeed. Overall, I’m very glad SToNE reached out to me because his music is incredibly fascinating, and makes me wish this sort of music received more exposure because as far as Memphis-worship goes this is some of the best I’ve ever heard.
Listen to last year’s Miscellaneous right here.
108 MICS 