photo credit by DPR

Album Review: DPR LIVE – IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?

We’re blessed today with the new album ‘IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?’ by DPR LIVE. Ever since I saw the video for ‘Jasmine’ I was hooked and have been listening to his music ever since.

Let’s dive right in, because I’m stoked.

IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?

We start with the intro ‘HERE GOES NOTHING’. It starts off really floaty. The lyrics feel almost poet-like. The instrumentals make it very spacious and that is complemented by his vocals. The intensity goes up and down and I’m a little bit in love with it.

Then with the same instrumentals, we start off ‘GERONIMO!’. The term Geronimo is something that you shout to hype yourself up, to give yourself courage before you jump off a big height, or jump into something very hectic. It’s heavily referenced in the lyrics. 

The song itself made my heart beat go off. Then all of a sudden, the vibe changes completely. It’s a rather strange mix of rhythms and styles but it works! Also random plane crash noises that had me check if there was something wrong with my headphones. 

However, the plane crash leads us right to the opening words ‘wake up’ of the song ‘TO WHOEVER’. I cannot tell you how much I love this song. It is like listening to a letter, or listening to a poetry slam. It’s the story of his life with fragments from older songs dispersed throughout. The strings that are added are beautifully haunting. The sounds of the pen scratching on paper, for me felt like a great storytelling tool. Because it all starts there, with pen on paper. 

If you felt emotional with ‘TO WHOEVER’ the next song will help you back on your feet. ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ is up next. The sound itself is upbeat, but the lyrics reveal a sadder truth. 

DISCONNECT’ is the following track. It’s the shortest song on ‘IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?’ with clocking in at one minute and 24 seconds. It feels like a little breath between the emotional tracks and the hype tracks that are about to follow.

Love Songs

‘S.O.S.’ is a really dope song. It’s happy and travels, just like the lyrics, through space. I love the little distortions on both the vocals and the instrumentals. The synth really pulls this one together. That little whistle is adorable.

After ‘S.O.S.’ we get ‘OH GIRL’. It kind of feels like a love song. The rhythm is super fun and I can totally see this song being played in a club. They’re playing a lot with very brief pauses which makes it more dynamic. 

‘KISS ME’ feels like a continuation of ‘OH GIRL’, at least content wise. Though it’s slower and softer. The lyrics ‘Take your fucking make-up off right now’ is going to be iconic, I can feel it. The piano is jazzy and with those violins added to it, it’s a fantastic way to smoothly slide out of the song.

NEON’ is another part of the ‘OH GIRL’ trilogy. It’s a BOP y’all. The last minute took me kind of by surprise, but I dig it so much!!

Title track

LEGACY’ is the title track and came with a music video. 

Can we just talk about his range for a second? Because good God, DPR LIVE is so versatile in his rapping style. I feel like by now the man can do anything.

‘LEGACY’ goes hard. ‘Keep doing you so I can keep doing me’ had me cackling. The different effects on his voice are so DOPE. 

The high pitched voice in ‘NO RESCUE NEEDED’ is amazing. It’s a lot softer than ‘LEGACY’ but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hit just as hard. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album.

Overall

What a DOPE album! ‘IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?’ by DPR LIVE has so many different rapping styles in just eleven songs. DPR LIVE is an incredible artist who knows who he is and what he can do. There’s a track for everyone, no matter what kind of rap they listen to. 

Here’s the Spotify link.

If you want to find out more about him, check out our feature about him. Or go check out their website.

A writer with a slight coffee addiction and a tendency to find K-Indie gems in the YouTube rabbit hole.