Source: Pexels by Miguel A Padrinan
September 3rd marked the release of 21-year-old rapper Songer’s third album, The Sunrise Project– one highly anticipated by his 110,000 monthly listeners.
Known for his intricate lyricism, Songer continues to exceed fan expectations with his ability to manipulate and play with the words he writes. Notably, the third album comes with a more mellow theme than his previous two pieces of work, Dreamworkz and Lyrics For Sanity, as Songer explores his experience of a failed love involvement and the subsequent, enduring emotions that follow.
This is not to say, however, that TSP is shadowed by his previous work; with the quality production, the deep message, and the evident raw talent that shines through this album, The Sunrise Project is Songer’s best piece yet.
According to the Intro track, Songer dedicates TSP to “everybody trying to find sense in a world that doesn’t make any”, embodying the album’s overarching theme: his lyrics seem to come from a place of loss and confusion.
While Without My Lover, Lemonade, Morning Breath, and Rather You Cheat do all seem dedicated to this past relationship and the subsequent lost feeling, the album isn’t void of songs that thrive off his energetic, comical lyricism and a bass-heavy beat. Nuttin’ To Shout About, Stop Playin’ W Me, and Carefree are blessed with this kind of witty wordplay and fast flow. Songer’s double entendres and unique voice in his rap delivery have built his own distinctive sound, which he perfects in this album.
In a month where music giants Drake and Kanye have both released highly anticipated albums which failed to meet a lot of fans’ expectations, TSP really embodies the mastery that the hard work of a talented and hungry-to-impress artist like Songer can produce.
Heartfelt track Rather You Cheat is perhaps one of the most impressive singles on the album; his ability to combine a mellow beat, a harsh and emotional message of mental health, along with a wavy flow, and then to communicate this message within a beautifully crafted web of wordplay is a testament to the rapper’s talent and hard work.
When an artist can use intelligent lyricism with almost any word within a bar, it’s difficult for listeners to catch all the wordplay and appreciate the genius behind them; here a few of my favourites which might have gone over your head.
“Imperfection or im perfection; that depends if I’ve got space or not, fuck a PCR test and fuck a lateral flow, just play my music and you’ll see if they’ve got taste or not” – (Rather You Cheat)
“Man City got Sterling, but they got no ST so they want Erling (Haaland)” – (Carefree)
“Now I’m isolated (ice-elated), and I don’t mean gassed off a new chain” – (Morning Breath)
So, if you haven’t got the message already, here it is: stop what you’re doing, open up Spotify, and enjoy The Sunrise Project by Songer- a work of art, and a sign of things to come.