Rapping over a self-produced track, new rapper John Soda displays his creativity not only in the booth, but behind the boards as well. Dropping New Computer (prod. Soda) a few weeks back, the chaotic beat creates a cacophony of sounds that ends up coming together nicely. While he does show a lot of potential while rapping, some of his bars come across as monotone. Aside from a few monotonous lines, he does have a few gems thrown in there as well.
Discussing the current state of hip-hop, he criticizes the lack or originality in some of his peer’s work. With the low barriers of entry to start making music, pretty much anyone can do it. Soda sees this happening in front of him and questions when people obviously copy the sound of someone else:
“Where the fucking realness,
Like why the fuck y’all steal this?”
While it is perfectly acceptable to be inspired by other artists, there is a fine line between wearing your inspirations on your sleeve and stealing someone’s sound. Choosing to self-produce and master all of his own songs, he is trying to stay true to himself and carve his own lane.
The high point of the track is the ending melodies. He creates a great extended outro that brings the song to a peaceful and serene end. With deep piano chords and dark drums, he concludes the track on faded out note. John Soda shines heavier on the production of this off-the-wall beat than he does rapping over it, but the potential is definitely there. Improving with each track he releases, stay tuned as he finds his voice a little more each time.
