Fivio Foreign Provides A Blueprint for New York Drill on ‘B.I.B.L.E.’
New York City Drill music has been in the news recently as the biggest city in the country continues to feel out the realities of “post-covid” life. The artists of the genre have been criticized for the excessive violence portrayed in their tracks, most notably by New York City’s new mayor Eric Adams suggesting a ban on New York’s current signature sound. These criticisms eventually led to a meeting between Eric Adams and many of the city’s Drill rappers including Fivio Foreign to discuss what can be done to curtail the violence the NYPD consistently connects to the subgenre’s lyrics. While it seems, Eric Adams has walked back his threat to ban Drill music, the subgenre has other problems.
Since the unfortunate passing of Pop Smoke in 2020, New York City Drill music has been waiting for a new face to lead the subgenre to national prominence. Additionally, the subgenre’s sonics have become predictable with not enough attention being paid to the Drill rappers who try to test the boundaries of the recent New York sound. These two predicaments have led to the subgenre’s plateau in popularity amongst Hip-Hop fans outside of the city and casual Hip-Hop fans.
By delivering the best verse of his career on Kanye West’s ‘Off The Grid,’ Brooklyn Drill Rapper Fivio Foreign seemed to reignite some of the excitement around the subgenre. The track was arguably the best track on Donda, being anointed so from the first time fans heard it during the listening events Kanye West held before the officially unofficial release of his 2021 album. Since then, the buzz around Fivio Foreign has increased as rumors of Kanye West having a presence in the kitchen for Fivio’s newest album have routinely swirled.
With Fivio Foreign’s debut album B.I.B.L.E., the Brooklyn artist hopes to reimagine the expectations of the subgenre. With features from KayCyy, Quavo, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Queen Naija, Coi Leray, Chlöe, A$AP Rocky, Lil Yachty, Lil Tjay, Yung Bleu, DJ Khaled, Vory, Polo G, Blueface, and Ne-Yo, Fivio Foreign certainly recruits diverse talents to compliment his drill sound. Does Fivio do enough to breathe new life into New York’s current sound on a national level? I’d argue yes.
Two of my favorite drill tracks of all time are ‘War’ by Pop Smoke featuring Lil TJay and ‘Mannequin’ created by the same duo. Both tracks stand out in Pop Smoke’s discography as the perfect contrast with Pop Smoke’s menacing presence and Lil TJay’s melodic vocals complimenting each other. This provided a splash of diversity for a discography that felt one-dimensional at the time, serving as foreshadowing for what the next step for the subgenre should be. On B.I.B.L.E., Fivio Foreign follows the same formula with most of the features providing a contrast to the aggressive drill style while going a step further by picking beats with soft melodic foundations.
B.I.B.L.E.’s intro track ‘On God’ featuring KayCyy sets the tone for the rest of the record with the minimal Donda-like beat. Fivio opens the track using his now signature ‘Off The Grid’ flow that meshes well with the melody before KayCyy’s vocals add to the atmosphere of the song with the chorus. The track not only foreshadows what’s to come throughout the rest of the album but also serves as a continuation of Fivio’s ‘Off The Grid’ hype and a palette cleanser between Fivio’s previous music and the sixteen tracks that come after this one.
Track five on Fivio Foreign’s B.I.B.L.E., ‘What’s My Name’ with Queen Naija featuring Coi Leray samples Destiny Child’s 1999 classic ‘Say My Name’ with a drill twist. Listeners hear Beyoncé’s vocals paired with the signature drill gunshot when the track first starts before the drill percussions and bass take shape in the structure of the sample. Throughout the track, Fivio Foreign raps what he would say to a woman in hopes of attracting her attention, a nice escape from the common drill subject matter. Queen Naija and Coi Leray add to the track with their vocals on verses about what they would say to attract a man’s attention. The track comes together impressively well, adding more diversity to the drill subgenre.
‘Hello’ featuring Chlöe & KayCyy serves as track seven on Fivio Foreign’s latest offering. ‘Hello’ features another melodic foundation before the drill percussions come in to add texture to the instrumental. Track seven is a drill love track with Fivio Foreign rapping “whether you knew it or whether you know it, I need you with me and it’s hard not to show it” and “I don’t know how you be lookin’ so perfect I don’t even think you do it on purpose.” Furthermore, on the hook, Fivio raps “been lookin’ for somebody like you, don’t let me excite you, but bay you viral, there’s nobody like you, if nobody like you then baby, I’d like to.” The vocal services of Chlöe and KayCyy help to flesh the concept of this track out into a full properly executed one.
The penultimate track on B.I.B.L.E., ‘Whoever’ is another example of Fivio Foreign taking advantage of different sounds to keep the drill percussions throughout the album fresh. A more electronic melody shines on track sixteen as the presence of the drill high hats and bass is minimized to a level where it’s noticeable but doesn’t consume the whole track. The production on this track by Mike Dean, Saint Cardona, and Wxrrior maximizes Fivio Foreign’s talents to add more playback value to the backend of this project.
Fivio Foreign’s B.I.B.L.E. is a greatly needed next step for the subgenre of New York Drill. New York Drill rappers have been attempting to innovate the subgenre for quite some time, however, Fivio Foreign’s newest record takes these concepts and tests them on a national stage. Selling 29k units in the first week is no small task, however, the playback value of this album will ultimately be the true testament to how much drill music has progressed. For the answer to this, only time will be able to tell.
