The Fool: Bladee’s Worlds Collide
Preface: Working Overtime
Bladee is on a roll.
After the release of EXETER, an EP that came out in April 2020, Bladee has since dropped 2 full length projects, each receiving critical acclaim for re-innovating his sound, moving to a more positive than ever sound in his music, which wasn’t the case with a lot of his earlier albums, case in point his 2018 release Red Light, which was heavily criticized by popular music reviewer and “The Internet’s Busiest Music Nerd”, Anthony Fantano, who gave it a 1/10 .
Throwing some light on his 2020 releases however, it’s clear that there’s been a change with the overall sound, with fans noting a much more uplifting vibe to his music, which was well documented on 333, a full length album released in July 2020, and Good Luck, an EP which was released in collaboration with producer Mechatok.
333 was produced by long time collaborator and Drain Gang member whitearmor, and featured 16 tracks. It was his 3rd studio album, with the cover designed by London based artist Claire Barrow.
333 started a new era for Bladee. Lyrically speaking, his older work was much more focused on drug abuse, frivolous spending at luxury stores and partying, but 333 had themes of positive spiritual symbolism and better mental health, which marked a shift in his lyrical content and writing.
Good Luck, Bladee’s second EP of the year, came out in December 2020, was the first time Bladee and Mechatok collaborated on a full length project.
An eclectic album, deriving its sound from the dance music scene of the 2010’s, it was nothing like Bladee had done before. Energetic production, along with easy pop vocals made it a hit for the fans.
The deluxe, a remix album,with remixes from Oklou, Evian Christ, Toxe and Salem was released in early May, but the most notable of them all was a remix for “Drama”, featuring pop artist and glitchcore queen Charli XCX, which was a hit amongst listeners around the globe.
The Album: An amalgamation of his best work?
After the tracklist and album cover was leaked online on May 14th, followed by a track snippet leaked on the 26th of May, Bladee released his first full length project of 2021, 2 days after, on the 28th of May.
The Fool artistically derives from a lot of his previous albums. Produced by Lusi of Ripsquad, an Australian producer collective, who he has worked with on his 2018 release Icedancer.
The production picks up from where Icedancer left, with high energy synths and drums, with a song structure highly similar to one of the most loved Bladee albums of all time. The lyricism however, carries on from his 2020 releases, and provides a very interesting and pleasurable listening experience for the listener.
The Fool Intro, touches upon the start of a cycle of breaking down and building up again, with Bladee singing to St. George to “kill his demons” to break him down and cleanse him. St. George, the patron saint of England, is most popularly known in folklore for his story of killing a dragon, and Bladee seems to equate the demons that live inside him to a dragon, similar to the one the Roman soldier turned martyr executed.
Let’s Ride, the second track, references the angel number “333", which is considered to be the opposite to 666, the devil’s number in many cultures. Bladee referenced 666 a lot on his older work, and this shift indicates a clear change in his symbolism that’s a major part of his current writing. This track also provided fans one of his most quotable and iconic lyric in “I should’ve never went to school, I should’ve been the one to teach”.
Hotel Breakfast, features production from Loesoe, hot off his collaboration with Trippie Redd and Playboi Carti’s “Miss The Rage”, and Rok, who’s gained attention for his work with the likes of Lil Keed, Future, Lil Uzi Vert and many more. The track itself revolves around the themes of his haters projecting, his stage name being mispronounced (Bladee is pronounced “blade”, but is commonly pronounced as “blade-e” among listeners”), and how he’s nothing but a normal person, as opposed to an angel, a designation given to him by drainers (the Drain Gang fanbase name).
I Think…, has Bladee singing about the fragility of his existence, about how he’s here one moment, and gone the next. Gnosticism, a 2nd century ideology that revolves around personal spiritual knowledge above the orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of the church, is the defining concept for this song, and a nod to Descartes’ “Ghost In The Machine” is noted at the end of the track.
Thee 9 Is Up, revolves around the situation Bladee finds himself in, wherein he is begging to a God, or the spirits above, for forgiveness and a blessing, and how he is being tempted by the Devil, by lusting for a shell (yes, Descartes reference again), with lust being one of the seven deadly sins.
desiree, in my personal opinion, one of the most upbeat tracks on the album, involves Bladee pleading to Fate for another chance, and that he would be ready when the time comes. This song, is a prayer of sorts, with Bladee repeating the line, “In your arms, I’m a child”, which was also a part of Thee 9 Is Up.
I Want It That Way, is a probable reference to a generation defining track of the same name by the Backstreet Boys, or maybe not. Lil Uzi Vert’s “That Way”, is rumored to be a possible inspiration too, with the common link between Bladee and the Philadelphia rapper being Working On Dying, the production collective, that has worked on projects for both the artists. The track notes Bladee’s desire to change from his past ways, and his failure to do so in the past, while also stating that he’s responsible for all of it, since he is the master of his fate.
BBY, displays a recurrent theme of “Loss = Gain”, which features across the work of fellow Drain Gang artists Ecco2k and Thaiboy Digital, and takes a detour from the spiritual references, to a more materialistic and romantic theme, where he talks about doing whatever he wants for a loved one.
Inspiration Comes, presents the only feature on this album, from fellow Drain Gang rapper Thaiboy Digital. A lot of references to the pair’s previous work is noted on this track, from 333’s Noblest Strive, “Turn your mental prison into a maze”, to Thaiboy Digital’s single Triple S, “Man, I’m B-O-triple-S, that’s true (B-O-triple-S)”. Listeners were confused as to where and when Drain High School’s football tryouts are being held though.
egobaby, features one of the highest points on this album, where he breaks into a beautifully executed high pitched singing voice on the bridge, followed by a weird yet alluring auto-tuned laugh. A reference to Avicii’s “Levels” is made in the first line itself, with lyrical wordplay giving a nod to the 2011 release by the now deceased Swedish DJ. The theme of “Drain” is explained on the song, talking about the balance of loss and gain, and how there’s shadow in the light. Yin and Yang anyone?
Trendy, depicts Bladee’s desire for innocence, much like Snow White from the fairy tales. The chorus for the song, pays homage to the theme of starting again, with truth being the forefront for the approach Bladee takes to life. The joker card referred to in this track is the tarot card for The Fool, which in a nutshell sums up the overall direction of this album.
Search True, yet again dwells on the theme of Drain, with loss and gain, and night and day being pointed out on the song. The post chorus provides an instance of the Endless Fountain, which is to be found inside oneself, and Bladee describing the left hand/right hand rule in magic, which he combines to pave his own way.
Wett (Water2), plays out like a hymn, which works well in conjunction with the spirituality of the album being a major talking point across the board. The album ends on a note of breaking down, and coming back again, as if he were stuck in a rebirth cycle (as referred to on Let’s Ride), by the repetition of the line “I fall apart and come together in the perfect dream” in the outro.
Conclusion: There’s More Than Meets The Eye
Bladee over the years has been established as an auto-tune using, underground rap artist, with almost minimal substance to his writing, but that notion has been disproved a long time ago. This project goes to show the depth in his work, and shows how he’s matured as an artist and songwriter, able to draw parallels from his life and different themes of spirituality. In all essence, he’s now in the day, as opposed to being “in the night”, as referenced on Icedancer’s “Mallwhore Freestyle”.
The production is immaculate, with constantly high levels of energy maintained across the 33 minute playtime, resulting in a “no skips” album.
While Bladee’s music has been seen as inaccessible to the average hip hop/rap listener, due to his initial emergence as a cloud rap artist, way back in the Gluee days, it doesn’t seem to be the case anymore, with Good Luck and The Fool being much more understandable to the listener.
Growth, eh?
