Yung Lean :: Unknown Memory :: SadBoys 2001

Let me start off that I am very skeptical of any conversation about cultural appropriation or authenticity, especially as it relates to pop culture and fashion. I am not going to tell anyone that they can't be offended by something, but there is something parochial and quixotic about trying to govern how other people can interact with your culture. And nine times out of ten, when people cry "cultural appropriation" it's not about any legitimately hurtful act to them or their culture. It's become a game to call out (white) celebrities who interact with cultures outside their own. All of a sudden Grimes wearing a bindi or Katy Perry dressing like a Geisha is the most horribly racist act imaginable. I have no patience for it, or for sites like http://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/ that seem to exist so that people can feel self-righteously offended.

I also think that other cultures have every right to make hip-hop music. If you make a product and sell it to the masses, you have to expect that the masses are going to riff on it through their own cultural lens. The best approach is to use hip-hop as a template that incorporates native musical styles and slang. The Brits, for example, have taken hip-hop in a lot of interesting directions by fusing it with electronic music, spoken word, even punk rock. Germany is another country that has a vibrant hip-hop scene that manages to put its own stamp on what is essentially African-American music.

And then there is Yung Lean, the Swedish rapper who offers a Swedish take on street rap straight out of the Chief Keef playbook, mixed with emo cloud rap. Slurred vocals, references to designer goods and weed, and lots and lots of rattling high-hats. Is it genius, tribute, or appropriation? Let's take a listen and find out.

He opens with "Blinded:"

"Bitch I'm cruising down the black lodge with black wrist watch
Got a bad bitch sipping scotch popping tick-tocks
Pull up with a black car gotta hit the snack bar
Mitsubishi cruising down the lanes like its NASCAR
They say I'm too bizarre, but I don't make it this far
Might smoke a fat jetpack out to Myanmar
Feeling like a movie star, counting stacks with my boys in a sushi bar"

"Couple zeros on a couple tags
Tunnel vision, tunneling a jag
Stumble out the hotel lobby
Shoveled gold knuckles, screaming where they at?
I won't be in your life again but you might see me in a mag
Delete my number, never call me back
Flat on the ground spat blood on my Acronym bag
We from Stocktown, seasons change
Bitch you know where we at"

He's spitting every street rap cliche in the book. Iced up wrists? Check? Luxury item name-dropping? Check. Bad bitches? Check. Conspicuous consumption of drugs and booze? Check. There is zero attempt to localize it, to translate it to his experience, to make any adjustments that would make this Stockholm music versus Chicago or Houston music. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Yung Lean is flattering the hell out of American rap.

Musically, his Sad Boys production crew (Yung Sherman and Yung Gud) do a convincing job of localizing their love for American rap. They make dreamy, electronica-influenced street rap in the vein of Clams Casino and Evian Christ. The high-hats tick, the bass rattles, and all in all it is decent stuff that elevates the album into something I could almost listen to.

Yung Lean has gotten a lot of attention, some of it good, and some of it bad. People either love or hate what he is doing. I wanted to like this album. I enjoyed the production, and I could see how a young middle-class Swedish kid doing street rap could have some sort of wacky post-modern appeal. Unfortunately, "Unknown Memory" is the worst of all possible rap combinations. It's bad enough that Lean is imitating the type of street rap that isn't great when real street rappers are doing it. I'm not a fan of the domestic versions of rappers who think that merely slurring catchphrases and name brands is good enough. To make matters worse, Yung Lean does it in the most half-assed, warbly way possible, making no attempt to translate the style to his country or reality, and making even less of an attempt to actually rap. It's like recent Lil Wayne: out of tune, off beat, and half-hearted. Into this hot mess Lean blends in the worst elements of soulless pop music, and filters it all through the lens of a self-absorbed kid. He alternates between sounding like he is trying to mimic a kid from the projects of Chicago/Houston/Richmond, or sounding like a whiny teenager complaining about how no one understands him and all he wants to do is get high with his friends. Neither one is a good look.

What's wrong with Yung Lean is not so much that he is appropriating a style that is usually performed by African-Americans, or that he is not authentic. Your favorite rappers are all exaggerating their criminal records and how poor they were growing up. (Violetta Wallace once called out Biggie for the "it's hard being young from the slums chewing five-cent gum" line, saying that she always had food in the pantry and young Christopher never went hungry.) No performer is truly authentic; that's why they call it performing. Lean has every right to love American rap music and to try his hand at making it. I don't think he means any disrespect to the genre or the originators of it, any more than American black metal bands like Liturgy or Deafheaven mean disrespect to the Scandinavian originators of that scene. You hear something, you connect with it, and it isn't your fault that you live 6,000 miles away and don't totally understand the context in which the music was made.The problem is that Lean's music sounds lazy and ridiculous. It's like listening to someone do karaoke really drunk. The fact that he is getting so much buzz means that he's connecting with people, which is fine. Personally, I'll take a pass.

Music Vibes: 2 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 4 of 10

Originally posted: October 7, 2014
source: www.RapReviews.com