Chicago MC Warhol.ss embodies modern trap music.
This is a statement refuted by few, and he’s only reinforced that with his latest release, long-awaited (this is an understatement if you ask his fans) debut album Chest Pains, the first of a multi record contract through Empire that was signed earlier this year.
Multiple teasers had been released leading up to this album, including the critically acclaimed EP Free Andy, which was unleashed upon us in August 2018 and only left fans salivating impatiently.
Chest Pains contains 14 tracks, featuring some high-end trap music mainstays in UnoTheActivist, Hoodrich Pablo Juan, and Drugrixh Peso, as well as production from heavyweights like Kenny Beats, Staccato, Cashmoney AP and Harry Fraud.
What you can expect to experience before tuning in to this album is loads of playful, experimental synths and ominous piano chords, combined with some very expansive, dirty, volume-consuming 808s and an overload of metronomic hi-hats. The end product is a non-stop, consistently aggressive album that doesn’t necessarily have a cluster of outstanding hits that blow away the others, but it doesn’t have weak links either and it doesn’t feel like I’m being presented filler tracks.
My top tracks included “Do What I Want,” in which Hood Rich Pablo Juan offers a wholly necessary Atlanta trap element, “Red Night,” which is possibly Warhol’s strongest track and employs a gloomy piano sample that I really enjoyed. “Harry Cash” may have the tightest hook, and you can always expect something great, and something unconventional from producer Harry Fraud. “War Ready” has a very abstract, off-beat instrumental that is extra wavy, and UnoTheActivist is, in my opinion, one of the strongest feature artists suited for this album and was an excellent choice on this specific track. “Bird’s Nest” rounds out my top five. “I want checks, I want flex/ ride with the killers, fresh out the ‘jects/ fly with the birds, fresh out the nest,” Kenny Beats presented an absolute masterclass of a trap instrumental, and Warhol.ss matched that with pure energy and lyrical bravado.
I really enjoyed this project, I believe it lived up to the hype, and I think it has the sort of timelessness that allows listeners to revisit this one in the future.
