u r not alone by AKTHESAVIOR x sagun | Album Review
The New York rapper and Nepal producer link for an emotional project.
Rapper, painter and multi-hyphenate AKTHESAVIOR has linked with producer sagun for a collab project titled u r not alone. Across 14 tracks, AK shares motivational bars and anime references over mostly acoustic guitar-based production from sagun. The energy picks up at times but a tranquil atmosphere is the focus. While AK keeps things mostly general in his vulnerability, this makes his verses relatable for many listeners going through the same trials of life he has overcome. In a statement regarding the album he shared, “As humans, we’re all unique individuals, yet we all go through similar experiences and can help each other by spreading love and being more open and united…” AK brings in features from fellow New York artists Erick The Architect and A$AP Twlelvyy to share their perspectives on this theme and another artist comfortable sharing their vulnerabilities — Mick Jenkins.
AK’s verses on u r not alone have a consistent theme of overcoming obstacles and believing in yourself or those around you. He also discusses the trials of having those around you who may not have your best interest in mind. These last two topics are discussed prominently on “Circles” where feature Azizi Gibson enhances AK’s points through a partially sung and partially rapped verse. AK’s final line “They say a man is what his team is and we all be stuntin’ ” is the perfect summarization of the track. Meanwhile, on the acoustic guitar and sting laden “Johnnie Talkin,” and the dreamy “Self Worth,” he discusses the power of believing in yourself before relying on others. Quick but effective bars like “Good thing I always had my back, I don’t need crutches,” fit right in with the rest of his honest verses as the double entendre lands with ease.
In terms of delivery, AK does things at a moderate pace for most of the songs using relaxed confident flows. However, there are moments where things deviate from this. On “Issues” he jumps between singing and rapping over bouncy skittering drums from sagun. The singing on the track’s first portion isn’t the best, but he improves as the song progresses. This track’s string based outro is one of the best moments on the album sonically.
Other moments of sonic expansion like this happen on tracks like the Jaws of Love featuring “Mind Body Soul.” A deep guitar is complimented by a subtle but effective saxophone that plays throughout the whole song. AK drops some sung lines on this one too as he talks about how things in his past affect his present but he’s still looking forward to the future.
Another standout moment comes on “No Scars” where a looped vocal and subtle yet effective percussion compliment one of AK’s more energetic and faster flows on the album. The hook, which features the line “It’s all in your brain, it’s all in your mental/ Give you that healin’ nigga like a Senzu” reflect his consistency in using anime references in his music without taking away from the emotional significance of the track. AK’s flow on this one gives it a different kind of bounce than the rest of the songs on the album and yet, maintains the peaceful tone.
While u r not alone has inspirational bars throughout it, they stay in the lane of a just below the surface level motivational Instagram post. This is not horrible but AK would have benefited from getting into more specifics throughout the album. He’s referring to experiences he’s had with dealing with mental strain but not going beyond generalizations about many of them. This causes the subject matter of some songs to overlap because they are not discussed on a deeper level.
Some of the songs on u r not alone have poetry at the end of them. Unfortunately, these poems only enhance my point as they simply echo the themes of the album instead of expanding on them. This was my only real issue as with the amount of time AK has been in the game, I expected him to go deeper on these topics since he’s used them to some capacity throughout his whole career. Even so, the album is still a pleasant listening experience as his verses pair well with sagun’s production. The verses just could have benefited from a greater level of vulnerability.
Favorite Tracks: Ashitaka’s Faith, No Scars, Numb
