Album Review: Trippie Redd - !

When your first entrance into the arena changes how all subsequent battles are fought, it can be hard to distinguish your voice from those who’ve adopted your sound. This is the challenge Trippie Redd faces; if he defined 2018, what does he have to say in 2019?

! is the opener, and gives something of an answer. Swaying over a Diplo-assisted banger, cynics have accused him of crowd-pleasing but it's for the rest of us to celebrate. Plus, it’s tough to cavil with the argument that someone who has come to define a sound is pandering to fans of it. Thrillingly, there are moments like Immortal. It’s a track driven by a surprising throwback soul sample with a boom-bap flavoured beat; a pleasing, sharp contrast with Redd’s very contemporary aesthetic. Indeed, our host had not been born when this style was being forged. The Game’s appearance reinforces the “past meets present” theme. Signing Off is aptly named as we gently ease into the ether, onto the next.

What sings from this release, and stands as a rejection of the lazy criticisms made of Redd generally, is that this is not about the future. It is what the present sounds like.