Recently, I’ve taken the initiative to discover more sounds I’ve never listened to (this lock-down has its upsides). For the past week, I’ve taken a deep dive into the more abnormal, experimental artists out there; in the same vein as Death Grips and MF DOOM. The results from this experiment ended up making me depressed yet intrigued in the darker side of the rap spectrum.
Bedwetter; otherwise known as Travis Miller, is a Virginia artist that’s been making music for a long time. However, he’s best known as Lil Ugly Mane after releasing his most well-known album: “Mista Thug Isolation” in 2012. Under his new moniker, Miller’s approach to music has taken a total shift of direction in 2017 when he released “Volume 1: Flick Your Tongue Against Your Teeth and Describe the Present “in 2017. This is what this review is going to be about, so grab on to your comfort blanket and stuffies; this is going to depressing.
In this review, I’m going to be focusing on my favorite tracks yet again. I’ll also be shedding light on how this record perfectly resurrects the horror-core rap genre from its decrepit grave. The first track sets up the downer mood to the record perfectly: “John” is a 35 second intro track. The “song” is just a few voices layered on top of each other with some weird, echoey and dreamy effects on them. The voices seem to be reciting some Bible verses. I’m not educated in that field; but the voices give a very ominous and hopeless vibe to the record as they fade into the background nearing the end.
The second track: “Man Wearing a Helmet” seems to be a retelling of a story or eulogy. The track is primarily barren, only having a slight instrumental in the background with Bedwetter’s vocals and story telling really shining on this track. The first verse eludes to a boy living in his imaginary world: pretending to be Superman and running around his neighbor’s yard. It then takes a very dark turn as the boy gets kidnapped and violently stuffed into the trunk of a car. The second verse details how desperate the boy gets as the car drives; punching the inside of the trunk, pleading for help and ensuring the kidnappers that “he won’t tattle’. Finally, the third verse wraps things up as the boy is let out of the trunk and dragged somewhere he doesn’t recognise.
The truly sinister part in this song is the last line (which I won’t be spoiling for your listening pleasure). The track ends with Bedwetter repeating the same phrases as he fades away, almost like a cry for help as he can’t recall anything that’s happened to him in years. Maybe it was traumatic; reliving moments that were difficult in your mind’s eye can often cause psychosis or some form of delusion. The paranoia takes over and makes you question the very thin line between reality and fantasy.
The third track: “Stoop Lights” is about handling your personal issues with an addiction to substances. Bedwetter describes what it’s like to hate yourself, truly. Being tired of being the person you are and forgetting what it means to be alive as you take shot after shot straight from the bottle till your mind melts. The human mind is a very fragile piece of flesh which can convince itself of so many things without you noticing it at all, thus allowing someone to find peace in getting perpetually drunk and f*cked up on something because you think it’ll “rationalise inebriation” since it takes your mind off the fact that you need help.
Those were my picks off the album; the rest of the record is a collection of somber, dark and very lonely pieces of instrumentation, totally intended for individual interpretation. Maybe even a moment of self-reflection as the instrumentals dull out the silence of being stuck at home for an indefinite amount of time. I highly recommend anyone into Death Grips or anything similar to check this record out. While it might not be as chaotic and self-destructive as a Death Grips track (looking at you, “No Love”), it’ll most definitely shake you, leave your bare and vulnerable as it spirals deeper downwards into a bottomless pit of despair and depression.
Bedwetter’s album is available now on Spotify, and Apple Music so be sure to give it a listen during this quarantine. If you enjoyed this review be sure to give it a listen and share this article with some friends.
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