From the new generation of rappers, there's a few that are all about their music. You hardly hear anything from them except when it's time to drop or tour. One such rapper is Shane Eagle. Who proves he's been hard at work in 2019 with his mixtape - Dark Moon Flwr.
Ahead of the release, Shane kept expressing repeatedly how psyched he is about his upcoming drop. Granted, he has a good track record but by now we've been through many cycles of overhyped drops that don't live up to expectations. It’s worse when the hype comes from fans but tooting one’s horn isn’t much different either. But man!! He delivered something hard.
Shane wasn't shy with the music. The mixtape has 23 tracks with no separated interludes, with a total playtime of 90 minutes. 90 minutes of hard rapping.
While it's hard not to pick up the J Cole influence in Shane's sound, he has to be judged on the merits of his raps and how well he fairs at the style he does. For one, he kills it when it comes to storytelling. Even with the mixtape being this long, the stories aren't repetitive. He shows a good range in his writing abilities. He gives a good account of how things unfold when telling a story. All while not compromising on rhyming.
Shane's content is much more mature than a lot of his peers. This is something that can earn him a lot of recognition with an audience older than the usual target for rappers his age. Not that he needs it, he's past that point. He has shown growth and consistency in the style that
he does. He comes across as a Dreamville product. And he might be bound for that, given how he hints on talking to Cole on 7. The good thing here is that Cole likes signing rappers that sound like him.
Experimental sounds make up the most of the mixtape. There's a touch of boombap and some trap beats here and there. Shane has proven himself to be great at painting pictures with his words. He's poetic without being deep. He gets the technicalities right. He gets philosophical with his approach.
DMF features a range of international artists and bands, like UK band The Hics who come in twice with live elements and smooth vocals. Shane also put his time spent with Bas to good use and got in the studio more than just once. He's featured on Vanya, together with Nigerian born musician Santi. Nasty C makes an appearance on Paris, while Kota The Friend gets Lost In The Shade.
Shane chronicles his dream of getting to the top and speaks about the changes and confusion that came with fame. He navigates his way through it still. He strikes a good balance between being buck and still showing vulnerabilities.
DMF has some of Shane's best work to date. He spazzes on Zaire and goes even harder on Forever Young. XXXX is another joint that sees Shane kicking it with the raps. Nasty C probably has the best verse from a feature. Although, J-Tek makes that arguable with his appearance on Zaire.
Shane Eagle’s rap abilities are solidified. At this point, an album would only go to test if he still has the writing ability to string up a story together. With the long runtime, this mixtape might not have that much replay value but best believe it has a lot to add to
your Shane Eagle playlist. Stream Below.
