When I heard the first snippets of NighLawn’s “Laced,” I didn’t know what to think. Part of me felt “oh, Lawn’s doing more mainstream/slightly more raunchy sounds” and wanted that old NighLawn. Then I thought about it: as long as the artist is doing what they want to do and as long as they’re happy, qualifiers like “it sounds mainstream” don’t really matter. Hell, I’m sure someone heard “Can’t Stop the Reign” and thought “oh snap, Speed’s using Auto-Tune now?! Pass.”

Lawn’s never really been one to copy someone else’s style to get more streams.

Now, “Laced” does feel more radio-ready than some of Lawn’s previous efforts. The Devonte-produced beat grabs your attention, possibly because it feels like a remix of sorts to Russ and BIA’s “Best on Earth.” However, the beat’s original and infectious enough to make its own mark. On top of that, Lawn’s laidback but sexy flow helps keep this one distinct in a world of everyone rapping about sex and lust. It’s like she’s saying “I like it, but I personally don’t need it. You (the guy she has feeling like he’s gotten into a laced batch of drugs) need it, but I can’t say that I do.” I think that’s one of the things that I’ve always liked about NighLawn since the beginning: her flow. It’s unique in that it doesn’t sound like anyone else out here. She can rap about her good good having a dude feeling high AF but it still sounds special and not like anything else. That’s mainly because she sounds so chill about everything (but always feels like she gives a damn about what’s going on). Check out the track below via song.link and remember to support dope music in all its forms.