a concise assortment of drill-soaked social gathering anthems
In January 2021, the UK rap scene welcomed Brighton rapper ArrDee into the fold due to the huge viral success of his Mixtape Insanity freestyle ‘Cheeky Bars’ (which now boasts 6.5million views). ArrDee – actual title Riley Davies – was rapidly marked out as one of many UK’s most promising skills due to his larger-than-life, bravado-streaked rap model, which fused the machoism of Ludacris, Huge L and Benny Banks with an internet-age musical motherboard.
The Drake-inspired ‘6AM In Brighton’ and a spot on the remix of Tion Wayne and Russ Thousands and thousands’ enormous single ‘Physique’ (the primary drill observe to high the UK charts) additional heightened the hype surrounding ArrDee, and that’s with out mentioning the three different high 10 singles (‘Oliver Twist’, Digga D collaboration ‘Wasted’ and ‘Flowers (Say My Title)’) in his arsenal.
Now it’s time for his aptly-named debut mixtape ‘Pier Stress’, which, because the Lola Younger-featuring observe ‘Who Woulda Thought’ explores, largely serves to chronicle the coming-of-age story of its dispensable delinquent-turned-rap celebrity creator.
On ‘Late Night time Driving’, ArrDee displays on the non-public penalties of his sturdy work ethic. “It’s 5AM on the m’approach / I been all sales space all evening, giving my all,” he raps with contemplative conviction over a guitar-laden, hi-hat-heavy instrumental. “Ain’t seen mum in a month, and I miss her.” He switches tack with the throwback UK storage single ‘Flowers (Say My Title)’, which sees ArrDee interpolate Future’s Little one’s ‘Say My Title’ and Candy Feminine Angle’s ‘Flowers’ to ship some cheeky and assured bars. “There’s no approach I’mma stand within the rain,” he tells one love curiosity within the hook. “I can nonetheless make you say my title, say my title, say my title / Life with out me may drive you insane.”
‘No Biggie’, in the meantime, sees ArrDee deploy a 2000s-like stream that’s harking back to the social gathering rap earworms of yesterday, whereas ‘Battle’ sees him go forwards and backwards with Manchester rapper Aitch over a cinematic but considerably over-produced observe.
Though a number of the tracks on this mixtape lack the rapper’s traditional lyrical dexterity (‘Fruitella’, ‘Come & Go’), this concise 11-track mission fortunately isn’t overloaded with visitor options that come throughout like contractual obligations. As a substitute, ArrDee plasters the document with radio-friendly drill beats, high quality rhymes and nightclub belters befitting of his character, guaranteeing that ‘Pier Stress’ offers a transparent snapshot of a rapper very a lot on the rise.
Particulars
File label: Island Data
Launch date: March 18