ICYTWAT’s style is one of the most recognizable out. Its typically clean & reverbed drenched, but clearly drawing influences from 00s style production like The Neptunes. His beats equally feel new & old, giving this feel of a lost memory. Even though he’s mostly an underground act, he’s driven the attention of legendary rappers such as André 3000. On his newest release however, it feels as if he throws all of that out the window.
His production here feels a lot rawer, aiming for a grittier sound. The dreamlike soundscape he once brought now sounds like a nightmare, 808s sound twisted & distorted to death. It feels like a mistake, but considering how the entire album sounds like this, its clearly not. His older production felt slower as well, taking time to build their sonic landscapes. Here they’re fleeting, gone within minutes lost within a muddy mix.
A change of pace for this release is his rapping. Most solo projects from ICYTWAT are usually absent of vocals, with the occasional work with other rappers such as his time as Divine Council. While rappers like $ilkmoney are genuine wordsmiths, crafting witty hard-hitting bars, ICYTWAT is not. Its a style that emulates others, most notably older Lucki or Carti, but with a flow that’s completely off & choppy compared to his peers. Considering the lengths of tracks here, its obvious he had nothing to say.
Moments of his older style crop up but are off-put by poor rapping skills. “Fumble” despite its completely destroyed mixing, comes close but is distracted by his bootleg Lucki raps. Other times his new style comes across as interesting even with the new mixing techniques, such as “Money Mantra” that utilize the Roblox sound effect & growling synths, but again he sounds horribly lazy on the track. These could easily be fixed by having a competent rapper, but instead he took up the job.
Overall its a twisted direction for ICYTWAT, possibly alienating his fanbase. Few people have interest in his talents as a rapper, and his new production techniques draw away from his perfected stylings. This new style could work well with different rappers, as proven by the BabySantana & Yvngxchris remix of “Off Tha Leash,” yet he’s determined to put out these average raps. Hopefully he finds his own voice at some point, because as it stands it is not working.