Jaden Smith wants people to express their love to their crushes with the help of his new album The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story. While the album is a pleasant listen, it doesn’t hold nearly enough emotional weight to provoke deep sentiments. The album’s production is rich and lush, and Smith can hold a melody even if there’s a lot of auto-tune and reverb, but he fails to rap about anything that’s worth remembering. From corny lines and recycled melodies on the intro cut “SOHO,” to watered-down dancehall on “Yeah Yeah,” The album never quite decides in which direction it’s headed. There’s good intention on Smith’s part and the songs are listenable, but the album never amounts to anything greater than his influences.
Trial Track: FALLEN Part 2
Star Bar: “The mic froze over ‘cause he know I’m Frozone / Everything I wear on the air is the wardrobe (whoa)” -Jaden Smith on SOHO
5/10