I shouldn’t need to reintroduce Jaden to you guys because I’ve covered the guy twice in the last year: the actor, rapper, son of Will Smith, and Twitter philosopher is back with a new mixtape. I previously covered his full-length debut “SYRE” around this time last year and…yeah, I hated it. I don’t even feel the energy to laugh at the jokes I made about it before, like when I said not to come in contact with it, tell store managers to take potential physical copies off of shelves, and talk to your doctor if the album has negative effects on your mental health because those jokes are still funny, but the fact that Jaden is back with more music is not. Hell, earlier this year, I even covered his “SYRE: THE ELECTRIC ALBUM” EP, and even if it went for something different and rather interesting, Jaden washed, rinsed, and repeated the sound on every track, and it was just dull and monotonous.
It should be obvious, but I’m not a Jaden fan. Maybe occasionally as a feature, but as a lead artist, I don’t really care much for his music. The only reason I’ve continued to cover him is because I’m hoping and begging for some kind of improvement out of the kid. Plus, he’s had a few surprise features lately on BROCKHAMPTON’s “iridescence” and Logic’s “YSIV,” and both records, “NEW ORLEANS” and “ICONIC,” the songs on the respective albums that he appears in, are among my favorites tracks from each of them. Naturally, I would hope that if he was getting better as a feature, he’d get a bit better as a lead artist. Apparently, given that a lot of people are giving this scathing reviews early on, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case, hence my negativity going into it, but hey, let’s see what we get out of it:
SOHO: What apparently is a track that sees Jaden spilling out his feelings about his girlfriend, Odessa Adlon (or, ex-girlfriend, I believe, given some of the lyrics here), this song feels a little bit to me like Jaden jumping on the typical trend of modern-day rap. Heavy autotune, the somewhat fast-paced 808 drums, and the really moody, ethereal instrumentals make this feel like a lot of what others have done before. Oddly, though, I kinda like what it’s doing. Yes, it sounds rather standard, but it actually has a pretty fun vibe, being equally emotional and woozy, and actually being a pretty good, relaxing listen. So yeah, I actually do like this. Believe me when I tell you, though, that each of Jaden’s last two projects started decently but quickly fell off hard, so that doesn’t mean I’m excited to hear the rest of this.
A Calabasas Freestyle: And we’re back, everybody. As it says on the tin, Jaden spits about his lavish lifestyle, and apparently the pretentiousness of people that live in Calabasas. Fascinating for his fans, I’m sure, but you know it’s bad when one of your bars is “rap is just one of my fetishes, like a dragon that’s pregnant.” Pardon my French but what the fuck? That might be my first time using the word “fuck” outside of quotes, but seriously, what in the world? It’s even worse when the Genius.com annotation for that bar at the time of this writing is “Bruh tf, Jaden stay on some weird shit / He a furry cuh” (though I actually can’t stop laughing at that annotation, I hope it never changes). And yeah, the production is murky, Jaden sounds really uninterested here and lacks any emotional edge or charisma in his voice, and on this one, he’s in his typical zone: spitting cheese bar after cheese bar without anything interesting to say. As I said, Jaden is known for having projects start strong and then fall off quickly, and it looks like we’re at that again. Yayyyyyy…
Play This On A Mountain At Sunset: If only there was a mountain nearby that I could go play this on at sunset, maybe I’d get something different out of it. Alas, I instead play it in my bedroom and hear Jaden rap about his heartbreak. I know it’s tough but Jaden, protip, when I hear the bars “Carve those letters in my leg, tryna feel your pain, girl,” I really hope you aren’t carving her name in your leg because uhh…just don’t. Bad idea. And honestly, while I like the moody, piano-driven instrumental on this one, I’m really not fond of how Jaden’s flow just feels so off from the instrumentals. It’s not even like it sounds interestingly fractured or anything, it just feels like he’s not properly staying in time or riding the instrumentals all that well, and even if the autotune filters actually make his vocals sound kinda pretty, nice vocals mean nothing if they mix poorly with a song. Not the worst thing the mixtape has to offer, but at nearly six minutes, it’s just not compelling enough.
Plastic: What seems to be something more ambient and anxious, Jaden raps with the help of autotune and distortion about wealth and luxury, inaccurately stating that every time he raps, it goes Platinum (though his closest certification was “Icon” which earned merely a Gold plaque). And again, I hear this song and think of it just sounding like too many trap-rap songs we hear today: when it started, I almost thought he was doing a Desiigner impression, which you should never say you’re doing. Still, I can see why people would like this because it is pretty energetic and Jaden’s vocals do get a bit cutthroat at points. It’s not something I really want to come back to, but it’s definitely not a bad track.
Distant: Another song about love and wanting a girl, it’s got an emotional feel, though I don’t really know if Jaden crying over a girl while saying that he imagines having sex with her a hundred times really mix well together. What’s worse is that the song is over six minutes in length, and obviously, you need to hit hard if you’re making a song of that length. Jaden unfortunately doesn’t come through here, either, making a track that just feels like another version of “Play This On A Mountain At Sunset.” It’s similarly moody (without the pianos), and Jaden croons a bit throughout this one. His vocals are again rather uninteresting, even as he tries to filter himself and sound different, and the moody, slow-paced feel of it just feels really boring. It’s almost a chore getting through the song, given its length, and it’s really not all that good. At least the rest of this tape is mostly shorter songs.
Better Things: Another track about Odessa, there are moments here where I get mixed signals out of Jaden. He mentions her moving on to better things, which honestly seems like it upsets him, but he also mentions that she didn’t answer his text because she was working and didn’t have time to check it. Umm…is he supposed to be chastising her for that? Because that sounds like a valid reason to not answer back. Either way, this is another generic trap-rap-sounding song that just seems like everything out there. Hell, I hear this and I start to wonder if Jaden is trying to make a Migos song which, if he is, he needs to stop because no one should be trying to make a song like Migos, since they have at least 30 songs that all sound the same. We don’t need rip-offs of Migos of all groups. Ugh, this one’s just ugly, next?
Yeah Yeah: Right, just what I wanted out of Jaden: a dancehall song. Sure, it’s nice that he’s talking about a relationship that’s going well here, but…Drake, what have you done? Ugh, regardless of what Drake did, I liked some of the production on this one, it’s relatively bright and moody, and Jaden’s vocals sound smooth enough here. I know it might sound a bit silly to hear Jaden do something dancehall-driven, but I’ll be honest, I kinda like it. It’s got a very relaxed, danceable vibe to it, and it’s a pretty chill but intoxicating track that I can actually see myself coming back to in the future. Does it save the tape? Probably not, but I can honestly say I do think it’s nice enough.
SYRE in Abbey Road: What apparently alludes to Jaden’s adventure potentially recording music in Abbey Road Studios in London, there’s not much to this one lyrically. Given its length, it almost feels like an interlude and, given the lyrics, it almost feels like an extension of the last track. Unfortunately, I don’t like it. You might think it would be good given that it just builds on the catchy hook of the last track, but Jaden’s filtered vocals are just way too overbearing, and in some ways, it actually kills the catchiness that the last one created. Sure, the lack of an instrumental might seem cool, but it just hurts my ears to listen to it.
Ten Ten: I can’t tell if Jaden is turning up here, or if he’s talking about a girl switching up on him. Are the two supposed to relate in some way? I don’t get it. And unfortunately, Jaden just does what he’s been doing throughout most of this mixtape: jumping on the typical trends of trap-rap with similar, generic, 808-driven beats, heavily autotuned vocals, and really generic flows. Actually, most of the song just sees Jaden straight mumbling, and it kinda makes me wonder how people can really say that Jaden is an interesting artist when it almost feels like he’s not even saying words. Yes, I know mumble rap has gotten bigger these days, but it seems like mumble rap has changed meanings lately: mumble rappers aren’t just rappers that don’t annunciate their words, it’s just rappers who don’t actually consider wordplay or lyrics as heavily. Mumble rap is rap without substance, essentially. In Jaden’s case, though, he is literally slurring his words to the point where they are near-indecipherable, and it’s just hideous.
FALLEN Part 2: The sequel to the song “Fallen” from Jaden’s first album “SYRE,” this one is Jaden’s apology to Odessa for “fucking up their relationship.” Admittedly, the lyrics do mostly seem genuinely sad here, and I admittedly kinda feel a few of the things he says. Well, at least the words that I understand because, again, the guy is literally mumbling several parts of the song. Jaden, open your mouth, please! And while you’re at it, find a more interesting instrumental, because this song is produced in a way that’s just so sleepy and dull. If not for the rather smooth sound on his vocals, this track would be completely unredeemable, and even then, with the fact that he’s slurring even more words, even that’s a debatable redeeming factor. This song is five minutes, and again, it’s just a slog. I just want this to be over.
Rollin Around: Okay, the finisher also seems to be about Odessa, and honestly, now some of the bars feel repetitive and…kinda stalker-ish (he talks about how he’s parked outside of her house, but honestly, wouldn’t it be better to give her space instead of constantly going to see her? Just saying). Either way, the instrumentals are a bit bouncier than usual with some rather cool production, but again, Jaden’s vocals, though smooth thanks to the autotune, just sound really boring and monotone, lacking any real charisma or emotional edge to keep them interesting. He just sounds flat and unenthusiastic, and even with the slightly bouncier instrumentals, this song just lacks anything sticky enough to hook you in. Really weak finish to the mixtape.
Okay, did you really think I’d say this mixtape was good? Come on, really? I mean, in his defense, there were TWO WHOLE SONGS from this tape that I actually liked, which is actually a new record for Jaden, but for the most part, this thing doesn’t take any massive steps forward. Instead, it actually feels like he’s taking some steps backward by making a project that sounds like everything else the new-school trap rappers are making. I’ve heard a number of Jaden’s defenders tell me that he’s a distinct, interesting, and different artist than most of what we hear today. Well…the only thing that makes him different to me is that he sounds more bored than most of the other guys. Beyond the production, Jaden’s often monotone delivery is just dull and repetitive, and he doesn’t have a lot of great instrumentals to back him up.
To be honest, I don’t know where Jaden’s gonna go from here. I know I’m a bit late to review this, but I’ve seen too many harsh critiques of this tape, even from reviewers and reactors that typically enjoy Jaden’s stuff. I know he still has to drop his new album “ERYS” sometime soon, since he’s been hinting at that for so long, but at this point, given how underwhelming this mixtape has been for his fans (and how lackluster it seems to be for non-fans like myself), I’m sure it’s not unlikely that this will put a dent in some of the excitement that could’ve been building for “ERYS.” For me? I mean, this is three “Awful” reviews for him in a row, he’s lucky I’m not a “three strikes and you’re out” kind of reviewer because I’d just roundabout ignore “ERYS” after this mess. As it is…yeah, I’m sure I’ll listen to that when it comes out, but after seeing Jaden fail on the album, EP, and now mixtape front, I’m not holding my breath on that album being anything special.
Oh, and to all the fans of his that end up not liking this tape…I hope that we’re on the same page now.
Favorite tracks: SOHO, Yeah Yeah
Least favorite tracks: A Calabasas Freestyle, Distant, Better Things, SYRE in Abbey Road, Ten Ten, FALLEN Part 2, Rollin Around
Rating: Awful
Yeah Yeah: Right, just what I wanted out of Jaden: a dancehall song. Sure, it’s nice that he’s talking about a relationship that’s going well here, but…Drake, what have you done? Ugh, regardless of what Drake did, I liked some of the production on this one, it’s relatively bright and moody, and Jaden’s vocals sound smooth enough here. I know it might sound a bit silly to hear Jaden do something dancehall-driven, but I’ll be honest, I kinda like it. It’s got a very relaxed, danceable vibe to it, and it’s a pretty chill but intoxicating track that I can actually see myself coming back to in the future. Does it save the tape? Probably not, but I can honestly say I do think it’s nice enough.
SYRE in Abbey Road: What apparently alludes to Jaden’s adventure potentially recording music in Abbey Road Studios in London, there’s not much to this one lyrically. Given its length, it almost feels like an interlude and, given the lyrics, it almost feels like an extension of the last track. Unfortunately, I don’t like it. You might think it would be good given that it just builds on the catchy hook of the last track, but Jaden’s filtered vocals are just way too overbearing, and in some ways, it actually kills the catchiness that the last one created. Sure, the lack of an instrumental might seem cool, but it just hurts my ears to listen to it.
Ten Ten: I can’t tell if Jaden is turning up here, or if he’s talking about a girl switching up on him. Are the two supposed to relate in some way? I don’t get it. And unfortunately, Jaden just does what he’s been doing throughout most of this mixtape: jumping on the typical trends of trap-rap with similar, generic, 808-driven beats, heavily autotuned vocals, and really generic flows. Actually, most of the song just sees Jaden straight mumbling, and it kinda makes me wonder how people can really say that Jaden is an interesting artist when it almost feels like he’s not even saying words. Yes, I know mumble rap has gotten bigger these days, but it seems like mumble rap has changed meanings lately: mumble rappers aren’t just rappers that don’t annunciate their words, it’s just rappers who don’t actually consider wordplay or lyrics as heavily. Mumble rap is rap without substance, essentially. In Jaden’s case, though, he is literally slurring his words to the point where they are near-indecipherable, and it’s just hideous.
FALLEN Part 2: The sequel to the song “Fallen” from Jaden’s first album “SYRE,” this one is Jaden’s apology to Odessa for “fucking up their relationship.” Admittedly, the lyrics do mostly seem genuinely sad here, and I admittedly kinda feel a few of the things he says. Well, at least the words that I understand because, again, the guy is literally mumbling several parts of the song. Jaden, open your mouth, please! And while you’re at it, find a more interesting instrumental, because this song is produced in a way that’s just so sleepy and dull. If not for the rather smooth sound on his vocals, this track would be completely unredeemable, and even then, with the fact that he’s slurring even more words, even that’s a debatable redeeming factor. This song is five minutes, and again, it’s just a slog. I just want this to be over.
Rollin Around: Okay, the finisher also seems to be about Odessa, and honestly, now some of the bars feel repetitive and…kinda stalker-ish (he talks about how he’s parked outside of her house, but honestly, wouldn’t it be better to give her space instead of constantly going to see her? Just saying). Either way, the instrumentals are a bit bouncier than usual with some rather cool production, but again, Jaden’s vocals, though smooth thanks to the autotune, just sound really boring and monotone, lacking any real charisma or emotional edge to keep them interesting. He just sounds flat and unenthusiastic, and even with the slightly bouncier instrumentals, this song just lacks anything sticky enough to hook you in. Really weak finish to the mixtape.
Okay, did you really think I’d say this mixtape was good? Come on, really? I mean, in his defense, there were TWO WHOLE SONGS from this tape that I actually liked, which is actually a new record for Jaden, but for the most part, this thing doesn’t take any massive steps forward. Instead, it actually feels like he’s taking some steps backward by making a project that sounds like everything else the new-school trap rappers are making. I’ve heard a number of Jaden’s defenders tell me that he’s a distinct, interesting, and different artist than most of what we hear today. Well…the only thing that makes him different to me is that he sounds more bored than most of the other guys. Beyond the production, Jaden’s often monotone delivery is just dull and repetitive, and he doesn’t have a lot of great instrumentals to back him up.
To be honest, I don’t know where Jaden’s gonna go from here. I know I’m a bit late to review this, but I’ve seen too many harsh critiques of this tape, even from reviewers and reactors that typically enjoy Jaden’s stuff. I know he still has to drop his new album “ERYS” sometime soon, since he’s been hinting at that for so long, but at this point, given how underwhelming this mixtape has been for his fans (and how lackluster it seems to be for non-fans like myself), I’m sure it’s not unlikely that this will put a dent in some of the excitement that could’ve been building for “ERYS.” For me? I mean, this is three “Awful” reviews for him in a row, he’s lucky I’m not a “three strikes and you’re out” kind of reviewer because I’d just roundabout ignore “ERYS” after this mess. As it is…yeah, I’m sure I’ll listen to that when it comes out, but after seeing Jaden fail on the album, EP, and now mixtape front, I’m not holding my breath on that album being anything special.
Oh, and to all the fans of his that end up not liking this tape…I hope that we’re on the same page now.
Favorite tracks: SOHO, Yeah Yeah
Least favorite tracks: A Calabasas Freestyle, Distant, Better Things, SYRE in Abbey Road, Ten Ten, FALLEN Part 2, Rollin Around
Rating: Awful
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