Wakai Blesses Us With “Flashbacks”
Quickly gathering the attention of the underground with his jumpy yet melodic flows, intricate descriptions of life in Baton Rouge, and charismatic punchlines, Wakai has made quite the impression on people in just three years. His foray into music has been as surprising as it is welcome for listeners, balancing consistency with quality, Wakai has released projects for three straight years now. And each time he’s released, he has shown honest growth in both experimentation and storytelling. With “Flashbacks”, Wakai takes his conceptual writing to new heights as he hops between the different feelings and adventures that came in the past, which still follow him today.
Accompanied by Ramraz, the sole producer on this tape, Wakai is able to charter new musical territory. The beats are filled with more synths, less samples, floatier melody lines, buzzier bass instruments, and dancier rhythmic sections. Ramraz’s production obviously left its largest impression on Wakai’s flows, adding stress to the energy of individual phrases in songs such as “7 Hours” and “Lukewarm”, akin to how Clipse approached many of its classic songs. Most interestingly though, Wakai’s powerful flows are joined at the shoulder with his questions about luck, growth, and nostalgia.
The titular track “Flashbacks”, a beautiful and reminiscent tale of Wakai’s life changing at 19, discusses the misconceptions one grows up with until the world is truly shown to them. It is cheeky, sweet, and in many ways melancholy. While Wakai is happy about the new changes in his life, there is an underlying anxiety. This anxiety is characterized in lines like “A lot of thoughts in my head that’s spoken they won’t feel me” and “A page gets added to distract you from closed chapters.” Clearly describing his new life as being filled with trepidation and constant movement, Wakai is bittersweet about it all. While success is near, the constant powers of the world linger over his head and push him in many directions which he isn’t sure about.
The standout track of “Flashbacks”, “Can’t Keep”, portrays Wakai’s internal struggle with the chances he stumbles into. He parallels the largest successes in his life, which were the aforementioned chances he stumbled into, with a story of his encounter with a girl on a single night. Wakai juggles between the romantic and realistic possibilities of that interaction, coming to the conclusion, on his lengthiest and most intricate verse he’s most likely ever written, that either way he wishes for more of those nights and encounters. It’s a brave take on what he wants out of life, expressing the joys of misdirection and ability to take confusion in stride.
In its entirety, “Flashbacks” seems to discuss how Wakai’s multitude of choices and the different ways both people and ideas present themselves stress Wakai out. His life is nearing unquestionable success. He’s found critical acclaim in almost every pocket of the underground. He’s been to LA, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and still has more traveling to do. He’s now worked with an extremely talented producer from Tel Aviv for his new EP. There are a million eyes upon Wakai, from businessmen, to curators, managers, writers, agents, and more, there’s always someone he might have to keep a close eye on. The industry is filled with manipulation and tricks. Compared to the past, and our close kept nostalgia, the future is sometimes terrifying to navigate. Wakai ultimately fights his battle with these ideas on “Flashbacks.”
Listen here.
