Mississippi rap duo, Rae Sremmurd, who dominated the airwaves last year with their hit ‘Black Beatles’ are back with their latest single, CLOSE. Signed to Ear Drummers Records, the pair have access to the production talents of Mike Will Made It, which they’ve once again utilized here to create a moody, melodic trap beat.
Unfortunately, despite the experience of the group, their producer, and Travis Scott, who handles the opening verse on the track, it’s an underwhelming experience. Travis’s verse is dry and repetitive, and it’s a sleepy opener to a track that already has a lethargic beat. It’s disappointing considering his past performances, notably Trippie Redd’s ‘Dark Knight Dummo’, was was practically crackling with energy. Sonically, the beat is moody and clean, but lacks any intensity, which curates an atmosphere that’s hazy and murky.
Swae Lee’s verse is a little better, but the delicate delivery fails to rectify the underwhelming guest verse, and the incessant ‘C-L-O-S-E’, which punctuates almost every verse and chorus, becomes grating after very few listens. On the other hand, Slim Jxmmi’s verse is crisp and features lyrics, that while very typical of the genre, are interesting, such as ‘I’ma stack up the cake like Obama told me’. Sadly, it’s lost within the mundanity of the track, with the last minute of an already short performance being filled with an awful bridge of ‘ So many, so many drugs/
You only get so many, so many drugs’ over, and over again, before the song closes with another bout of Swae Lee spelling close out.
As a single it’s underwhelming, and Travis Scott desperately needs to rekindle the energy that we know he’s capable of to retain the hype for his upcoming album, Astroworld.
Alex Payne's Portfolio 