KOHH - Untitled Album Thoughts(J-Rap/Experimental)

   KOHH is an underground Rapper in Japan. He's known as one of the best rappers in the underground in and outside of Japan. Utada Hikaru introduced him to a mainstream audience when he collaborated with her for the 2016 album, Fantome. This album called Untitled was released out of the blue and none knows why. I guess it's a good marketing move since he's been exposed to an even bigger audience over the last two years.

TRACKLIST

01 ひとつ
02 Imma Do It
03 I Want a Billion (feat. Taka)
04 Fame
05 まーしょうがない
06 いつでも
07 Okachimachi
08 Leave Me Alone
09 I’m Gone
10 ロープ

  Untitled isn't what I though the albums music would be. KOHH's name has made foreign headlines, even causing the rapper to do a few radio shows in America. World Star Hip hop has featured his music videos and this is where I looked into some of his older music. The music I heard was very about the original Hip Hop movement which I liked, however Untitled is KOHH being a little too out there to the point that his musical vision isn't obtainable for listeners. Untitled as an album is like a piece of artwork hanging in an art gallery that people don't understand no matter how many times they try to see it from new perspectives. I just didn't get what he was going for. Auto tune singing replaces the solid rapping I heard in songs from years before. Taka of ONE OK ROCK hops on I Want A Billion which still doesn't save the album's descent. Tara's vocals should have been the chorus of the track while KOHH raps everything else. Instead Taka sings a part of the song then disappears. I wanted to like Untitled because I liked all the work he's done outside of this release. My fear is that KOHH got too caught up in trying to make a rap album that was unlike his others. Focusing on fixing something that's not broken,  never ends well. Untitled should have had the same energy that KOHH had on that collaboration track with Utada. I'm not sure if a second listen will change anything.

   Maybe it's best that this album is placed under the rug. Or labeled as a joke project. I know KOHH can do so much better than what this album gave me. I'll take the Taka feature just because I love ONE OK ROCK though.