Intuition & Equalibrum - Leave A Mark
Social media has led to a lot of awful things, such as toxic fanbases that feel as though they need to defend their faves or tear down people for liking / disliking certain things, or a slew of misinformation, but one good thing has come out of it: finding music. It’s never been easier to find new music, because thanks to a mixture of YouTube, streaming services, and TikTok, you can find just about anything you want. I’ll find stuff totally out of the blue, especially when I’m not expecting it, and I think those are the best kinds of discoveries. These days, I tend to have music find me, not the other way around. Sometimes, though, I’ll spend a few hours on Bandcamp, Apple Music, or scrolling TikTok, and I’ll see what I find. I like to take some time away from new music to let new releases stack up, so I have more than one new album to get into, but I will also just scroll TikTok to see if I can find any unsigned artists.
Most of what I’ve found is awful, but I’ve found a few gems. One of them is rapper Intuition, and his comeback album, Leave A Mark. I’m not the hugest fan of rap these days, and I’ve made that known, but it’s not because I don’t like it. It’s because I’m not extremely familiar with a lot of the big names in the genre, at least in the indie sphere. I’ve got no interest to get into a majority of mainstream acts, but the indie artists are where it’s at for me. I’m not a fan of guys like Eminem, for example, but rappers like Aesop Rock and Lupe Fiasco are what I like. Not because they’re “real rappers,” but because they often utilize jazz influences, and their voices and lyrics speak to me. I don’t want to come off as a snob when I say that, but we can’t help what we like.
As for Intuition, I was instantly curious about what his new album had to offer, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the album was only 35 minutes. You know me, I love short albums, and this album is a perfect example of an album that’s short and hits like a brick in the process. Sometimes less is more, and less is more with this album, because it’s only 34 minutes, but it packs a punch. The album tackles a lot of different topics in the span of a half hour, such as Palestine, Sudan, white rappers becoming country singers (or just taking Black culture for their own in general), white people gentrifying the suburbs, as well as talking about the alt-right and how easy it is to fall down into that pipeline. He also muses about his father and grandfather passing away, and how he’s held onto that grief for so long, and how it’s shaped him as a man. The lyrical content on this album is top tier, and some of the best I’ve heard all year.
The beats and production are worthwhile, too, and the production from Equalibrum is top tier as well. The jazzy, quiet, and simple production works to its favor, because he lets Intuition just rap. There are no bells and whistles, but the beats are really great on their own. There are a handful of really catchy hooks, too, and they’re not forced or too poppy, but they’re organic and genuinely catchy. When I say that this is one of the most potent and important records of the year, I mean it. If you can only listen to one rap album, make it this one. Intuition has a great flow, his lyrics are masterful, and the production is some of the best I’ve heard all year. This is just one of my favorite albums of the year, period. I haven’t heard an album that hits this hard in months, although there have been a lot of great albums this year. This album just hits so hard, and I can find something new to enjoy every time I listen to it, and that’s not something I can say about every album I listen to.
