CD rewind: Un-rapped?
Kalin and Myles is a hip-hop/pop duo consisting of two rappers from the San Francisco Bay area, Kalin White and Myles Parrish. I would, however, use the term “rappers” lightly, for their extended play (EP) album Dedication does not truly meet the criteria of rap and neither does it have much artistic merit.
Overall, Dedication sounds rather cheap and utilizes a sound that appeals to the lowest common denominator. The songs in the EP just feel generic. It tries nothing new and the songs merely replicate an already cliché sound in a poor attempt to be catchy. I find it ironic as these attempts only serve to make the sound irritable as opposed to something memorable. If one were fond of this kind of party rap/pop sound, then sure, I guess Dedication would be somewhat appealing to listen to, but I felt as though I’ve heard this EP a hundred times already. I delved into it without any prior knowledge of the group, and I could already tell why I hadn’t heard of them before.
Track one is a song called “Trampoline.” I should’ve known this would be a song about twerking. Even worse, the song doesn’t even do it tastefully. It’s just a generic twerking song; no attempts were made to deviate from any norms regarding this subject. Trampoline made me want to bounce as far away as possible from this agitating tune.
Track two is called “I Don’t Really Care.” It’s an upbeat song but sadly it succumbs to the same maladies that plague the previous track: it’s the same as every other pop song that spreads a message of disregarding the opinions of others. The highs and lows of the song feel rehashed. I couldn’t care less about this song.
Track three is the title song. The only way I could describe it is that it sounds as if they tried ripping off of Justin Bieber and mixing it with contemporary club music. It’s that bad.
Track four, the final song, is “You’re the Only One I Need.” As I expected, it was garbage. The lyrics depicted “love-at-first-sight” in such a facile and trivial way. The beat to this song seemed as if it tried to mimic a Latin sound, but such an imitation only makes the song even more irritating.
Worst of all: where’s the AESTHETIC? An important factor in the quality of a piece of music is the aesthetic it sports. I looked at the cover and beheld a smug duo looking towards the viewer, the space in between them being pierced by a mysterious sun glare. By then I was already skeptical. Is this rock? Is this some sort of hip-hop album? What IS it, TECHNO?! One cannot really judge a book by its cover, but upon reading this review one could tell that I ended up judging quite heavily.
This EP is just cheesy, generic, and low-brow. I cannot stress how generic it is. I give it 1/5 stars simply because the album bears that primitive groove of party-oriented pop music, but none of the substance.
