Portland, OR-based rapper/singer/songwriter who goes by the moniker Yung Skelli , unveils his new project Blue. The 10-track body of work is an exploration into his versatility as a rapper and singer. It also explores themes of love, heartbreak, mental health and the ups and downs of teenage years.
The first two tracks “Far From You” featuring Luvrwoah and “On Your Love,” both dwell on similar themes of love. The songs possess similar aesthetics in terms of sound and lyrics. The former shows a remorseful Yung Skelli who confesses his shortcomings in a past relationship and regrets his part in demolishing it, while the latter is a heartfelt tune about yearning for that special someone. Vocally, Yung Skelli sounds serviceable and delivers a pained but emotionally commanding performance with expressive songwriting that listeners in similar situations can relate to. The production walks a fine lie between pop and modern teen hip-hop styled music with a heavy focus on bright guitar licks, punchy trap-esque drums and melodic raps. The next track, “Broken,” sees the rapper on a journey to clarity and brings artist PONTEYAC , who adds his verse towards the end. The texture of his voice is a bit different from Yung Skelli’s, so it may be a product of how he recorded it. This is followed by the solemn “All The Same,” which dives into the artist’s perpetual sad state of mind.
One thing I noticed is the consistency in structure and how thematically the songs follow each other. Yung Skelli doesn’t try to break new ground but rather sticks to what he knows. The overarching themes of heartbreak, loneliness and sadness play significant roles in how the project flows ,and each track gives a different phase or facet of Yung Skelli’s mind state. On “Not Around,” he pours his all on wax as he wished for his lover to return to him while on the gloomy “Alone,” he sings, “I don’t know if I will recover/And I think my life might be over/I don’t think I can live no more with the pain no more” which shows a troubling predicament he is facing internally. The following tracks, “In My Feels” and “I’m Fine,” continue in a similar vein with much brighter soundscapes than the previous tracks. He shows resilience and restraint as he finds a bit of contentment in his pain and finds some semblance of peace in “I’m Fine,” while on “My Fault” he revisits some of his shortcomings. The final track, “Where I’m Going” helps bring the project to a close with a look into the next phase as he raps, “Gotta leave the shit behind and throw the pain out/Easier said than done, I know I gotta try now/I gotta see this thing before it takes my life out.” Here, he seems to have reached a critical point and has to make the right decisions for progress to occur.
Overall, Blue as a project lives up to its title and offers something different for young music lovers who are into emo-trap tracks, which underpin Yung Skelli’s style.
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