Jaden's "ERYS" is an interesting blend of sounds that can turn into a good song or a hard listen
Jaden looks to bounce back from his subpar 2018 project “The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story” with the release of his 2019 project titled “ERYS.” One thing about Jaden that makes him attractive to new listeners is the immense potential he has shown on his 2017 project “SYRE.” Fast forward to his third project and Jaden looks to gain that momentum as well as show his progression from just two years ago. Before the release of this album, Jaden dropped a three-song EP titled “ERYS IS COMING” in mid-April that didn’t do much to generate hype for the forthcoming album “ERYS.” However, “ERYS” is here with two versions, the first version being a standard copy and a deluxe version which dropped on the same day with three extra songs including “Beautiful Disruption” which was on “ERYS IS COMING.” The original is 17 tracks which equate to one hour and nine minutes of music and the deluxe adds the three songs mentioned before totaling 20 tracks and one hour and eighteen minutes of music. For this breakdown, I will be reviewing all 20 track Jaden has given us on the deluxe. One hour and eighteen minutes of music is a lot of music, which can only work if the quality of the music holds up for that period of time. Lido, Tyler, The Creator, SYRE, Trinidad James, Willow, A$AP Rocky, and Kid Cudi all appear on this album as features. This album could define Jaden’s Hip-Hop career so without further ado, let’s get to the review!
Categories
The songs on this album divided into four lanes that are prevalent throughout the project
It’s Different
Jaden uses different filters on his voice on beats with Hip-Hop aspects to them
• “P” (1)
• “N” (.5)
• “On My Own” ft. Kid Cudi (1)
• “Riot” (1)
Alt-Trap Jaden
Jaden raps over trap beats led by their bass and high hat combos using a filter on his voice
• “I” (.5)
• “NOIZE” ft. Tyler The Creator (1)
• “i-drip-or-is” (1)
• “Got It” (1)
• “Mission” ft. Trinidad James (1)
• “Chateau” ft. A$AP Rocky (1)
• “Beautiful Disruption” (1)
• “Ghost” ft. A$AP Rocky (1)
Two songs, One Track
Tracks with beat switches that are two opposing vibes
• “K” ft. Lido (.5)
• “Again” (1)
• “Pain” (1)
• “ERYS” (1)
Rock On Jaden!
Jaden sings over a drum and guitar filled beat typical to rock
• “Fire Dept” (1)
• “Summertime In Paris” ft. Willow (1)
• “Blackout” (1)
• “Somebody Else” (1)
Must Listen Songs
The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that stand out for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.
“Summertime In Paris” ft. Willow
The eleventh track on Jaden’s “ERYS” is a beautiful rock song focused on the concept of falling in love in the summertime. The electric guitar in the background with the simple drum beat and occasional bass all blends together nicely on this beat made by Josiah Bell and OmArr. The duet at the beginning of the second verse between Jaden and Willow works well to show their chemistry in the booth. Overall, this song provides a chill vibe and content making the listener want to fall in love.
“Chateau” ft. A$AP Rocky
Track fourteen on “ERYS” is driven by a hard trap beat made by OmArr and Young Fyre. The beat is fast paced with a heavy bass with faint high hats in the background. A$AP Rocky and Jaden do a great job of flowing on this hard beat with the showcase of their ability to rap fast. The hook sung by Jaden is one reminiscent of cadences used by Travis Scott.
“On My Own” ft. Kid Cudi
Track number fifteen on “ERYS” puts Kid Cudi in his element with a slow-paced beat made by OmArr and Lastnght. The hook sung by Kid Cudi is beautiful over the soft bass and tambourine filled beat. This song is perfect for a campfire sing-along because of the easy to follow hook and the open invitation to clap to the tempo of the beat from the tambourines. The beat switches to a more trap like beat toward the end of the song with a more prevalent bass and subtle high hats as Jaden raps.
Final Review
Jaden’s “ERYS” is an interesting blend of sounds that can turn into a good song or a hard listen. This being said for a 20 track project the fact that very few tracks really stand out from the pack is concerning. At times throughout the project, it’s hard to understand what Jaden is saying because either he is using too much of a filter on his voice or the beat simply wins the battle for sound dominance over his voice. The filters Jaden used to alter his voice at times made songs hard to listen to, tempting me to just pull the plug in general. Some tracks feel like two songs on one track because of the drastic difference in the vibe of them. On “Again” Jaden raps over a trap beat for the majority of the song until the end where he gives us a verse that identifies more with the soft rock genre. Mixing genres is a good idea for the duration of an album but not a good idea for the duration of a single track. Overall, this project provides good music to listen to when you’re just trying to chill on a rooftop. “ERYS” leaves me with a lot of questions about the music Jaden wants to make which could be exactly what Jaden is looking to do, avoid being boxed into one music genre.
Scoring
Raw Score: The number of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a +1 or above to be counted.
Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.
Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.
Raw Score: 17/20
Quality Score: 18.5/20
Playback Value: 2/5
Go out and listen to Jaden’s “ERYS” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) and Twitter (@OLDMLKDOTCOM) for updates on OLDMLK.COM: The Most Essential Hip Hop Blog, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar. And remember, when it comes to Hip-Hop if you don’t know it OLDMLK does!
