Maleek Berry is one of those artistes that has a created a specific style of music and lets it distinguish him from what the others are offering. A lot of his best works are married to that vibe that can not be explained with words but felt when listening to whatever he puts his sound on. It is a groovy, melodious combination of Afropop and Berry’s expressions that have made us come to love him.
However, lately his works have been lacking that flavour that lets you know “this is Maleek Berry” as they have been missing an element which might be hard to place a finger on. One can’t help but feel Berry is losing his magic, that extra dimension to his music that once made it irresistible seems lacking. There is also a palpable difference in his style even though the overall sound seems intact.
You can tell that there is an element missing from his current releases as it almost feels like Maleek Berry is cooking with an incomplete recipe and you can just taste the difference. He still remains brilliant at his production game and his beats remain simple while retaining its pertinent melody but when he begins singing, something just doesn’t feel the same as before. Listening to “Flashy”, I could hear him, but I couldn’t really feel him the way I have felt him on his other tunes.
On “Flashy”, Maleek Berry is doing the usual rap braggadocio thing we have come to expect from rappers and he even has a rap verse to back it up. While I will never not give credit for creative experimentation, this is one that goes wrong. This is not the man whose genteel vibe and energy we have come to love as this experimentation carries him too far away from his core that he fails to grace us with the very nuances that we have come to expect from him.
He is known for soft, mid-tempo, sumptuous melodies that caress/intoxicate and while flashy doesn’t negate this, the content he is offering is just not what we signed up for. Him singing about his lifestyle isn’t the content we want. We want Maleek to ask an interest if she wants “Kontrol”, we want him asking her to “Own It” — singing about his lifestyle and how flashy it is simply isn’t cutting it for us.
While there is an argument that can be made for artistic expression, what good is it when you are losing the very fibre of your artistry? The rap verse doesn’t help much, as it further alienates/distances listeners from this release. The production is set up perfectly for him to do what he does best, but he is towing a different line to what we expected, and change may not necessarily be a good thing in this aspect. The song fails to standout and the rap verse does not offer much encouragement.
Following early releases, Maleek Berry has lost some invaluable steam. Recent releases have not soared above average and quite frankly this “experimentation phase” (I term it that for a lack of better words to describe what is actually going on with his music) is mildly concerning as we wonder whether we might ever see the return of the Maleek Berry from the Daze Of Summer EPs. He has to go back to the drawing board and figure out what he is getting wrong. I figure it’s the direction of the music that doesn’t allow his full shine, but summer is coming soon, and he has proven that he can give bops for this season. Let’s hope his next release brings with it that missing element.
Listen to Maleek Berry “Flashy” Below: