Not3s – Take Not3s II Album Review

Track List

Got
Sit Back Down
Just Fine
Neverland
Tuggyszn
Stressing Me
Palm Wine
M3 Not You
Nigerian Eagle
Trekked Like Me

At times it’s hard to believe Hackney born rapper Not3s is only 20 years old. Equipped with a ferocious tongue, some cleverly written lyrics and a great mumble rap and trap influence, Taking Not3s II is the second EP from the rapper, touching on subjects including love, envy and the music business itself. Taking Not3s II combines this lyrical flair with simplistic but effective compositions, leaning heavily toward auto-tuned chorus effects that are the staple of this genre.

The album begins with Got, a catchy, confidently written song about Not3s’ successes before dipping and diving through various tracks that gravitate heavily toward matters of the heart. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does lead to a lack of variety in an album that otherwise has some great lyrical content and some clever word play throughout. Late on the album does inject some pace with a couple of bouncy, quick-tempoed tracks that are sure to get the head bopping including Nigerian Eagle and Trekked Like Me. With a combination of rapid lyrics and an infectious backing track on each, these two tracks in particular really show off the range with this British rapper.

With one of the staples in Mumble Rap being to heavily auto-tune the chorus of each track, Taking Not3s II does at least try to break this trend up a little with some interesting compositions and different tempos throughout. Most of the tracks do rely on the formulaic hip-hop conventions you’d expect from this genre but there’s still a really good balance between the lyrics and backing tracks. Rarely does it feel like either is discordant with the other and it makes for some really tight productions. It’s a cleverly written album too with a lot of the choruses surprisingly catchy, even more so on repeat listens. There’s an infectious bounce here that’s hard to ignore in an album that manages to play on the trends in hip-hop right now while delivering just enough uniqueness to make this a good album in its own right.

While Taking Not3s II is unlikely to be an album that rips up the hip-hop scene or delivers something that changes the game completely, there’s enough in Taking Not3s II to make it a decent hip hop album nonetheless and another solid entry to add to Not3s’ discography. 2018 looks to be a big year for the rapper too after his blistering debut late last year and it’ll be interesting to see how people perceive this album that certainly has more than one catchy track that could easily hit the mainstream.