We All Shine

Album review

YNW Melly's ascension from unknown Florida rapper to Kanye West collaborator happened quickly, going from uploading self-released tracks online at age 15 to the high-gloss production and increasingly accessible sound of his second mixtape, We All Shine, just four years later. The style that brought Melly his fame -- haunting melodic lines that waver between smoothly sung delivery and meditative flows -- is refined into something more pop here than on early singles or his 2018 debut mixtape, I Am You. There are still shades of the reflective lyrics, sinister energy, and youthful vigor that comprised the best of the rapper's early songs, but emotional threads on We All Shine tend more towards relationship issues and romantic drama. There's plenty to enjoy on the 16-track project, from the emo guitar hooks of "No Heart" to Melly's auto-tuned warble over the plaintive acoustic guitar loop of "Butter Pecan." Much of the material seems to be designed for mainstream accessibility, with hooky choruses and R&B gestures pushing the rhymes into the background. There are some moments of emotional depth and humor (money-bragging banger "F*ck PNC Bank" hilariously complains about Melly's bank refusing to let him withdraw $20,000 in cash), but the album mostly plays it safe. Though the Kanye West-featuring single "Mixed Personalities" sticks out with vocals mixed louder than any other song and clearly defined production, the song is vapid and uninspired -- a shallow bid for a hit that feels more pandering than anything. We All Shine aims for commercial appeal and reaches it. In doing so, however, the collection feels empty, with YNW Melly sacrificing some of the character from which his art first grew.

© Fred Thomas /TiVo