It’s been quite a year for Buffalo’s AP YCM! His album Chrysalis gained him a ton of traction, and topping things off, his acclaimed single “In My Head/Out My Mind” has pushed over 25,000 streams in less than a month. With all of this ever-growing success being topped off by a Benny the Butcher cosign, YCM should feel like he’s on cloud nine, but he’s not stopping here. For the past months, he’s poured countless man-hours into one record he has promised would change his career, and after weeks of anticipation, “Countin Up” is finally here! Facing the most important moment of his artistic journey, can AP YCM live up to the hype?
Opening up the record, there is an atmospheric guitar rhythm that will make you feel like cruising down the freeway on a beautiful summer day. After settling in, the beat drops with an epic drum fill, while AP YCM excretes a hook that focuses on his haters and other toxic forces in his life. Following the exciting intro, the sole verse brings another delightful change in tone as the base cuts out. With minimalistic production, YCM’s powerful voice and cautioning lyricism makes it feel like he’s having a true one to one with listeners. In this section, his pain-filled vocals are used to express his doubts, goals, and aspirations as an artist and a man. While he’s not saying anything crazy, his soothing delivery over the vibrant production makes everything feel surreal. As with all singles from AP, he understands today’s generations short attention span, so proceeding this, the track enters its epic grand finale. With an instrumental bridge and a reprise of the hook, things finish in a memorable way that will make all listening fall in love with its catchiness.
Accompanying the single, AP YCM has released a stunning music video to visualize this experience. In a simple two minutes and 17 seconds, we are thrown inside of a fun, well-edited reel of some of the Buffalo rapper’s best moments so far. From seeing him perform on stage to chilling with his friends, the vibes from both mediums perfectly culminate.
Somehow, “Countin Up” is everything AP YCM intended it to be. The song itself is so immersive, and the emotions it pulls out of you are truly hard to describe. Supporting this, the single’s visuals are just as intuitive, and the amount YCM and his team were able to put into this two-minute montage is a testament to their abilities. Going forward, “Countin Up” seems like it will catch fire in the next few months, so if I were you, I would hop on AP YCM’s bandwagon sooner rather than later!
Rating: 8.6/10
