Fr6nco – “Late Night Mentality” (EP REVIEW)
There are a lot of really good things to say about Fr6nco and his latest ep, “Late Night Mentality,” but unfortunately for the Columbus Ohio native, there’s just one element missing that’s holding back his music.
Throughout the entire tracklist of the EP, the production quality is exemplary. The instrumentals are loaded with sweeping melodies and crisp percussion. Each one sounds great and carries a large amount of emotion. On top of that, the vocals really amplify the mood of each song. Fr6nco’s singing ability cannot be called into question based on his performance throughout the EP. So what makes this project lackluster?
It’s the writing. There is just no escaping it. Fr6nco’s lyricism is so basic that ‘predictable’ doesn’t begin to describe it. Granted, he’s more of an R&B artist than a “rapper,” so mind bending lyrics are definitely not the appeal to his music. The issue is that what he has to say still seems unbearably bland. It’s almost entirely based on single syllable rhymes, and probably over half of them are the same base line with one or two words changed to shoehorn a rhyme scheme in there so that it kind of has one. If you need an example of this repetition, here are two line from “Thinkin’ Bout U.”
“Girl you got me thinkin’ bout us, shit/ Girl you got me thinkin’ bout us, lit”
In the same song about 20 seconds later we come across this pair of lines.
“High off you, no tree/ I’ll sing to you like Glee”
I don’t consider this as egregious as the first example, but it definitely demonstrates how dull some of the similes and metaphors are.
It’s kind of unfortunate to me that this is the final product. The vocal work is great, the production is outstanding, but the lyrics are just bad and uninteresting. I can’t tell if he was trying to make simplistic hits or if this is actually his writing style. Either way, I truly believe he’d be well suited to put more effort behind his pen. The man is incredibly talented and he’s pretty much got everything else nailed down already.
Rating: 6/10
Highlights: Production, Vocals, Vibe
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