Let's Go Surfing
Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment: Surf
7.2/10
Let's get one thing straight right away: This is not a Chance The Rapper album. This is a collaborative effort between Chance, Peter Cottontale, Greg Landfair Jr., Nate Fox, and Donnie Trumpet himself. Why is this important? Well, at least to me, I have been pretty frustrated to see the general public not giving these other musicians their fair share of credit. There's no denying that Chance is a great talent, but giving him all the credit for a project like this is simply ignorant. These other musicians put in a lot of work into making this album, and I just felt like that should be at least acknowledged. Now that that's done, lets get to the review! I have loved Chance's work with the band thus far, so I was heavily anticipating this project, and I have to say, my expectations have been met, definitely not exceeded, but met. This album is an interesting blend of neo-jazz, soul, and hip-hop that is just really unique. Not a lot of people are making music like this today, and it is cool to see someone like Chance continue to branch out musically. Some tracks are energetic and punchy, but most of this album is actually very quiet and atmospheric. This is a very spotty direction for the band to go in because although the musicians are very talented, most of the group's vocalists have a really hard time carrying a track by themselves. Also, the quiet nature of this LP ultimately loses my attention sometimes. It's not that the music itself is boring, it is just that these musicians usually are way more vibrant with their songs, and I felt like some of these songs just lost life half way in. Regardless of this change, all the instrumentals/beats are very well done, and it seems like this group was more than capable of pulling off this change. Most of the songs on here are still rather captivating, but honestly compared to what I envisioned it just seems sort of lifeless. Overall, I still enjoyed the album, and there was still plenty to enjoy.
This thing kicks off with the mystical, yet powerful Miracle. This thing features a great verse from Chance, and immediately shows the listener that this thing is going to a pretty different sounding album. My only complaint on this song is that the singing kind of just blends together into a mess, but otherwise this song one of the album's highlights for me. Slip Slide starts out with a very awesome Marching Band introduction which just sounds great. This song feels more Acid Rap-esque and it has that childish, yet fun attitude that we all love. It features a great guest verse from Busta Rhymes and another great verse from B.O.B. Janelle Monae also offers some great vocals here. I really love the vocals in the hook, and how they just make it so much more fun. The way they say Slip SLIIIIIIIDE makes me chuckle (in a good way). My one complaint about this one is that it abruptly ends. It kind of settles into a piano interlude with Chance on vocals, but then just disappears. I really liked what I was hearing there, but it didn't develop at all. Warm Again features great verses from J. Cole and Chance, but on this track the struggling vocals are pretty apparent. NoName Gypsy just cannot carry a hook, so I kind of just tune out during the chorus. Nothing Came To Me is a ballsy trumpet interlude, but although I kind of like it, I will admit this piece of music has absolutely no direction. It makes it a little hard to listen to at points. I think it is still a well played piece of music, but it just seems like mumbo-jumbo trumpet sounds at some points. Wanna Be Cool is definitely my least favorite cut on the album. The message is good, but Chance's vocals fail tremendously on the hook, and the rapper at the end is just simply annoying. When Big Sean is the best part of a song, that is not good news. Windows is one of the more emotional songs on here, and it is probably another favorite of mine. This song feels pretty sincere, and Chance seems to be telling his fans/followers that he is not a role model, but he does it in a way that somehow just makes you love the guy more. Caretaker is an extremely forgettable interlude that just kind of states one idea and never develops on it. I really feel like these 1 minute tracks on this album are pretty lackluster overall, and we could have done without them. Just Wait has a fantastic groove and Chance feels right at home on the track, but yet again this track ends with such a bummer. The trumpet part at the end showed promise, but it just feels unfinished. The track ends with 15 seconds of silence which is ultimately pretty disappointing. Familiar is a soul-funk tune that feels pretty great. The instrumental sounds bouncy and lovable, and there is also a sense of camaraderie on this track. Everyone kind of seems to be in this together. This song also features a Migos verse that is pretty bad, but yea not a huge surprise so no points off there. SmthnthtIwnt is actually the one great interlude on here. A great eerie instrumental with straight bars from Saba. Loved it. Go was a really big disappointment for me. Other than a couple of verses, and a guitar solo at the end, this song is just a looped groove. Although this thing is funky, it just seems pretty repetitive and annoying. Questions falls pretty hard because it really isn't a developed song, and Something Came To Me is not nearly as good as its predecessor track. It just feels like lazy trumpet playing over lazy drums, and until the blaring trumpets at the end, nothing special happens. Rememory is my favorite song on the album because it blends the intimacy of a Chance song with the added instrumentation of the Social Experiment. Also Erykah Badu has a great connection to Chance on this track, and they fit together perfectly on this song. Sunday Candy would fit perfectly on Acid Rap, and ultimately is so catchy and huge sounding that I find it hard to believe that anyone would hate this. Pass The Vibes is a bad closer though. This song goes out on an eerie note which I can appreciate, but this song also never develops on its original idea, and just relies on wordplay to get it by. I really think this thing could've ended with a band, so that made me sad. Still, there is plenty of great songs on here, but also plenty to dissect and correct for the next release. Overall I enjoyed it, but I will admit that this thing could have been much better even. I still have very high hopes for these musician's futures.
Overall, if you are just into hearing some fresh sounding music, I would recommend this. There's not much that sounds like this right now, and even if it can fail at times, the whole thing is really cool, and I can certainly appreciate their vision. This album is not great, but it is certainly good, and I think that is good enough for me.
Best Songs: Miracle, Slip Slide, Nothing Came To Me, Windows, Familiar, SmthnthtIwnt, Rememory, Sunday Candy
Worst Songs: Warm Again, Caretaker, Just Wait, Don't Wanna Be Cool, Go
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