“BackFlip!,” the newest song from alt-rapper KawaiiSteez is a journey. That’s really the only way you can describe it without giving away the song in earnest. To put it simply, it’s a multipurpose, multipitch, multi tempo disco rap boombap track with a healthy dose of trap bravado and conscious contemplation. It’s a beautiful mess (and I mean that in the best way possible) because it bounces from scene to scene with this furious and frantic energy, as if Steez is running out of time to get his point across. By the end, you feel that he decides to just say “f*** it” and let everything he was working on out in one three-and-a-half minute frenzy.
You’re probably thinking “well damn, Speed. This sounds like a shitshow.” Normally, you’d be right because not too many artists can do suite songs well these days. But Steez isn’t most artists, so this is the part where I tell you that you’re dead wrong. Bouncing around gives each segment of the song, even its featured verses, their own style, taste and vibe. Some are slow and methodical, some want you hyped AF, others still want you to vibe with the best and the bars while rushing you through the track and making you say “well, damn. This MFer spitting.” With the disco melody-centric production, you’re also given a sense of timelessness because the track just feels like it could belong soundly in any era—at least to me.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. Check out the track above and support dope music in all its forms.
