Steve 'Flash' JuonEven though “Back to Slime” is available to purchase or stream on Amazon (not an affiliate link — just proof it’s there) there wasn’t a single customer review the first time I checked Guish Money out. The album has been available for well over a year now so that may have changed, but it was very odd to see NO ratings whatsoever. Not positive, not negative — none at all. It left me with the strange but obviously false impression that I was the only one to have ever listened to it. The odds of that are one in a billion but I’d prefer it to be none in a billion so this review ensures at least slightly more exposure for GM. Unfortunately even my attempts to embed videos of his songs failed, as they were removed by whatever person or label uploaded them.
It has been a while since I checked out a French rapper. Back in my younger days I had a friend there who would send me mixtapes of France’s finest with homemade artwork. Yes, actual cassettes. (Thanks Yves!) I was always impressed by how the emcees there were inspired by hip-hop music and culture but determined to make it uniquely their own without imitating American rappers. I couldn’t speak a word of it then and I’m no more fluent in it now but the basic tenants of rapping hold true in any language. You need good breath control, you need good bars, you need to be able to flow to the tempo, and you need an interesting vocal tone and delivery.
Unfortunately “Back to Slime” fails to establish Guish Money in several of these key areas. I was amused by the title of “Ramune Melon” since it’s a beverage I enjoy from time to time, the song itself is not something I need to enjoy again. Did I enjoy it? That’s debatable. Guish has a decent track to flow over, but his vocals are just barely audible over it, and the breathless way he speaks might be sexy to a French speaker but feel annoying to an English one. It comes across like he has an air of indifference to what he’s doing, much like a billionaire would feel indifferent about spending $100 on a meal, but I want to feel like Guish Money is engaged in his craft and not going through the motions.
If there’s an upside to GM it’s that he’s not imitating the AutoTune trends of his American counterparts, so even as a bored rapper he sounds like an emcee and not a singer. If there’s a downside it’s that songs like “UP Le Pole” don’t even have enough of an instrumental to make his laconic flow more exciting, and when he does ramp things up on the title track he accidentally comes off like a U.S. rapper. Hearing him say “bitch” and “what the fuck” and “back to slime” repeatedly in English ruins the vibe, and then having a guest named BeezyB rap in English kills it completely. “Back to Slime” reinvigorated my interest in French rap music but in the most ironic way possible — it made me want to hear somebody who brings it with the best beats and French rhymes without phoning it in.