Skilled penmanship
To get straight to the point, ‘Drowning in my Feelings’ boasts skilled penmanship. And it being the case that with music of this genre, the pen(craft) is one of the mightier tools, we can easily say that on the strength of its pen-craft alone, ‘Drowning in my Feelings’ sits comfortably above the average score.
In the lyrical delivery of the song, a listener is instantly offered a faint hint of Nasty C or J Cole. Nasty C? Is it then a coincidence that like Nasty C, Lilsam Shizy is from South Africa? What then can we say about the J Cole feel in this song? Perhaps the similarities here is nothing but a case of musical influence or possibly different artists at different places and times plugging into and manifesting the versatility of music. An interview, perhaps, will offer some bit of clarity here.
‘Drowning in my Feelings’ is slow-paced – an obviously thought-out technique designed to flow in sync with the atmosphere and tone of the vocal delivery so as to efficiently convey the right mood. It is a song about love – that part of it where all the fluttering butterflies are let out and the heart is turned inside out to marinate in feelings of pain and loss.
Talking about music
Talking about music, we should take a moment to consider that South Africa has been an export source of global and continental music from way back during its apartheid regimes. And with the turn of the century, as the rest of the world opened up to Hip-Hop, contributing their varied flavours to the mix, South Africa did take a lead, dominating in sound production and in everything else that has lent towards the evolution of Hip-Hop into varied sub-cultures.
Presently, we are experiencing a new and younger generation of Hip-Hop artistry. Lilsam Shizy counts amongst this generation; doing what they can with what’s available to them and steadily building a body of work in the process. You only have to visit streaming platforms to see the extent of Lilsam Shizy’s growing discography.
In highlighting the merits of ‘Drowning in my Feelings’, it is pertinent to point some elements that are not exactly fine-tuned. This could be blamed on the shortcomings of skill or equipment, but you certainly will catch it midway through the song. But don’t make your judgement just yet, not until you have escaped drowning in the feelings of the song.
reviewed by Ikenna Okeh
