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BRELAND – BRELAND EP (Bad Realm Records)

Oh boy, where do we start.

So what Breland – I apologize, I mean BRELAND – and his team have produced here can definitely be considered “music”.  I will give him that.  But that’s where the compliments end, because the BRELAND EP is doodoo.

The tracks on BRELAND EP are mostly bad hip-hop songs with bad country aspects shoehorned in.  The best tracks are the ones that don’t feature any of those country leanings – for example, “WiFi” is pretty solid.  But there are plenty of tracks in the other category, including “Hot Sauce”, “Horseride”, and the absolute abomination known as “My Truck”.  I’ve heard plenty of samples and beats in my day, but never one that sounded like forest animals in various levels of distress.  It’s easily the worst song I’ve heard this year; I would gladly put it up against several other years too, and feel good about my chances.

I’ll also say that none of this is a knock to BRELAND’s vocals, as he sings pretty well!  But his voice is ridiculously overshadowed by the overproduction inherent in most of the track, and that’s a shame.  I’d definitely give him another chance if he stepped out of the contrived country-rap space and made a more traditional R&B album.

FFO: Lil Nas X, Sam Hunt (who unsurprisingly features on a “My Truck” remix)

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