I remember Jaden’s rapping during his formative years, from doing songs with Justin Bieber to doing them with Childish Gambino, in the back of my mind I could hear nothing but celebrity nepotism. Maybe those artist simply saw something in him that I didn’t, it wasn’t until Syre (B.L.U.E <3) graced my life with it’s ethereal soul that I did 10 hail mary’s a day for three months to repent for my blaspheming ignorance. Now it’s 2018, Jadens been active and that’s always a treat, with singles like Ghosts and Goku, but to me they were a shift from his existential tone into a turn up trap area. Turn up trap that didn’t blend his lyricism and melodies, just fast paced bangers with little substance, I was worried they were indicative of his new direction.  He also dropped the Syre Electric EP, which I was disappointed with seeing as it only remade five songs, they had a good vibe but felt like an empty promise. Then the boy genius drops another album with the chaotice singles not even present, though I have a sneaking suspicion these songs were the runoff of last years Syre because of an overall tone and quality, yet I noticed every song contained an extra layer of unique innovations that keeps his style fresh.

The 11 song album meets expectations that I hadn’t realized were set, even the songs i didn’t necessarily vibe with are jams in their own right. This tracklist is certainly less personal, Syre gave us a sincere look into Jadens life and interpersonal struggles, it was an act of self expression woven into his artistry, he even gave a beautiful rendition with his sister in a duet. With The Sunset Tapes Jaden is instead putting on display his passion for making music, releasing what is veritably an album you should listen to when you watch a sunset. Putting it out on the anniversary of Syre, which is pure class.

I was shocked to realize that every single song would be added to Unintentional Sex Jamz 4, it has never happened, I even had limits with Awaken My Love!… But each track is so dynamic, the only constant thread binding them being Jaden’s particular flow that he brings. Whether he’s rapping, singing, or just talking to us, every word is flowing with his magnetic charisma, the music invoked an almost ASMR like response in me. I want to find something truly negative to dwell on but Jaden actually relieved me with this album. Other artist this year seemed to struggle to stick with what made them such an established talent to begin with. Ray Blk’s sparse offering didn’t made her seem unrecognizable, and Anderson Paak, who was robbed a Grammy for Malibu seems to has lost the confidence in his voice that made me a fan. But like a said before, this is basically a continuation of Syre, he literally has a sequel to one of my favorite songs titled, Fallen Part Two, he hasn’t missed a step with his albums.

Standout Songs:

Distant: I always stop what I’m doing four minutes into this song to see which track it is.

Yeah Yeah: From dislike to love.

Syre In Abbey Road: *Unintelligible Muttering

Play This On A Mountain At Sunset:  The epitome of his poeticism

There are some songs that I didn’t like initially, and by initially I mean the first moments of the songs before I was lassoed in a minute later. If it’s a consolation for negativity it still seem to take me out of my groove for some seconds… Plastic for example has such Young Thug melodies and screams, and I was excited to find a fault, but it doesn’t fall into the trappings of Goku and Ghosts, staying grounded long enough for Jaden to appropriately adopt the style and make it his own. I also disliked Yeah Yeah at first, but eventually if find its purpose in a sense, like an understanding as to why he made the song.

Thank goodness Jaden doesn’t fall into the cycle of young artist who can’t capitalize on what made them so great in the first place. This would be a very different review if he would have changed for the worst. This album is a strong…

9/10

He innovated, didn’t really evolve though, it’s not perfect.