Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Brent Faiyaz has skyrocketed in popularity since his 2020 EP, “F*ck The World,” and while it may seem as if the artist came from nowhere, that’s far from the truth.

His new album, “Larger Than Life,” was announced Oct. 26, just a day before its release. This is also his first album released under his own record label, ISO Supremacy, in a joint venture with Pulse Records.

Faiyaz released his first solo EP in 2017 entitled “Sonder Son,” named after the musical group he has been a member of since 2016. Faiyaz has a seductively unique voice, making the hard and fast lifestyle of fame sound romantic and soft.

Because of the surprise nature of the album, no singles were released preemptively. He did, though, release a one-minute album teaser the day prior to the release. This choice has led to fewer listens but has still drawn considerable numbers in the few days since its release.

While only 36 minutes long, the album contains 14 songs. This leads to many short tracks that are technically, vocally and musically incredible — their brevity makes them really stick. This length also creates a sense of cohesion throughout the album, as each song floats into the next without notice.

The length of the album and the presence of skits and introductions also emphasize the album’s listenability and intent to be heard in one piece. “Larger Than Life” is art as a whole, not meant to be one or two standalone tracks.

Skits and intros are a mixed bag throughout the album. While they contribute to the flow of the album when consecutively listening, they can be ignored completely as standalone tracks.

Faiyaz breaks this barrier with “Tim’s Intro,” creating both a beginning of the album and a quality song all in one. The sounds of a phone dialing fade into a background of sirens and a voice saying “sonder,” a distinct reference to Sonder, his previous group. It then fades into an instrumental with the repetition of the words “larger than life” with background rap reminiscent of hip-hop from the 1990s.

This is something Faiyaz has done stylistically since the beginning of his solo career. On “Sonder Son,” there’s “Burn One (Interlude),” which begins with school bells and people talking and transitions into staccato guitar and smooth vocals.

On the other hand, “Big Mad Skit” is just that, a skit. It’s mostly talking with very little beat or musicality, but it does continue the emphasis on the title and overall meaning of the album, living larger than life. The same concept goes for the second skit on the album, “Dawged Em Skit.”

The album boasts A-list features including A$AP Rocky, Missy Elliot, Coco Jones and a variety of more underground artists such as Lil Gray and N3WYRKLA. But many of these additions bring down the quality of the album.

“Last One Left,” featuring Elliott and Lil Gray is another fantastic track on the album, although the features fade into the background. While Elliott is present for much of the song, her voice is unnoticeable and can be easily overlooked.

With a run time of only 1:22, “Best Time” is musically the best track on the album. The background instrumental is funky, an ode to the senior R&B style of the album, with memorable lyrics about girls around the world.

“I’ve been all over the world (You know)/But you the finest one/I done seen the finest dimes/But all the pretty girls come from VA (That’s right)/Then it’s New York and M-I-A/Then, it’s PG and ’round in my way/So I never had to stay away.”

The track is followed by a “Big Mad Skit,” adding to the cohesiveness of the album. The skit brings back the ringtone — modern this time — and is overlaid with an argument between a girl and her boyfriend about him having seen her “in Brent’s section.” Ending the skit with the repeating, ever-present title of the album, “we living larger than life, f*ck is you talking about.”

The song “Belong To You,” featuring Babyface Ray is another example of a feature that detracts. The track is stylistically gorgeous with a slow beat and reverbed background vocals. There is a long break between Faiyaz’s singing and the beginning of Ray’s rap, causing a separation in the flow of the track, not to mention Ray’s bars didn’t match the 90’s rap-esque feel Faiyaz was trying to create.

One meaningful feature is that of A$AP Rocky in “Outside All Night.” The song begins with a Disney-style musical introduction that sounds like Cinderella is about to feature on the album.

Next, it transitions into Faiyaz’s smooth vocals with a post-chorus by N3WYRKLA. While she, similarly to Faiyaz, has a melodic voice, it distracts from the two primary features of the song and detracts from the musicality.

Easily the best feature on the album, Rocky raps following the post-chorus with a short but meaningful intermission by Faiyaz.

Ending the album is “Pistachios,” with only Faiyaz present on the track. This song brings the album back together in the same nature as the intro track, creating a smooth ending. The lyrics aren’t much to write home about with basic hip-hop lines, but it’s musically an R&B song.

“Weather like minus fifty on my pinkie (It’s cold)/It like minus eighty on my lady (So froze)/That’s minor shit when you a major (You know),” Faiyaz sings.

With raunchy lyricism, smooth vocals and a subdued beat in the background, “Larger Than Life” ties Faiyaz back to his clear R&B roots. The album has some lackluster features that bring the album down, but Faiyaz combats the underwhelm with an artistic collection of songs and narrative to create a piece of art rather than just a musical album.

Published on October 31, 2023 at 10:21 pm