Hope – Lil Noovie (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Hip-hop, rap and all of those urban off shoots and sub-genres have built a, possibly unwarranted, reputation for promoting self-aggrandisement and material gain. There is nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself, its just that bettering yourself isn’t always about having, sometimes it is about feeling. Lil Noovie‘s dedication to Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, aka rapper XXXTentacion, is about feeling, and remembering too, but it is also about love and an end to the tensions and violence that take people away so young.

The song lets the vocals do most of the work, puts the message front and centre and drives on a trippy, skittering trap beat and smooth electronica and little else. It is this space that makes the song hit home so effectively, rather than the musical tricks and studio layering that is often used to create weight to the song, it is the atmosphere and anticipation in the spaces between the beats and words that makes the message more powerful. A song about remembering but a song about change. I just hope enough people are listening.