I have never been more happy to illegally download an album than when I found a leak of rapper Ameer Vann’s new EP.
“Emmanuel” is a dull, vapid, self-centered collection of subpar rap tracks that barely deserves your attention, let alone your financial support.
Vann helped found the hip-hop boyband Brockhampton and rose to fame alongside the group with the Saturation Trilogy, three relentlessly versatile and creative albums released in the second half of 2017.
Brockhampton and Vann parted ways after several women accused him of sexual assault through social media in early 2018.
The hip-hop group reeled from the split on their chaotic and depressive album “Iridescence” and finally told its side of the story on one of the best tracks from its latest album, “Ginger.”
On the powerful neo-soul rap song “Dearly Departed,” rapper Dom McLennon tells the story of how Vann set up one of McLennon’s friends to be robbed and lets out his anger with lyrics like, “If I knew what you would do to someone you owe money to, you wouldn’t get a dime.”
After staying completely silent for more than a year, Vann released “Emmanuel” on Wednesday, the day after he announced the EP on his newly-reactivated Instagram.
Vann’s return falls woefully short of the standard Brockhampton achieved since his departure, partially because of repetitive and one dimensional production.
On the EP’s title track, Vann delivers his simplistic flows over an even more simple beat, featuring nothing more than a grumbling 808 bass and a few touches of understated production.
The skeletal beat makes for a tense opening, but as Vann’s flows drill in the same rhythm over and over, it becomes obvious that he needed much more than just bass and drums to hold anyone’s attention for almost three minutes.
The closing track “Plastic” features another underdeveloped instrumental, ruining promising production with a brief length and Vann’s boring flows.
Producer Hit-Boy’s beat shows off some promising elements, stacking touches of snappy percussion, grimy bass and eerie samples over watery keys.
Unfortunately, Vann runs out of things to say before the beat can fully evolve, leaving the track at less than two minutes.
Perhaps Vann’s lack of lyrical content on “Plastic” makes it one of “Emmanuel’s” better songs, considering that he delivers nothing but dull flows and offensively tone-deaf lyrics over the EPs forgettable beats.
Vann fills “Glock 91” with plenty of his usual lyrics about drowning in drugs and bragging about
his success.
Despite all of the confidence Vann delivers on this song, he includes these lines as a desperate play for sympathy: “Heart’s still heavy, I been lookin’ for my friends, everybody leave everybody in the end.”
Vann’s victim-card-playing antics are laughable in light of the specific condemnation from Brockhampton rapper Dom McLennon on “Dearly Departed.”
At this point, it should be obvious to anyone who has followed Brockhampton’s story that they parted ways with Vann for very real reasons, making his attempt at gaining sympathy seem pointless and naive.
Vann’s attempts at playing the victim card are not nearly as bad as when he directly attacks Brockhampton.
On the aggressive “Pop Trunk,” Vann sneaks a dis against the group between lines about gang violence with the line, “I ain’t no boy in a band, I am more than a man.”
This petty playground insult is infuriating in light of how Brockhampton has clarified exactly why Vann needed to leave.
If this lazy attempt to start beef with Brockhampton works, it will be an absolute joy to watch the boyband destroy him.
Only listen to “Emmanuel” if you want to see how the EP will affect the conversation around Brockhampton because Vann’s abrupt return to music does not stand on its own.
