Steve 'Flash' JuonThere’s a little bit to unpack here to understand what’s going on. Yameii Online is a character slash vocaloid created by Sean-Tyler Thomas Walter b/k/a Osean. The characters he created live in a realm called OseanWorld and have their own digital adventures. It’s an American take on a Japanese cultural phenomenon, which (for me at least) is no different than considering Samurai Jack “anime” even though it wasn’t made in Japan. If you get the aesthetic and approach the art with respect you can make your own version of it and even expand the cultural appeal of it to new audiences. I see nothing about OseanWorld in general or Yameii Online specifically that is anything but appreciative of what vocaloid phenomenons like Hatsune Miku have added to our world.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way let’s discuss “Friday Night Basement, Vol. 1.” It’s an easy album to listen to, or should I say easy to listen to for a review, given it’s one of those modern era releases that’s incredibly short — seven tracks and just under 16 minutes total. It’s also perfectly acceptable to approach it without knowing any of the lore about OseanWorld or Yameii whatsoever. Producer Deko hits you with some thumping production while our vocaloid star sings her digital lyrics. It’s reminiscent of the late Juice WRLD if he was a Japanese girl straight outta Akihabara.
“Ice cream cold as fuck, yeah, my heart froze
And my soul corrupt to a dark rose
When you’re frozen up to your barcode
Take a journey up this embargo”
I was surprised to hear a guest star on “Fire” but less surprised that he had a name that also implies he’s a vocaloid — Lil Hard Drive. I’m not sure if this is another of Osean’s characters or perhaps Osean himself. Whoever it is he sounds a little more HUMAN than Yameii does, but still has to pretend to be an entirely digital creation. I’m showing my age when I admit I laughed at the line “old as fuck like CD” since I still remember reel to reel and eight tracks, but these days a compact disc might seem like ancient technology to a generation used to owning nothing physical and everything digitally. In fact in that context vocaloid rappers in an entirely online reality makes perfect sense.
“Even as a beta, I was out here flexin
Give me the codes, I might just go hit the coast
Laughin at all of these fools
Fuck do you know? I got infinity hoes”
At some point you can’t ignore a lack of substance to Yameii’s lyrics. “I heard you don’t like me bitch/They say I’m so icy bitch.” It’s here that the comparison to Juice WRLD falls apart. He may not have been the most profound writer or complex lyricist to exist in the rap game, but the one part of “emo rapper” he nailed was being EMOTIONAL. He wore his heart on his sleeve and shared all of his feelings with us from joy to sadness, love to heartache, optimism to depression. He hid nothing. All of Yameii Online is a real person directing a digital one to perform on his behalf, and you know the old saying about GIGO. Perhaps that’s unfair, but fuck it, that’s part of being a critic. If all your vocaloid can talk about is being the shit and how everybody else is shit, I’m going to lose interest fast. “Tell me what you see in me” is a line from “Yameii Vs. The World” that takes on unintended consequences.
“Friday Night Basement, Vol. 1” is interesting conceptually, and it makes me more curious about the man behind OseanWorld, particularly his passion for Japanese culture and/or vocaloid music. At the same time it’s slightly depressing because it’s only a half step removed from making AI generated emo rap with no human intervention required. Artificial singer + artificial intelligence = soulless music that might have a good beat but doesn’t speak to the audience. The danger is that we could wind up with huge corporations churning out endlessly bland AI music because it’s more profitable than having to share royalties with actual rappers, singers and producers. That’s not a future I want.