From a surface level, Lil Skies (real name: Kimetrius Foose) checks off all the 2019 rapper boxes.
As an ambitious 20-year-old from central Pennsylvania, he has the “mumble rap” calling card down pat, almost as if he’d come straight out of Central Casting to play the part: the heavy tattoos, the stage name that eschews the “gangsta” nomenclature (i.e., Capone-N-Noreaga) in favor of something more spritely, the emo-esque subject matter.
He’s far from a bad artist. To the contrary, some of his previous songs are standouts, such as “Welcome to the Rodeo” and the equally solid “I Know You” featuring Yung Pinch.
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It’s just that his overall repertoire needs a bit of fine-tuning.
And that’s really the best summary of his latest album, Shelby (which is named after his dear mother). There are glimpses of a potential to be a true tour de force but falls short on occasion.
As a proper follow-up to his Life of a Dark Rose mixtape — which was flavorless and, frankly, boring — Shelby fares a lot better than its predecessor. It certainly helps that Lil Skies gets by with a little help from his friends Gucci Mane and Gunna, who trade bars with the young up-and-comer on “Bad Girls” and “Stop the Madness,” respectively. Gucci is in top form when he spits about “McLaren drivin’ reckless, Trap God, don’t miss your blessin’/Good girl, come get your lesson, Lil Skies, these bitches tellin’/I sold so many records, I know so many felons/And I see these bitches checkin’, and I see these niggas jealous,” and Gunna fires off like a machine gun with lines like “Fifteen hundred horses, oh, you can hear when I’m passin’/Nigga ain’t wanna feel me, oh, ’til I start spazzin’/Right now I need to own my charts, gotta bring that cash in/I’m not walkin’ inside your club, I need my backend.”
When left to his own devices, Lil Skies makes music that’s catchy — in the sense that it’s easy to bop your head to the beat — but, lyrically deficient. Nowhere is this more evident on “Through the Motions,” which kicks off with a “la la la, la la la” hook (c’mon man, really?) and features such mundane lyrics as “Goin’ through the motions, I’m just tryna make it through/Hard to keep in touch when I’m always on the move/You tell me that you love me, I don’t know what I would do/If you wasn’t by my side, will I be able to move?”
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To be fair, the kid’s endearing response is indicative of a young man whose aspirations are being realized, and for this, he is truly thankful. With that said, even if he’s just a product of his times, he’s got to be able to carry his own musical water with so much competition out there.
There’s no doubt that Lil Skies can do it — the question remains, will he do it?
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