L.H. – “T2B2” EP (Review)
Some time in the middle of 2017, Chicago rapper L.H. released an EP titled “T2B2.” Through this EP, L.H. rolls out a mellow, laid back sound accompanied by a flow akin to Eazy E if he did modern mumble rap. It’s sort of a cross between old school and new era.
The entire project is 40 minutes and 13 seconds long, which is essentially the length of a fully fledged album. The difference being, a 40 minute album would likely have a bit more substance and content. Half of the songs on the EP have these lengthy gaps between bars, and it’s rather distracting. I personally found my focus wavering during a few of the tracks
If I had to pick a favorite song, I’d say it is “Runnin’,” the third track. It’s got a good beat, and the flow actually works really well with it. However, in all the other songs L.H. does at least one of two things; smashes words together awkwardly to fit them inside the bar, or drops really bad lines. Case in point…
“Sitting on money, like it is a couch.” Some people might like this, so it’s honestly passable, but it stuck out to me as a little bland.
“They juice boxes, need refills.” Nobody refills a juice box. The whole point is that you can bring it with you wherever and that you’re done with it when it’s empty.
“Wash your p***y, knees, and hands.” The context of this is that she’s been with some other guy, but why does she need to wash her knees, though? Yes, they might be dirty, but if you’re worried about catching something, it won’t be from her knees.
Regardless of the lyricism, most of the beats are pretty good. They have a consistent sound that carries throughout the entire project, making the EP feel cohesive. There were a lot of wind chimey synths, and some of them kind of clashed with the rest of the beat. For instance, “Trunk Go” seems to be trying for a hard, gritty sound, but then these delicate, high note synths cast a shadow over everything else in the instrumental. It just felt kind of out of place, but you can easily chop that up to artistic preference, as it does not ruin any of the instrumentals.
If I were to give L.H. any parting advice, it would be to write more within each bar. It’s kind of hard to engage the listener when there’s a gap of 2 to 3 seconds between or in the middle of your bars. However, there is definitely an audience out there for him and his unique sound as he is right now. I wouldn’t write L.H. off completely just yet. In fact, I’m very interested to see what he puts out next.
Rating: 5/10
Highlights: Production
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