Yung Bae - B4E

Yung Bae
B4E
2018
Spotify

Yung Bae's version of bright and shiny disco is instantly fun. It comes in with a stellar bop and chops reminiscent of something J. Dilla might produce. The Nu-Disco vibes are strong and pretty on the nose from the first moment, letting you know just what this album is about and where it plans to go. The Portland based producer plays around ins somewhat the same space as Skylar Spense, especially his recent project with The Knock Amelia Airhorn. The classic funk and disco tracks that serve as the basis for these songs feel warm and fuzzy, but the production doesn't do much to elevate the originals or take them to another level. What we end up with is songs that sound a bit dated, even if they bop. Yung Bae will find these fantastic break beats, but then He tends to stop there. It's hard for music like this to work in an album form because it so much about the break and the single. When one of these tracks like the blistering "This is It" hits the deck you are instantly in, but then it just sort of stays at that one level for the entire run time. Over a set you would be able to shift and change this, read the crowd and explore from there, but here on this album it tends to drag a bit. You want to hear these singles one at a time, or just pieces of one blended into another, but sitting with them for the full few minutes seems like a bit of a chore.

There are super bright moments, but they are so fleeting and come in and out of existence in a flash. The albums closer "Doo Do Dooo" is so close to something great, but never hits that next level of engagement where it really clicks into gear. Before you know it the album has passed and you aren't quite surte how or why, but there is still a smile on your face. This record is not short on the good vibes, it just doesn't feel like something that is fully fleshed out. The sound almost feels too niche for it's own good and this is coming from someone who likes some niche AF shit. There just isn't enough here to push this record or the music it creates forward and it ends up feeling somewhat disposable. There are major "side project" vibes throughout this record, which don't do it any favors. I keep coming back to the idea that something great is here, but it just isn't this record. Hopefully Yung Bae nails it soon.

6.7 out of 10