Back in 2013, a young emcee in Minneapolis by the name of deM atlaS released an EP called Charlie Brown that caught a lot of peoples’ attention, including those at Rhymesayers, who soon thereafter announced his signing to the label. He followed this up with an EP called DWNR the next year that solidified his reputation, as he delivered his own brand of energetic and deeply emotional hip hop. He continued to tour over the next couple of years, but fans continued to wait for that full-length album to push his career to the next level. The wait is finally over in 2018, as deM atlaS drops his first full-length solo album, Bad Actress.

One of the things that becomes clear as you listen to Bad Actress is that deM atlaS and Rhymesayers took the time to make sure they got things right, which is something that’s not done nearly as often as it used to. In this era, there’s often felt this pressure to keep pumping out content so that you keep yourself trending online, but often the content becomes a lot more hit and miss, and it feels like more work to sort through all the material as a listener to figure out which songs work. Fortunately, Rhymesayers was born in the ‘90s, and they stake their reputation on quality over quantity. They also understand that by doing this, you can really focus your promotional efforts, which they did with deM atlaS by releasing a video EP in the run up to the release of the album. All of this is great, but what matters most is the content of the album, because that’s where the payoff occurs. deM atlaS worked with Ant on the album, who of course has produced Brother Ali and his own group, Atmosphere. What’s really intriguing about Bad Actress in this sense is not that deM atlaS got this big name veteran to produce his album, but the way in which Ant is able to tweak his style as a producer and get the best out of deM atlaS. He does this by understanding when to let the music sit back and let deM atlaS get intimate with his listeners and explore his insecurities in his lyrics, but also knowing when to push the energy up and letting deM atlaS take full advantage of his melodic delivery and wild energy, the side of him that’s had fans flocking to his live shows. While deM atlaS has always had this melodic growl to his delivery and a voice for hooks, what becomes clear on Bad Actress is that he’s been working to hone this skill and control it just a little bit more. I know this might make some fans a little nervous, since this unpredictable and wild energy was part of the appeal, but don’t worry. The energy isn’t gone, he’s just learned to focus and belt out some hooks with great confidence, which gives him the unique edge of having some hip hop power ballads in his pocket now. Seriously, listening to a song like “Gratitude,” I started to think about deM atlaS not just alongside some other great emcees, but I started to think about him as a vocalist in comparison to great rock vocalists like Corey Glover of Living Colour. Bringing this all together, what makes Bad Actress such a compelling album to listen to is how complete it sounds. It rocks, it grooves, it’s sad, it’s happy, it’s vulnerable, and it’s confident. When you come out on the other side of listening to this album, you really feel like you’ve been exposed to art reflecting life in all its ugliness and beauty.

Bad Actress has been a long time coming, but deM atlaS and Rhymesayers wanted to make sure they did it right instead of getting it out quickly. The result is an album that doesn’t just sound good right now, but will sound good in five, ten, or fifteen years from now. It’s a really well developed album that takes musical risks and features an artist who’s able to let listeners in to see himself at his best, his worst, and all points in between.