Delorean – Chris Rivers – ALBUM REVIEW
In a musical landscape where production is of more value than lyrical content, it’s refreshing to go to Spotify or Apple Music and put on a quick 90’s throwback playlist. I promise this won’t be an oldhead rant on the “Golden Age” of Hip Hop, and I’m not here to take any shots at the trap heavy, turn up beats (although it is definitely the time of great producers rather than great MCs). Music is audible emotion, and every occasion has a different soundtrack. There’s a time and place for everything. Even in a genre that was birthed from commenting on the socio-economic conditions of the people creating the art-form, we need to enjoy music that just celebrates life.
Time, place and space are the underlying themes within Chris River’s latest project Delorean, a conceptually beautiful, exquisitely produced, and masterfully constructed trip back to the future of Hip Hop. We enter Delorean, where Chris reminisces on his past and present – and demonstrates the differences between him and the current rappers who have gained more acclaim and fame than him. With heavy bass and even deeper lyrics:
Virtue versus purchase flesh/Heard the worst your worth is less/Than worthlessness is merciless/Get merchant dress to turn the stress to/Mask and bask in everlasting sadness and/Attachments to the fashion that these/Fastens harness fast into your/Passions and your drive…
Chris shows off his otherworldly concepts and flows. This is just the title track. When we reach the first interlude, we hear the first of many conversations Chris has with a robot called Automaton, the interface for the Delorean Chris rides in as he travels in a wormhole through space. With each conversation and accompanying song it becomes ever clearer that this journey isn’t just for the listener but also an introspective path of enlightenment for Chris himself. To me, the robot represents Chris’ higher consciousness, both playful and thoughtful, asking Chris whether he’ll ever be happy, content, or what the human race would look like in 1000 years all – while making “DEEZ NUTZ” jokes.
Furthering the themes of time and space, Chris breaks one of his songs “Time Zone” into three parts. The song features Whispers, and Oswin Benjamin, but each artist’s contributions is sprinkled in different parts of the album. Chris’ part is track 4, while Whisper’s is track 9 and Oswin’s is track 14. The tracks are literally placed within different time zones of Delorean. When we look at a lot of sci-fi time travel movies, one of the themes in these types of film is the conjoining and separation of events when time is no longer linear. Such a creative way to drive home this concept. The hook in Time Zone also pays homage to not only the birthplace of Hip Hop, but also the home of Chris (and us) The Bronx!
Chris even writes a love letter to Hip Hop, paying homage to artists and albums that shaped him and the genre as the punchlines for the song:
I met this girl when I was 6 years old/The thing I love most she had De La Soul, and spirit/Known the difference between hoes and women/Flow so different/Had Bae once like Hov go near it/She kept on passing me by/That girl is poison/Became a thorn in my side/I guess it’s roses/What you think your shit smell like?/I ain’t no outcast/But I couldn’t outlast/So that shit went South fast…
Chris goes deeper into how the game changed over time and pleads for his long time lover to remember how influential and beautiful she is while hoping that Hip Hop would see him as worthy of pushing the culture forward. (Personally, this is my favorite track from the album).
Chris continues his introspective look into himself and overall commentary of the current musical climate, while taking us back to a “Golden Era” of lyrical genius, over the future (or current) sounds of the trap/turn up vibe that characterizes the sound of the generation he’s part of. With “I Got Too Much” Chris takes jabs at the culture of aspirational lyrics – talking about a lifestyle one hopes to have but doesn’t yet have – that are full of flaunting things you haven’t obtained but ultimately don’t even matter. He talks about his own doubts and issues with self-love and confidence. In “Nothing”, Chris lands a full uppercut on the songs that are filled with hype, but in the end have no substance. “I got copious amounts/I got various accounts…”
As our journey through the wormhole comes to a close, Chris takes us to the flipside of the “Golden Era” he longs for. He takes us back to his own childhood and upbringing, and what’s shaped him as a man in every sense – from his insecurities, to his musical taste, to his dreams and aspirations. It’s the part that we don’t see and talk about. Chris talks very openly about his father and how his family suffered abuse and hard times. He talks about how he wishes he could go back and take the pain away from his mom and sisters. He talks about the legacy of his father and how he’s finding his own voice in the genre that Big Pun is a legend in.
Chris’ Delorean is a trip that screams Rivers’ arrival as the future of Hip Hop. Chris takes us on this deep emotional journey into his own subconscious, while showcasing the fact that he is a lyrical juggernaut. His flow can remind you of his legendary father, but it is uniquely and distinctly Chris. He brings back the art of storytelling, while murdering every trap beat in his path. Go buy Delorean, don’t just stream it (unless you’re gonna have it on repeat 1,000 times). Chris is behind the wheel of the Delorean and taking us into a new era of Hip Hop. Take the journey back to the future.
