#fun summer

ears pierced again

learn piano bitch

sing again bitch

sing with other TRANS people BITCH

cute tattoo

learn about how to not be an idiot about race in America with some other white people at church

actually fucking have time to go to church

paid internship

volunteer for trans people at a local clinic

some freelance web design

weekend after that - kayaking trip!

weekend after that - friends from FL coming to visit

Makonnen relies on his limited skill set to cement his status as an increasingly irrelevant pop trapper. 

"I feel like the evil lion like jafar" raps Makonnen on his latest EP. The complexity and overall quality of this record are embodied in this single, dumb lyric. On Fun Summer Vol. 1 (more on the way if we're lucky!), It feels like Makonnen has run dry a pool of creativity and charisma which he enjoyed in abundance during his come-up. Instead of delivering a collection of rowdy trap bangers his new tape is built on a foundation of light, wispy trap-flared instrumentals with vocal accompaniment by Makonnen lazily groaning, mumbling, singing, sometimes rapping, but never ever trying to hard. Most the time Makonnen seems to be actually freestyling. If not, his rapping is lazy and he does nothing to remedy that.

Even worse, each track sounds like a reference track for a better, more complete ILOVEMAKONNEN song from any other of his number of mixtapes. Not that Makonnen's content is the most eclectic anyway, but here it is utterly apparent that Makonnen has about.. hmm... give or take.. 4 different tricks, and he's going to use all of them as he sees fit. As I write this review, part of me stops. How is it fair to judge ILOVEMAKONNEN’s work through such a critical lens. He raps with equal parts flamboyance and menace. At one moment, he's sob-singing over a broken heart while at another he's snorting stimulants to get his heart pumping. It's a unique persona to embody but Makonnen certainly does it wonders and his energy is undeniable. (His concerts are what you'd expect: loud, wild, fun rambunctious type shit).  So to the degree Makonnen has succeeded doing his "thing", this entire project isn't just creatively stagnant it's a step in the wrong musical direction. 

Unfortunately, Makonnen’s music has become to feel stale as he's continually dropped new music on his soundcloud since his time outside of the limelight. None of it yet to surpass the moody bangers offered by Makonnen on his earliest tapes. Oftentimes, Makonnen falls back on the same ol' formula or the tired tricks he knows how to do with a semblance of skill.  Makonnen has always sung but now more than ever, his raps take a backseat to the amateur crooning. There's not a song on this record where Makonnen doesn't let out into his goofy, yet earnest bellow. But it's not like his singing has gotten better. And it was never strong enough in the first place to sustain an entire record on its own.  So where does that leave us?  Makonnen goes from sounding like an untrained child to a bad musical theater performer with an in between that fades into the background surprisingly easily. Well with a new emphasis on singing, it would only make sense for the lyrics to complement his unique vocal performances. Nah. The lyrics, however earnest, are pseudo-romantic streams of consciousness. There are no statements made or insights reached about love and it's grandiosity but yknow -- it's an ILOVEMAKONNEN project -- need to reel in your expectations a bit. This is the definition of music that sounds like it was literally made for no reason.

There are very few, if any moments on the album that sound inspired. Rather, it's more likely Makonnen was bored, high and had a bunch of loosie instrumentals stocked up. My comments are somewhat harsh but don't get me wrong, I love Makonnen. For that reason, I want him to progress artistically and reclaim a place among the new school artists constantly shifting the paradigm of hip hop. It's just that this feels like a step in the wrong direction and a wholly apathetic effort on Makonnen's part. I believe in his ability to create distinctly "Makonnen-material". Something like "Tuesday", which was fresh for the time it was released.  Now, Makonnen is playing out of his league and isn't improving. In fact, because he chooses not to highlight it, he seems to have regressed in talent.  Killing Me is Makonnen's most successful pop-electronic-rap exercise, but that isn't saying much because as far as pop-electronic-rap tracks go, it's about generic as they come. Another lowlight, "Line", Makonnen raps about the plug with what literally sounds like his nose plugged. Seriously, go listen. I hope that’s the joke because at least that would mean Makonnen actually had a concept for a track and executed on it. Ok I don't mean that actually cause this song is NOT GOOD but you get what I'm saying. 

If Makonnen drops further volumes of the Fun Summer series in the coming months, let's hope our favorite teddy bear trap star can recreate the dark magic of his self titled debut. At the very least maybe he can conjure up some new voodoo rap shit that bangs.

3/10

Bright, fresh, and zesty Sashka Co. Bracelet colors for summer!🌞🌴