Belly's Album "Mumble Rap," is Underrated, Inspirational, and Brutally Honest

By Andreas Fanos on November 20, 2017

The sound of an old cellular phone ringing crescendoing into booming blasts of drums. The rest of the album follows behind with hazy, eerie, and melodic production. Belly captivates his audience with the release of his surprise album “Mumble Rap.” His album is inspirational, honest, powerful, and it is underrated for the time it has been out.

“Mumble Rap,” was dropped on October 6 of this year and in my opinion, it stands as one of the best rap albums of the year. The title implies otherwise because it does not have anything to do with today’s mumble rap at all. It does have a lot of interesting and stellar lyrics behind great production from Boi-1da. It tells a captivating story of growth and celebration, but it also highlights the struggles or adversities that Belly had to go through in his life.

Cover of Mumble Rap taken by me via Apple Music

Belly is a rapper who hails from Canada who has made his mark in the rap genre. He thrives on booming and hazy trap beats. Belly would gain a following and loyal fan base with plenty of mixtapes. There was always a question if Belly could rap well and if he could twist words and craft interesting lines. This work puts those questions to rest.

There are more than a handful of great one-liners to this work of art. Belly shows his nice flow on the first track “Immigration To the Trap,” dedicated to immigrants traveling to America, just like he did. The rapper had to work really hard to make it in America and trying to live in poverty. He did whatever he had to to survive in the world. The celebratory track “Make a Toast” has Belly slaying bars through a melodic fast paced beat where he states, “I’m in my own lane that’s my favorite road, I had to bend the rules just to break the code. I dug myself up out this hole that’s what made me whole.”

Another cleverly stated line, “Three months and I ain’t even heard a word from her, that ain’t a loss, it’s tuition ’cause I learned from her.” This line comes from the song “The Come Down Is Real Too.” Belly spits more bars on one of the best tracks on the tape and on my favorite song on the whole tape from the title track “Mumble Rap” saying, “Uh, f*** ho** that ain’t worth a cent, in homes that ain’t worth the rent. Perfect sense, this is the circus that I had to circumvent. I put a bridge over my pool, that’s for all the ones that burned.” The beat of this song is menacing and the producer deserves a lot of credit for this one. This is another song where Belly entertains the listener with cleverly crafted lines that fit the beat.

Another great track labeled “Lullaby” has the rapper reflecting on his own struggles. This is, in my opinion, the greatest song on the album behind the title track “Mumble Rap.” There are more than a couple of great one-liners on this track where Belly says, “Wonder if God heard me pray when I was trying to repent, if he didn’t, I know he heard my mother cry over rent. Oh yeah, success is like a drug, and I been high on the scent.”

Belly continues with anger in his heart, “Feel like I wasted all the money and the time that I spent. Maybe the tears inside my eyes had me blind with revenge. Abusing drugs never thinking I was dope enough. Wanted to shine so bad that I got left in the dark.”

Photo of Belly and his hit songs taken by me via Apple Music

There is almost not enough to be said about this album with the amazing lyrics in it. On track “Bobby Brown,” Belly raps a killer lyric stating, “Devil tried to buy my soul, but it’s too expensive.” He goes on with the track, “P.O.P,” to state the seductive nature of women. Belly goes into his signature flow with the finale “All Alone,” closing the album out on a good note.

It is noted that the whole album is carried out by the rapper himself. The only featured artist is Pusha T, who gives a quick verse on track “Alcantara.” Belly could have benefited from having more featured artists, but he is able to carry himself throughout the whole album entertaining the listener throughout. Belly is underrated for being a rapper and producer and being able to do everything he did on his own. His best song is “Might Not” with popular artist The Weeknd where they both trade verses behind a rattling beat.

The one weakness of this work is that it is very short being 32 minutes long with 11 tracks total. Belly’s projects are usually short, but this one is very brief. The project would have been so much better if it had been longer. The second half also lags behind in energy and lyricism.

What makes the album so special is how it is able to entertain an audience for such a brief time and tell his own story of coming out on top through all the struggles. People should do themselves a favor and check out this powerful album that proves that Belly can rap beyond belief.

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