Toosii – JADED

A punchy, succinct return…

04 · 10 · 2024

Toosii is driven by a rare hunger. At one point the Raleigh rap artist was homeless, essentially left with nothing but his skills and ambition. The path to last year’s excellent full length ‘NAUJOUR’ wasn’t necessarily an easy one, but the weight of experience made each word hit harder. New project ‘JADED’ continues his rise – solid if succinct, it’s a spotlight for hard-won artistry.

‘Meet Me Outside’ is the blockbuster introduction, the lavish, widescreen strings setting a cinematic tone. Hitting the bars with a deeply physical heft, Toosii’s style is exacting and charismatic, a true rap technician.

Indeed, some of the material here ranks with his best work. The ravishing ‘New Corvette’ or the chic, stylish ‘Fire And Desire’ are just two immediate highlights on a project where the sustained creativity is never allowed to dim.

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The production throughout is sharply defined, and distinctly on-point – ‘She Doesn’t Mind’ benefits from those subtle harp notes in the intro, while ‘Fantastic’ is a swirling morass of sound, an ideal headphone listen.

In terms of a guest cast, each feature seems to speak to the broader themes of the project. A ravishing Kehlani appears on ‘Ok… Whatever’, a song that allows Toosii to switch lanes. Gunna is a feature specialist, meaning that nothing on ‘Champs Elysees’ is allowed to go to waste; a bubbly Muni Long, meanwhile, is inspired on ‘I Do’.

Working in an era of streaming blockbusters, ‘JADED’ flips the script somewhat by embracing brevity. There’s only 13 tracks on here – a trim 36 minutes of music – while fans have noted that some songs teased on socials haven’t made the final cut. Perhaps a Deluxe Edition is inbound…? Only Toosii can tell. An album that hones in on his core values, there’s a lot on ‘Jaded’ to cherish.

7/10

Words: Robin Murray

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