Slayr Continues His Ascent to Stardom with ‘Avant Nova’
The Rage rap alchemist continues his to shoot for the stars with his new preview EP
AVANT NOVA ALBUM ART BY @HUNNIGARDEN
Of the many rappers making up the current “underground scene” dominated by buzzing synths and EDM inspired production, Slayr has quickly become the one to watch. The 19-year-old Philadelphia rapper / producer blew up after the release of his seventh mixtape Half Blood, a genre bending piece of internet art combining aspects of rage, pop, rock and video game soundtracks alongside seamless transitions for each song, and is doing it all in a way that is easily digestible for newcomers to the rage subgenre.
On Avant Nova, released July 26, Slayr continues on the warpath of becoming the next rage star to break into the mainstream. There isn’t a moment wasted on the six track EP that acts as a prelude to his forthcoming mixtape Fabula Nova and despite the risk of the seamless transitions between each song potentially losing its novelty here, Slayr’s colorful take on rage still manages to shine through.
The opening track “promise” features Slayr rapping over a vocal sample from Underscores as he contemplates the certainty of a potential relationship with a girl. The repeated refrain of “promise you couldn’t keep” from both the sample and Slayr makes it feel like we’re witnessing a conversation between both members of the relationship, and it’s easily one of the more clever vocal sample flips in recent memory.
“Nova” is a highlight, amping up the energy with a frenetic squealing synth driven beat as Slayr likens his explosive trajectory to that of a star. It sees Slayr at his most braggadocious, with the closing lines of the verse “blowin up, I feel like a nova, you can’t keep up” in a normal voice immediately being contrasted by a new deep voiced, almost Mr. Krabs-like inflection on the post chorus near the very end. Not content with ending the song here, the outro features the most ambitious transition between songs on here, as a slide whistle-like synth melody screams its way to the forefront of the production before starting the electric guitar backed “I Got Taste.” Once again, Slayr manages to make an art form of keeping listeners wondering how each song will inevitably transmute into a separate entity from one minute to the next.
Avant Nova is a bite-sized glimpse into what the future holds for Slayr, and judging by the raw display of talent on this thing, this star seems unlikely to dim any time soon.