Raury Tullis Photo: Supplied
Jim Pinckney hovers over the hotly hyped hip pop of Atlanta's Raury.
Not quite the completely fresh newcomer anymore, after all Lorde picked him out for her Hunger Games soundtrack, 19 year old Atlanta rapper cum pop folk singer, Raury, arrives at his debut with much expectation and hype. Whether it’s met is debatable, there’s certainly no lack of ambition on an album that sets out to save the world on its first two tracks, over upfront acoustic guitars and plenty of hip hop’s rumbling sub bass. This isn’t new territory Arrested Development’s folky handclap boom bap is an obvious touchstone, as is the freakier work of Outkast or Pharrel’s hip pop productions. Raury’s own take vacillates between earnest pop songs that ask burning questions, like the All we Need of the album title - which unsurprisingly still turns out to be love, and his slant on smooth hip hop jams. There are mistakes, mis-steps and over-reaches along the way but refreshingly he isn’t playing it completely safe.
Songs played: Trap Tears, Revolution, Her, Crystal Express, Devil’s Whisper, Woodcrest Manor II,
