Shou Lou(婁峻碩) - BOARDING Mini Album Thoughts(Mando-rap/pop)

 

   Shou Lou(Lou Jun Shou) is a rapper that seems to be on his underground Hip Hop game on Youtube and in other areas. He seems to be in the same crew as another rapper, OSN: who also rose in popularity online. I knew that if he was anything like OSN, that I would take a liking to him. The rapper has released two EPS with Boarding being his newest body of work.

Track List:

1.        AIRPLANE.ft. T.I.G              
2.        BLUE SKY              
3.        COLORFUL              
4.        SOFA              
5.        80. ft. 高爾宣OSN              
6.        STAY BYE              
7.        NEVER LAND

  Boarding is a very traditional rap record down at it's core. You might get a bit of camouflage that come from the track called Colorful. I was introduced to Shou through this track's music video so I had an expectation that most of the album would fall in line to a certain sound. Colorful is a pop rap track that's gutter reminds you of deciding to stop at a coffeeshop while in the middle of a journey. Semi beats hit at a mid tempo under the guitar stringing that gives the track a lively vibe. These mechanics also make the track become the black sheep among the other numbers in Boarding. I believe Colorful was created to satisfy a certain listener who doesn't like hardcore Rap but will try it out if there's elements conforming to Pop music mainstream appeal. Nothing else on the album conforms to Pop like Colorful does so I understand giving the track a music video. Stay Bye goes into an RnB style challenging Lou to sing a bit again. Still, the track lands more in a Hip Hop spectrum that gives more focus to Rap which seems to be a form of personal storytelling for the rapper. All throughout Boarding has some kind of message to be a better you even when other might say that you never can. 80 is probably the most hype song on the whole EP. OSN jumps on the track and …. HE HAD TIME TO LIGHT FIRE TO EVERY DAMN THING. He showed a new side to him…. I mean- I know that he can rap real well but he's very borderline sappy pop in his own music, so I wasn't expecting him to go buck here. Boy was I surprised when he started his verse. Never land's lyrics: "Mama told me I could be the Petter pan". gets me every time I hear them. You can tell he believes this as it's in his delivery. This yet another single realized prior that enhances Boarding's listening experience. My only skippable moment was Sofa because I'm not a fan of songs that just sound like lazy weed smoking music. We all know this particular style is popular worldwide but being influenced by that flow all the way in Asia doesn't spell victory to me. In fact it's the opposite.





    Shou's a Hip Hop fan(lover) kind of rapper. He comes across as a rapper that listens to a lot of different rappers from all over the world. As a result, he himself can't quite pinpoint his own style. I enjoy his rapping however, I couldn't help but thing that he sounds like other rappers. Colorful was the only track that truly felt like his own area or space. He doesn't even utilize this style on the EP sadly. I would love to hear him sing more on tracks. Colorful shows that he has a very unique voice that would really help to drive his music out of the copy cat shadow into a more original sound.

  Boarding defiantly is an album I've been bumping when I decide to listen to East asian music. Even with the few flaws that come from the artist himself still trying to figure out his artistry, this doesn't stop the EP from being a strong solid effort.