T. Hayes – “Kill the Mockingbird” (Album Review)
H-Town native T. Hayes boldly announces his arrival with his debut album “Kill the Mockingbird,” a showcase of creativity, emotion, and love of Hip Hop.
“Kill the Mockingbird” starts out with the beginning of a narrative following the journey of a young mockingbird. This story is told over the course of the album through interludes and is a metaphor for innocence, identity, and truth. My only two complaints with these interludes is that sometimes the vocabulary used is too strong and feels very out of place (“…felt mutilated for it…” and “…historical encounter” are the best examples of this) or, and this is probably my greatest complaint with the project as a whole, the interludes and songs trade off one for one up until track 9. Meaning an interlude plays, then a song, then an interlude, and so forth. If you plan on using interludes this heavily in your album, you better pack a couple more songs in it. I had initially written the entire project off as just another weak attempt to gain notoriety online because of the bad ratio between songs and interludes. However, I did not for one simple reason…
EMBED:
T. Hayes can rap.
I won’t go as far as to say that all of his verses were stellar, but not a single flow or verse disappointed me. Hayes undoubtedly proves his potential through his pen game. I’d say one of his best songs is track 8, titled “Primma Donna.” It opens with an infectious hook, and he delivers solid verses to back it up with, keeping the listener engaged throughout. Two other songs to take note of are track 9, “Fall,” and track 12, “Love = Patience.” Similarly to “Primma Donna,” they have solid flows, good production, and verses worth their weight.
I hate critiquing someone for singing, as it is something that takes natural talent or many hours of practice to be good at, but I have to mention it as a pitfall of the album. There are a couple songs where T. Hayes vocals do sound good, like “Fall” and “Runaway.” Most of the other instances of singing don’t add much to the album, however. My advice would be to either add a touch of autotune, or just focus on the notes in Hayes’ sweet spot.
Overall, “Kill the Mockingbird” was surprisingly enjoyable to listen. It’s not perfect, but it’s absolutely the start of what I hope to be a long, successful music career. If T. Hayes isn’t on your radar, he needs to be.
Rating: 7/10
Highlights: Production, Lyricism, Flow
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