After his Florida Jit album only sold 5,000 copies in its first week, Smokepurpp became the biggest joke in the rap game. Weeks later, an embarrassingly terrible freestyle made him the center of the internets scrutiny, and at that point, it seemed like there was no coming back for the 23-year-old. This week he released a surprise EP titled PSYCHO (Legally Insane). With nearly everyone doubting him, can Smokepurpp silence his haters?
Through all of these six tracks, Smokepurpp hides within his bag of usual tricks. From the intro “Prom Queen” to outro “Tic Tac,” each of these songs serves as nothing beyond your everyday disposable braggadocious anthems. “We Outside” was more memorable than the rest of the fodder due to its more upbeat melody, which can be attributed to both the increased autotune in Purpp’s vocals and the presence that Lil Mosey brings. Unfortunately, getting through the proceeding cuts here feels like a tedious chore to do. “200 Thou” and “Rockstar” are not terrible on their own, but they suffer from lack of creativity and the inability to bring anything interesting to the table. The record’s definite standout is “What You Wanna Do”, which is surprisingly fun due to Purpp’s raw vocals that add much-needed energy to an otherwise lifeless experience. Overall, the Florida native’s performance isn’t unlistenable by any means, but the linear approach Smokepurpp takes to every moment causes the entire extended play to suffer.
Behind the boards, there are some interesting sonic choices, but it’s far from enough to salvage this project. The most notable instrumental is hands down “Prom Queen,” which has garnered a lot of attention this week due to it sampling the iconic Wu-Tang Clan track “Tearz”. It doesn’t change much to this already perfect soundscape but hearing it slightly spruced up with some standard trap drums makes for a fun time. Aside from this, the rest of the tracklist is equipped with the same typical soundscapes that seem to plague every half-baked trap record in the past few years. There are more vibrant upbeat instrumentals such as “We Outside,” but there are also your inherently darker cuts such as “200 Thou”. One thing that became clear to me here is how simple it is to convey these basic moods. The first of the mentioned beats creates its feel off a few guitar plucks and a faced paced triplet drum pattern, while the ladder of the two uses a more dominant presence of percussion to demonize its surrounding assets. As the rest of the instrumentals go, they use these core ideas and slightly alter them, making the overall sonic component as uninspired as its vocals.
Walking away from PSYCHO and my little respect for Smokepurpp has plummeted even more. These six songs do near nothing when it comes to expanding his arsenal, capturing his best features, or just straight out making something worth checking out. I don’t know what it is this year, but it seems like borderline irrelevant rappers like Purpp this week and Rich The Kid last are trying to curate these EP’s as if they will save their careers, but due to the little talent they genuinely possess, it’s only continuing to fail them. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that Smokepurpp’s career is made and if he wants to make another showing like this, he’s best off retiring.
Rating: 2.0/10
Pros:
- Wu-Tang sample is cool
Cons:
- Smokepurpp is so uninspired
- Instrumentals lack creativity
- Every aspect is super stale
- Does absolutely nothing new or innovative
