leave me where you found me / iann dior / April 21, 2023
- Joshua Yoo
- May 20, 2023
- 1 min read
For someone who’s had his fair share of success in the emo trap corner of rap, it was interesting to see how iann dior would adapt his sound to the evolving (and diminishing) trends of the genre. With ‘leave me where you found me’, the answer isn’t really all that clear, with a mixed bag of loose styles and questionable execution through and through.
The sequence of the album places no emphasis on flow or direction, jumping from trap to psychedelic to punk rock aimlessly, and the brevity of the tracks makes for some pretty choppy transitions. At 12 songs and only 26 minutes long, there’s not any room to breathe, with many songs ending before establishing any kind of structure or development (“do it all”).
It’s unfortunate that the hollow and cluttered production only makes his performances feel even more half-baked and unfinished. The few flashes of catchy hooks or vocal lines are quickly buried under weak 808s and generic instrument kits that fail to standout in practically any way. Even when sticking to his stylistic strengths towards the back end of the project, iann dior’s repetitive melodies wear thin pretty fast (“memory lane”).
Thus, it’s hard to see new listeners getting much out of this, as attempts to vary his sound aren’t executed nearly well enough. Day one fans may also likely move on from the inferior versions of his older style found here, so whomever this album appeals to may be somewhat of a mystery.
Highlight(s): liar
Lowlight(s): do or die, catching up, my turn, myself, make it right
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