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😄 v.i.c., evil genius / let it go review

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but first, the news

yes that’s right, news time! a short selection of links to all things going on in the music biz:

• soundcloud say they aren’t training ai models on your music

• diddy’s trial gets going

• 44% of people going to download haven’t been before

more i’ve been listening to

soft launch / dinosaur

i know a northern irish accent when i hear one. let me tell you, game acknowledges game. go on the lads.

michelle / oontz

it’s got grooves, it’s got moods, it’s making me choose live laugh love lemme tell you

sports team / bang bang bang

yee, and, i’m being really serious when i say this next part, so let me puff up my chest and say it properly; haw

genre: hip hop
release date: 21/04/25
runtime: 3:46
video: no :(

contents

• 😄 v.i.c., evil genius / let it go review

• but first, the news

• more i’ve been listening to

  • michelle / oontz

  • sports team / bang bang bang

    • what i like

    • what i don't like

    • my drunk opinion

    • for fans of

    • should you listen to more

• next edition out next tuesday!

good morning everyone and welcome to another edition of exactly what you’ve been looking for. how did i know? well, that’s my secret isn’t it. for me to know, and you, you to find out. this week we’re dipping off the database to check out a song i’ve been wanting to review for a few weeks now. now, i do have to admit something, which is that one of the artists involved in this has grown up and out of our usual bracket, but the other one hasn’t, so i’m allowing it on technicality. and i’m really doing that because the song is so banging. it’s called let it go by a killer combo of v.i.c. and evil genius. quick aside, do you know how painful it is to come across an artist that goes by the name evil genius. that’s the best band name i’ve heard in a longgggg time. powerful stuff my friend.

there is so much on display in this song it is a right tour de force. everything from massive rock-y moments with gang vocals to a chill moment of trumpet solo in the distance. the whole thing is dense dense dense with instrumentation and ideas, and it is woven together in a way that feels effortless and intentional. i also really enjoy the endless sea of references in this track. everything from taking a leaf out of the huge history of hip hop and blues, to what i swear to god is the adam neely ‘the riff’ riff, you know the one. this is a song steeped in history and activity of it’s scene, and the production stands up to that pedigree. everything from the rich grooves to the vocal production to that trumpet solo, that damned trumpet solo. it all sounds like a million bucks. but this is all set dressing for the main event; the performance of v.i.c., a rapper who performs like a force of nature. effortlessly moving from giving fire and brimstone at a hundred miles an hour to a gentle and soulful moment full of the kind of emotional weight that a song tackling the topics this track does with gravitas.

i almost felt like this track was actually a bit too pristine. when i was listening to it, i really enjoyed the level of production that went into this, it’s top tier and done so so well. that said, i almost wish they’d then taken what they achieved here with something really really neat and clear and moved it over into something that then obscures things a little bit, smudged the lens as it were.

the trumpet solo in this makes me want to take up smoking and wearing fedoras and telling people to beat it toots. i won’t be doing any of those things, but man. what a life

i’ve been back and forth on this for a little bit trying to figure out what the best direction to go here is. i actually found myself thinking a lotttt about this new sleep token album, and especially the song gethsemene. hear me out for a second, i’m on to something i promise. see, this and that both have huge blues and r’n’b influences i mean christ parts of this and that are so thick with chill vibes i feel the need to lo fi and study. not only that, they both are massively eschewing traditional song structure in favour of really emotionally driven songwriting. moments of both are absolute highs and triumphs, and yet more move into those aforementioned chill vibes. so yeah, standing by that, come to my house and tell me off i dare u.

both of the artists involved in this song are absolutely incredible. the album this is off is immaculate, and what’s more they use a lot of internal references in the lyrics and melody that echo between the two songs. it ties this song into the rest in a way that’s really rewarding to listen to, so i encourage you to do so over and over and over again.

or better yet, reply to this email! what did you think of this song? have you been listening to anything good lately? any gems i’ve missed?

next edition out next tuesday!