Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Controlling tempo with percussion or a groove-powered bassline is one thing, but to take a verse and use it as an agent of movement and vitality takes skill on another level, which is essentially what B. West is wielding in his new single “The Narrative” this June. While some of the more buzz-worthy hip-hop released in the past couple of years has been a lot more rigid and synthetic-centric, “The Narrative” brings together the raw virtues of vintage rap and a postmodern self-awareness steeped in the concepts of 2022. The combination is intriguing, and certainly not mistakable for someone else’s sound.
By taking his time assembling the tension on the front end of this track, B. West is able to employ that tension as yet another avenue through which to reach his audience. The words he’s breaking off are only doing so much to establish a theme in “The Narrative,” and as this single’s name lets us know right from the get-go, the story we’re listening to is much fuller and more conceptual than what a selection of verses can do on its own. This player doesn’t have to lash us with a lot of bombastic nonsense; contrarily, the opposite is doing a lot to help his cause.
I’ve always preferred the underground beat in hip-hop to anything going on in the mainstream, and authentic work like this is undisputedly the reason why. B. West isn’t wearing a costume or playing a character in “The Narrative” – he’s giving us a taste of his true self the only way a real rapper can, and this single being devoid of the poetic blundering too many artists are quantifying as lyrics at the moment verifies just how dedicated to the medium he is. There’s no room for theatrics; this is just B. West being B. West.
Adam Vickers
