WYCH HAZLE dives head first into uncharted territory with “The DEATH OF R&B MIXTAPE 2: CHANGELING,” an eleven track offering that tests the boundaries of what R&B can become. No installer, no downloader, no infinite menu systems; the mixtape’s no straightforward release, throbbing like a sonic exorcism, raw and experimental and totally unapologetic for the state of modern music.
From that first queasily looped gospel refrain through sotto voce confessions spilling over broken beats, “CHANGELING” is an album for listeners not sated with easily apparent grooves but anxious to find the truth in sound. ‘Forbidden Fruit’ tempts listeners into a temptatious world, and ‘Dustpan’ paints the scene with darkness and bite and poetic candour.
WYCH HAZLE draws from Black surrealism, hip-hop mysticism and poetic fire to create something that is profoundly personal and universally moving. The inflow and outflow of his influences (cryptic lyricists, avant-garde producers) creates a blueprint for his deconstruction/augmentation of rap, which, on this outing, sounds haunted and divine.
“THE DEATH OF R&B MIXTAPE 2: CHANGELING” is incantatory, music and myth laced together, defiance and rebirth. Like it or not WYCH HAZLE didn’t just make a mixtape, he made a story of his own, a testament, from storyteller to storyteller, seer to seer, griot to griot. For those looking to delve beyond the smooth skin and into the raw heart of sound and spirit, their work will be a rare and piquant adventure.