Bleep

Kenny Beats’ journey from US bass music party-starter to ferociously in-demand rap guru is a decent allegory for the state of contemporary pop music. This is not a knock. With credits from Vince Staples, Denzel Curry, and Rico Nasty among many others in recent years, Beats has put his stamp on the sound while pushing some of its finest voices to new heights. To that end, Beat’s debut solo LP LOUIE isn’t a culmination of that high-profile production run so much as a pathway to new means of expression. LOUIE reveals Kenny Beats as a rap historian, shying away from the cutting edge he’s helped define in recent years in favour of the dusty roots of the genre’s golden age. Old soul and R&B loops (or at least facsimiles of them) form the basis of these tunes, making for a neat nostalgic trip towards the headier days of early hip-hop production.