Lancey Foux doesn't sound like anyone anymore.
Fun fact: The first SoundSports article ever written was titled "The Playboi Cult," and it's sole purpose was to explain the phenomenon of Playboi Carti and why so many people gravitated towards an outwardly nonchalant artist with little lyrical substance.
17-year-old me didn't do the article justice, because years later, the feel that Carti and others were going for has expanded into an entire subgenre that many outsiders still can't seem to understand.
In hindsight, the article could have achieved its goal in just six words: "The music makes you feel cool."
The goal of the artists in the subgenre seems to be to create projects where the experience — production, melodies, feel, and visuals — triumph over traditional music pillars like detailed storytelling, themes, interpolations, and replay value. As with most cool things, no one is rushing to put a title on this subdivision of hip hop, but for the sake of clarity, let's call it "experience rap."
Along with a number of some of the best young artists today, Lancey Foux exists in the near indescribable lane that is experience rap. Between the stacked competition and the constant need for innovation to stay "cool," it's one of the most interesting lanes in all of music at the moment — and after years of being relegated as the UK artist just trying to fit into the American scene, Foux may have just snatched the experience rap crown with LIVE.EVIL.
In my review of FRIEND OR FOUX I declared that "The UK rapper is on the verge of breaking rap's matrix." On tracks like "SO FREE" and "LIFE & DEATH," he created a listening experience that felt both effortless and exciting by frequently switching flows and deliveries while simultaneously stacking his vocals with mesmerizing lyrics. However, he stayed "on the verge" because of tracks like "WHERES LANCEY" that snapped the listener out of the experience with sounds that were already associated with other artists.
Outside of "RESPECT" and "BIG SWAG," a track Foux told Complex UK he "wasn't even trying to put out," there's no songs that snap you out of the world of LIVE.EVIL for most of the album. Foux broke the matrix.
LIVE.EVIL is the most steady experience rap project in recent memory. Even revered projects like Baby Keem's DIE FOR MY BITCH and Travis Scott's ASTROWORLD have abrupt switches throughout while the artists try to find the balance between raw energy and addictive melody.
From "SWEET!" to "Over Me!¡," Foux finds that perfect balance. It's not the show-cancelling energy of Carti's Whole Lotta Red nor is it the ultra-melodic feel of Don Toliver's Life of a Don — LIVE.EVIL exists as a near-perfect combination of contagious spirit and memorable harmony.
Listen to "Over" by Carti, then "I Know" by Foux and and cap it off with "Swangin' On Westheimer" by Toliver. The artists are going for nearly the exact same vibe on each, and as a result, Foux's balance is easy to spot when positioned next to the extremes of Carti and Toliver.
The "official" music video for one of the standout songs on the project isn't even hosted on Lancey Foux's YouTube account; it's hosted by js, a YouTube account with 819 subscribers at the time of this article.
Foux has hinted at working with Travis Scott(and later dissed him on "DONT TALK"), rapped about working with Carti, been pictured with Kanye West, and received features from Skepta on multiple occasions, yet he's choosing to let a project as good as LIVE.EVIL stay underground rather than reach the commercial success of his peers.
"I fuck with everyone but I want to be on my own and I just want to make my music. I’m not trying to get in anywhere, so my plan is to just influence. I’m not sitting and thinking that I have to get a Top 5 or that I have to get 10 million streams in a week."
In a world of calling in the biggest name you know for a feature or going pop as soon as possible, Foux's commitment to the underground is admirable.
In fact, it's borderline necessary when considering the fact that a certain subdivision of fans(best described by Rico Nasty) tend to latch on to the artists that operate in the experience rap space and bring down the value of fandom for others. Rather than alienate his core fanbase with reverse gentrification, Foux performs underground shows, makes Lil Yachty(great performance on "OUTTAMYMIND!") the biggest feature on his project and hides his music videos on low traffic YouTube accounts.
"People are on TikTok and looking for commercial gain; I’m doing the opposite—I’m making music and rapping about how I live. I’m speaking the truth, speaking my swag, and I’m doing it all for influence!"
Foux made it very clear on the intro of his last project how much he hates being compared to others: "Who I sound like now you dickheads?" "Anything I do they callin' me Thug." "Anything I do they callin' me Carti."
As someone who repeatedly compared Foux to both Young Thug and Carti, I thought dickhead was a little harsh for pointing out a clear comparison, but to answer Foux's rhetorical question, he doesn't sound like anyone anymore.
LIVE.EVIL is the perfect blend of two opposite highpoints in the constantly evolving realm of experience rap. It's a blend that only the 26-year-old rapper from the UK has proven to understand on a full project.
Score: Low 9/10
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