#the life of pi’erre

[dustedmagazine]

Yung Kayo — Holy Grails (self-released)

What is going on with Yung Kayo? Barely four years ago, the Washington, D.C. rapper born Malachi Green was plucked from the SoundCloud backwaters by Young Thug to learn the trade as part of the Young Stoner Life stable. After a string of stray singles and leaks, 2022’s DFTK arrived as complete as one could hope for a debut at this level of hip-hop recognition. There were Yeat and Gunna features; Eartheater showed up; some of the leaks made it. A star was born. But like Young Thug himself (though for entirely different reasons), things have gone largely quiet since — or they had, at least, until the night of Thanksgiving in the U.S., when he dropped Holy Grails on the eve of his 21st birthday.

That’s the most intriguing part: He dropped it, not YSL. It’s unclear what his status is with the label at this point, though he’s wearing a YSL chain in the Korn-like artwork detailing production credits. Why this is self-released and coming now, with almost no fanfare or advanced warning, remains a mystery likely cloaked in the usual monetary disagreements and legal wranglings that make for boring reading but also often make or break an artist’s career. You don’t want to get stuck on a leash in a label interzone where nobody knows what to do with you.

On the other hand, that certainly never stopped Kayo’s mentor. Perhaps he’s learning not just the trade, but the tricks, too; whatever the case, we may never get the whole story. What we do get is 16 tracks highlighting both Kayo’s versatility on the mic and, maybe even more than that, how completely he gels with producer Warpstr, who’s as crucial to Kayo’s future-forward delivery as the man himself.

That’s not a recent phenomenon, as the album showcases. In fact, the other notable thing about Holy Grails is how much of a grab bag from his back catalog it is; the oldest songs here predate DFTK (“Jedi” has been on his SoundCloud for more than four years; “Taycan Key” and “All In” have been up for three) and a few more have been floating for a while now. Kayo’s last correspondence, “Bye,” is nearly a year old at this point. But you wouldn’t know it given a listen front to back — the sounds often pair bright, 16-bit videogame synths with barely modulated low end to great effect. Credit most of that to Warpstr, who’s listed as producer for 13 of these; Pi’erre Bourne (“Flex”), Arkman (“Heads or Tails”) and Maaly Raw (“Cold”) are the lone exceptions. Two well-known names (Bourne’s “Yo Pierre, you wanna come out here?��� tag is practically ubiquitous in contemporary hip-hop; Maaly Raw has been a regular presence on Lil Uzi Vert albums) and one less so (Arkman’s worked with Kayo a bunch, but most of their tracks together are still unreleased) don’t do anything to disrupt the flow of the record.

That sonic stability foregrounds Kayo’s willingness to experiment with sing-song flows and various rap speeds as he sees fit. His natural ear for melody has always been good, and it’s as prominently on display here as it’s ever been, though his actual voice is more unbothered by digital alterations than DFTK was. The most dramatic singing-versus-rapping dichotomy comes on “In My Room,” which takes lessons from the brooding 808s & Heartbreak-era Kanye West and introvert-mode Drake before pulling the rug out halfway through and diving head-first into some aggressively delivered couplets. It doesn’t take long to see what’s in the tank here. He’s hungry, sure, but his bars also don’t come wrapped in the cartoonishly outlandish delivery that Thugger’s did in his heyday. He strains to reach those heights on songs like “Rockstar “or “Psych Out.” They’re among the best songs of Holy Grails, but they’re also demonstrations of the ceiling.

Ultimately, Yung Kayo’s greatest asset is morphing what he can do to the beat backing him. Nowhere is this better displayed than on undeniable closer “All In,” which is as addicting a song as he’s ever made and one of the two songs (along with “Tell Me”) that got me paying attention to him in the first place. A pleasantly unexpected surprise, Holy Grails both serves as a reminder of why we were excited about him in the first place and widens the question of what he can do next — and where he can do it.

Patrick Masterson

[evilthotiana]

For an album that felt largely overlooked and/or pretty maligned upon release I feel like The Life of Pi’erre 4 has fingerprints all over the modern underground rap world

[raphyart]

PRETTY GIRLS WEAR RAPH ANIMATION

Illustrated by Me using Adobe Photoshop and Animated using Adobe After Effects

With additional illustration using a Wacom drawing tablet

Featuring Pink Latex designed by Txxx (@txx.latex)

This illustration showcases some of my recent designs for S2Y2K and some of the OG S1 pieces. For a lot of the merch in S1, I ended up incorporating the logos in a lot of the illustrations i had created of myself in unrelated future pieces. This would be the first illustration that shows the new pieces in such a style.

Due to the nature of the image, it was fun placing numerous little easter eggs and inspirations within the scene. In the background, a Cactuar as seen in the Final Fantasy series of games can be seen. The Final Fantasy series being one of my favourite video game series- Initially i was going to use a KAWS figure of even a Heropuke but ended up going with the final option of a Cactuar. In the close foreground, on the table numerous other easter eggs can also be seen such the late Virgil Abloh’s Figures of Speech catalogue book, A Death note, The Life of Pi’erre 4 CD and “Routine” (From the same album) playing off a iPhone, A Gameboy Color (Seen with the Pukeboy loading screen), a RAPHYART x NIKE MORE ARTEMPO shoe poster and a calendar featuring a potential drop date (August 1st 2023).

The final image consisted of 700+ layers which surprised me for some reason.

Song ID: Pi’erre Bourne - System

RAPHYART© 2023. All Rights Reserved.

WWW.RAPHYART.TUMBLR.COM

[arianakyle56]

808SKIMANE: H-Town’s Next Big Producer

Houston has always been home to legends in the rap game, and 808SKIMANE is making sure his name is next up. Coming straight out of H-Town, this rising producer has been grinding for the past year and a half, crafting beats that bring R&B, trap, and hip-hop to life. Inspired by heavyweights like Metro Boomin and Pi’erre Bourne, he’s building a signature sound that’s straight fire. His journey…

[bangers4]

Pi'erre Bourne - The Life Of Pi'erre 4 (2019)

[niigej]

The Life of Pi’erre 4

[zaneburko]

[deus-meus]

[jheriixurls]

Countin that cash

[freshthoughts2020]

Last Week to Purchase this print !

Visit gettothecorner.com/welcome/theregocarti now!

[zalcis]

You running, running from your heart

Quit playing, with my heart

I told you from the start

[nctrnm]

"Routine" by Pi’erre Bourne. Stream my new EP, Mosaic on @Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6548mu5Z0Y2KcnpnfiLPhK?si=Yp-j9v5jTjW-RbWXwr3OUA

[openbookexam]

[gvminiart]

the life of pi’erre 5 alternate cover by me 

[aquagustd]

what songs remind you of the members?

for me: (what i can think of rn, to mention a few, not including any of their songs since i automatically think of them🥺)

namjoon — daddy issues by the neighbourhood, I can’t feel my face the weeknd, drunk & nasty by pi’erre bourne & sharc

seokjin — blow your mind (mwah) by dua lipa, under the influence - chris brown, doin’ time by lana del rey, supermassive black hole by muse

yoongi — not around by nova 🥺, kiss me more by doja cat & sza, west coast by lana del rey, duvet by boa, kiss me by sixpence none the richer, de la hoya by gianni & don toliver, excitement by trippie red & partynextdoor, only by leehi, apocalypse by cigarettes after sex

hoseok — chantaje by shakira & maluma, one dance by drake, wizkid & kyla, bobo by aya nakamura

jimin — literally any song from the sweetener album by ariana grande 😭 but especially goodnight n go, your shirt by chelsea cutler, the tune from the disney movie Up (i think it’s called married life? yeah im sobbing)

taehyung — like i want you by giveon, ric flair drip by offset & metro boomin, bop by dababy, bleach by brockhampton

jungkook — EVERY chase atlantic song, all I need by lloyd, white tee by summer walker & no1-noah, no idea by don toliver, reflections by the neighbourhood