This was a submission I jumped excitedly out of my seat for. A couple of months ago, Raw Soul released his EP All Roads Lead to Home. I was so excited to cover it, only to find that I’d been beaten to it! Curses! I made up for it by scrambling to reserve his most recent LP, Still High, for myself!

Rap and hip-hop aren’t that present in my listening profile, but Raw Soul’s discography has so much of that groovy oomph that it won me over within the span of a few seconds. I love that I now have the opportunity to get into the meat of his style and dissect what about it so satisfyingly scratches my brain.

I won’t cover every song, unfortunately, as they all share many strengths and I wouldn’t want to excessively repeat myself. Anyhow, let’s get into it!

Run Free

The opening track had me bopping my head from the moment I hit play! The combination of bright, syncopated piano/bass, muffled EQ, and a great rap flow locks you in instantaneously. The trick Raw Soul employs for that effortless hook has to do with how his lines are structured – you’ll notice that he never begins his clauses on strong beats, and occasionally positions the strong syllables of words there instead. For instance, during the line:

Jumping to the front seat once complete.

The entry of “jumping” comes a little after the strong beat of the song’s entry, and “com-”, while the weak syllable of “complete” comes strongly on a beat, while the stronger syllable “-plete” comes on a weak off-beat. Through techniques like these, he creates a flow with drive and dynamicism, pumped with energy without burdensome weight. It’s this kind of dextrous manipulation of meter that engages and interests the ear.

Something else I have to commend Raw Soul for is his rhythmic diversity. For many rap artists, transcribing the rhythm of their raps reveals a tendency to fall back upon the same few. If that’s not noticeable, credit is attributed to their idiomatic grasp on the spoken language, such that the rhythms are dressed up interestingly… but musical credit can’t be granted for those uninteresting rhythms. This song, however, is utterly delightful in its variety. It never gets old, especially when the rhythms get to bounce off the equally groovy instrumentation – there are little joyful sparkles of activity everywhere to tickle your fancy. All in all, feel-good playlist material.

Still High

Where the opening track tells me that Raw Soul is an enjoyable listen, the titular track tells me that he knows his craft. You see, Still High isn’t all that different from the opening track if you break it down – drums, rapper, syncopated accompaniment all remain constant – so why does it feel so different? The answer to that is that numerous complementary mini-musical decisions were made to craft a landscape so cohesive that it’s, on the whole, entirely distinct, even if we recycle the same components.

What do I mean? Well, let’s compare the syncopation of these two tracks. Where Run Free’s syncopation is flighty and light, with twinkles of color splashed here and there, Still High’s syncopation is heavy, forcibly reorienting you with every thud. It’s fitting, then, that we move at a slower pace, so as to fully appreciate the offset weight.

It’s not laborious at all, though, and that’s because the groove engine is the rap: it goes on and on, pulling the same metric tricks as in Run Free, pulling you in and engrossing you equally despite us toning down the brevity.

Still going strong!

In Need (Of Healing)

In Need may seem lowkey compared to our first two tracks, but don’t be fooled – this is the most impressive to me of the first three tunes. Raw Soul lives up to his moniker – he proves with this track that he isn’t reliant on upbeat vibes for his stark attitude and swagger.

The piece’s tonality is thus far the most amorphous – I’m tempted to borrow these chord progressions myself – befitting the introspective nature of the lyrics, complementing the goosebump-inducing backup vocals perfectly. The arrangement has also switched up, evidencing Raw Soul’s ability to curate tone and atmosphere with instruments befitting his intent.

Perseverance

This one has my favorite arrangement. The suave drums, the funky wap-wap guitar, the soulful backup vocals, all the various instruments that fade in and out… I couldn’t help but coo throughout the track. Sometimes, you can do wonders with simplicity, and Perseverance is emblematic of that. All of its strengths never falter in the midst of its runtime, and that’s the true key to staying power: consistency.

To Whom It May Concern

Raw Soul delivers on Soul in every one of his performances, but when it comes to Raw, this finale takes the cake, without question. You feel and identify with the anger throughout the verses, their potency enhanced by the slow, deliberate pacing and tender bowed strings. To Whom It May Concern is the most solemn, and yet most passionate, of the entire album, and it reconciles that flawlessly.

Conclusion

If an artist is able to turn me around on a genre of music I never truly appreciated before, I’m inclined to have faith in all their future endeavours and keep my eye on them. I hope I’ve conveyed my budding excitement for Raw Soul’s future creative arsenal, and that you’ll give his new LP a listen. I’ll be keeping up with him on Instagram and Spotify as well, and I highly recommend that you join me.

And with that, that’s the end of this review! Thank you for making it to the end. If you’d like to join the conversation, all you gotta do is create an account over on iaasmusic.com, and you’ll be ready to chime in!