What seemed like improvement on his last release Bready, seems to have been nothing but a false alarm. On his newest EP, which may be four tracks but manages to clock in under four minutes, features some of the most unbearable material of the year. Structureless & more rant-like than a RXK release, we see a complete regression in his style.
Bready, an album that preceded this, seemed like slight improvement. Stepping in the right direction, we saw this hyper-aggressive style of plugg that he falls into yet with a slightly cleaner feel. Most of his previous releases fell in line with this current one, seemingly unmixed & lacking any form of interesting topics. Yet Bready showed direction, aggression over clearer production that let him shine his unfiltered lyrics.
With Smoke Carter 1.5, we’re right back to square one. Its only disappointing to see because not only was the style getting better, but his notoriety is also picking up. He’s gotten a few collaborations, but most notably with RX Papi where both their styles meshed on this absurdist approach to music. Sure, Smoke Carter 1.5 is over-the-top & absurd, but it feels without purpose. You could same with the RXK camp is too, but there’s a clear topic with them. Conspiracy theories, unthinkable connections in rhymes to pop culture, repetitive rhyme schemes to the point of comedy. There is none of that with Smokingskul.
There is potential for him to rise, but these more nonsensical releases provide nothing for his catalog. If counting correctly, this is his thirtieth EP, but thirtieth EP of what? Being barked at for about an hour? Without the vision of a dedicated producer to truly hone his sound down, its hard to imagine it blossom into something greater.