Written by Laidlaw Media www.laidlawmedia.com
Put it in the Universe, God is working now
Introvert in the vert, on the verge of w0w"
“Telling the world exactly as it is. I have down-to-earth bars while also being out of this world.”
- MELAYZ
From the “attic of the atlas” an album ascends! Melayz’s luxurious, lyrical and linguistic offering is a mellifluously mesmerizing sonic masterpiece, heralding a new dawn in hip-hop. ‘COUP DE GRÀCE’ graciously and gracefully restores a fundamental ARTiculacy and deCadence to the genre. Timely and timeless- this is essential and quintessential hip-hop.
“This one is forever, we ain’t in no rush” - MELAYZ
‘COUP DE GRÀCE’ is the first album to drop from Minnesota-hailing, multi-talented, multi-disciplinary artist(e), Melayz. It is a true testament to the broad palette of artistic skills and high level of craftsmanship he has honed as a designer, writer, visual and recording artist. From the darkly-inspired symbolic cover illustrations (each exquisitely-rendered scene tells a story), to the immaculately constructed and meaningful lyrics embedded in sonically addictive soundscapes, ‘COUP DE GRÀCE’ can be considered a collectible piece of art.
“My album’s aim is to get back to the rapper or artist having something real to say. Bring some belief back into our blood. Humanitarian Rap at times.” - MELAYZ
Melayz doesn’t just spit perfunctory bars, he makes actual SONGS, a feat way beyond just rhyming words. His style emanates from the same school as a J. Cole or a Kendrick Lamar, but in a more diverse and melodic way (encapsulated by Track 2: “Intervention”).
Aside from his depth and introspection he has more fun elements in his work too, such as on “Introvert”, which serves to provide a multi-dimensional experience for any listener. Songs purpose made for the ladies will never hurt the trajectory of an album, which “Merci Beaucoup” delivers, whilst on the other side of the proverbial sonic fence, “Argon” is a rhyming master class, as is “Yippee Ki Yay” where he proudly states: “I will die hard behind my bars/whatchu talking about Willis, you gonna ‘Die Hard”. He is versatile enough to switch the flow up with ease throughout the album and also uses different inflections in his voice to keep proceedings fresh.
“Coup de grâce” means the “the final blow”, and this album delivers the death shot to a decade of hype-lit, content-lite and linguistically lazy trap, mumble, drill and cloud rap. Melayz describes his work as “one big collage of time, emotion and feeling”- music to “make the listener think”. Without dropping a beat and whilst keeping a catchy hook, he restores a conscious and conscientious voice to hip-hop that demands, in his words, to be “heard, felt and respected…pointing out the contradictions [of the world] with the diction”. In a world within which, as Melayz says, “we are all grabbing and grasping to understand the meaning of everything”, ‘COUP DE GRÀCE’ is a FUNdamental ARTiculation of the modern situation. This is an album to drive, strive and thrive to.