I will be honest. I really expected myself to hate this album. I was unimpressed with the singles and from an admittedly jaded perspective thought this was all a bit of an attempt to cash in on a popular trend. What I found when I set aside my biases was a unique album that had some impressive tracks throughout. Steve Aoki took a massive risk by producing Kolony and I have to say, I really respect him for it. The emerging trend of EDM Rap is one that I have mixed feelings on. Many times the productions feel forced, while other times tracks are actually pretty damn original and interesting. There is a mix of both the good and the bad on Kolony.
Some notable standouts on the album are the lead off track with Bok Nero and ILoveMakonnen, ‘Kolony Anthem', as well as ‘No Time' featuring Jimmy October and Bad Royale. Some tracks seems to lack a certain depth. That being said I am an outspoken critic of the entire mumble rap phenomenon so maybe I am not the best party to be giving input on music that is produced more for the energy level than creative expression.
Overall Kolony is honestly pretty fun. As I stated before, Steve took the risk of a life time putting together this overall impressive album. While bits and pieces fall short, it is truly the first LP of it's kind. I am sure there will be many to follow. This fact also makes it hard to truly rate as there is not much to compare it too in terms of genre. At the end of the day though one has to respect the hard work and effort put into this LP filled with talented collaborators both old and new. Check it out below.
