Lil Gohan’s thirtieth mixtape is everything it should be – crystalline, emotive, and sonorous.
Lil Gohan doesn’t have time to feel down. His latest mixtape “Ki Blast” is a bundle of mystic energy, celebratory and magical in timbre. When Gohan glides across the reversed ending of “Atlanta”, he’s practically in some other dimension, one where rapid autotune crooning is the making of demigods. For all of the tape he sounds on top of the world – not this world, but one he’s crafted for himself. It’s a busy life to live though, and every second of “Ki Blast” sees Gohan at work. “Jakes” sets the scene, disparaging police and authority with a casual slide, whereas the repetitive and super-short “Watch Me” is a show of endurance assisted by the cleanest square waves possible. There’s no pauses, no breaks from the soul-shaking bass or chiptune leads, just pure pluggnb for twenty minutes. Lil Gohan doesn’t have time to feel down.
“Jakes”, as mentioned, is the establishing shot of “Ki Blast”. The mix is overcrowded with reverb, strings, echoes of Gohan’s scribbled flow. The first ten seconds read as flood gates opening, like tidal waves the energy comes and goes, oscillating like a synthesiser, emitting some kind of intangible electricity. “Keep You Safe” follows, with a little more headroom and a lot more focus on Gohan’s vocals. “You’re mine tonight, you’re mine today” he sings with genre-appropriate suave.
The best song on the record is “Cobras!”. Gohan constricts his voice to a monotone whine for much of the verse, giving structure to the freefloating beat from Srrybouturshoes and Feelingplugg (who between them produce all of “Ki Blast”). When he does deviate from this form he refracts into a chromatic explosion, it’s a joy to feel the colours of Gohan’s harmonisation fly out and reverberate.
“Ki Blast” is enjoyable and uplifting, a suitably fiery offering for the heatwave at hand. A profoundly worthwhile listen for fans of gorgeously shaded trap and pluggnb.
Listen to “Ki Blast” here.
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– Jamie (@youngjade1216)
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