There is no reason for this Mixtape 4Batz to exist

The first thing we hear from Dallas R&B singer 4Batz on his debut mixtape you made me st4r it's something like a defense. He's here to tell us that he's just as amazed as we are by his rapid, meteoric rise. This time last year, the 20-year-old musician hadn't even uploaded music online, and the project opens with a collection of voices from commentators ranging from Akademiks to Kai Cenat, all wondering who the hell this guy is. The twenty or so minutes of music that follow don't offer much in the way of explanation.

On the surface, you made me st4r it's a breaking record. 4batz, at the end of the semi-delicate album intro 'umademeast4r.mp3', sleepily mumbles that 'heartbreak is a mom' and that in the blink of an eye, he's become one of the biggest artists. in the world. Throughout the record, there are allusions to a toxic relationship that served as an impetus for his music. As in “act v: there goes another jar,” where 4Batz croons a slow-clock vintage R&B tune about jars being thrown and exes being blocked. Conceptually it's a familiar R&B niche, and 4Batz does little to differentiate itself from anything that's come before it.

In fact, the disc's ideas are given little time to breathe, with each track running a maximum of two minutes. The result resembles the viral snippets that shot 4Batz to fame, namely “act ii: date @ 8,” which remains the most accomplished song on the 10-track project. 4Batz's quick rise on the heels of this song's peak this year led to claims about “Industry Plant” that remain, sadly, the only exciting part of the story. 4Batz's songwriting offers so little to understand that the main focus of the music becomes the narrative universe built around it. Even the overall conceit of mourning a lost love feels completely authentic. The track “act iii: on God?” it's sleepy in the worst way, as the rudimentary lyrics land with the clumsy melody of a karaoke performance. “I can't find nobody / because you're my love” 4Batz sings. Are we supposed to feel something?

There is, however, something remarkably modern about 4Batz, a harbinger of a musical generation. The singer's look and sound have their appeal, a kind of southern rap take on recent R&B singers like Brent Faiez. In a different era, he might have debuted a cohesive three-song project that projected a vision of an artist with potential. Unfortunately, these are not the times we live in. Instead, the 4Batz project ends with a Kanye West feature (not to mention Drake's remix of “act ii: date @ 8”). Viral fame moves fast, and 4Batz seem to be a new kind of victim of success, finding themselves in a moment they're ill-prepared for.