Code Kunst, the brilliant producer has done it again with his new album ‘PEOPLE’. The man never ceases to surprise me with his talent and skills.
He has dropped several music videos over the last couple of weeks, so some of them we were already hyping up. Nonetheless, let’s dive into all of them. There are 16 tracks, so it might be a bigger article than usual.
‘PEOPLE’
The first track on the album is ‘KnoCK’ featuring Yerin Baek. As usual, her voice is liquid gold and this moody R&B track is just the perfect combo. I love the outro where she’s talk-singing. It makes it feel even more intimate, like she’s reading her diary out to us.
‘Flower’ is next, featuring Jay Park, WOO and Giriboy. First of all what a top tier collaboration. Again, this feels like a very intimate track, exploring love that’s like a flower. Jay Park’s singing is great and bring out the R&B vibe. The rap is very soft and the music video is absolutely beautiful. The group shots had me in my feels, y’all.
‘Xii’ is the continuation of his previous works ‘X’ and ‘Xi’, meaning that we got another collaboration with Lee Hi. Though this is more like the intro, because it’s only 56 seconds long, but it’s so nice and dreamy.
‘O’ is the full track with Lee Hi that ‘Xii’ was the intro for. ‘O’ is listed as the title track on Melon, so I’m kind of expecting a music video to come out. Lee Hi’s vocals really stand out in this jazzy track. Tip from me, play ‘KnoCK’ right before ‘O’ and it feels like one beautiful story.
The next track is ‘Woode’, this time without a featured artist. The voice fragments feel so much like Code Kunst’s style that you would recognize it in a heartbeat. He created a very wide soundscape in ‘Woode’ that sounds absolutely brilliant. It’s a short track, clocking in at just under two minutes.
‘F(ucked up)’ featuring Gaeko and GRAY is next and stays loyal to the entire vibe of this album so far. The chorus is super cool and sounds very muted, almost like someone’s belting in the distance. Gaeko and GRAY did an amazing job, but to be honest, did anyone expect anything else by now? The rap features are very mellow and I 100% dig it.
We follow the last track up with ‘Set me Free’. This time featuring Loopy and Jvcki Wai. It’s also the first time we get auto-tuned rap in the album. There’s definitely a lot of desperation in the rap, which is balanced quite nicely with the instrumentals so it doesn’t become overbearing. I actually really want to read the translated lyrics of ‘Set me Free’.
‘JOKE!’ featuring C JAMM and Simon Dominic follows, again with auto-tune. In the video they accurately show how it feels to listen to this song. It kind of feels like being tipsy. Simon Dominic kind of goes off in this track. It’s fire.
Next up
With a very strangely pitched intro we get into ‘Get Out’. This time we get Kid Milli, EK and HAON. What an interesting combo this track is. The high pitched voice keeps coming back and kind of drives the track ahead. It’s really cool and I’m digging it.
‘Rollin’ featuring pH-1 is up next. They did a live stage of this song so please watch that. We featured pH-1 on our Rapper In The Spotlight series because all of the writers here at M.E.A.L. are in love with his content and this is no different. The track is great with even greater lyrics and honestly it’s super soft.
‘Let u in’ is the following track. This time we’re blessed with DeVita’s gorgeous vocals and Colde’s mellow vocals. What a beautiful jazzy combo to make an even more beautiful track. This feels as smooth as butter. Honestly 10/10.
The next song is ‘Dirt in my HEAD’ featuring Car, the garden. First of all, I’m adding this to every playlist I have because it’s so damn good. Another jazzy track with Car, the garden’s amazing vocals. This is for sure one of my favorite tracks on this album.
‘Bronco’ featuring Bassagong, BLNK, Jayho and Jaedal of Legit Goons is up next. It’s a bit more upbeat than the previous couple of songs. This feels way more like hip hop than the other tracks and it feels like a good break of pace. It feels really fun without giving up the Code Kunst style. I’m not very familiar with the featured rappers in ‘Bronco’ but I am definitely doing a deep dive after this because they’re FIRE.
‘Dance’ featuring Nucksal is up next. I’m really digging both the rap and the instrumentals in ‘Dance’. There’s some interesting play with the rhythm with random pauses, but it works so well. Nucksal, as always is great. It kind of feels like there are a lot of old school influences in this track.
‘PEOPLE’ is the second to last song on this EP by Code Kunst, featuring Paloalto and The Quiett (though they mistyped The Quiett’s name on Spotify… Who’s The Queitt??) I really wish I could have found the English translation of this track, because it feels like the cumulation of the entire album. It’s absolutely beautiful and feels super wholesome.
The last track is also the bonus track ‘01 No more fire’ and it’s a lo-fi hip hop dream. And as the lyrics go at one point ‘I won’t let you down’, Code Kunst certainly hasn’t with this album.
Overall
‘PEOPLE’ is a fantastic work of art by Code Kunst. There’s literally no other way to put it. Each track is totally solid as a single, but when it all comes together it feels super balanced and they all feel linked to each other.
This entire album was an ode to his friends and family that have supported him throughout his entire career. And we are HERE for it. Now go be a dear and stream the album on Spotify and follow him on Instagram.
