Born Yesterday

Quadeca is back with a new single and it’s easily the best I’ve heard from him so far, however I’m not really blown away with what I heard. The production pretty much puts this track on its back as it’s easily the best aspect. The track opens with a very smooth and somber string rhythm that slowly builds with a few minor accompaniments while the volume sees a slight increase as well. There are also some electronic elements added throughout the intro to the track that blend together nicely and make for a very spacious and pleasant sound. They also accompany Quadeca’s vocals pretty well. There are a lot of layers and harmonies that enter and exit the track at different intervals and really help to add variety to the track. There are nice harmonies from keys, some occasional synth inclusions that fluctuate in volume at a similar pattern to Quadeca’s volume. The production does a great job at building up to this electronic, hectic sound when Quadeca has his heavy reverb and gritty sound. The atmosphere of the track constantly shifts in a way that’s almost perfectly in tune with Quadeca’s approach. Whenever Quadeca ditches the reverb and autotune for his natural vocals, the production follows a similar pattern and lets the melody breathe while softening the accompanying aspects of the instrumental. The drum and bass inclusions are very subtle and limited, but they keep a nice tempo and suit the track pretty well. Towards the end of the track, some very heavy and powerful chords take over the production and close the track in a sudden, yet very interesting way. Having mentioned all of this, there are a few issues the production brings. The main issue I have with it is that at times, the vocals and production clash in a way that makes the track a bit cluttered and incoherent. This happens at the parts where Quadeca and the production are at the loudest. Aside from that minor mixing issue, there’s really not much to complain about for this aspect. Overall, the production is very impressive. It’s got a lot of layers, a strong atmosphere, and a very solid and distinct sound. Quadeca’s vocals experience numerous changes and switches throughout the track and some of them end up working better than others. A lot of the vocals throughout this track see Quadeca’s voice take a very reverby and spacy approach that’s also bitcrushed at certain points. It’s safe to say that Quadeca’s vocals draw inspiration from the likes of Jean Dawson and Genesis Owusu, because stylistically there are a lot of parallels between Quadeca’s voice here and the aforementioned artists’ vocals. Most of the time, Quadeca’s voice is great alongside the production and they make for a very atmospheric and somewhat gorgeous sound. However, there are a few instances where the balance between Quadeca and the production is a bit off and it feels like these elements are on two different pages. While it doesn’t distract from the track a whole lot, it does make the track relatively messy and all over the place. When Quadeca drops all the vocal effects, it doesn’t suit the production well at all as it feels like Quadeca’s vocals are sticking out instead of fitting in. As previously mentioned, it temporarily sets the track a bit off course. Overall, the vocals generally are pretty solid. It’s insanely obvious that Quadeca needs to drop his rapping and go all in with this style because this is where he can make quality music. Quadeca’s lyrics and songwriting are easily the worst parts of this track. The lyrics are relatively tedious and repetitive. Quadeca sort of spins in circles lyrically as in six minutes, the song sees pretty much no expansion or change on the lyrical front. It’s also important to note that a lot of Quadeca’s lines don’t really connect in any way and in some spots, the lyrics are just nonsensical or confusing when put next to each other (the chorus is a prime example). Quadeca’s flows were also relatively simplistic and could’ve used a bit more variation in them as well, however they did at the very least fit the tone and pace of the track. There’s really not a whole lot to unpack on the songwriting front as I found it to be pretty underwhelming in comparison to the track’s other pieces. Overall, the lyrics and songwriting were a noticeable weak spot. All in all, in spite of my issues, I think this is the best I’ve heard from Quadeca yet and he’s heading down a good path that should lead to some more quality stuff in the future.