ATLANTA, GA – 19-year-old rapper Amir Benjamin, known musically as Surf, has been out here making classic projects for several years now. With the release of his third full-length tape, he has truly put out his most cohesive and complete project. When I first linked with Surf a few weeks ago, it was before the release of his newest project BAD HUMAN. He told me:
“I’m working on a project called “BAD HUMAN.” It’s wonderful. I’m trying to capture all of my emotions I have towards myself and the world and release them onto a solid project that tells the story of a kid who feels like he is a bad human but in reality has good intentions and is an angel sent from heaven.”
Touching on a range of topics from his emotional happiness (or lack there of), drugs, love, and certainly the expensive tags that come with the fast lifestyle that Surf leads.
With the opening track, Hate Myself, Surf give us a look into his brain as negative thoughts cloud his judgement. Living in that energy, it seems as though he uses that as motivation because after the somber intro to the album, the infectious lyrics:
“How you feel? How you feel? How you feel?
19 ran up myself a couple mil.
I remember when I couldn’t afford a meal,
now I ran me up a check and I ain’t even sign a deal.”
In classic Surf style, he finesses the vocals on every track on the project and his words hit you right in the chest. Rapping about the “kid who feels like he is a bad human,” in the beginning of the song, towards the end of the same song he begins to realize that he is not the bad human. He seems to rise above the negative energy and the intro track provides a sort of foreshadowing for the project as a whole.
Sliding right into the next track, Valentine, he tells the story of a girl that will inevitably break your heart. Although knowing full well that it’s bound to happen, there is something that just keeps drawing him to this girl, however. Referencing the vices that he uses to escape the pain that she caused, he talks about popping a bean and “smoking a whole fucking zip.” Glitter is a song that is instantly euphoric, from the second that the beat drops and Surf’s vocals open up the track:
“I’m shining like glitter, yah
No filter
Made my teeth shiver, hey, I put ice on ’em.
My diamonds so damn wet, hey, put some rice on ’em”
Dripping with style on every cut on the project, he crafts each bar perfectly it seems. When asked about the work that goes into his music, he told me “I’ve really just never lost a passion for making music. It was always my form of expression and release and we all go through shit every day so I always have something to say.”
While the entire project is incredibly put together, Hercules is a highlight on the tape. Lacing his bars with flexes, he is out here hurting a lot of people’s feelings with this track. Letting the drugs take control of him, he is dripped down with designer from head-to-toe.
“Big bands, in my wallet,
Expensive clothes, in my closet.
Had to drop the bitch off she was out-of-pocket.
Different color bitches like the hair on Dennis Rodman.”
With the only feature on the album, Akimbo (feat. Shingo), the pair go off throughout the track that’s just over 2 minutes long. Exchanging bars the two have made music together in the past and clearly have a great chemistry when they jump onto a track. As Surf drips throughout the rest of the tape, referencing a lot of designer brands, iced out jewelry, and of course the effects of drugs on his emotional states, his lyrics hit the ear perfectly. Finessing the tune throughout the entire album, he uses every aspect of his voice to convey his messages.
He gives listeners a great mix of slower tracks like Missing You, savage tracks like Motel Love Story, and tracks that are somewhere in the middle with a mix of the two like Nina. Motel Love Story is a highlight on the album as he ignites the studio with this one. His voice is savage and his lyrics are even harder.
“I put lean inside my teeth, bitch.
Gold on my teeth, bitch.
That girl left my heart so cold
that now I need some heat, bitch.”
Ending on the beautiful closing track Feel So Alive, you can hear the sincerity in his lyrics and in his voice. Seeing the progression that Surf has gone through since before Every Blue Moon, his first project released on major platforms, is truly inspiring. Going from that to his second album Mental States, which has some songs that are still very popular and currently doing numbers, his skill level improves dramatically. Leaving us with his newest album, Bad Human, he is here to make major waves. Rapping and singing with so much confidence on every track, he truly nailed this project.
Check out more of Surf’s music below and stay tuned for new music that is surely coming!
