So I find myself in a unique position to be able to give my thoughts and first reactions to a project released by a personal friend. That friend in question being frequent LLF collaborator Axcess. Itโs simultaneously an honor and immense pressure to give my honest opinions about something personal. But if thereโs one thing my friends know about me, itโs that I always keep it all the way real with them, and thatโs exactly what I plan to do with his latest releaseย Rebel Against Society.
I think with each successive project heโs grown more and more confident in his direction and his sound, and it reached itโs highest level yetย onย his best project to date,ย Growth. ย In particular, I felt like the production was the most cohesive itโs been, with itโs light, soulful beats lending themselves perfectly to his musical stylings. It was a trend I hoped would continue into the future and Iโm glad to say that for the most part it did. While itโs not all original production, his beat selection was very well thought out and songs like โOpen Up Your Eyesโ, โLast Hopeโ, and โLast Foreverโ do a really good job of conveying his vision. โSave Meโ was one of my favorite songs offย Growth and one of my favorite songs heโs ever released, so revisiting it for a Part 2 was a smart move. My only big gripe with the beats had to be with the songย โJust Talkin'โ. Itโs hard, grimy production just felt out of place with the other songs on the project.
โToo many soldiers and not enough Kings
See, our castle doomed
Because the truth isnโt attractive
And until we notice, weโll forever remain captiveโ
Lyrically, heโs really starting to sound more and more comfortable. From a purely technical aspect (metaphors, wordplay, density, etc.) I canโt say heโs amongst raps upper tier yet but he doesnโt necessarily try to be either. What appeals about Axcess to me most is the earnestness in which heย speaks about life, the struggles of trying to make it, being true to yourself, and spreading positivity. Particularly on the opening spoken word, โStringsโ, where he really goes in on the things he sees troubling our generation and missing from hip-hop. These are themes that anybody can relate to, and ones that artists like Chance the Rapper and Mick Jenkins have proven can truly be viable in hip-hop. I hope he continues to push down this route and really lets loose with whatโs on his mind because at timesย it can feel like heโs pulling punches just when you really start to vibe with him. Rebel Against Societyย was another big step forward for Axcess and I canโt wait to see him grow even more on the next one.
Have you heardย Rebel Against Society? Whatโd you think about it? Do you like his push for positivity in hip-hop? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your rating for the mixtape.
If you havenโt heard Rebel Against Society yet, you can do that here, and you can see our sit down with him here.
