Lancey Foux — LIFE IN HELL — Album Review
Hip-Hop | Rap
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Lancey Foux, the hip-hop alias of Stratford-born trap artist Lance O. Omal, was somebody that I first discovered towards the very end of 2020, a year that left a lot to be desired, save for music, of course.
This discovery came in the form of the single “Poison”, which I discovered primarily as a result of being a fan of Camden born musician Bakar, who feature on the same track.
But after listening to “Poison”, I quickly came to appreciate Lancey as an artist who really breaks the mold when it comes to the UK trap scene. With psychedelic and fantastical elements spicing up the production, it really painted Lancey Foux as an innovator. And with that, I was incredibly excited to see where he would go next.
The first big project of Lancey’s that I had listened to at the time of its release was FIRST DEGREE, a mixtape that was released in early 2021. While I was incredibly excited to get into the record, I was disappointed to find that a lot of that psychedelic uniqueness was lost, in favour of a far more accessible brand of UK trap music.
After FIRST DEGREE, I was admittedly a little hesitant to go into Lancey’s brand new album, LIFE IN HELL, at first. However, I’m sure glad I stuck around.
The aforementioned psychedelia is back in full force, to colour-coat a musical style which, in the case of this record, poses a lot of similarities to Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red (an album that I have come to appreciate progressively more as time has gone on).
LIFE IN HELL not only boasts the return of the aesthetic that made me enjoy Lancey Foux in the first place, but also a wide array of tracks. To be specific, Lancey’s seventh studio album boasts a tracklist of 22, and a runtime of over an hour. That being said, I had ample time to familiarise myself once again with Lancey’s music.
Aside from the musical merits of this album, however, LIFE IN HELL gives Lancey Foux a good amount of time to flesh-out a narrative that focuses on the artist’s self-confidence, which stands as the focal point of this album. It’s indeed a simple narrative to understand, and one that’s not new to musical culture. However, with Lancey Foux adding a tonne of personality to the album, it definitely feels engaging, to say the least.
I was in awe of how consistently good, and also versatile, the music on LIFE IN HELL was. While the aforementioned aesthetic was what I came to see, there were later tracks that dipped their toes in hip-hop, with “CASINO ROYALE / THANK YOU” and “HIGH GRADE” being great examples of this.
Almost every track had at least something specific to allow it to stand out from the crowd of tracks found on this album, making for a treatful experience from beginning to end. There were certainly a very generous handful of tracks that stand amongst my favourites, which will clearly make it hard to try and condense them down and list a selection of them towards the end of this here review.
I honestly have no real qualms with this album whatsoever, other than the sheer quantity of tracks making it slightly tricky to listen to in one go. Other than that though, Lancey Foux truly sets the standards of creativity in the UK trap scene.
Favourite Tracks: SUN MOON | COLORS | LIES WILL SET YOU FREE | LANCEY OR LANCEY | HIGH GRADE |
Least Favourite Track: NOW>THEN
PSYKE. | Human Re Sources
