Huge Unhappy 1900 raps about neighborhood tensions and on a regular basis escapades with the hindsight of a personality having a flashback at first of a film. His tales happen in and round West L.A.’s La Cienega Heights, and in the event you take heed to him sufficient you may map out bits and items of the world with out ever going there. On his breakout singles (2019’s “Remedy” and 2020’s “La Cienega Heights”), he displays on brawls exterior of Joe’s Market the place he used to mob out in entrance of, paranoid journeys to East L.A., misplaced family members, and recurrent jail stints. However the level of his writing is much less concerning the motion of those anecdotes and extra concerning the arduous classes he has discovered from them. It provides his music a wistful tone that has made him stand out in a crowded L.A. rap scene.
For some time now, Huge Unhappy has laid down tales vigorous and recollections on tight collaborative mixtapes with a single producer. Within the final two years, he’s had initiatives fully produced by G-funk impressed beatmakers like Uce Lee, Cypress Moreno, 420Tiesto, and Steelz. They persistently give his tapes a cohesive and low stakes really feel, and he makes an attempt to shake this sound up on his newest album I Don’t Faucet In or Faucet Out. It’s extra intentional, for higher and for worse.
I Don’t Faucet In or Faucet Out isn’t a serious label rap debut, nevertheless it does have the form of 1. Scattered all through the 13 tracks are makes an attempt to broaden his sound. It’s a purpose that might be learn as bold however I feel it’s cliché. On “Chapter 16,” we get the compulsory R&B hook by visitor vocalist Yvbaby, whose unhealthy singing is made worse by AutoTune. On “Ghetto Barbie,” Huge Unhappy takes a swing at a love tune, which appears pointless; he’s at all times been able to weaving realistic-sounding Child Boy-lite relationship particulars into his lyrics. (Right here, he tells generic tales about Netflix and chilling and Dr. Miami visits.) However given the condensed construction of the report, these misses really feel extra like one-offs.
Regardless of the darkness of Huge Unhappy’s tales, the producers right here share a chill-sounding West Coast really feel that provides the tape a breezy ambiance. Among the best is the Uce Lee-produced “Let’s Get It Poppin,” the place Huge Unhappy raps about discovering music with a sigh of aid (“Niggas mad I bossed up and bought it poppin’/And be rappin’ about my life and make a revenue”) over an old-school groove. 420Tiesto easily chops up a vocal pattern on “Huge Canine,” and it’s the right backdrop for Huge Unhappy and P4k, the star of L.A.’s red-hot Child Stone Gorillas crew, to speak robust. On the bouncy “So What,” Huge Unhappy is a bit more upbeat, recounting melancholy membership nights over vibrant percussion.
Huge Unhappy nonetheless has loads of room to develop. “Remedy 2,” combines his greatest traits (the ultra-specific particulars and deep introspection) together with his worst (the tune may use a swap up in circulation and lyrics that transcend his clear-eyed monologue). As soon as he figures out his strengths, he’ll be greater than a terrific storyteller, he’ll be a very good rapper, too.
