‘VIDÉ’ — A Review
‘Brockhampton’ started making waves in 2016 with their mixtape ‘All-American Trash’ and then really burst into prominence with their ‘Saturation’ trilogy that began in 2017. Since then they’ve become the face of a rising wave of hip-hop artists who are more inclusive, willing to be abrasive and open to blending and experimenting with genre.
To call ‘seeyousoon’ another Brockhampton wouldn’t be fair, but to not acknowledge the obvious influence and road that Brockhampton paved for them would be criminal. ‘seeyousoon’ is a nine-piece hip-hop collective out of Florida that originally caught some attention with their music video and single ‘STEAMY’ in February of this year. On July 31st they released their debut album ‘VIDÉ’.
‘VIDÉ’ opens with a short and chill instrumental, ‘SEE’, that introduces you to the soundscape that the rest of the album is going to bring. From there we’re immediately hit with one of the highlights on the album ‘BEN AFFLECK’. On this track the Florida collective puts on display that they can make strong basic hip-hop beats and back them up with catchy hooks and slick bars. They prove right off the bat that they have no shortage of hip-hop talent.
After ‘BEN AFFLECK’ we move onto ‘BLUE CHORD’ where seeyousoon’s Brockhampton influence really shows as they attempt to flex their genre bending abilities by making a decent dance track. The hook is catchy as hell, the bridge hits with a beat switch/change in vocalists and the verses aren’t bad either, but it’s the primary beat on this track that to me feels lacking. It’s a good attempt to show that they are a multi-dimensional act but it doesn’t land quite as well as some of the highlights on the album.
Seeyousoon is at their best when they’re going hard and aggro on fun dark alt beats. This is on full display during the album’s middle four tracks: on ‘STEAMY’ they hit us with sick flows; on ‘SHUT UP’ they pair sick flows with an absolutely anthemic outro and on ‘3001’ and ‘EVERY TIME I DIE’ they give us two of the best hooks I’ve heard all year.
As we reach the final leg of the album the collective begins to show some more experimentation with their beats and genre. On ‘ICFWT’ they give us a smooth indie-pop/neo-soul track where they really make use of the various voices available in the group to put together a pretty slick and emotional tune.
Eventually the album comes to an end with the title track ‘VIDÉ’ where seeyousoon again puts together a pretty smooth neo-soul track that makes use of their many voices and some really interesting instrumentation. Ultimately the track isn’t bad, but it feels like a bit of a lacklustre ending to what was, at times, a really high energy album.
Overall the album has some fantastic, aggressive and high energy tracks (I can’t emphasize enough how much I love the hooks on ‘3001’ and ‘EVERY TIME I DIE’) but it lacks some of the depth that the collective would have you believe they possess. That’s not to say they don’t have the talent to blend genres or work outside the world of high energy alt-rap because they clearly display on ‘ICWTF’ that they can deliver something different, but its clear that they need a little more time to really hone their skills before they become the genre blending multi-talented crew they want to be.
Either way fans of alternative hip-hop acts like Injury Reserve, Aminé and (especially) Brockhampton would do well to give ‘VIDÉ’ a shot and keep their eyes on seeyousoon’s future releases.
