<p>- Once poised to be the game-changer of Britain, grime artist <span>Slowthai</span> completely stole 2019 with his debut record <em>Nothing Great About Britain</em>. With its brand of fiery politically-charged punk-rap, the album almost guaranteed the young MC to be a winner until his drug-fuelled, toxic behaviour at the 2020 NME awards brought it all down. Slowthai’s latest record <em>Tyron </em>reads as a self-assessment in hopes of repairing the damage to all that goodwill. Almost completely abandoning his previous post-punk direction, Thai instead finds himself on the sad-boy wave.</p>
<p><em>Tyron </em>is split into two sides and the first is focused on the expected bangers. Intro <em>45 SMOKE </em>is a solid two minutes that utilises Thai’s unique Northampton accent and slang to allow for listener readjustment after two years. The track misses the mark however in the second verse which sees Thai attempt a <strong>Playboi Carti </strong>“baby voice” of his own, which comes off as stilted.</p>
<p><em>CANCELLED </em>might as well be a <strong>Skepta </strong>solo song, as the famous MC completely overshadows Thai. The production is straight off Skepta’s <em>Konnichiwa </em>record, with familiar woodwind instruments and drum sections that continue to boost his performance solidly. While the track is a fun collaboration, Thai does little to even acknowledge the effort he put in to earn his “cancelling” backlash, instead choosing to hate on every award show except NME.</p>
<p>Following another decent collaboration with <strong>ASAP Rocky</strong> on <em>MAZZA </em>and a series of short tracks that blend into each other, the first half ends with <em>PLAY WITH FIRE</em>. Here Thai reflects on his difficult upbringing and how it plays into his current mental issues as he tries to escape his inner demons. The track combines the hard-hitting grime production with a more introspective tone as the record bleeds into the second side.</p>
<p>After touring with <strong>Brockhampton</strong>, Slowthai has, seemingly, taken the group’s shtick and applied it to the entirety of the second act of <em>Tyron</em>. <em>I Tried</em><strong> </strong>is the best of the introspective numbers even if it follows a standard formula. Featuring a pitched up sample of deceased cult favourite <strong>Trey Gruber</strong> -who really should be credited- the song features some of Thai’s best writing, including lines such as “<em>Forbidden fruit tastes the best with no trespass on the fence</em><span>”</span>. Despite the dour lyrics, the production is almost uplifting, as if there might be hope through any struggle.</p>
<p><em>Feel Away </em>is almost a great single with Thai rapping his heart out about a failing relationship in which he’d give his partner anything she desired, even a child. The <strong>Mount Kimbie </strong>production is gorgeous with quick and repetitive key sections and simple background effects such as whistling. The track falls apart with the addition of <strong>James Blake </strong>on the second verse who drives it too far down the sickly-sweet emotional path when another Slowthai section would easily do the job.</p>
<p><em>Tyron </em>is a decent enough follow-up project for a once very promising rapper. My biggest criticisms of the record stem not from Slowthai himself, as I feel he has only improved as a rapper, nor from any production or writing standpoints. It just seems that in abandoning punk-rap for multiple borrowed sounds, Thai has lost the qualities that made him really standout.</p>
<p>- James Chadwick.</p>
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