Blxst
Before You Go


4.0
excellent

Review

by Get Low USER (67 Reviews)
May 8th, 2022 | 33 replies


Release Date: 2022 | Tracklist

Review Summary: I've never heard a bad Blxst song.

About a month ago I had to get the timing belt in my car replaced (RIP to that $650), and had to borrow one of my dad's cars for a couple days for my commute to and from work. An auxiliary port was too far advanced for the sound system in this 2007 Chevy Impala (don't even think about Bluetooth), so the only option for music on my drives was the radio. I exclusively listened to the Hip-Hop and R&B channel, which is the only one in my broadcasting area that won't play advertisements for 90% of the day. There were two songs in the station's rotation that I quite enjoyed: the first was SZA's I Hate U, and the second was Blxst's Chosen. Having never heard of the latter artist, I listened to the album that Chosen was from – the deluxe edition of No Love Lost – and was thoroughly impressed with the consistency of quality in each of his songs. A few days later, Blxst announced that he would be releasing his follow-up album, Before You Go, in two weeks' time. I listened to the album on my 4 AM drive home from work the night that it dropped in my newly repaired car, and was joyed but also unsurprised that Blxst had delivered yet another quality batch of songs with no duds.

Blxst is primarily an R&B singer, but there are many elements of hip-hop in both his beats and his vocal delivery. His approach to songwriting is very basic, but his ability to mold memorable verses and catchy choruses into tracks that rarely exceed three minutes is astounding. The beats, which are always up-tempo (Blxst is thankfully not about ballads), tend to have a nightlife aesthetic to them, more so than they did on No Love Lost, making it a comparatively darker yet exuberant album. Lyrical themes on Before You Go gradually shift from beginning to end, with earlier tracks such as Never Was Wrong and About You discussing matters of complicated love, and later songs like Still Omw and Talk To Me Nicely boasting of Blxst's continual rise to stardom.

There are a couple other minor details that make No Love Lost such an effortlessly enjoyable listen. The guest appearances are four for four on quality in terms of giving their respective songs their own identity, with my two favorites being Rick Ross's verse in Couldn't Wait For It, where he boasts, "What's 20 Million? I'ma spend that in a month", and Zacari's chorus in Sometimes, which lead me to discovering the meaning of the slang term "chickenhead". Blxst also uses the producer tag and Tik-Tok meme "sheesh" with relative frequency, which will make his songs sound dated at some point, but also currently makes them endearing, especially when he ad-libs it after a particularly egregious line. Speaking of Blxst as a producer, he apparently has production credits on a few of these songs, but to my dismay Before You Go does not have a Wikipedia page as of the time of my writing this review, where I can easily read and analyze the production chart, and praise all involved.

In the song Pressure from Blxst's previous album, he begins the first verse with "Ayy, I ain't heard one bad Blxst song". Although he refers to himself in the third-person here as a way of copying what fans are saying about his music, I can't help but echo this sentiment. Blxst quite simply does not make bad songs, or if he does, he scraps them. Blxst is only interested in putting out quality music, and sparing fans from having to sift through and hour plus of garbage just to locate the few gems. While Blxst may not be the most innovative musician to grace the R&B playing field, he is the most consistent that I've encountered.



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user ratings (7)
3.6
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
Get Low
May 8th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

sheesh

Purpl3Spartan
May 8th 2022


8992 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Sheeesh

Koris
Staff Reviewer
May 8th 2022


21957 Comments


Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh

Get Low
May 13th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Can't say I was expecting a Blxst feature on the new Kendrick album lol

notagenius
May 18th 2022


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

To be honest I think you should try writing narrative novels as the private narrative part of your reviews is always very calm and natural. (not that your music reviews are poor, but the narrative parts are very distinctive, you always mention little things without thinking about it. This makes it very kind and vivid)

Get Low
May 18th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Thanks for the ego boost. I read a shit ton of fiction so the narrative parts of my reviews come naturally to me just from indulging myself in it so much. I ain't got no time to write a novel tho lol; perhaps after I retire in thirty years.

notagenius
May 18th 2022


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

fyi

Australia's most famous novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock, was written over a total of two weeks

Purpl3Spartan
May 18th 2022


8992 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Not understanding the neg, this is a really good review

Get Low
May 18th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

The neg is NormalOctagon or Park or one of the other users who has a serious problem with me. Norma has been troll-negging my reviews for awhile now but he hasn't been active on here lately so idk

notagenius
May 18th 2022


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

wait until park writes a review, and I go crazy neg him.



edit: I am sure he has no problem with you, dude pretends to

notagenius
May 19th 2022


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Never Was Wrong is easily the best on this. The collaborative songs are more hip hop



the album can remind me a little of those 2000s rnb love songs, craig david, usher, nelly vibes. very sweet





Get Low
May 19th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Every Good Girl is my favorite. I'm glad you enjoyed this.

notagenius
July 9th 2022


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I've repeated two of his records in the past month or so

his work is the definition of "feeling good".

Get Low
July 9th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah I haven't stopped jamming this since it came out.

I need to give No Love Lost more love.

Get Low
August 10th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Never Was Wrong got taken off of Spotify, lovely

Purpl3Spartan
August 10th 2022


8992 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Still on Apple

Get Low
August 11th 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

I'm getting closer every day to making the switch.

Get Low
October 3rd 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Spartan you lied, Never Was Wrong is missing on Apple too. You made me take my free subscription through Verizon for no reason.

Get Low
October 3rd 2022


14553 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

nah I'm not renewing my Apple Music after my free trial ends, I'll just hope and pray that my beloved Never Was Wrong comes back



I didn't know the itunes store still existed

notagenius
October 3rd 2022


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I love Never Was Wrong This is definitely one of my favourite records of the year



I sometimes switch among streaming providers when I want to save money because they appear at a better offer after the user stops subscribing.



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