Album: Try Again
Artists: Ovrkast.
Genre: #HipHop
Sub-Genres: #Abstract / #Lofi_HipHop
Label: do more.
Non-Airable Tracks: All of them.
Sounds Like: MAVI, Medhane, Navy Blue, MIKE
Description: Ovrkast made his professional debut just some months ago with production credits on Earl Sweatshirt’s “EL TORRO COMBO MEAL”, featuring MAVI. Now, the Oakland native has his first album under his belt. “Try Again” fits in quite well with the current wave of hazy, lo-fi hip hop coming from artists such as the several featured on the project. Previously mentioned collaborator MAVI has a killer verse on the album banger, “2 Minute Bars”. This track is analogous to the rest for its tripping, wonky pulse, but stands out for its aggressive melody and stomping percussion. This track and the following “Face”, featuring Navy Blue, are the two most distinguishable tracks on the album, the rest being more or less a collection of interchangeable, sleepy, jazz piano-heavy songs most admirable for Ovrkast’s unique tone, cadence, and poetic lyricism. His verses are typically thoughtful and introspective, especially on songs like “Face”, the most pop-oriented cut off the album, which is pulled off surprisingly well in context of the project. Several other memorable moments can be found throughout the project’s remainder, such as the lyrics about gun-violence on “Church”, the glitchy sample stretching in “Casualty”, and the somewhat novelty Vaporwave aesthetic of “Uck”. With the exception of an ostensibly meaningless low-pass filter on vocals in the track “AllPraise”, I would say the album is mixed incredibly well. All-in-all, “Try Again” is proof of Ovrkast’s potential as an artist, a potential yet to be fulfilled but very high in my own opinion.
Recommended Tracks: 2 Minute Bars, Face
Reviewer’s Name: Mitchell Ross
Date of Review: February 19, 2020