A double helping of NYC grit, ‘Ain’t Bout It’ is yet another impressive effort from two of the city’s hardest-working artists.
2021 has been a year of reinvention for Shies. He’s been working hard on re-releasing his most iconic songs on streaming services, outfitting each with new artwork to reflect the increased level of quality now found in his music and overall brand. Continuing in the vein of a 2020 run that further diversified his already electric sound, he’s focused his energy into this excellent new song, a collaboration with New York legend TrippJones.
Production here comes from Geeohs, whose squelchy plug production seems tailor made for the rapper’s flows. Shies handles the bulk of the vocals here, delivering a typically excellent performance that brims with a barely-contained swagger. His voice is perfectly mixed here, he rides the beat with confidence yet never overpowers it. Tripp’s verse is entirely different in tone, much murkier and slightly muffled-sounding to reflect his raspier tones. There’s little to say about his contribution that hasn’t already been said, he is a monster on the mic and even when he’s hopping on a track with a smaller artist he provides the same grim level of lyricism.
This song was in the works for quite a while, so I’m very glad for it to see the light of day. I expect this to be a major turning point for Shies, it’s easily one of the strongest songs in his catalogue so far.
Listen to the song below.
Follow Shies on Twitter.
– Chris (@108seraph)
108 MICS 