Review Summary: The cause and the effect.
ICECOLDBISHOP sees his world in a cinematic scope. It’s not something attributed solely to his production style, although he’d be flattered to get stacked next to Tarantino. It’s reflected by his strengths as a storyteller;
Generational Curse maneuvers through the young emcee’s history, rapidly cycling through personal anecdotes that detail a life mired by insecurity and violence, turning verses into a fast-moving action film. He’ll describe a vibrant house party only to then have it dissolve into a drive-by with a close cousin left bleeding out. He’ll reminisce about smoking alongside longtime friends, taking jabs at ineffective drug resistance programs, only to mention in passing how one of those friends has since been gunned down. These moments feel ripped out of a buried memory, brought to life in an instance of vulnerability before vanishing underneath thinly-veiled braggadocio and contorted g-funk beats. Such is the power of debut release
Generational Curse: an emotionally resonant, yet simultaneously aggressive effort that thrives off of the tangents of its mastermind.
As a rapper, ICECOLD is electric. Despite rising from relative obscurity--their recording past is traced only by choice features, leaving hints of what was to come--the LA artist approaches their first release with swagger aplenty and commendable variety. His voice transforms frequently, at times taking inspiration from Danny Brown’s manic rambling, Kendrick Lamar’s assertive flow, and even a whiff of Suga Free’s playful Sprechgesang soul vocals. Opener “FULL FLEDGE” tosses these styles in a blender, morphing on demand from an airy tone to a suddenly menacing, foreboding one that underlines the grim lyricism. He’s capable of balancing two methods at once to create a layered delivery, offering a captivating cadence that demonstrates impressive vocal control. On “I CAN’T SWIM,” the rapper toes the line between Danny Brown-isms and his more commanding full voice, and the carefree “FOCUSED” features a stab at a Childish Gambino romp complete with warbling soul vocals. This expansive range, from the screamed verses of “CURSED” to the sarcastic falsetto of “D.A.R.E.”, adds an incredible amount of personality to the album, making it immediately distinguishable due to its unpredictable vocal acrobatics.
The sonic environment of
Generational Curse is appropriately dark, weaving through street corners and crowded gatherings with a haunting aesthetic that hangs low over the record. Though the album takes inspiration from West Side greats of past and present, it's comparatively more minimalist in its methods. Old-school G-funk beats are distorted into warped loops that act as a backdrop for ICECOLD’s storytelling, heightening the horror movie-esque drama and the emcee’s violent vocal shifts. The vicious prose of “CANDLELIGHT” uses an eerie synth chime to both contrast and accentuate the vitriol, whereas “FOCUSED” pushes a throbbing bass line to the front of the mix to apply a funky lean to the tune. The typically reserved nature of the record’s beats does not preclude them for surprising evolutions, such as the beat change of “BAD INFLUENCES FROM MY UNCLE''--a sudden swerve from innocent piano notes to disconcerting ambiance as ICECOLD’s voice slowly descends into anger--and the equally unexpected beat switch of “D.A.R.E.” as it launches into a bass-heavy passage. Though still more of a flavoring than a central feature, the beats department is sufficiently diverse, offering plenty of memorable melodies beyond BISHOP’s entertaining vocal contributions.
All of the narratives coursing through the album, despite brimming with the braggadocio inherent to gangster-influenced rap, always seem to be accompanied by caveats that alter their impact. Though contemplating murder on “OUT THE WINDOW,” BISHOP is suddenly overcome by his uncle’s arrest and the death of his cousin; the crowded party of “FOCUSED” is unceremoniously ended by a drive-by shooting; and “I CAN’T SWIM'' twists confidence into resignation as ICECOLD drowns under the weight of gang pressure. The rapper’s raw mode of expression is replete with these scenarios of cause and effect, demonstrating the bleak reality the emcee emerged from and how escape feels impossible, leading to a ceaseless cycle of conflict and inevitable consequence. Once paired with his amorphous vocals,
Generational Curse obtains a sense of constant motion, relentlessly marching through foreboding accounts of a turbulent youth. ICECOLDBISHOP’s official debut is ferocious, highlighting his eccentric vocals and visceral lyricism that paints a bleak portrait of generations lost to cyclical conflict. Aforementioned influences, namely Kendrick and Danny Brown, undeniably loom mightily over the record, yet BISHOP’s vibrant performance is enough of an x-factor to ignore most doubts. There’s nothing held back by the young rapper’s pen game, and if he continues to step out of the shadow of his inspirations, his sudden rise in the underground can only go higher.
