Slowthai, a rapper, has been on a roll in recent years. His 2019 debut album “Nothing Great About Britain” rose to number nine on the UK charts and since then, he has collaborated with notable artists such as Denzel Curry, A$AP Rocky and Vince Staples. He has even provided writing credits and background vocals for acts such as Tyler the Creator and BROCKHAMPTON.
Slowthai, even as a rapper from the UK, has achieved international success with only two studio albums released.
His 2021 release “Tyron,” named after Slowthai’s actual first name, continues Slowthai’s streak of dropping quality music. His sophomore effort features the same gritty sounds that Slowthai has achieved critical and consumer acclaim for. It shows that Slowthai is an artist that can, and has, drop consistently great releases. However, the album also features some questionable content.
At the 2020 New Musical Express awards, Slowthai made sexually suggestive comments towards host Katherine Ryan. The crowd responded negatively to this and he charged them before being held back by security. Ryan downplayed the comments and has stated that the worst part of the incident was feminists attacking her for not outright decrying. Slowthai’s comments and, the incident still showed problematic behavior from Slowthai, in which he hinted to on his track “Cancelled” featuring Skepta, a fellow UK rapper.
The track features an apathetic approach to cancel culture from both Skepta and Slowthai, with Skepta in the song referring to his awards when rhetorically asking how people are going to cancel him. Slowthai in his own verse sarcastically references fans trying to cancel him by saying “Said I won’t come back, I must be cancer, ain’t got much longer, then I made a comeback, kick it like Ong Bak, now I got blood on my jumper.”
Despite Slowthai saying he’s trying to grow and learn as a person following the New Music Express awards incident, it seems like he’s taking a dismissive and apathetic approach to the whole thing, at least in this track.
Although this may be construed that I believe cancel culture is above criticism, or I think that Slowthai should be canceled. I do however think that this apathetic approach to the events in question is a very problematic mindset to have, especially for an artist who claims to be trying to learn and be a better person. From a musical standpoint, this track was released as a single prior to the album and leading up to and following the album’s release, this was the track that everyone was talking about – regardless of quality.
This one track almost derailed what was otherwise a solid release and created a narrative and discussion outside of the album itself, something no artist wants. With all of that being said, the album as a whole is solid and production choices are incredible. A$AP Rocky, James Blake and even Skepta all provide solid verses – even despite Skepta’s questionable lyrics.
Outside of the “Cancelled” track, the album sounds a lot more mature. Tracks like “adhd” and “Nhs” feature a more somber Slowthai, both in vocal inflection and lyrics. This album gives an insight into the mindset of Slowthai. The issue is, especially with the “Cancelled” track, is this a mindset that fans still want to listen to and support?
“Tyron” is a solid, borderline amazing album and it’s a shame that one track has taken the focus off what is otherwise one of the better releases of 2021.
“Tyron” by Slowthai gets an 8/10.
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]