Still High… is a 7-track project from Vancouver-born producer/rapper Raw Soul, whose music is not strange to us, and we have covered more than a handful of his material over the years. As an artist who is fully hands-on with his music, one can see the progression over time as he slowly develops, reshapes, and recreates his musical expression. On this project, he recruits a handful of producers to help him map the soundscape, while he focuses on writing. This approach allows him greater songwriting and musical freedom than in his previous efforts. Then again, this liberty can be attributed to a decade-long dedication to the craft and to growing up and experiencing the world in a whole new light.
The project starts with the upbeat “Run Free,” anchored by ARVM Beats, who laces the rapper with a bright piano-laden backdrop punctuated by a bouncy drum groove. Here, Raw Soul jumps into the front seat, literally speaking and pushes the pedal to the metal as he casts away all forms of restrictions and constraints. As a starter, it makes perfect sense, as it sets the tone for the project’s underlying theme and highlights Raw Soul’s mission as an artist who has found his true purpose. The next set of tracks is produced by eeryskies, who brings a smooth blend of soul, edgy textures, and dynamic rhythms to complement Raw Soul’s expressive flows and grounded songwriting. The title track “Still High” is a playful, bright, soulful track that finds Raw Soul in his element, effortlessly shining with his vivid storytelling and knack for kicking sticky hooks. Lines like “Living a little lowkey, don’t mind/I be smoking no trees, still high/tell the holy ghost run it back, ama need mine/I be speaking facts, no rewind,” highlight his playful demeanour. In “In Need (of Healing),” the rapper lowers the energy and prepares listeners for a deep therapeutic session. Here, he dives deep into the dark crevices of his mind with lines like “I be hoping while I am choking on some sympathy/Living free but indeed freedom cost a pretty penny/I be rocking on the boat while entranced by the hope that the dance and the smoke gonna enhance what is cloaked.” Next is “Skyscrapers,” which features a dark, brooding backdrop, perfect for Raw Soul’s introspective bars about success, mental health pressures, love, and loneliness.
The project continues to unravel what really makes Raw Soul tick, focusing on strained relationships, personal flaws, and the inner resilience needed to find true purpose while chasing success and freedom. Tracks like the pilotkid-produced “Perseverance ” highlight the inner struggles he faces daily, while “I’m Going(Letting Go)” dives into the concept of contentment, cutting off anchors and staying true to oneself. The cinematic backdrop crafted by producer eeryskies feels like the theme to an 80s TV show, while Raw Soul’s unapologetic songwriting and emotionally powerful delivery adds that extra punch to the track. The project closes out with the bvtman-produced “Lenses” and “To Whom It May Concern” produced by pilotkid. The former allows audiences to see Raw Soul’s world through his lens, with a focus on the net positive of his artistic endeavours. The latter is a bittersweet closer that brings the project to a close, with Raw Soul reflecting on his journey through this music game over the decades. From the ups, downs, successes, failures and the grey areas, he soaks it all in and uses the experience as a pivotal factor in his growth as an artist.
At the end of it all, Still High… might sound like a playful title, but it underscores the growth and artistic expansion of an artist who has endured a lot over the decades.
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