whistles assisted by bubbly synths from
“Mo Bamba” production duo Take a Day-
trip. On the latter, Daytrip serves up surf-
rock guitars and mariachi horns, and Lil
Nas X slides back into the flow from the
single. “Rodeo” is For a Few Dollars More to
“Old Town” ’s Fistful of Dollars: He could
make a career out of the cowboy shit if he
wanted, but he’d rather show you the other
styles he’s interested in than stick to one and
get pigeonholed.
Pushing past country and rap, though, Lil
Nas X ultimately demonstrates how green a
singer-songwriter he is. “F9mily (You & Me)”
aims for pop-punk with production from
Blink-182’s Travis Barker, but the half-baked
lyrics, tinny guitars, and stiff drums don’t
seem wise to the past five years of creative
punk-and-rap crossovers. “Bring U Down”
links with Ryan Tedder for a rock tune that
harnesses the menacing guitars of a Nirvana
song but plays more like Puddle of Mudd’s
“She Hates Me” in the way the verses set up
a loud, explosive chorus that the mix has no
intention of delivering. (“Panini” actually
interpolates Nirvana but only by accident.)
“C7osure (You Like)” is a promising up-
tempo disco jam, but the hook bites words
and melodies from the pleading post-chorus
line “You know what I need from you when
I get home” in Drake and Future’s “Dia-
monds Dancing” and, by extension, from
Kid Cudi’s “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie.”
Kid Cudi’s WZRD era is a solid parallel for
what Lil Nas X achieves with 7. If you heard
Nasarati, Lil Nas X’s rap mixtape, which
was released last summer under the name
Nasarati X, the writing on 7 looks like a con-
certed effort at steering the artist’s sound
into broader ground than rap, even though
he might not necessarily be built for it. Songs PHOTOGRAPH: LILNASX/TWITTERWhat’s in
your bedroom?
SHOP AT LIBERATOR.COM
OBJECTS OF PLEASURE | EROTIC LUXURY | BONDAGE GEARThe Cut on Tuesdays is a weekly podcast from
New York magazine and Gimlet Media that dives into
everything the Cut can’t stop talking about.LISTEN NOW