One of the most prevalent and popular trends to take over in the Hip Hop game over the last few years are Melodic Trap and Trap R&B. As Trap beats have completely taken over in Hip Hop and artists have figured out how to sing over these beats or have figured out how to use auto-tune effectively, these sub-genres have started to dominate Hip Hop in a major way. There are so many different kinds of Melodic Trap and Trap R&B out there right now, you have auto-tuned rappers like Lil Baby and Lil Mosey, you have Dark Trap and Synth-Funk artists like Doja Cat, The Weeknd, and PartyNextDoor, you have more old school R&B singers like Rod Wave, and so many more kinds of this Trap R&B wave that is so popular. One of my favorite kinds of Trap R&B to emerge over the last few years is the super dark and moody kind of this music that has come from Atlanta artists like Earthgang, Future, and 6lack. 6lack emerged onto the scene a few years ago: he had a few songs go viral(‘Free 6lack’ and ‘Prblms’ to name a couple), and was immediately billed as one of the hottest new R&B artists. Instead of rushing to capitalize on his virality, she releasing as much music as possible to keep his name in people’s heads as some artists do, 6lack has chosen to take his time with releasing his music. It seems like he really values quality over quantity, and he wants to make sure that every project he releases is the best it could have been. 6pc Hot is 6lack’s first release in two years; it is supposed to serve as a buffer and teaser for an album he has coming out soon. With all of that being said, this is how I feel about 6lack’s new EP 6pc Hot. Let me know in the comments below if you agree with this review, and also comment what your favorite songs are from this EP.
The 6pc Hot EP gets off to a smoking start with the track ‘ATL Freestyle.’ The instrumental on this song is smooth as all hell. The melody is provided by a sweet guitar riff that sounds like it should be on an early 2000s R&B track. I swear I can imagine someone like Mario or Omarion killing this melody back in the day. The low key Trap beat this track has keeps it super smooth as well. This is like the perfect kind of song to go on a blunt cruise while the sun is setting in summer. 6lack’s flow on this song is sort of a crossover between New Future music and The Weeknd’s vocals on Beauty Behind the Madness. Lyrically, this song isn’t too deep, but that’s okay. On ‘ATL Freestyle,’ 6lack is reminiscing on his monumental come up and reminding us of how good he is. There’s nothing out of the ordinary or super unique and special about this track, but it is very nice to listen to as is perfect for what it is. On the next song, ‘Long Nights,’ 6lack slows it down a bit. This song reminds me a lot of sort of a combination between older R&B artists like Trey Songz or Sammie and newer R&B artists like PARTYNEXTDOOR and dvsn. ‘Long Nights’ has a very lowkey and soft Trap instrumental with a really sweet melody that is led by very quiet synths and a woman’s vocals are very nice and soothing to listen to. Because the melody and beat are so chill, the listener is forced to focus on what 6lack is saying; with that being said, I think this song is more directed towards the ladies. On ‘Long Nights,’ 6lack is crooning about the lady of that night, and telling her everything she needs to hear to want to spend the night with him. It is a very good song for what it is, but I do not think it is really a song for me. Following this, we get ‘Float,’ which is a song that follows a trend that has been very popular in Alternative Trap R&B music for the last year or so. This track has a melody and overall feeling of the song that sounds a lot like a Futuristic version of Funkadelic music. The guitar riff that this song uses is so funky that it hurts; it is like you can literally feel the pain that 6lack has been through in the melody of this song. As 6lack sings about all he has had to go through to get to the point he is at today, the listener can feel his emotion through his voice and through the melody. 6lack has a voice that really transcends time; it would sound just as good on 70s R&B music as it does on modern Trap music.
‘Know Your Rights,’ which features Lil Baby, is the song from this EP that has the most amount of “Banger” appeal out of all of the tracks on this record. I mean, this is the song that I could almost imagine hearing out at the bar or at a club. Maybe that is because it has Lil Baby, who seems to turn every song he is featured on(or makes himself, for that matter) lately into a hit. That guy has been on one of the hottest runs of 2020 for sure. ‘Know Your Rights’ has an instrumental that reminds me of brief The Weeknd’s Trap R&B stint where he made a bunch songs with artists like Future. I almost wonder if this song was actually originally made a couple of years ago because it really does feel like it was made then. This track is still a banger and the chemistry between the artists is still great; ‘Know Your Rights’ is probably my personal favorite song from this EP. ‘Elephant In The Room’ is another track that definitely feels like it is specifically directed towards the opposite genre. On this track, 6lack is singing to his partner about their differences in priorities. There is one very cold line in the second verse of this song that explains exactly how 6lack feels: Oh, you want some compromising? Tell me what you’re providing… Even though the lyrical content is not really for me, I do really love how this song sounds; the vocals on ‘Elephant In The Room’ are very sweet and nice to listen to, and the production for this track is very grand and strange and cool. It sort of is like a direct combination of Futuristic Neo-Synth R&B and 2000s Acoustic R&B. It is tough to explain exactly what I mean by this, so I am just going to say that it is very interesting and different and pleasant to listen to. On the final track, ‘Outside,’ 6lack is singing about a sentiment and topic that I feel like we all can relate to at this point. He is longing to go finally stopped being cooped up, and just like all of us, he just wants to go outside and do stuff with people. Specifically, 6lack wants to find a new woman to hang out and “play” with. This is another slow and melancholy sort of song that reminds me a lot of Drake or PARTYNEXTDOOR. Once again, this is not really a song that is necessary for me, but it is very good for what it is and people who love this style of music should definitely be into this one.
One thing that is very evident about 6lack’s 6pc Hot EP is that he is very good at making quite a few different kinds of R&B music. I really like how every song has a different sound and feeling from the last one; even though this EP is only 6 songs, it keeps you on your toes because sonically every song is different from the last one. If you are a lady and you love slow and sensual R&B music, there is a lot of content for you on this project. There are a couple of songs that are lowkey bangers and great burn cruise songs on this EP as well, so the fellas are not completely left out of the picture with this EP. Overall 6pc Hot, is very good for what it is, and if you are a fan of 6lack, you should be a fan of this EP.
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