![]() ![]() It’s oldhead Memphis roots wrapped up in a shiny, cloudrap package, delivered to the newest generation of hiphop listeners.Īfter taking the hiphop underground to a new level as part of Three 6 Mafia over the course of the 90s and early 2000s, Juicy J continued sowing his irreplaceable presence into the following music cycle with an influential hold over the author-proclaimed golden age of radio, producing and featuring on hits by airwave superstars like Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, A$AP Rocky, Miley Cyrus, Fall Out Boy and more, and in doing so touching the ears (and hearts!) of a whole new wave of listeners. Marking the beginning of Juicy J and Pi'erre Bourne’s collaborative relationship, Space Age Pimpin sees two eras of hip-hop history crashing together, with Pi'erre’s syrupy vocalizations and minimalist flows gliding against the clicking hi hats and triplet-heavy rap cadence of Juicy J’s dirty south origins. He may have proved his rapping is worthy of attention, but to get there, he had to hold back his singular vision as a producer.Strap into the backseat of Pi'erre’s gold rocket car, soundcloud teens – shotgun rider, the Juice Manne, is here to pimp outer space. The twinkling keys and woozy synths of “Ex Factor” tell a better love-drunk story than the lyrics do. The fluttering layers of “Hop in the Bed” push his croons to the background, but the mood doesn’t suffer. The saccharine melody on “System” is overpowering, but his opening lyrics about nostalgically scrolling through an ex’s Instagram are strong enough to stand on their own. Pi’erre’s hook on “Kingdom Hall” is so bad it’s good: “She pop up at my place, Jehovah’s Witness,” he coos, his voice drenched in waves of reverb, resembling K-Ci and JoJo’s “Crazy.” On “Kevin Heart,” romantic troubles lead to some of his catchiest and most heart-wrenching riffing.īut Pi’erre has proven he can do so much more on the production side, an ambition that he just doesn’t demonstrate as often here. There might be more vocal high points than production ones on Good Movie. When the production is dry and there are too many lulls, the album struggles to sustain the energy, especially since the beats bleed into one another, as if the whole project were a single, never-ending song. The flattened drum’n’bass rhythm on “DJ in the Car” is only saved by his lovelorn Auto-Tune croons going full Zapp and Roger on “Computer Love” at the song’s end. “Shorty Diary” is begging for some glitchiness the dance cut “What You Gotta Do” is too elementary. The jam-packed beats of the deluxe edition of TLOP4 too often buried his raps, but that organized chaos is missing here. Brash and busy yet sweet production is his thing. ![]() What is a Pi’erre Bourne album with tempered production? It’s like a Spike Lee movie that’s only mildly angry, or a Kevin Durant game where he passes on pull ups. ![]() Meanwhile, the beats are solid: They are soothing, sweet, and build slowly to their climaxes, even if they are too clean at times. Over a downtempo, spaced-out groove on “Love Drills,” the writing is simple but effective: “All the love we had, now we need our space.” Unlike the vast majority of post- Future melodic heartbreak rap ballads, there’s hardly any straightforward wails here-you know, complaints along the lines of, “Oh, I’m in so much pain” or “Fuck my ex.” Refreshingly, Pi’erre’s melancholy is a bit more subtle and muddled. Instead, he lilts about the slow deterioration of his connection with a past fling. “Where You Going” is a formal breakup song, but there’s no melodrama. It’s music that is less interested in big arguments between partners, and more in the moments that come before and after them. Throughout the album, he bounces between wistfulness and bitterness, reflecting on minute details and fond memories of a relationship, like when his girlfriend got her hair and nails done. But on Good Movie, there’s a point when he outdoes himself some lines are astonishingly inane. Before this record, his lyrics felt strung-together and goofy. This is a breakup album, or maybe an album about wanting to fall in love after a breakup. But he makes up for that deficit by giving the project a strong narrative pulse. It’s not that Pi’erre is masterfully technical all of a sudden there’s no flow that will blow you away, and if you single out a punchline or two, you’ll probably burst out laughing. ![]()
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