Theophilus London is one of the more illusive and constantly shape-shifting voices of this generation. While tons of artists like to eschew the idea of genres and portray their work as borderless, it is distinctly difficult to categorize London. His sound has varied throughout his career, encompassing his spin on rapping, singing, R&B, indie, art pop, house, and even the occasional trap banger. His newest LP, BEBEY, represents yet another new direction, adding to his already deep catalogue of sounds.
BEBEY brings a refreshingly warm sound during the depths of the winter, providing a much-needed reprieve to people reaching the nadir of their Seasonal Affective Disorder. The album reflects on the nostalgia of childhood, romantic partners, and the intangible surreal. It is rifled throughout with the sound of steal drums, conjuring up memories of running around barefoot on the beach on some late summer night jaunt. Kevin Parker of Tame Impala serves as an executive producer on the project, and he’s featured on a number of tracks, in addition to layering his signature reverb and spacey synths throughout the album.
‘Bebey’ is a groovy, swaying anthem that deserves to be played at least daily at every self-respecting beach-side cabana in the world. ‘Cuba’ features London’s unique mix of rapping and singing over a retro, but incredibly crisp drum pattern. ‘Seals’ is perhaps my favorite song though, and it punctures the air as the slightly more morose moment on the album. The sparse song has only some ambient guitar strumming with London crooning variations of “Eat me alive / I can’t say no / Need me tonight.” London and Tame Impala team up on ‘Only You,’ which is a reimagined cover of Steve Monite’s 1984 nu-disco classic by the same name (this particular song has seen a recent resurgence in interest and Frank Ocean performed a cover of it in 2017).
The rest of the album showcases London’s eclectic taste through a number of interesting collaborators, including Lil Yachty, Giggs, Ariel Pink, Raekwon (of Wu-Tang Clan), and Ian Isiah. London even teamed up to release a limited edition Off-White boot with the in-demand king of street wear himself Virgil Abloh in anticipation of the release of this project. Considering the array of high profile artists that London has worked with in the past, such as Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, and Miley Cyrus, it is somewhat surprising that he has somehow stayed just at the edge of the musical mainstream. While Bebey probably won’t be the album breaking into the Billboard 100 charts (unless TikTok decides to make ‘Cuba’ the anthem of summer 2020), the album exists as London’s most fleshed out and cohesive project to date, reaffirming the versatile artist’s roots while confidently experimenting into the future.
Score: 8/10
Favorite Songs: Seals – Solo, Bebey, Cuba, & Revenge
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