Harry Fraud

According to Fraud, Adrift is about an inner state, which is symbolized by the cover art of something minute and hardly identifiable at the end of a pier. Fraud came up in the hip-hop industry with French Montana and the Coke Boys. In 2012, he scored the hits "Shot Caller" and "New York Minute." Adrift is a collection of Fraud's recent favourites, some already released, others not. "Morey Boogie Boards" teases Fraud's passion for surfing, with Action Bronson free-styling about boogie boards and sand bars, falling back on exotic braggadocio. Trap hats and wavy bass bleed into airy, '80s-inspired synths and chipmunk sampling. "Garbage Bag Money Freestyle" sees a minute-long French Montana alliteration scored to what sounds like a rendition of a hip-hop Bay Watch, with twangy strings, skittering hats, glam rock riffs and Euro chipmunk sampling. Bronson and Montana's off-the-cuff deliveries work well to complement Fraud's eccentric sound kit. Combined, they express mood, but to craft a meaningful lyrical epistle out of a Fraud beat is more difficult. Stalley does his best on "Petrin Hill Peonies" to "formulate this piece of mind into a tranquil speech" and rein in Fraud's whining samples, 808s and piano. He paints a vivid picture of an MMG MC struggling to write rhymes ocean side in Miami, nailing the mood, "skipping rocks on this pebble beach, rolling marijuana leafs, staring through this blue dream." That's what's necessary for Fraud to produce a cohesive number; it's more complete than anything on this mishmash of B-sides and freestyles. Adrift is a call to rappers: steal one of Fraud's beats, row it back to shore and stomp it dry.