![]() ![]() And don’t forget the brief (late-2000s) starburst that was Tim Vocals.ĭuring that same stretch of time, when hip-hop was looking to expand its emotional authority and range, the genre found myriad ways to import soul music, whether via a sample, or a collaboration with a singer, or sometimes just an off-key warble. Kelly’s “I Wish” (and the “To the Homies That We Lost” remix). The texture (though not the content) of the debut albums from Jodeci and Mary J. Think Nate Dogg’s soothing crooning on Los Angeles gangster rap classics, bold taunts delivered with doo-wop chill. Back before R&B was granted full access to hip-hop’s subject matter, this kind of hybrid was less common, especially in the 1990s, but it was still deeply potent. Thematically, Wave’s music has little to do with contemporary R&B - his inputs are squarely in the hip-hop tradition. (It was executive produced by Kevin Gates, an artist he’s a clear inheritor of.) His instinct for bloodletting was already formed, though, like on “Soldier Life,” with its chilling opening line: “Didn’t ask to be alive, but I’m living.” “Ghetto Gospel,” from last November, was a little rougher around the edges, with songs that felt more harried. “Pray 4 Love” is Wave’s second major label album in five months. The tempos are slow, allowing him to linger over his pain. While Wave works with a wide range of producers, they’ve collectively honed a signature sound that suits Wave perfectly - most songs begin with lush and contemplative piano, a plangent and melancholy guitar, or both. ![]() But unlike Lil Baby or YoungBoy Never Broke Again, rappers with intuitive, pained gifts for melody one microgeneration ahead of him, Wave is a true singer who also can rap, and whose cross-pollination between the two feels completely grounded in R&B principles - an anomaly among his peers. On the wildly impressive “Pray 4 Love,” Wave nails a refreshing blend of pure singing and melodic rapping. Later in the song, he owns up to his flaws - “Remember sitting in my cell blaming the streets/Mama came to see me, said the blame was on me” - and the way his voice flutters each time he sings “blame” is disarmingly sweet, almost heartbreaking. When Wave arrives, he’s wistful, and sad, and wistful about his sadness: “Pops had went to prison, I ’member every letter/I remember bitches playing with my heart ‘cause I would let ‘em,” he raps. The guitar that quickly follows suggests an optimistic read on the blues. The piano at the beginning of “I Remember,” from the new Rod Wave album “Pray 4 Love,” vibrates with a nurturing, balmy tone. ![]()
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