Yung Tyran delivered his anticipated album Look What It’s Come To in August and it is well worth the wait. The Zimbabwean-born, South African rapper carries other professional titles including singer, producer and songwriter.
His music journey and personal imprint on the industry has been something to watch, from his influences, winning a competition on Live Amp, releasing an impressive lineup of EPs and now on the right track to be a staple in the game globally.
Look What It’s Come To launches off with an intro track “Where The Crown Belongs” and he is shooting from the get-go. It’s a powerful introduction where he says “I was trying to see them win / Couldn’t see the picture / I guess them niggas had a dusty lens”. He is simply stating how people never believed in what he is working towards, they couldn’t see the bigger picture.
Tyran reiterates how those same people told him countless times that the “music sxxt ain’t make a sense…” but he believed in himself to push through and dive into the risk. The intro track also touches on a peak into the personal battles he had to overcome just to be where he is at the moment. By taking down ops, distractions, haters, music industry giants etc. He laid it on the track.
The beat selection blends with his tone, and I especially appreciate the slight pauses on each bar he drops. Because it makes the lyrics more impactful. He says “Legacy set in stone / Tell the kids I’m coming home / Back to where the crown belongs”. This intro is packed with punches, double entendre and great delivery.
“Deep Cuts” slowly ushers in with a completely different beat and tempo altogether. As it starts there is a humming background voice, a nice addition because it pairs well with the beat production. Tyran kicks in with clean vocals “…where I’m at its sunny and I’m kicking feet up / but I’m about the money so I got deep cuts / Getting to the money so I ain’t got time to waste”.
The track is giving me motions in his personal/professional life. Tyran’s problems, hustling and the uneven path to success, but he says that the deep cuts are there, internally of course. The journey to his current blessings took a lot from him.
I love his singing on this track, just the right amount of emotion through it. The song doesn’t need a rap verse or two. It’s solid and relatable. I cherish Yung Tyran for this track because you don’t necessarily hear rap projects diving into the deep stuff without revealing too much. But just painting a picture that isn’t black + white, because life isn’t that way. We need more of these projects in the rap game.
On “Champions Parade”, he features J Flo who is also known as Jesse Suntele. Now the beat switches up again, classic Tyran. With lyrics like “I came from the mud / I came from the corners / I put it all on my shoulders”, Tyran is just going in on this track, I love the delivery due to how it is running alongside the beat.
“Champions Parade” kind of reminds me of those wrestling movies such as Creed or Rocky or just any wrestling show. It’s the growing anticipation from the music, like conquering something or someone. And on this track, Tyran is going in on his ops using lyrics as his weapon.
After catching his breath, he ends with a catchy hook “Do you know / whole lotta wins you know / I’m trying make all these Ms you know / I’m not tryna make friends you know”. J Flo jumps in and matches flow to Tyran’s. He offers cadence, bars and exceptional delivery. They have great musical chemistry.
“Nothin To Tell” follows up by featuring Darse Mayne is a refreshing break and relaxing, but the lyrics are cunning, had to really hold the chuckle in.
I particularly relished the hook, “I do not know peace / I don’t sleep can’t you tell / Better run me my cheese / Not them dreams that you sell / Not too many like me got a lot of demons under my bed”. This track is basically an FU to unserious people they meet in this industry. These two are saying they are about their money and generally have nothing else to say. Just run the Ms.
Yung Tyran features Die Mondez on “Yessir.” The beat selection here has undercurrents of trap and rap. Perfect for a club scene and radio. This is a potential banger for Tyran. “Yessir” is just validation that Yung Tyran will go further in the game because of versatility and ability to deliver different styles to perfection.
“Cross Roads” is a “thank you speech” to everyone who had an influence on his journey. This track is not only a thank you, but a reflection on decisions, lessons and realizations. He says, “I’m in the studio dissecting doing surgery / Every action makes me trust you less / Start to think if you could you would murder me”.
The concluding song “Back Against The Wall” is a bold statement. With “I’ve been through the flames / I’ve been through the pain going through it all”, Tyran is talking to the people who though he would be done with this journey because of the bad position he was in or rather something that almost halted his journey to success.
He adds on “we going to see who has the last laugh / eff a truce cause I’m past that”. The message here is that the music choose him and you have to fall through when it’s your calling. But once you start on that path, there will always be people waiting on you to fail. Don’t be cosy, like he said. Just keep on pushing no matter how hard it is.
Look What It’s Come To is an exceptional effort from Tyran, and we are excited to see what unfolds for him soon. Listen to the album on Spotify below and stream it everywhere else here.
Words by Ruby Adele
