Marlowe 2: The Best Kind of Different (Album Review)
“Our story tonight was written before psychotherapy…”
The opening audio clip sets the tone. If you can imagine the music a mad scientist would conjure up in a murky laboratory full of weird potions and other experiments, you should have a general idea of what you’re getting into with hip-hop group Marlowe. After releasing a strong and ridiculously overlooked self-titled debut back in 2018, the North Carolina duo is back with an even stronger sequel this year with Marlowe 2, released by Mello Music Group.
Comprised of producer L’Orange and rapper Solemn Brigham, Marlowe’s first album was one that I foolishly underestimated when it was released. I had been a fan of L’Orange and his previous collaborative projects with the likes of Jeremiah Jae (The Night Took Us In Like Family and Complicate Your Life With Violence), Kool Keith (Time? Astonishing!), and Mr. Lif (The Life & Death of Scenery). It was Brigham who took some getting used to for me. His voice is loud and in your face, which works for the subject matter he often leans into in his songs, and I suppose it was just a sharp contrast from some of the other artists L’Orange tends to work with who have a more laidback style. Once I grew to appreciate his seemingly breathless delivery and slick rhyme schemes, he eventually grew on me and their debut joined the other previously mentioned albums as one of my favorites.
Marlowe 2 feels like both artists stepping it up in a major way. L’Orange appears to experiment even more than usual this time around with various sounds and styles from both music and apparently radio theater, never straying too far away from his signature traits of dusty boom-bap with a sort of ominous vibe, but also never offering up anything that sounds like something he’s previously done, and the whole album has a nice variety to accompany the vocals. As for Solemn, he shreds every verse he drops on here, showing off his flow and delivery even more. Just peep the opening song “Spring Kick”. Brigham keeps rapping until his vocals just fade out with the beat, never letting up, resulting in the track sounding like a legitimate kick to the face in the best way possible.
The first single “Future Power Sources” reminds me of a Run the Jewels track, with its thumping instrumental, turntable scratches between verses from DJ Trackstar, and how Brigham switches back and forth between a faster and slower delivery. “Later With It”, one of my favorites on the album, features a jazzy horn sample that sounds like it’s being suffocated (again in the best way possible) and some awesome one-liners from Brigham.
“O.G. Funk Rock” contains the only guest appearance from another rapper, and A-F-R-O holds his own with Brigham while leaving you anxiously awaiting his next project as well. The production here definitely has a funky vibe to it hence the title. “Dead A Lot” is another impressive cut containing fun pessimistic lines like “I won’t die until I’m forgotten but ya memory shot” and “you know how love can influence they throwing kisses like Judas”. L’Orange does some pretty cool things with the beat breakdown towards the end of the track, giving it a jazzier feel. We also have “Small Business”, where Brigham starts the track off strong:
“Imagine me chilling throwing dollars at my feelings
trying to mirror what they living coulda did it but that just ain’t me
hold back just in case a brother flip don’t reap
hard pass got my lane I remain not the same
swore the day I started poppin I would take more aim
used to love her like my dame now she way too common
I came back a second time to set the world on flame
had some years left on the docket had to chill until my stock was up…”
The song “Same Team” has a reggae-like instrumental. I can close my eyes and imagine Brigham and L’Orange having a blast driving a jeep through the jungle where Brigham proclaims he “left the crib and joined the circus” and “if he pass the rock I’m ballin just like Charlie Murphy”. That production is really what hooks me though and is a prime example of L’Orange trying something new to good effect.
All of these songs are fairly short, none reaching the 4-minute mark, but this works to their advantage. There’s also an intro, outro, and a few interludes and some spoken word dialogue from Brigham himself that break up the songs into parts, something L’Orange has done previously on his albums with Jeremiah Jae as well as the first Marlowe project and it’s very effective in giving the album a more cinematic feel, with the concept revolving around the aforementioned psychotherapy and mental institution as if our main character finds himself trapped.
In closing, Marlowe 2 will go down as one of my favorites of this year. It may take someone not as familiar with them a few listens to fully grasp the whole thing and catch all the clever lines and production quirks, but I thoroughly enjoyed this record. L’Orange continues to impress on the beats, and Solemn Brigham is a more than capable MC who blew me away this time around. Check this one out if you like your hip-hop a bit more left-field and abstract or just want to try something different because Marlowe 2 is the best kind of different.
