Album Review: RMR - DRUG DEALING IS A LOST ART

A couple days ago, up-and-coming artist RMR (pronounced rumor), released his debut album DRUG DEALING IS A LOST ART on streaming services. I learned about this project from a Pigeons and Planes post on Instagram the other day, and I decided to give it a listen since there haven't been many new albums being released and I have found myself just playing the same songs over and over again with only a few new albums to enjoy over the past couple months. I also figured that this album could serve not only to be fun to listen to, but to be good content for my blog's first music review. So, here it is: my review of RMR's album DRUG DEALING IS A LOST ART.

This album is a short listen, only 8 songs in 23 minutes, so it didn't take that long to listen to it a couple times and start to form a review of it in my brain. It also doesn't really conform to one genre, and although Apple Music has it classified as Hip-Hop/Rap, there isn't really a ton of rapping on the project. A few of the tracks are mainly rap, but even those tracks have elements that aren't really like anything else that I've heard on more recent rap albums.

Track One: WELFARE (ft. Westside Gunn)

This track starts off with a verse from Westside Gunn that is a great start to the album. It's a short verse, but it's a solid punch to start off the project. Before this album, I hadn't heard any of RMR's music, so I didn't really know what to expect from him. But after Westside Gunn's verse, RMR comes in with absolutely infectious vocals as he sings about his come up from growing up on welfare to being rich. I absolutely love the chorus of this song and it keeps playing over and over in my head. The melody is catchy and RMR's vocals are like candy to me. He isn't the best singer, but I love hearing his vocals.

Track Two: DEALER

The melody playing in the background of this song sounds like it should be playing in the background of a scene of cowboys in an old Western. RMR once again delivers with his singing on the chorus and also delivers two great verses. This song is about living a life of drug dealing and occasionally taking them as well. It's a fun song and the singing on the chorus is addictive once again.

Track Three: NOUVEAU RICHE

I don't have much to say about this song, except that the singing is still fun and still is interesting to listen to. This song is about success and about how it is fun to be rich, but also about the problems of wealth and how RMR sees his success leading him to danger.

Track Four: I'M NOT OVER YOU

This song isn't the best on the album I don't think, but it definitely does something for me. RMR's singing on the chorus feels like summer. That may not make perfect sense to you, but it does to me. I like this song a lot and it genuinely evokes a bit of an emotional response from me.

Track Five: SILENCE

This song is one of my favorites on the album. I think the singing on this song sounds the best of any of the project's vocals and the melody and flow of the lyrics make this really fun to listen to. It's the saddest sounding song on the project, and it has a feeling of calm to it. It's also one of the most polished songs on the project.

Track Six: BEST FRIEND

Lyrically, this is probably my least favorite song on the album and its lyrics sound the most like a generic rap song out of all of the tracks. But once again, the melody and the singing bring me something that most music with lyrics like what's in this song can't do for me. If for no other reason, listen to RMR because his vocals hit the right notes and sound real and emotional.

Track Seven: DEALER (ft. Future and Lil Baby)

This is a remix of track two and I really don't have much to say about it. It's worse than the original song because it's the same thing but with a lackluster verse from Future and a pretty okay verse from Lil Baby. Future has terrible bars like " I done made love to an Ethiopian, I done put lean in her Fruitopia", but Lil Baby stays pretty solid. All in all, though, I don't like having a song and the remix of that song on the same album, and I think this could have been replaced with something better.

Track Eight: RASCAL

This song's fine, I guess, but it just isn't really my thing. The singing sounds funny to me and it sounds like a parody of a country song. I like the lyrical content, but the voice just sounds weird to me.

For the most part, I really liked this album. Out of eight songs, I'll probably continue to consistently listen to at least four of them. I definitely recommend this album, even though some of it didn't really do anything for me, because the parts that did were really enjoyable to listen to.

Favorite Songs: WELFARE, SILENCE, I'M NOT OVER YOU, DEALER

Least Favorite Song: RASCAL

RMR - DRUG DEALING IS A LOST ART: 7.5/10

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