On the Edge is an EP full of the second-best song on an episode of Empire, with too much Hakeem and not nearly enough Cookie. It's everything from Spotify's "Rap Caviar" playlist, dissected, reassembled and pointed back at you. It's "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Future." It's a collection of songs that make you go "I ain't mad at it," because there's nothing to be mad at. It's music for the streaming age, because you wouldn't go cop On the Edge in a store, but if it comes on a playlist, you'll kind of get into it a little, then kind of forget it happened. If you were up and dancing at a club, nothing from On the Edge would make you sit down, but you wouldn't feel bad about going to get a drink.
There's nothing wrong with On the Edge, except for the sense that we've heard this before. There's even some high points. "55cancry" is a dark goth-trap creep featuring G Milla's former Hard to Kill partner Teddy Fantum, and a) it fucking slaps, b) it stands out, you remember it. The last track, "Fears," is a chunk of witch house-flavoured melodic R&B rap that, similarly, feels like G Milla is trying to carve out a lane, trying to take a risk and create an identity as an artist. But there's not enough of it.
Melodic rap is a crowded field these days. So is the Toronto rap scene equally crowded. If you want your niche to be "rap that works well with algorithms," that's kind of a bummer, but it's a valid career choice. But a guy who claims to be influenced by MF Doom and Jim Morrison should want to do more, and he's not.
(Independent)There's nothing wrong with On the Edge, except for the sense that we've heard this before. There's even some high points. "55cancry" is a dark goth-trap creep featuring G Milla's former Hard to Kill partner Teddy Fantum, and a) it fucking slaps, b) it stands out, you remember it. The last track, "Fears," is a chunk of witch house-flavoured melodic R&B rap that, similarly, feels like G Milla is trying to carve out a lane, trying to take a risk and create an identity as an artist. But there's not enough of it.
Melodic rap is a crowded field these days. So is the Toronto rap scene equally crowded. If you want your niche to be "rap that works well with algorithms," that's kind of a bummer, but it's a valid career choice. But a guy who claims to be influenced by MF Doom and Jim Morrison should want to do more, and he's not.