The concept for this track is pretty interesting and undoubtedly unusual – the artist’s name adds to that intrigue and hopefully initially draws you in for the sheer novelty of it alone. As the music starts to play, the lyrics actually sound like a lot of modern hip hop releases that aren’t necessarily conceptual – this manner of listing short lines and ideas that don’t always relate to one another. There’s no clear or set story-line at first but if you weren’t aware of the concept for the track you wouldn’t necessarily question that – hip hop goes where it wants to go.
To fill you in – TitleWave is exactly what it sounds like. Cheesecake Jesus has built a rap entirely out of song titles. Depending on the listener, you could grow privy to this pretty quickly, or you could be half way through the track before you realise the familiarity of some of those statements and words.
Artists often name-drop or mention pop culture references in their music, so it’s not all that shocking the first time you hear a familiar title. As the track progresses though, you get into the swing of the music, the beat and the leading vocal become the thread – the comforting element that keeps it all relative – the release works pretty well as a smooth and mellow piece of hip hop. Soon enough though – you start to really connect the pieces.
Much more than this being an easy listen – you become increasingly impressed at how every single line and bar is genuinely comprised purely of song titles. From Eminem to Lorde to Aerosmith to The Beatles – there’s no prejudice in the choices, and a lot of it seems to work pretty well and gives the verses a fairly rhythmic flow. By the latter half you’re hanging on the details, waiting for those songs you know and love, waiting for something else to make you smile. By the end of the track, the hook takes on a life of its own – you know the lyrics and the sound now, so the titles kind of take a back seat – the words belong to the song now.
It’s entertaining for sure, and not overbearing in being so. The track is subtle and calm to listen to, the leading voice delivers these lyrics with a certain touch of seriousness, so you can just let it work its delightfully weird poetry around you as the beat fills the room. In actual fact, the structure of the track works hard to keep you captivated, the soundscape evolves in unison with the performance – so as the melodic moments come in, or those quicker rap moments, the intensity rises accordingly and helps everything maintain a natural bounce and appeal.
It’s refreshing to see artists pushing the boundaries creatively, whether novelty or not, it’s a lot of fun. TitleWave entertains and has been really well captured and produced. I’m keen to hear what else comes through from Cheesecake Jesus in the future.
