Gavlyn & DJ Hoppa – “Say Less, Love More” (Album Review)

Gavlyn is a 31 year old MC from San Fernando Valley, California who first emerged nearly a decade back off her debut album From the Art, which was later followed up by Habit That You Blame as well as Modest Confidence & Make Up for Your Break Up. But she’s been working very closely with former Funk Volume in-house producer DJ Hoppa since 2016, her last 2 outings Why Wait? & Headspace both going onto become what I believe are her best bodies of work yet. However, they’re back from a 3-year hiatus for Gavlyn’s 7th full-length outing.

After the titular intro, the first song “Creative Muscle” starts out meditatively tells the listeners to exercise such whereas “About Us” smoothly tells listeners that she feels accomplished. “Break the Mold” spaciously pleads to help define her leading into “There’s Only 1” goes into boom bap turf saying ain’t nobody like her.

Meanwhile on “Nothing To It”, we have Gavlyn soothingly reminding everyone that life comes & goes just before “Stepping Stones” serves as a piano trap banger saying she’s come to far to stop. “Self Love” is a jazzy boom bap ode to one’s own happiness, but then “Born with It” vibrantly talks about her shining like a jewel.

“Take It Slow” comes through with a sensual romance ballad while the song “Audrey May” is a twangy depiction of her life up to this point. The penultimate track “Feel a Way” goes back into boom bap territory addressing an unnamed lover & “Stop Trippin’” ends the album with another jazz-tinged cut advising not to lose your inner person.

Say Less, Love More could very well be Gavlyn’s magnum opus in my eyes. You can really hear her growth as a lyricist throughout it’s half hour runtime & DJ Hoppa continues to bring the best out of her, as he takes his production game to a whole new level.

Score: 8/10