The Popular Loner Is An Album Without A Hook

on 01/12/2016 at 11:00 am

It’s said that success comes when talent meets hard work. And in most cases that is true. But sometimes, particularly when your craft is as competitive as music, you need something more sprinkled in. A hook. A hook is a reason to come back to a particular artist when there’s such a variety of options these days. The hook can be fleshed out concepts, an auteur’s vision, swagger, a versatile flow, blazing hot production, anthemic choruses or gifted story telling. In music, and especially hip hop, there are a variety of elements beyond talent and hard work which allow the cream to rise to the top. And this brings me to BledJon’s debut album, The Popular Loner.

The San Francisco emcee’s talent is undeniable. BledJon’s rhyme patterns are complex, he’s surgical with his word choice. BledJon is a wordsmith of who adeptly puts his vast vocabulary and knack for rhyme to work. And his production, while not spectacular, is solid. But poring over his album in listen after listen, there’s something missing.

And it’s the the hook; the reasons to connect to this rapper, his songs and his story.

When listening to The Popular Loner, I feel like I should really like it because of BledJon’s obvious talent. He has all the tools. In The Popular Loner, BledJon recounts overcoming poverty and his pursuit of credibility in hip hop. It’s an introspective, emotional album which touches on topics hip hop has rehashed multiple times.

It’s the oldest story ever told because it’s hip hop’s version of the hero’s journey. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the hero’s journey has given us great story telling over several centuries. But it has to be executed in a way that allows the viewer, or in this case the listener, to connect to the story teller. Or, in this case, the artist. But if it’s not executed properly, the hero’s journey simply becomes a cliché.

And this is where The Popular Loner falls flat. BledJon has been favorably compared to emcees like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Immortal Technique and Childish Gambino. The one thing these dudes have in common other than being skilled rhymers is that they are each vivid story tellers. They tell stories you can follow in your mind’s eye or that instantly strike emotional chords.

In The Popular Loner, it too often feels like BledJon is rhyming just to rhyme. That isn’t to say it doesn’t sound skillful. It does and it is skillful. But you rarely feel like you’re getting a peek at who BledJon is. So it feels a bit…empty at times.

This is apparent from the album’s opening track, Intro to Infinity. The record opens with a short interlude in which BledJon’s friends ask if they can hear his new music. And as the song progresses, BledJon spits verses akin to spoken word poetry over a soft background instrumental which grows in intensity.

One of the rhymes that stands out most is: “I’m portrayin’ I’m alive, but no, I’m dyin’, through lines and synonyms, the sin in him is constant, consonants are frivolous with no syllable conscience to be honest.”

These rhymes are pleasing to the ear of any hip hop head. Until you realize BledJon really isn’t really saying anything. It’s just a string of rhyming words which attempts to use parts of speech as a lyrical device. This leads one to question if he’s rapping to tell a story or rapping just to rhyme.

These issues are present throughout the album as BledJon’s intended concept seems to take precedence over writing lyrics which can help us connect to his story. Letter Man is another example of this as he raps, “you sophomore than a Tempurpedic pillow, in junior, pressured to smoke a willow, Smith and Wesson ain’t even on, are you for real, though? Back up with your back up, you armadillo.”

Again, the rhymes sound nice, but BledJon isn’t really saying anything as the song’s concept is just a vehicle for rhymes rather than story telling.

The one song in which BledJon effectively balances his lyricism and actual story telling is Ms. Suri. BledJon vividly depicts an affair with the ease and wordplay of a veteran emcee. If he had produced an entire album like this, it would have been a treat.

That said, BledJon is an artist to look out for in coming years. He rhymes as well as any current emcee. And his production choices, while a bit too somber for 14-song album for my taste, are all solid. The areas in which BledJon needs to grow — songwriting and concept development — are areas that can improve with experience.

In a way, BledJon actually reminds me of a young Eminem. If you’ve ever heard his first album, Infinite, Marshall fell victim to the urge to rhyme just to rhyme about rehashed topics too. And listeners didn’t connect to Infinite or Marshall. It wasn’t until he dropped The Slim Shady EP that he developed his own distinct identity. It was then that he found his hook.

Considering BledJon’s obvious talent, there’s reason to believe he’ll find his hook.