Following up his tremendous stack of EPs, A2 releases one more to add to the list, ‘Blue’, in the only way he knows how.
Whilst it seems that the UK rap is buzzing and producing the next best thing on a daily basis, Croydon bred A2 has always preferred to keep out of the public eye. Ominous and mysterious in character, his previous EPs have always displayed this, and publicly, a focus on nothing but the music. ‘Blue’ doesn’t fall too far from this. Both a rapper and producer, the Disturbing London signee is able to create a moody, dark atmosphere on this EP thanks to his evident talent in production, which allows for easy listening in its entirety.
Throughout this EP, we hear a number of songs inspired by the rapper’s dabbling in love. 'Mirror' explores A2 reminiscing on memories with a certain lady. But the rapper also chooses to provide the point of view of women in 'Below Zero' where we hear a few female voices speaking on the lies men tell, and how they perceive a woman’s feelings. Exploring the complexities of love and relationships, A2 looks at the good and the bad, the former of which is heard in 'Once Bitten'.
As with many of his projects, A2 reflects his versatility on this record. On some tracks we hear him sing, and on some we hear the rapper peaking with some impressive bars. A standout track, 'Southern Comfort' featuring Atlanta rapper 6lack shows A2 proving himself amongst his counterparts, “I’ve been eating check my plate, I’ve been eating check my weight”. The track along with the likes of 'West Hollywood Truths' shows that A2 has a sound and style which is positively full of ambiguity, and geographically, is translatable anywhere.
An album showing the uniqueness of A2, ‘Blue’ is a strong project from the rapper and with his bag of talents, we can only expect more of the same to be on its way.
7/10
Words: Nikita Rathod
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