Written Before Listen
ZillaKami is an American hip-hop artist known for being a core pioneer of Trap Metal. His music is always affiliated with it as he and SosMula created City Morgue to combine forces for multiple albums and EPs. They haven’t disbanded, but ZillaKami still decided to take matters into his hand and create his debut solo album. With that being said, let’s see what this album has to offer
Production
If you already heard ZillaKami, you know what to expect for most of it. A lot of guitar-oriented trap beats with a lot of metal and punk aesthetics. I always consider ZillaKami’s beat selection is his best aspect. This time around, that is still the case. I love the Nu-Metal influenced beats that open the album up like “Chewing Gum!”, “Chains”, and “Lemon Juice”. ZillaKami also goes out of his comfort by going Grunge with songs like “Not Worth It”, “Hello”. The main reason why ZillaKami is loved still appears.
Genre-Bending
As I already said, ZillaKami is heavily influenced by Metal and Punk. With the nu metal-inspired riffs to the grunginess in the midpoint, there is a lot more. On “Not Worth It” and “Bleach”, we see ZillaKami over a drum break that surely tones down the tensity. It’s to the point where the end of the album goes full grunge mode as he takes influence from 90s Alternative Rock and Grunge. Unfortunately, a lot of the time these points of inspiration are rather cohesive or derivative. I also think ZillaKami is forcing this sound and intentionally trying to make a “Trap Metal” record. What I’m trying to say is that I respect the idea, but it just doesn’t sound complete yet.
Influences
Well, the influences are super clear. Nirvana is an obvious inspiration point for ZillaKami. Like the song “Hello” not only has a super Nirvana-inspired riff but also has an interpolation of their hit song “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. The opening track “Chewing Gum” also has an extremely heavy DMX influence. From the adlibs and the delivery, ZillaKami shows his DMX influence strongly on the opening track. There’s also an aha moment in the very beginning as Corey Taylor from Slipknot opens up the album. A lot of the metal-influenced tracks take a lot from 90s Nu Metal like Slipknot, Korn, and many more. Surely other alternative rock artists come into conversation such as Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers as well but that’s more of a background character. I do think a majority of the time, ZillaKami comes off a little derivative. A lot like his genre-bending, I do like seeing rappers taking these influences in this type of way but he has a long way to go.
Subject Matter
With an album like this, the subject matters are sometimes predicted. Although, there are two types of tracks on this record. The bangers are more one-liner based as ZillaKami has a lot of good ones like “Take that nigga keys, pop that ____ spleen/Stab him in his (Ruff, ruff), now he cannot pee”, “Hit you with the stick like I'm Sidney Crosby” or my favorite one “Spin that ______ block like a Beyblade”. A lot of the problems come in the grungier tracks. Especially “Not Worth It” where ZillaKami paints himself as a guy that is such an outcast that will never get the center of attention. Despite liking “Hello”, there are some cringey lines like “Goldfish dead and my Chase account's in the dust”, or “At least I got my guitar/Even though I need a new string and the cord don't go far”. ZillaKami is painting himself as an outsider goth kid.
Inconsistency
I think ZillaKami is a one-of-a-kind rapper and these new styles prove that even more, but ZillaKami goes towards the point of fake edgy and over personified. He just sounds more natural with the trap metal sound and I hope that he sounds more natural with the grungier sound over time.
Verdict
Well, this was not a bad project. It had strong moments but a lot of what interested me wasn’t super positive. It was interesting to hear a rapper go grunge but I don’t know if it succeeded. I still think ZillaKami’s stylistic biography is still at peak form, but some of the experiments on this album come off a little short.
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