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Young Hearts At Party Album Cover[/caption]I’m writing this review with a hole in my roof. Now, just meditate on that for a minute…
I’m to the point in my life--- sometimes I just don’t wanna care anymore, ya dig? Hole in the roof? No money to fix it? Eff it then; let that mf drip until you get the money. It’s so simple until you try to think about it. And this, my friends, is the mentality of Young Hearts at Party, the free release by FYM artist F.Durty. When I tell you I needed to hear these eight tracks of feel-good…
Speaking of “feel good”, AUG stand up: first John Bussie, now F.Durty. Raising some good crop right now, making me proud…
Since the album is only eight tracks, I’ve got time to get into each one for once. First, a little backstory: I got this project from my cousin Andre Ellis, and he told me, “Don’t worry, it’s good”, because he knows my standards are high. So you know me: if you tell me “Don’t worry”, I’m gon’ worry. I hit the play button. A nice little loop comes in that kinda reminds me of California Games for the NES (ya’ll don’t know about that one, forget I even brought it up). I start hearing this dude singing:
Two dubs got me outta my mind…/
Dance girl dance, outta yo mind…/
The higher we go, sangin out the window…/
Dance girl dance, outta yo mind…/
Already, I’m ready to skip on to the next track. Dude sounds like a funky, soulful robot tryna harmonize, which isn’t bad, but you know the critic in me--- I’m looking for that “Great Beyond”. Frankly, my cousin never told me if F.Durty was supposed to be a singer or a rapper, so I didn’t know even what to listen for. But I keep listening. And the something happens: F. Durty goes from sounding like a harmonizing robot to sounding like… my favorite rapper? Yeah, THAT guy. Except… normal. Because that guy isn’t known for being normal; he’s known for being an OutKast. F.Durty spits:
And this is just a cool ass introduc--- tion/
Some might sway with the way that the beat play/
But I’m still cool with the drums… young-/
-er me was on the saxophone back in the day/
And that’s when it finally hit me. It was like his voice came through the speaker saying, “Earl Grey… chill the hell out man. This ain’t that type of project…” I thought about the name of the album, Young Hearts At Party. I looked at the title of the first track, Cool Intro. The point of this album… is to chill, have a good time, be young, and party. If you look for anything else, you’re gonna blow the high. Gotchu, my dude…
Now, believe it or not, I’m not crazy about B.o.B. I mean, he’s dope, but I gotta be out and about to really listen to him. Engaged in an event of some kind or surrounded by a group of people. When I heard F.Durty’s Crazy Blind, I thought to myself, “…This is the B.o.B. I could sit down and listen to at home. …The B.o.B. I could ride or chill to.” And this is far from me saying F.Durty sounds like B.o.B.; B.o.B. doesn’t even sound like B.o.B. in some ways, if you feel me. These are two offspring coming off the same bloodline, but growing in very different directions.
Kudos to the production on this track; if you listen closely there’s all kinda traffic going on in the background of this beat, from a classic Hip Hop “yeah” sample to synths, horns, and a steady thump-thump of a kick. But what makes it special is that the beat is overall still very chill. I could absolutely do everything to this song between sipping Earl Grey tea while reflecting on failed romances and hibernating on the brink of death for 12 hours. Lyrically, F. Durty goes back to that same theme of relaxing and “lettin’ it ride”:
And we ain’t gotta talk about nothin/
If somethin’s on your mind/
We could both act like it’s nothin/
Baby that’s just fine/
Take a little time, take a little time/
Put a little lipstick on for me/
Think about some ways to put it onto me/
And love me crazy, love me blind/
…Who does that nowadays, right? Ignores the underlying problems in a relationship to just concentrate on making love? Ya know what’s funny though? Sometimes that’s what love is all about. Because we’ll never be perfect; love is supposed to transcend imperfections.
I’m blowing the high, my fault. “Don’t overthink it; just let it ride.” Gotchu, my dude…
New 2 The City makes it clear that this album is meant for mood setting. It’s got crazy atmosphere from the jump; kudos to Dre Hall for the production. From the Spanish guitar, to the “Ah-ah-ahh’s” voiced in the background of the hook, to the non-so-annoying bass that thickens the track. …Oh yeah, ya’ll didn’t know bass could get annoying, did ya? But not here, this is pretty cool.
F. Durty definitely shows his versatility on this next track, Easy. In all truth--- and I’m speaking as an 80’s baby who grew up on 90’s MTV--- this song is every bit of a buzz ballad. I’m not lying: swap the trap drum kit for a rock drum kit and swap some of that piano for some acoustic and electric guitars and put a White guy on it (stop being sensitive, you know what I’m tryna say) and you’ve got yourself a sho nuff buzz ballad. If you’re familiar with the group Matchbox 20, the vibe of this track might even put you in mind of Push.
I like this track because of the philosophy it puts forth. It’s a very common-folk type song. Peep:
…This morning I woked up choked up thinkin I’m dreamin (ugh)/
…Somebody keep knockin on the door whold up I’m peeing (yeah)/
…Feelin all alone cuz nobody sees the world this way (damn)/
…Where my pick at; a nigga finna start his day/
So much focus on the blunt that I’m rollin; shaddup… cuz I’m the one that’s rollin it/
Everybody got two cents, two cents about cha life, like they the one controlling it/
But I say fuck ‘em, cuz they just mad, they just mad they don’t love it this way (damn)/
…Where my pick at; a nigga finna start his day/
I could absolutely see myself at my grandma’s house in the morning before school watching the video to this song on MTV (I had to go to her house to watch cable back then). Anyway, the further the song unrolls, you start to hear this “yodeling” in the back of the song, which I thought was very cool for the genre. I’m sure it’s not the first time it’s been utilized in Hip Hop, but perhaps it’s the first time it’s been used and it actually fit. It was a very comfortable blend overall, I enjoyed it.
http://youtu.be/gKNHhEh0S-c
The first video release from Young Hearts at Party, Different Roomz, is another one of those songs I would smoke to (if I smoked). *Let’s gon’ get this out the way: F.Durty at 0:23 looks like my favorite rapper; it is what it is.* The beat to this track seems simple, but there’s actually a deceptive amount of transition in progress throughout the track. The overall production is right; ‘right’ as in it makes sense. A quiet, filtered melody structured with some thoughtless knock and sub bass that doesn’t disturb the vibe; enough echoing, reverberating leads and flanged backgrounds to simulate the voices in one’s head as they partake in the “green substance of the Earth”, as I’ve heard it designated. My sister’s a producer with an ear just as picky as mine, and her eyes got t h i s w i d e when she heard the track.
Besides dope production (shout to StarTime and Pandercakes) F. Durty impresses me by taking this slow, almost lethargic track and doing a slow, almost lethargic drive-by-shooting of dope lyricism. Check this out:
On the 30-sumn floor, cars be lookin like some lasers/
Somehow I just broke my heart, when I filled it full of favors/
I was tryna love somebody; was found inside a cater/
On the far side of a party where, everything is later/
We wore shades in the spring, just to match anything/
Paparazzi or the weather might bring; try and stop me/
And a rocket might fling and hit your head of all things/
Dread my head, I’m all king, creating more as I dream…/
Wow… poetry man. Strong storytelling elements here. Very descriptive language that tells you what it is, but leaves you room to picture it for yourself, too. Like reading a good book to which the movie hasn’t yet been made. I was also surprised and a little impressed with the switch-up at the end where the sample kinda speeds up, but then it smartly cuts off, right when its on the verge of disturbing the vibe of the moment.
*Sidenote: I’m like… really curious ‘bout who that chick is in the video. She reminds me of the girl from that episode of Everybody Hates Chris where Chris gets his first kiss. Know the one I’m tambout? The one he got the mumps from. But I can’t tell if it’s her tho; can I get some confirmation somebody? :-\
Love for Vegas… I can’t lie, this song kinda threw me. In a bad way. I’ma tell you right now: if you think about what you’re actually hearing in this song while it’s playing, you’re gonna get pissed and go to the next song. There’s this annoying-ass whining voice in the backdrop of the song; once you hear it, you can’t un-hear it. It’s gonna make you wanna “slit both wrists”, in the words of my homie James. But hear me: I’m not saying this is a bad track. ANNOYING, but not bad. There’s also this strong off-timing that goes on somewhere between the congas, the kick and snare, and the bass drop. If you can keep it together through all that, the song’s kinda intriguing. Especially since F.Durty does more all-out rapping on this track than perhaps any other. When the first line of your verse is, “I wanna wake up in Vegas; I fell in love once too/”, there’s something worth listening to sure to follow.
The next song up on the project, For the Camera, is the smoothest track on the project. …Actually, it’s the smoothest track I’ve heard from anyone in a long time, period. Definitely has the energy of my favorite rapper, mostly in the creative, quirky diction, but also in the delivery. But again, this Young Hearts At Party project isn’t about creating anything overwhelming or alien; the track is a very comfortable listen.
The clouds are moving fast… she was window perfect/
Like the clothing model posed behind the glass/
Now shake it for the camera, ba-by/
I was raised in the south so I like a lil ass/
Take me where the buffalo roam, so we could get it on/
In no-man’s land, you understand me/
The way she staring from the doorway, I can tell she wanna get lost/
Lost in my eyes tonight/
And this hook gets a thumbs up from me as well as the younger sis:
I could smell ya perfume/
I could tell you put it on for me/
Now love can be a mofo/
But sometimes, that’s all that I can be/
I met her in a dream house/
She fell asleep… she fell asleep on me/
Now love can be a mofo/
But many times, that’s all we ever need/
…Okay, look. I know whatcha thinkin. It’s close, but if you’re focusing on the similarities, you’re missing the point of the album. Don’t think about it; feel it. It may sound the same, but it doesn’t feel the same.
…Hell, but either way you gon REplay that chit, right? I ain’ lyin.
The TBTR Outro made me think about when F.Durty posted on FB the other day that he was in the band in school. You definitely get that football season drum sound on this track. Matter of fact, as he talks about young hearts in the backseat of a car gidd’n bizzy, I wonder if the production was deliberately designed to simulate that setting? The sound of being in a high school parking lot with the band in the stadium.
Hmm… Pretty clever, pretty clever. It was also clever that F.Durty didn’t short the outro for lyricism, as he cleverly constructs himself as Superman and his girl as Lois Lane, her super power being in her “flower”, as he puts it. That’s how you complete a project, Sir.
I heard a story once. The story goes that Kid Cudi got waaay-waaay-up-there-high, right. Like, he got so high, he thought he was Andre 3000. …Except he wasn’t, because his lyricism wasn’t as complex, nor was he as deep in outer space . But then he wasn’t himself either, because he was way smoother. And had a darker complexion. And had dreads. And it turned out he wasn’t Kid Cudi at all, but F.Durty, an altogether-different animal. Coming out of Augusta, GA with what we’re known for down here: more soul than a little bit.
I can’t lie to you, this project schooled me. Usually, I’m all about overwhelming lyricism and “crazy dangerous… bust-ya-sh!t-open beats”, as Raekwon once put it. I had to scale back my scrutiny to really appreciate this project. And in no way was this project “dumbed-down”; it was honest. It was real. Any human being who plans to live any extended, healthy period of life has to know how to chill sometimes. With all the Kendrick Lamars and Joey Bada$$es and Honors Englishes coming out of this new school of rappers, here we have one that separates himself by being more of a real person than a rapper. I can respect that. And when you hear this album--- which is FREE, by the way--- you’ll respect that too.
-E.G.S., The Experienced Listener
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