ALBUM REVIEW: LEXUS - PAGLAYA

OWFUCK was one of the prominent hip-hop groups in the age where trap music was at its peak. The trio of Astro, Paul, and Lexus, were at the top of the game. Their successes and efforts include getting featured in online outlets, having a loyal fanbase nationwide, and became a part of the supergroup727 Clique while other groups like Assembly Generals, Bawal Clan, Bugoy na Koykoy were on their own way of making a name in the metro. Owfuck started with a bunch of friends collaborating on tracks until they are narrowed down to three members from 2015 to 2016. The trio went on a solid two year run. Until 2017 where one of their core members Lexus went abroad for personal reasons and left the two Astro and Paul to run most of 2017 with one missing top player in the group. This has left Lexus to manage his first ever solo album that he had been planning for a long time. Lexus of Owfuck and 727 Clique is in my opinion the most skilled rappers in their respective group and arguably the most charismatic emcee in the entire underground hip-hop scene today. He has his own distinct nasal toned rapping, delivery, and executes lyrical content that paints themes of violence, depression, and anxiety. These themes are based on his entire life when he was a young teenager living in Manila. (This was before when ‘emo rap’ was tainted by commercial media and exacerbated by other local young copycats in the scene today.) The Tondo-Manila native displayed versatility both in boom bap and trap influenced production. Just like his groupmates, Lexus was always the guy who would always stand out in every verse. In his latest album titled “Paglaya”, Lexus shows a different side of himself that he originally wanted everyone to listen to. Lexus has a quiet and sedated flow in his latest album. Although, I don’t usually here him rap over a slow hypnotic beat so it’s a breath of fresh air to hear him rap over in this style of production. The project starts with a psychedelic trap beat in track titled “Mapag-Isa”. In here, Lexus describes his nightmares living in the country before and today. The second track titled “Alowap” is this interlude where Lexus tells a story where drug use was a way of escaping his demons. The track then segues to the third track “Atin Ang Mundo Ito”. With this being my favorites in the entire project, the production fits Lexus mellow flow. The first two tracks didn’t really hit me until the third listen, I think it was his voice that didn’t spark any engaging experience to get invested in the tracks. Advancing to the fifth and sixth track, Lexus details his loneliness in and outside of the country while he questions his own worth and existence at “Paglaya”. From the track “Yosi Break (Interlude)” and the title track “Paglaya”, you can hear the pure nostalgia and isolation that Lexus is picturing inside his head. The tracks here didn’t feel rushed nor was it packed with hype. “Yosi Break” was an interlude that everyone needed. The interlude was able to catch a break from all of the trap based beats. The first half of this project didn’t catch my attention, nor did any of the first few tracks stick with me in the long run. The flow in the first half felt like Lexus was warming up and it sounded like he was jaded. But it did show that he raps about being a thoughtful person and many other thought-provoking subject matters.

The second half of “Paglaya” did a complete 360, where the beats gave Lexus the space to express as freely as he can without being trapped inside a box full of styles that call back to A$AP Mob. Tracks like “Alipin” and “Te Abants” answered the questions I’ve been pondering over at the first half. The last five tracks that are “Bilanggo”, “Magduda”, “Pagkalito”, and “Te Abants” are some of his most ambitious writtens in the entire project. Overall, Lexus’ “Paglaya” is a documentation of a rapper’s current state of mind. This project jumps from A to Z very carefully but at some point the project confuses itself with some similar sounding tracks where you can’t tell what song you’re listening to. Lexus needs to slightly work on his flow and consistency on every track. Albeit the first half being one-dimensional, Lexus made up for it with some great production that he helped handpicked in this project. The beats here in this project are bold and it creates this mood that suites the topics that Lexus is covering. There are tracks like “Bilanggo” and “Magduda”, these tracks are great examples in showing different flows of rapping in a trap beat. When in the life of a rapper, there’s a risk in sounding one dimensional but Lexus manages to get out of it in the second half. “Paglaya” was a project that was almost enduring to listen to. But this challenge felt great to repeat over and over as the latter half of the material starts to kick in. Support the art & the artist: https://open.spotify.com/album/1HKHtzbKXjTCnT7pEdnwDm?si=A9zJGkdMRFqYXHG2nZPelQ