By As an ever evolving artist, Bladee’s meteoric success was met with criticism. Spiderr, the Swedish artist’s 14th project, hopes to change that.
Rising from the underground, to the forefront of the newly developed Hyperpop scene, Benjamin Reichwald – also known as Bladee – has established himself as a pioneer of the distorted sound attributed to a variety of genres.
This inclusive attribution of genres includes cloud rap, experimental pop, trap, emo rap, and a plethora of similar subgenres.
This project, his second of the year following Crest, was announced alongside the track, “DRAIN STORY,” on Sep. 15, and is entirely produced by Whitearmor.
If new to Bladee, “DRAIN STORY,” was an obtrusive introduction, as the Swede raps over a quirky beat and an overall erratic aura similar in style to the track’s cover art.
Bladee is known for his unique and unpredictable delivery on songs. One of auto-tune’s golden boys, his otherwise unenthusiastic vocals are typically pitched up to match the colorful beats that he raps over.
Never shying away from his outsider persona, he delivered the bar, “Can’t-Can’t fit in with the normies/If being Drainy is a sin, Lord, forgive me.” The word Drain is synonymous with Bladee and a direct reference to his collaborative group, Drain Gang, who released Trash Island in 2019.
Bladee defined Drain in an i-D interview as being about loss and gain, with a very spiritual philosophy behind it, including the idea of gaining energy and draining essence.
On “NOTHINGG,” Whitearmor is brilliant;y crafts a creative club beat that samples m4a1-s gunshots and reload animations from Valve’s first-person shooter, Counter-Strike, while Bladee collaborates with Mongolian rapper Wondha Mountain.
Ecco2k is the only other artist to feature on “DiSASTER PRELUDE,” another track that is carried by Whitearmor, who ties in a Thai soundbite from Ecco as he closes out the track in English. The Thai inclusion used in both the intro and bridge translates to, “Come on, Come on. I’m drunk.”
Across the 13 track project, Bladee adds a collection of songs to his ever growing catalog of hits including “UNDERSTATEMENT,” “HAHAH,” and “DRESDEN ER,” some of the album’s finest.
On the other hand, there were some very low points with, “I AM SLOWLY BUT SURELY LOSING HOPE,” one of the worst tracks he’s ever released. It is more reminiscent of a pop punk style that perhaps shouldn’t be explored much further. Bladee delivers the sole verse of the track with a fast paced and more angsty delivery, “Feeling really, really, really weak. I’m trying to flee you but I see you when I sleep.” Everything about it feels similar to recent releases from Machine Gun Kelly, a comparison that should come across as harsh.
Bladee is at his best when the music teleports the listener to a world reminiscent of ToonTown, or woodland sprites, a sound akin with much of Crest and bits of The Fool and 333.
Spiderr failed to build on the aforementioned projects and as a whole is just alright; There was some artistic direction that he should maybe continue with, while other aspects of the project should probably be put away for good.
