Gracing an album with sonically-resplendent production, aspiring words and advanced and preeminent bars, rapper Varyus Waise delivers an album worthy of much praise. Spending two years on this project, Varyus Waise delves into his inner self to tell stories, detail life events and showcase crafty rhymes and put all of his hard work and effort into Little Brother Syndrome.
With an enlightening and inspiring intro, Varyus Waise speaks on letting your light shine. This intro leads right into my favorite track off the project, the jazzy, lyrically-ill and high-life sounding jam called “Home Alone.”
“I’m just playing like I’m home alone, going crazy on this microphone, and one day the whole world will know… Until then, I’m little brother,”
Varyus sings on the hook. The sweet track illustrates Varyus Waise’ overall sound and style and sounds like some good ol’ soul food, as he says so himself. The perfect track to start the album off with, “Home Alone” boasts a great beat and some of Varyus Waise’ best rhymes off the project.
A common subject on this album is the Brooklyn rapper’s low self-esteem issues prior to this project. This relates back to the title, Little Brother Syndrome; Varyus Waise has a self-depricating past as he raps on how he doubted his talents and skills. Not only this, but Varyus Waise tells others to believe in themselves and stay true, as well as to follow their dreams. Tracks like “Can You Feel Me?,” “Keep Goin,” “Rise Up Theme” and a few more songs touch base on this uplifting message.
Although Varyus Waise displays the qualities of a pretty conscious hip hop artist on his album Little Brother Syndrome, there’s no doubt that this rhymer likes to have fun on a track and go in over a banging instrumental. Songs like “Red Stripe Music (feat. Lyrical Blades, Outsider & Tough Dumplin” feature a bumping, soul sound with razor sharp flows and lyrically intense rhymes; and songs like “Wynter Summers” centers around a lovely lady and is supported by a multitude of snares and filtered ‘What!?’s.
The production on this project is pretty dynamic, as is the artist who rhymes on them. I’ve noted the sound of the instrumentals and touched on them a little bit, but there’s a lot more to say about them. Catchy, melodic joints with skipping drums like the beat for “Child Soldiers” and simply divine and euphoric music supporting an easy-going set of riding drums as heard on “She Knows (feat. Jeanette Berrry)” allows Varyus Waise to explore different territories in his rhyme schemes and subject matters. His voice fits almost flawlessly on nearly every beat and that is just one thing Little Brother Syndrome boasts.
A unique voice with numerous stories and words of wisdom to tell, Varyus Waise has a knack for making hip hop music, regardless of any doubt he’s ever had of himself doing so. From ultra-jazzy to ultra-soulful to ultra-banging, the beats on Little Brother Syndrome are diverse, yet consistently entertaining and flashy. This project is one of those albums to put in your car stereo and cruise down the highway at night passing bright lights and city-scapes along the way. A nice feel-good project, Little Brother Syndrome is an album you need to get, and luckily for you, it’s available for FREE stream and download courtesy of Bandcamp.
8/10
, the music speaks for itself. Hotel Rayman is funky and full of confident energy){kind=link}
