Album REview: Live From Trytan

 "Me found Bravery in my Bravado" this bar is taken from Kanye West's track "Dark Fantasy" which appears on his album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". But this bar also perfectly describes "TheGRAE" an artist from Tulsa, Oklahoma who with the release of his recent project "Live From Trytan" is looking to leave the same if not greater mark than his icon Kanye. Comparing the the two it's easy to see why Kanye West is one of TheGRAE's biggest influences, Especially after realizing that both are producers turned rappers/artists, and both come from a city where the odds of making it out of those city limits are greatly against them.

Live From Trytan is a world created by TheGRAE, a world he brings his listeners into with the first track called "C'est La Vie" which is a French word for "Such is Life". The song opens with artist Sincere Grant who sets the tone for what can only be labeled as the road map to what the album has to come to be. TheGRAE himself is able to navigate thru the track with a confidence and a surety to where he is  leading the listener. TheGRAE spits: "I'm tryna blow yo mind while your bitch is blowing mine. Put my life up on the line. And put my soul into these rhymes."

Track 2 of the album "Silence is Golden" more or less continues the formula of the album. Which is collaborating with well established independent artists, combined with creatively textured beats, and lastly TheGRAE spittin bars. It's a formula that works well on the album as seen with track collaborator "Keeng Cut", who is the undisputed Flava king that spits: "I'm forever huggin on trees. They forever huggin on these, nuts this shit is outrageous, fuck it up when I be on stages, Ron Isley baby I'm contagious.." What I like about this track is how textured the beat is, it seems to build with each bar. Combine that with the fact that TheGRAE goes in on the track and you can see why this is the perfect formula for the album. 

When studying planets it's natural to divide them to a north and a south, and for Live From Trytan track 6 "All The Way" is this division in the album between hip hopper and artist. The album is hip-hop but it also transcends into other genres like Pop and EDM, which is something normally an artist would do on their 2nd to 3rd album and wouldn't normally be comfortable enough to reach into a different genre. But as TheGRAE proves that he does not shy away from any challenge and he won't be confined to only one category of music. He's an artist. 

The Phoenix is this mystical creature that rose from the ashes and shined in even the darkest of times. And in a way this song is fitting for not only TheGRAE but for Tulsa it's self. A city that still reveals in the ashes of it's past and the artist that is attempting to rise above it all. "I'm just a hook away from greatness, and a song away from Made it." The Phoenix is the last track of the album where TheGRAE proves that he has what it takes he has the talent, he has the work ethic, he has the Bravado. And so he rises like The Phoenix.

The Numbers: Live From Trytan has a total of 14 tracks that add up to be just under 51 minutes of listening experience. There are 6 total features on the album (Sincere Grant, Keeng Cut, Surron the 7th, Image, Keezy Kuts, and Beezy Bayb). There are 2 producers on the album (long-time collaborator 2peece who produced 8 tracks and TheGRAE himself who produced the other 6 tracks). The first track C'est La Vie is the longest track on the album at 4 mins and 36 seconds.

​Live From the Trytan is TheGRAE's BONJOUR to his wold. He found a formula that worked for him and didn't shy away from doing the unexpected. He embodied it, while bodying it. He lead his listeners thru his world with his rules. And in a world that might not have been big enough for him to be him. TheGRAE created his own. So go listen to Live From Trytan and enjoy the tour. 

Checkout the album "Live From Trytan" here:
https://soundcloud.com/thegrae/sets/live-from-trytan

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