In Chinese, 88 means “double happiness.” This album makes you feel anything but.
“Head in the Clouds,” the media company’s debut collaborative album, is a tragic patchwork of ambitious summer melodies and uninventive pop-rap tracks. The album showcases 88rising’s lesser-known talents while also highlighting established acts such as the Higher Brothers, Rich Brian and Joji. The project creates a melancholic summer aesthetic without making a grand statement. It’s a trivial, passably enjoyable record.
Overall, 88rising delivers an innocuous sound with few memorable moments. “Head in the Clouds” does not seem to yet understand what it wants to be. The record compresses a range of different songs and sounds into its 56-minute runtime. That variety often leads to some unfortunate tonal clashes.
NIKI is the latest artist to have signed on with 88rising. As it is, the Indonesian R&B singer is the only female artist on the label. Her status could not be made any more apparent than by examining the difference between Rich Brian and AUGUST 08’s “Disrespectin” and NIKI’s “Warpaint.”
NIKI’s track follows the formers’ on the record. It relays themes of strength, femininity and confidence. “Warpaint” is a euphoric pop-anthem that is totally demanding of your attention. Contrast this to “Disrespectin,” an uninventive trap song, which is proliferated with lyrics such as “Never hit a b----,” “I just took your b----“ and “Better hide your b----.”
Tonal clashes such as these are persistent throughout the album. Such is an unfortunate consequence of the media company’s ambitious goals for “Head in the Clouds.” In attempting to condense their various sounds and styles into one holistic record, 88rising relinquishes thematic consistency.
Without this, the featured tracks on “Head in the Clouds” leave no lasting impression. Similarly, standouts on the record suffer through mere association. Consider the production on “Lover Boy 88,” which features Phum Viphurit and Higher Brothers. Like NIKI, Phum Viphurit is a surprising standout in an otherwise unremarkable album. “Lover Boy 88” that transports you to an alternate universe where everyone lives in permanent summer and nobody judges you for having a mimosa before noon.
Other tracks, such as “Peach Jam” and “Midsummer Madness,” similarly belong on a far more interesting record. These songs harmoniously work against each other to fully illustrate the tragic emotions that encapsulate a millennial summer. Both “Peach Jam” and “Midsummer Madness” were released as singles prior to this album. Although lyrically unimpressive, these tracks could have been the highlights of “Head in the Clouds.”
If not for the drastic difference in quality between these great songs and others on the record, “Head in the Clouds” might have been a fantastic celebration of Asian talent. Unfortunately, the album is a passable and unimaginative disappointment as 88rising’s first effort to carve out its niche. Even so, it’s probably for the best to not think too hard about this record. “Head in the Clouds” is harmless, seasonal fun. Give the album a listen if you have nothing else to do this summer.
