AK – “On Me” (EP Review)

In the era of Soundcloud and internet clout, few artists are able to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack and establish themselves as truly talented. Such is the case for AK. As a 16 year old, he posted his first Youtube video on July 18 of 2016, a remix of Desiigner’s “Panda,” which almost instantly went viral and landed him a feature on one of Sway’s Friday cyphers just two years later. April 3, 2020 rolls around and AK releases his debut project; an EP titled “On Me.” His first Youtube video took off, but does his EP carry the same quality?

The first thing most will notice is that the production quality is exquisite. There is clearly a solid budget behind AK’s work, and it’s shown in every 808 and entrancing melody in the six song tracklist. None of the instrumentals sound the same, each completely owns a unique identity and distinguishes itself amongst the others. What’s crazy is that it’s hard to pinpoint which beat I feel is the best; they’re all that good.

AK first blew up for his ability to rap. He’s always had precise flows and pronunciation, and it’s no different here. He has a diverse bag of flows and switches between them mid verse with ease. It’s the type of style that anyone would hear and conclude “Yeah, this guy can rap for real.” However, there isn’t much to say about him lyrically, although the man definitely holds own. There aren’t enough lines in the project that really catch my attention for me to say that he’s some sort of lyrical genius, but his bar structure is phenomenal and he definitely understands how to write complex schemes, so that’s why I would for sure say he is good, but not top tier just yet. My one real complaint is that the chorus of his first song, “Dumb,” starts with AK counting from one to ten. I’ve always thought of that as cop out way to fill a line unless it’s clearly part of a scheme. In this case, it’s just filler.

AK has been grinding for years, and hundreds of thousands of people have been watching this growth, 1.6 million, you could say, even. It’s always nice to see young talent grab the spotlight, but it’s even better to see them perform well under the lime light, and that’s exactly what we have here. “On Me” is a demonstration of well polished talent. Every aspect of it is executed with ruthless precision. The 16 year old kid who killed “Panda” is now killing his own songs. My, how the tables turn.

Rating: 8/10

Highlights: Production, Flow, Tone

Follow AK on IG, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube