“Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1” is Indeed Funky Wavy and Bouncy
Calvin Harris is one of the best hitmakers in the music world right now, and in no way does what I’m about to say take away from that. I know it sounds greedy of me, but Calvin, can we have more than 10 songs? Four of which were already released before the album came out today. I don’t doubt him, but Calvin Harris had better release some more music in 2017.
I’ll stop slandering Calvin Harris and talk about the album now.
I’m not even going to talk about the singles, because we all know they are fire. My first thought when listening the first time, was “Cash Out” might just be the best song on the album, including the singles. ScHoolboy Q comes in on a beat that puts you in a great mood immediately. PARTYNEXTDOOR has the hook and per usual he kills it. I could do without the drawn out D.R.A.M. part at the end of the song, and go for another ScHoolboy verse, but it’s not unbearable.
The next new song that I came across was “Prayers Up” with Travis Scott and A-Trak. If you’ve read my work before, you likely know about my affinity for Travis Scott. This song is no different. It’s a nice refreshing side of Travis Scott. No real rapping, just Scott flowing through the entire song. Fine with me. A-Trak’s work on the beat also is satisfactory as usual.
The next song that opened my eyes was “Holiday” with Snoop Dogg, John Legend, and Takeoff. Very interesting combination at first sight. Unfortunately, I didn’t think Takeoff fit this song very well. When his verse was on I was ready for a hype chorus, then John Legend comes back on and all my adrenaline immediately went away. So, this song didn’t do a whole lot for me.
Then there’s “Faking It” with Kehlani and Lil Yachty. Kehlani has such a great voice and it’s used to perfection at the beginning of the song. And just when I’m thinking that, here comes Lil Yachty with an actually satisfying verse. I thought he was going to ruin the song, but he was actually pretty great. Except when he said “Remember that time I put those pepperonis all on your face/Made you a creature/Now I think of you every time I eat pizza.” I was not buying into that line.
Overall, I really, really enjoyed the album. Enough to say that if it had maybe four more new songs, I’d consider it one of the best albums of the year. Calvin Harris has evolved from just a beat-dropping DJ, to a musical engineer that knows exactly how to make the perfect hit. Here’s my rating and top 5 songs.
8/10
Top 5 Songs:
- Rollin
- Cash Out
- Slide
- Prayers Up
- Faking It
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