Jaden Smith is an artist that everyone, from other rappers to casual fans, have no choice but to root for. Whether it be the 21-year-old assisting Flint,MI with their water crisis or him donating food to the homeless of Los Angeles, Smith has served as a role model that most would gladly support.
18 months after the release of 'SYRE', a chaotic blend of sounds and forgettable lyrics, Jaden Smith set out to deliver an alternate experience from the perspective of ERYS. However, instead of bringing something new to the table, 'ERYS' simply spices up the dishes 'SYRE' had already brought.
The Good
'ERYS' is at its best when Jaden Smith delivers a consistent sound or allows the sound of the previous song to build into the next. This is done for much of the first half of the album and creates an enjoyable experience, as Smith and the production provide a similar feeling. With the resources at his disposal, production is an element that Jaden Smith can easily lean on to carry him to an enjoyable project, even with less than stellar lyrics.
Speaking of lyrics, Jaden Smith has always shined brightest when speaking on love, past relationships, or something in that realm. Those relatable topics allow him to connect to listeners that he undoubtedly has little in common with. 'ERYS' only taps into this element in select moments, like the second-half of "Again", "Riot","ERYS" and "Summertime in Paris". Those moments are outliers and ones Jaden obviously doesn't want to spend too much time on, evidenced by the alter-ego ERYS interjecting at the end of "Again" to remind Jaden,"Who the fuck turned this shit on, nigga. I told you don't play no motherfucking wack shit. Big drip only."
Willow Smith is arguably the biggest spot of the entire project, as she compliments her brother perfectly on every track she is featured on and heightens the enthusiasm for a potential sibling's project.
The Bad
Jaden Smith is clearly a versatile artist, but with 'ERYS', he hits the listener over the head with vastly different genres and themes as if its an EP or mixtape. One song follows a trap structure with drip being the main subject, and the next track is punk rock detailing a broken heart. The lack of structure and subject stability makes the project hard to digest in one sitting.This wouldn't be a problem if 'ERYS' was categorized as a mixtape, but some structure, even if its a 'Yeezus'-like combination of differing sounds, is expected of an album.
The lyricism of 'ERYS' is below average, but that has been a constant negative for Jaden throughout his career. The disappointing part about this project's lyricism is that it seemed as though Jaden had come up with a solution to his stale lyrics on his last project—'The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Story'. With that project, the lyricism mainly focused on love, a connection or just serving as a placeholder to maintain the vibe of the production. The result was a mostly enjoyable project that I still revisit to this day. However, critics weren't as accepting to Jaden's last effort, and it wasn't a project with viral potential.
The Verdict
'ERYS' burst out the gates with the feeling that this would be the project that gave Jaden Smith the respect he deserves, but, along the way, the album loses its identity and adopts many others, leaving the listener with a random cluster of music and confusion.
Score: Grown-ish/10