After nearly a year of finding some of the hottest young talent, For The Speakers has released their debut album FOR THE SPEAKERS, Vol. 1.
Through 12 tracks that span over the course of 30 minutes, For The Speakers boss Camden curates an experience that shows just how beautiful the art of album making and talent scouting really is.
We are welcomed to this album with the in-your-face “GOLD FINGER,” which is a cut between the scorching hot upcoming duo of Lord Sko and his right-hand producer Arlo Walker. After their work on Lord Sko’s acclaimed album Museum, hearing their efforts here is a definite treat with the lavish production from Walker and the firey cadence Sko is making ripples through the underground with right now.
Speaking of Sko, he cements himself as the star of this album on the track “PHASES.” In this moment, the young MC teams up with the red hot BigBabyGucci as he shows how far he can step out of his comfort zone in this one-of-a-kind trap banger. When it comes to the bangers on this album, one of the most memorable is “NO CEILINGS” with Marco Plus. This cut features another scorching red hot underground artist as he wreaks havoc over a pretty straightforward trap beat. The charisma in Marco’s voice makes him easily stand out from most other artists, and this song did a perfect job at exciting me to check out the rest of his catalog.
The atmospheric texture of “MVP” with Lunaihu has one of the best soundscapes on the record, but the flat vocals and lean-riddled subject matter from Lunaihu left me bored for the most part. Fortunately, this is one of the only low points of the project, and some of the other atmospheric cuts like “CHROME HEARTS” master this same sound with more captivating vocals and more immersive production. With this track also being a posse cut between Heavenspyro, Fazzo222, XXTrez, Deric, and damn drone, its excellent pool of vocal talent creates an experience that is always on its feet.
“WONDER WHAT CHANGED” kept this momentum rolling with xxmylo and cannonthesavage, but where the album’s next true highpoint is comes in the form of “STAR BABY.” Featuring mars3002 and Jmiri, the song takes the same spacey sound we are being put in a trans with and sends us into another dimension with its powerful synths and fast-paced tempo. From here, the album enters the cut “DRACO,” which continues to stay in the same realm of sound we have seen throughout most of the record but showcases a more aggressive and commanding vocal presence from guapocobain and Blaxian. This was undoubtedly one of the better cuts through this run of tracks, but one major critique of the album is that this stretch of songs hurts the flow of this experience. After the record’s opening run, which thrives by showcasing an array of talent and styles, seeing this overload of one sound makes this entire stretch feel stale.
Featuring the super talented Karen, “STUCK IN MY WAYS” is one of the best tracks on the entire album, with her powerful vocal inflections, smooth guitar riffs, and emotional songwriting. The following song “I LOVE MEDICINE,” takes a 360 in terms of style and substance, but young artist Poe Cete knows how to make a memorable presence as this firey anthem is a real standout with his banter-filled flow and the intense trap beat this cut posses. After this firey banger, we get the melodic anthem of “THAT’S OKAY” with Mango and Lunaihu, and this track works a lot better with Mango’s singing, which is complemented by a more lively performance from Lunaihu himself. Closing out this album, “COBRAS” with the mysterious Tom Nautics ends things off on a powerful note. The young artist’s faint vocals and the track’s intoxicating production makes listeners feel like they are going into some other dimension, and this impression lingers with you hours after walking away from For The Speakers Volume 1.
All in all, For The Speakers, Vol. 1 is a record filled with so much passion, creativity, and it’s something the music community has needed to hear. In recent memory, music curation has become looked down upon to the money-hungry, clout-chasing practices of DJ Khaled, so having somebody like Camden of For The Speakers countering out his lazy A-list ensembles gives the future of the industry hope.
While the For The Speakers album does have its flaws, it has so much to love, and even more importantly, it contributes so much to the world of the underground right now. For an outing that encompasses so much talent on the rise, there is nothing better that you can find right now.
Rating: 6.0/10
