Queens emcee, Gumship creator, and star of ISATV’s Kawaii For Men Rekstizzy has released his long awaited You Can’t Be Serious.
I was genuinely excited for this project starting back when the lead single and title track dropped in 2014. It featured a sound profile and flow that was left field compared to his previous work Whatever You Say which was loud and tongue in cheek at parts while “You Can’t Serious” was more mellowed out.
The lyrical content that can be found in the single and is spread across the whole record feels almost therapeutic. It’s most definitely intentional with tracks like “PSA” attempting to tear away at the stigma of receiving treatment for mental health issues. Additionally, practically every track on this record makes an effort to give off a vibe of positivity. You Can’t Be Serious feels like perscription Xanax with a therapy session. The choice in lyrics is also relatively unique for Hip Hop as mental issues are never really discussed in clinical terms. If a rapper is found talking about depression it’s more often than not just a synonym for sadness. Couple with this clever and good hearted choice in content is a strong variety in song structure with Rek going from boisterous tracks like “Broly”, to “Faded” which is entirely autotuned singing. While I do like the latter track and find it enjoyable, I would’ve liked to turn down the autotune ever so slightly to let the quirks in Rek’s voice more noticeable.
As a whole, this record is really solid. Rek gets his message across tangibly, and doesn’t shy away from comedic bars which are sprinkled throughout the tracks, making his messages more digestible. I’m curious how he intends to follow this up.
You can purchase Rek’s record on Itunes
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