Jaden Smith’s debut album “SYRE” was released on Nov. 17.
Photo courtesy of Roc Nation.
After three long years dedicated toward the project, Jaden Smith’s debut album “SYRE” finally released in mid-November.
Named after his middle name, “SYRE” is a beautifully produced work of art with questionable lyrics and a sick flow. Smith’s skill set is much different now than when he was featured in Justin Bieber’s 2011 hit “Never Say Never.” In “SYRE,” his young, misunderstood thoughts have translated into songs instead of tweets.
The album starts out with a unique four-song intro that is rarely, if ever, done in any album. The four songs spell out the word “BLUE.” Collectively, all four songs are accumulated into one whole track, but it is broken up into four parts. Each song is titled with a letter of the word, starting out with the first song “B.”
His sister Willow starts out “B” with a beautiful sermon about God’s creations and her trouble sleeping before going into her chorus about feeling “blue.” The instrumental perfectly matches her voice and the song’s vibe. As the song moves toward the end, Smith enters into the scene with a flow that will have a listener’s head bobbing.
BLUE Is One Song
— Jaden (@jaden) November 30, 2017
After the “BLUE” intro, Smith goes into another song that demonstrates his type of flow. “Breakfast” displays the quickness of his delivery when he spits. This song features A$AP Rocky, who does not have a verse on the song but has background vocals.
In “Hope,” Smith talks about his conspiracy theories. He states within the song,
“But lately this is not a conspiracy, I don’t label myself a conspiracist / I need a therapist look, ‘Fahrenheit 451’ / Building seven wasn’t hit and there’s more sh*t to come / The pentagon is on a run.”
Smith thinks society has its flaws, comparing it to the dystopian world of the novel “Fahrenheit 451,” where books are outlawed. In the next verse, he refers to the 7 World Trade Center that fell from the impact of the plane crashes on the nearby twin towers in the surrounding area on 9/11.
In a recent interview with Complex Magazine, Smith said “Lost Boy” is one of his favorite songs ever. The song refers to him feeling like a lost boy, a potential nod to Peter Pan. His girlfriend Odessa Adlon sings the background vocals. It’s a song with a mellow guitar instrumental throughout.
“Icon” has seemed to get the most traction on social media due to its music video in which Smith is stunting his wealth. In the song, he calls himself an “icon,” which is controversial since many people may not agree with that. It would be a different scenario if he would have referred to his father as one.
“Watch Me” is reminiscent of Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead” song from his “Yeezus” album. In many cases throughout the album, Smith sounds like a millennial Yeezy. Kid Cudi has also been another musical influence for Smith. He premiered the slow burner “Fallen” on Cudi’s twitter account about a year ago.
The second half of the album is not as strong as the first half in my opinion. Most songs toward the end of the album are forgettable. The “BLUE” intro really makes the album. If it weren’t for that intro, people might not continue listening.
The true winner of this album is the production. The instrumentals are great and the transitions from song to song are fantastic.
“SYRE” is a solid album. This is who Smith is, and it’s just a way to display it to the world though his music. It will be interesting to hear how his music develops over the next 10 years as he starts entering adulthood.
7.5/10
