#53 - Wiki & NAH - Telephonebooth REVIEW

(Go to 0:55 to skip the intro)

Wiki is a New York rapper, once part of the experimental hip-hop group Ratking, who is certainly a unique voice in the game. Teaming up with experimental producer NAH seemed like a natural fit for the left-field MC.

NAH's production here is very skeletal, but by no means dry. It draws from a distinctly 80s 90s sound pallet, infusing these instrumentals with pop, electronic, and rock influences.

The structure of this album's beats feature off-kilter very left-field drum patterns, 80s-90s pop, rock, electronic tones in the instrumentals... with a very glitch-hoppy aesthetic in the rhythms, along with these consistent blasts of bright sound that give this album a beautifully psychedelic feeling.

Telephonebooth gave me a similar feeling to Earl Sweatshirt's Some Rap Songs. Strictly in the sense that the songs were very short, with many ideas coming in and out quickly.

The key drawback I see in Telephonebooth though, is the other edge of the double-edged sword related to the nature of this album's leanness.

Wiki is very focused on these very short tracks, which is very appreciated. Except, unlike Some Rap Songs, Wiki doesn’t fully captivate me lyrically at all times, with an overall message that is less clear than I’d like.

Although he is definitely very focused on a specific topic on each track, is he always presenting complete thoughts? I don't think so. Often you don't get the full scope of the ideas presented on this album. This is largely due to the fact that the songs are just so short... and is magnified by the fact that these songs manage to have hooks and/or a lot of repetitive pseudo-hooks.

This brings me to the overall narrative I got from this album, which works to alleviate the importance of these drawbacks.

Wiki tackles each song like a mini conversation with someone on the phone. He's still transparent and vulnerable on the album, but he chooses to cover a large breadth of topics, versus deep-diving on one particular one.

Surely common themes emerge, but the details aren't deeply explored. So I do see myself wanting more detail at times... but there is simultaneously something intriguing in the way he gives you so many different but related thoughts. 

The genuine and raw atmosphere that he cultivates with his lyrics is great... and makes me keep wanting to press play over and over again.

RMPP Preferred Cut: "No Work"

Listen to Telephonebooth here: https://wiksetnyc.bandcamp.com/album/telephonebooth 

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