This extended play was released on February 18th this year. Honestly, even though I ended up enjoying Own Pace more than I was expecting, I’m still not really expecting this project to be that great. A lot of my friends seem to think that this is a step down from the aforementioned album. I guess that’s probably not really a good indication of whether or not I’ll enjoy this. I’ve heard one single from this EP, and I kinda liked it, although I was more impressed by the music video than anything. I’m almost positive that I’ll at least really enjoy the production here. I loved the beats on Own Pace, and I think Medhane’s a talented producer. All the songs here are self produced. I think it’s really cool that he used a portrait of Joseph Cinqué for the official artwork, but I’m not really sure why he did that. Maybe he went to ancestry.com and found out that he’s related to him. That’d be awesome. If I was related to Joseph Cinqué I’d tell everyone on the planet lol. Maybe that’s why it’s called Full Circle. I don’t know. Hopefully the reasoning behind the cover art will become more clear once I’m done listening, but I honestly don’t think that’ll be the case.
1. DAN FREEMAN co-produced by iblss
I wrote about this song after Week 7 of 2020, so I’m gonna be lazy and just transcribe my original thoughts since my opinion hasn’t changed.
I’ve written about two other singles from Medhane so far this year, and based on what I’ve heard he isn’t really that interesting of an artist, but I still enjoy his music to some extent. I don’t really find the content of his lyrics to be particularly compelling, but he’s got a pretty solid flow and he can rhyme very well.
Stay expending energy, won’t let that anger get the best of me
Steady speed, let me be, let me dream, know what pressure bring
Gettin’ free, framing memories, let the tension ease, breathe deeply
Prolly missin’ when you need me, throwin’ shade, it never reach me, game easy
For the most part it’s just a gauntlet of non-sequiturs, but he’s clearly got a strong baseline of skill here. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this AFB guy before, but I actually really love the instrumental on this song. Oh wait… Oh, okay. AFB is Medhane’s production pseudonym I guess. That’s cool. I didn’t know he was also a producer, although these days I feel like it’s probably safe to assume that most rappers dabble in that field. Shoutout to iblss too. The beat is dope. However, my favorite aspect of the entire song is easily the music video. That video is fucking awesome. Definitely make sure you check that shit out, even if you aren’t the biggest fan of Medhane.
2. I WAS JUST IN THE MARA featuring Maassai
This beat is pretty solid, but not something that I can pretend to be truly captivated by. The first verse from Medhane is pretty nice; the reference to Flint, Michigan was kinda cool. I liked Maassai’s verse lyrically, but her flow wasn’t very good to me. I don’t know about this one honestly. It’s definitely not a bad song, but it’s just kinda boring. The writing is solid, and the beat’s okay, but that’s pretty much all I can say about it. Nothing really stands out. It’s a very unremarkable track in my opinion. It’s less than three minutes, but it somehow feels too long. I think it’s just okay.
3. NATURAL LEAF featuring AKAI SOLO
I really love the beat on this track. I actually really like Medhane’s verse at the beginning of this song too. His flow, rhyme schemes, and delivery all sound really good to me, even if the actual content isn’t particularly interesting. Unfortunately, it’s kind of the opposite for AKAI SOLO. I liked the lyrics, but his flow & delivery weren’t very enjoyable to me. His verse was about two times as long as that of Medhane too. Honestly, he kinda ruined this track for me. I wouldn’t say that his verse was complete trash or that it was even bad. It just wasn’t very good to me. If it was shorter I’d probably like this track a lot more, but it feels more like AKAI SOLO featuring Medhane than vice versa. It’s definitely more entertaining to me than the preceding track, but overall I don’t see myself coming back to it. It’s just decent in my opinion.
4. NO MORE TEQUILA
The beat on this track is pretty cool. Medhane only spits one really short verse on this song, and it’s not bad, but it’s not particularly impressive either. He finally references Cinqué on this song, but it’s very surface level, and holds almost no weight; it’s just relegated to a worthless simile. The melodic hook is pretty cool though. The entire song is less than 90 seconds long. I like the production a lot, and the hook is cool. However, in terms of Medhane’s actual vocal performance, it sounds like this song was made in five minutes. This is easily the weakest track up to this point in my opinion. I think it’s mediocre.
5. REDLINE
Pretty much everything that I said about the preceding track applies to this one. The production is dope, but the rap performance isn’t that impressive, and the hook does nothing for me. I really don’t have much else to say about the song. This is like expecting a full three course meal and only getting bread and water. Well, maybe I’m being a bit harsh. I actually think this is a step up from the preceding track. The verse isn’t bad at all. There’s just not enough here to warrant any repeat listens. It’s a dope beat with a super skeletal vocal performance. It’s just okay to me.
6. REVERENCE
This beat is really glitchy and strange, but I like it. It sounds like what I’d hear if I was trying to listen to a Knxwledge tape and my cassette deck was malfunctioning. The entire song is just one verse, which did absolutely nothing for me. I feel like I’m listening to “Generic Lofi Hip Hop Song #6348” by MC Sawdust. There’s nothing here to pull me in aside from the mildly interesting production. This is one of my least favorite songs on the project to be honest. The beat’s cool, but aside from that I don’t care for this at all. It’s mediocre to me.
7. BIG38
This song has my least favorite beat on the project; I actually think it’s really bad. It sounds like it could’ve been dope, and I’m sure plenty of listeners will really enjoy it, but I personally just find it really annoying. The verse from Medhane did nothing for me either. Honestly, I really don’t like anything about this track. This is basically the only song on the whole project that I would say is genuinely bad in my opinion. I think it’s wack.
8. 4EVAFADED
The beat on this track is thankfully pretty awesome. It’s probably my favorite beat on the whole EP. This is easily the best song on the project overall too. His flow and delivery are still pretty unremarkable, but the way he was rhyming was legitimately really impressive. I think this blows every other track outta the water to be honest. I still wouldn’t say that I love it overall since the structure is so skeletal, but I definitely enjoyed it far more than any of the other songs. It’s a dope track.
This project is unfortunately not very good to me at all. I genuinely think I would’ve enjoyed this a lot more if he just left it as an AFB beat tape. Maybe he should be a ghostwriter too. I think he’s good at rhyming. I don’t know what it is about the way he raps, but he just loses my attention so easily. I made the Mac Miller comparison when I reviewed Own Pace, but I think he’s a better rapper than Mac. He just really lacks personality, which consequently makes his music really dull to me. I honestly don’t think I’m gonna be reviewing any more of his work in the future because it’s clear that he’s just not my cup of tea. I’ll check his work out, but I don’t see a reason to talk about everything he releases. I will say that I’m glad he kept it short because I don’t know how I’d endure a super long project from him. It’s bittersweet though because the short length results in a handful of songs that feel really skeletal and unfinished. Unless I’m mistaken, there’s not a single track here that features more than one verse from Medhane himself. Maybe that’s for the best though. This shit is just mediocre to me.
Favorite Song: 4EVAFADED
Least Favorite Song: BIG38
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