Manny King John
Denver rapper Tripper Jones is someone who was unfamiliar to me prior to having to write this. I liked his name, so I was excited to give his music a try. I’m lucky to always have access to new music working with the GRUNGECAKE team, but I’m even happier when the music is something I’d enjoy, even if I weren’t being tasked with reviewing. Tripper Jones’ album ‘Alter Ego’ is exciting, to say the least, and extremely versatile. We thankfully don’t get one-dimension, which can easily happen with up and coming artists. I was thoroughly impressed and I’m looking forward to hearing more.
He opens up with ‘U Ridin’, a song that boasts of his skills and ability to ‘get it wet’. As an intro to an artist, I was shocked at the brashness but impressed by the confidence. His flow, the beat, the chorus was all infectious and it served as a nice idea of what type of artist Tripper is in terms of skillset. I could tell by this track that he has studied what it takes to make a successful, catchy track.
Two tracks down he follows up with my second favorite track on this project, which is ‘Matching Rollies’. I’m a sucker for a fire beat and flow. Once I’m bumping to the beat it’s very easy to pull me in, no matter what you say on the track. Lucky for me, the bars kept the energy. I love a flexy, bag talk track, and this song gave me just that. So far, so good.
My favorite track on the project is hands-down ‘Anxiety’. I read the title alone and said ‘same’, but as I listened to the song, I loved the vibe of it. It’s slower tempo gave me a gentle come-down from the excitement of the previous tracks. The lyrics had wordplay that I always appreciate, and the song matter is something that we can all relate to; dealing with someone that’s no good for us that left us feeling a type of way. I’m sure you thought of a name right away, I know I did.
All in all, the project is cohesive and has something for everybody. It’s fun, flashy, relatable, emotional, and altogether well done. The tracklisting makes sense and the songs flow with each other, which is something I genuinely appreciate. Of course, with every new artist, there is always room for improvement. I’d love to see Tripper scale back the autotune. I can tell that his pen is impressive, and sometimes voice effects can distract from that. I’m excited to follow Tripper Jones’ journey and future projects.
