Malcolm Jamaal Davis who is best known by his stage name as Madein TYO released an album called “Yours Sincerely Tokoyo” and it is not a great album. The problem with this album is that the year has seen some Rap heavy weight release their albums and they have been on fire. When you make a comparison of this album with those albums, one can give a very bad verdict in favor of this album. This album lacks some basic elements of good music. It lack versatility and storytelling which are the basic elements that rap hit songs possess. This album has a few good songs but this album will only be enjoyed by TYO friends and very real fans because of the lack of creativity in his Rap game. He could not even make standard three minutes songs for this album. In an album of fourteen tracks, TYO could only make four songs that are at least three minute long. This album is certified bad because of his laziness. It is an abuse to the Rap music industry because in a year where rap music is dominating the airwaves; someone like TYO comes out with this bunch of bad music due to his lazy Rap Game.
This year has witnessed some of the best story telling in Rap music especially when you listen to Lil Wayne’s album and that of Logic. This album lack real story telling because Madien refused to use the spaces provided in every bar of this album to tell stories. He rather opted to repeating the words and punch lines which in my opinion is bad. Only a song like Savannah Sunset made me purse and listen very well because of the way he digressed from his mumble rap style. The versatility of this album was reduced with only two major topics where discussed. He talked about himself and Love which are great topic but the problem with the songs was his approach; repeating his flows from time to time. On a personal level, this album might never get a play from me again.
THE THEME
This album as stated earlier was made using two major topic sentence. He talks about love into different ways. In the song “Savannah Sunset” he talks about love in terms of regrets. He talks of a girl he lost due to carelessness. In “2 flights” he talks about love by professing his love to a lady. In “lil Bih” he talks his hate for politics and for some reasons Fast and Furious movie if it has no Luda Chris in it. In “Moshi Moshi” he talks to girl bragging about who he is and what he can do.
In the song “Figure it out” he goes after lazy youth who refuses to man up and build a life for themselves. He goes on singing about so many things that are not worth writing about in a music review because they are all mumbled words that make no direct or indirect meaning. He goes on proclaiming himself powerful, rich and successful in some very excessive vain repetition.
THE PRODUCTION
It is sad to Note that Madein TYO wasted these Trap beats with bad punch lines and Lack of story. “On the map”, “Retro 88” “2 flights” and some of the other songs had some very good beats. The strict use of traditional modern trap sounds gives the album a selling edge especially with present day trap music lovers. The use of an acoustic and Slayer guitar in the production of “Retro 88” is really commendable. Acoustic guitars are known for in making Love music such as Soul and RnB beats but being used in a Trap Hiphop beat is unique. The Hard and Nuke kicks used in this album production could bring down a club house when played through crazy speakers. This can serve as a saving grace to this album because this album can be played when people just want to dance to a beat rather than listen to the music. The choice of the Hi-Hats and bells in the production also brought out the best in the trap sound. Nice production of beats, it’s just bad that poetry and message of the songs could not project the hard work of the producers.
POSSIBLE HITS AND FLAWS
The Fact that the album has bad songs does not mean that some songs in it do not have the ability to become hits. “Savannah Sunset” and “On the Map”, “Whats Gwannin” and “Retro 88” all have the potential to become hits. On a general level, all the songs could get any club bumming because of the beats hence there are no real flaws for this album. The truth is if you are a music lover who like music for the stories and what is said in the music then you don’t need to listen to this album.
