"THE PRAYER BEFORE THE MEAL"
@lanceyfouxx on Instagram
"I walk in blood 'cause it's kill or be killed..." - Lancey Foux on Big Swag ft. 24kGoldn
LIVE.EVIL marks Lancey Foux’s seventh project and second mixtape of 2021, which was released this mid-November. This review will express my feelings on the project: what I believe to be the best takes from the mixtape, explore influences and sounds within this project, as well as reviewing anything that could have been done better. For those who aren’t familiar with this eclectic artist, Lancey Foux is an East London-born self-proclaimed ‘rockstar’, with a sound that resonates more with contemporary trap music from southern America but with a British touch.
He keeps this project to 13 songs; this gives the overall tape a good balance, having good content without over-flooding quantity. This time around he is less lyrically focused, compared to his previous tapes Friend or Foux and First Degree. Instead, his creativity pours out even more, experimenting further with his sound having a darker, distorted undertone. Listening to this mixtape, this feels like a different Lancey; he doesn’t sound as hungry, but instead he’s found himself and showing off his new ‘swag’. He keeps it short with the features in this project with star-studded US features in the form of Lil Yachty (Yacht Club, One Night, etc.) and 24kGoldn (Mood, City of Angels, etc.). 24kGoldn shines in Big Swag with his melodic flow to complement Lancey. Lil Yachty in OUTTAMYMIND! gives us an infection auto-tune filled verse, which is his forte as most would know. Both features do well to add something extra to the songs, with 24kGoldn performing more to my liking.
Lancey starts off the project with an intro filled with miscellaneous sounds with indistinct singing that alludes to a later song, before he gives us hard hitters in the form of RESPECT and OUTTAMYMIND!. These two songs follow a more ‘rager’ vibe, with Lancey Foux continuously parading his lavish lifestyle in his signature aggressive approach. Moving on to the body of the mixtape, Lancey gets softer in how he attacks these songs, especially with b€zerk, a title which is completely opposite to how he actually sounds in the song. I KNOW is the direct successor to the intro, with the chorus of this song being repeated in the intro.
In 25WAGG3DOU2 (Too Swagged Out) and Wait in Miami, he’s melodically rapping about what seems to be a specific woman that has his attention; one who’s got a fashion sense that he’s infatuated with and calls his ‘getaway’ like going to Miami. He then snaps out of this infatuation with no auto-tune rap in the latter parts of Wait in Miami. In the last remaining songs, Lancey goes back to the auto-tune to mellow us out in the latter part of the project. He tries something new with the song COLLECTION, with a drum pattern synonymous with songs rooted from African genres, along with a calming melody, guitar strumming and bongos in the background. The mixtape then ends on Big Swag with the big feature from 24kGoldn.
Current favourites of mine in this project are tellyafriends !¡, I KNOW and Big Swag, but this project is filled with quality. In saying this, it’s hard for me to put this over the likes of Friend or Foux and First Degree. There’s a certain level of conviction that he carries in First Degree that is set straight away from the intro that LIVE.EVIL doesn’t have, which is surprising, considering the name of this mixtape. It’s clear that this project focuses more on the sound and production; he’s also more boisterous about the luxury lifestyle and women in this mixtape than usual. It's a stand-up body of work, but I won't say it's to the same standard as Friend or Foux or First Degree. It needs to grow on me a bit more. His features do well in this mixtape but features in his previous tapes have complimented his songs better. Nevertheless, this project is a good introduction to the enigma that we have in the UK who is absolutely destined for great things; he is a breath of fresh air in the UK rap scene that seems to not value a certain level of abstract creativity from artists.