Kodak Black - Painting Pictures

Kodak Black
Painting Pictures
2017
Spotify

Kodak Black may be a name you have heard or not (profound). In Hip Hop circles the young man is seen as the next big thing while to date He has only garnered moderate success. When this debut record was released Kodak was still in jail. Serving time for violating parole Black and his label made sure that the album was released to much fanfare even if the man himself could not attend. The features on the record also show just how much faith a lot of the rap community has in Black's eventual super stardom. The record falls somewhere between Hip Hop and R&B with Kodak rapping often but not adverse to singing a hook here and there. The skrrt is in full effect and element after element is in place for this to be a stellar record, yet it isn't. With the hype that has surrounded this young man you would expect this record to be nothing but banger after banger, but it barely moves the needle. First Black's voice sounds younger than He actually is. There are times when you are listening when you have to check and make sure you aren't hearing the Kidz Bop version of these songs. On "Up In Here" Kodak sounds his absolute youngest and when he raps something with "macaroni" you just have to be left scratching your head. You never get the sense that Kodak Black is being anything but authentic, yet his somewhat vulnerable emotionally charged lyrics often clash with his own real life personality. It's not saying that someone cannot be more than one thing, but staying true those two things up on a record is difficult.

There are times where it all comes together for Kodak Black though and those songs are undeniable. "Patty Cake" though a somewhat childish name does actually bang pretty hard. However the next track "Save You" is so sweet that it doesn't fit here at all. The track with Future "Conscience" is just laughably bad with oddly religious production and then nothing grand what so ever in the actual track. What this record really shows is that despite your talent, and despite your hype nothing takes the place of real experience when it comes to making a record. "Tunnel Vision" was a previously released single, and in a way I can see the appeal, but the song is so fucking repetitive in the worst way with screeching pan flute and Black leaning his mouth on the mic because he sounds like He can't even keep his eyes open. If the rapper is snoozing through the song how are we supposed to get hyped up? The later tracks are just more of the same, and by that I mean they sound almost exactly the same as everything else. Many may believe that Kodak Black is the future of rap, but if this is the next big thing in Hip Hop I really hope they are wrong.

4.9 out of 10