The Delaware native shares his third album
A quick six months after dropping his sophomore project Vex Part 1, Delaware’s Lil West is back with the aptly-named sequel, Vex Part 2. Part 1 succeeded via a moody atmosphere courtesy of Lil West’s singing/rapping combo, as well as murky beats by Take A Daytrip. For the most part, West rode the beat in a simple fashion that was more focused on establishing emotion than anything else. As the beats set the scene, he told us of the problems he had with girls or with himself, toying with melody along the way.
Part 2 doesn’t stray too far from the formula, with West continuing to tell us about his relationship troubles, though things are a bit darker this time around (“she want me to die” forms the chorus of “Bad.”) This sets the lyrical tone for the rest of the record, with lines like, “You cried yourself to bed and I know you hated me for it” popping up later. This emotional, highly personal feeling is certainly by design, likely evolving from Lil West’s interest in emo and rock music, something he has noted in interviews.
Ultimately, this is trap music, but Lil West’s other influences creep in much more strongly here than in Part 1. For starters, nearly every track has guitar somewhere in the instrumental, with most tracks positioning the guitar as the main melody that loops throughout the beat. “Flaws” is nearly a psych-rock track, with the beat being minimal trap percussion underneath reverb’d guitar chords and subtle, icy keyboard hits. Baby Goth features on the track, a fact which will leave might leave those who doubt her authenticity to write it off, but her spacey verse replete with references to rollies and LSD surprisingly fits. The chorus of “Better” feels like early 2000s rock radio, something that somehow works in between West’s rapped verses.
While these moments are definitely interesting, it’s tracks like “Bad” where West really shines, showing off an uncanny ability to pivot between flows and swap out melody for bars whenever he pleases. A skill like this is important in modern rap, and it’s something that could easily help propel Lil West from the underground to a much bigger stage. Moving forward, it’ll be interesting to see if he will continue exploring his atypical influences or lean further into a more straight-forward sound. Regardless, Vex Part 2 finds a nice balance, and is a strong addition to Lil West’s current catalogue.