When you are introduced to an artist via a song called “Consuela” with an accompanying music video that features a chubby Palestinian-Canadian in a wig, Rey Mysterio, and Danny Trejo in a mock-up of a Mexican bar, it’s tough not to dismiss said artist as a shock-value oriented gimmick. And after listening to Belly’s 2016 release Inzombia, I couldn’t help but agree. Nothing, aside from “Consuela,” stood out to me from the tape, and I quickly forgot about Belly.
In May, Belly popped up on my Twitter, accompanied by the words “bodied” and “LA Leakers.” To my astonishment, Belly had ripped a freestyle on Power 106 in LA for the LA Leakers, which was the video now making the rounds on Twitter. It seemed people were as surprised as I was to hear it, and my interest was renewed. A little research revealed that Belly, a Palestinian-Canadian with recording contracts from The Weeknd’s XO Records as well as Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, was an award-winning songwriter who had been in the game since 2005 and had writing credits on popular Weeknd songs such as “Earned It” and “The Hills” as well as “6 Inch” from Beyoncé’s Lemonade. He dropped Mumble Rap, executive produced by Boi-1da, on Roc Nation back in October.
The project is 11 tracks long, but flies along at only 32 minutes. “Immigration to the Trap” is the opener and one of the highlights. A lurking, faded, ominous beat accompanies Belly’s urgent but even flow that touches upon the realities and paranoia that come with life in the trap. “Mumble Rap” is another highlight, featuring a pretty generic kick-snare accompanied by what sounds like some pitched chanting from a child’s choir. Belly’s raps here are scattered thematically, but his flow and rhyme-scheme are sharp. “Papyrus” slows things down a bit and features some sort of violin backing for the bass and drums as Belly rocks a more lackadaisical flow that still sounds good. “Clean Edit” is my favorite, bringing some orchestral horns to pair with a tinny drum kit and substantial baseline. This is Belly at his best; flexing his skillful flow over interesting beats without getting particularly deep.
Mumble Rap is a very solid project; there’s not a bad song to be found. Rapper and producer are both consistent from start to finish, but there are no defining moments or true standouts to be found here. The rest of the tracks feature middle-of-the-road production and rapping that didn’t catch my ear individually. The strength of Mumble Rap lies in its cohesiveness, not its replay value. Still, there’s something to be said for being able to assemble an entire album of solid tracks in 2017 when everyone knows that one big single can set you up for life. Belly has been in the game too long to be concerned with chart-topping and instead created a project that shows off a talent many rappers lack–serious lyrical chops. Many of the tracks on Mumble Rap hit on tropes popularized by so-called “mumble rap,” but Belly navigates them more skillfully than most while managing to mix in meaningful tracks such as “Lullaby” and “Make a Toast.” It’s obvious that Belly’s tongue was planted firmly in cheek when naming this project, but it takes considerable skill to embrace certain aspects of what he satirizes while putting his own spin on the term. Mumble Rap is anything but its name, and certainly worth a spin.