Louie

Kenny Beats

I'm quite a big fan of Kenny Beats. I found his Cave YouTube series to be incredibly entertaining and also eye-opening as I watched Mr. Beats hastily assemble an instrumental perfectly tailored for his guest of the day to inevitably kill. The series not only demonstrated how proficient he is at his craft, but also how effectively he can collaborate with a diverse array of artists. He's further proved this on his recent collaborative projects like the grimy, cartoon violence of UNLOCKED (a collaboration with Denzel Curry), and while I didn't particularly care for it, Kenny Beats did succeed in providing the atmospheric background for Vince Staples to get introspective on his self-titled album. However, Kenny Beats isn't collaborating with anyone this time around on LOUIE. Inspired by his father's cancer diagnosis, his old mixtapes, and isolation, Kenny Beats worked away for a month to craft this musical love letter to his dad.

It's apparent right from the very beginning that this is going to be a thoughtful and beautiful ode with the intro track Leonard. It tells the endearing story of the adopted family name (of which the album's title comes from) that ties together family, friends, the people that (by the sounds of it) are near and dear to his heart. What follows for the next thirty minutes or so are a series of lush, classy, and incredibly detailed vignettes that go in all sorts of directions. I love the harmonious gospel vibe on Still with the warm church organ and the layers of background vocals. Hooper has a really nice island vibe that is brought about by the sampled horn lines. Moire is perhaps the most minimal, but the detail in the drum beat and performance makes it sound original. I wouldn't put it past Mr. Beats to perform this himself given that I know he has background as a drummer. I also really like the saxophone that dances randomly all over this instrumental; it's an obvious focal point for me. I love the two-pronged attack of Eternal and Last Words which both play up the theme of leaving behind a legacy, being remembered forever, and so on. The former makes use of a great sample from Shira Small, pitched up to a curious speed in which Small no longer sounds like she's from this Earth, and the latter features a candid clip from Vince Staples; a hilarious figure who's insane and absurd ramblings often turn out to be more profound as you continuously revisit.

What I like about LOUIE, possibly more than the music itself, is how much it represents Kenny Beats to his father, his fans, or anyone who cares to listen. For us listeners, we get an intimate glimpse of what Kenny Beats' upbringing was like, what his relationship with his father was like, how that impacted his life, and made him into who he is today. We certainly don't get a full story, but that relationship is characterized as one with love and support. It's a beautifully heartwarming thing to be a witness to. It's also heartwarming that this album could be considered a summary of Kenny's career to date; a 'look how far I've come dad' sort of thing. And that is manifested not only through the diverse array of sounds, samples, and genres worked into this project, but also by incorporating the voices of various people he has worked with over the years. Hearing the likes of Freddie Gibs, JPEGMAFIA, Vince Staples, and Slowthai grunt, ad-lib, or spit partial verses all on the same project adds a cool retrospective element; a lovely sentiment to this ode to dad. LOUIE is just a feel-good record, and given the personal nature, I can't help but feel thankful that Kenny Beats has extended these good vibes to us.