Steve 'Flash' JuonI love when rappers push the boundaries. That doesn’t always mean I enjoy everything they do musically. Take Death Grips for example — sometimes I passionately thrashed my head to their mix of punk rock, metal, hip-hop and industrial music. Other times it was such a sonic wall of noise and screaming that it left me puzzled as to what I was hearing. At no time did I ever think “Man, this just sucks.” Sometimes I’d think “I don’t get it, but that’s okay.” I could always see the art in what they were doing even if some of their music was my vibe and other songs weren’t.
After re-reading my first paragraph I felt like it was unintentionally a post mortem on the group. Death Grips has not broken up, and in fact they toured regularly last year, but they haven’t released a new full album since 2018. Maybe this will be the year they bless us with a new full release, but it’s fair to say if they never put out another album, they’ve certainly changed the musical landscape. I won’t go as far as saying 7xvn is imitating DG, but he definitely wanders that newly terraformed earth. There’s are any number of artists who now feel free to scream their raps at the top of their lungs, as though they are trying to have a conversation in the middle of a very loud nightclub, but instead blistering a track that’s just as noisy as their vocals. Both distort your speakers on “U SUCK!” to an uncomfortable level and one can only conclude that was the intent and the ultimate point. It’s a middle finger to your ears.
The relentlessly aggressive 7xvn rarely lets up on “7 Ways to Die.” The Brutei produced “HOW TO DIE” comes close. He sings in a way that reminds me of Soundcloud rap, and the audio tries to mimic the tropes of that style as well, but neither one can resist the temptation to overload any filters on their production equipment. It’s definitely a stylistic choice, and whether I agree with it or not, I can respect that it’s very intentionally chosen. He goes one step further on “MUTINY” by allowing Skami to provide a minimalistic yet bass heavy production, then whispers his vocals that still manage to pulse with unbridled anger. It’s a remarkable trick.
“Get away, back outta my face, unless you wanna die
Keep a K up the murder rate, I made the devil cry
Led astray, I’ve seen better days and been told many lies
Left to hang taking all the blame, as I am crucified”
The rest of the time “7 Ways to Die” goes to places that gave me a deeper retrospective appreciation of the Death Grips catalogue. “BACON” has some silly lines that make me cringe. “Like North Korea, I’m sending these rockets.” I don’t think MC Ride ever said any punchline that made me wince that way. “EMO KUNG FU” manages to be annoying despite being under 80 seconds, filled with electronic farts and a childish beeping melody the Insane Clown Posse would look down on. The aptly named bonus track “Not Everyone Deserves a Happy Ending” is like death metal without any musical chops. I’m not going to say 7xvn’s music is for nobody. There’s an audience for the abrasive side of things. It certainly sounds like music you could play in an art gallery filled with paintings made using the painter’s own bile and blood that he then vomited on profusely. It’s an evocative experience. Not necessarily a pleasant one most of the time, but it’s definitely art that fulfills the purpose of eliciting an emotional response.