Steve 'Flash' JuonIf you’re looking for an expanded edition of “Public Target” you can buy ericdoa’s “curated cut” on Bandcamp for $9.99 (or more). As I’m not I’ll stick to the basic edition that’s available for free everywhere, but I did check out his page in an effort to learn more about him. The tags on his page describe this album as both “glitch hop” and “hyperpop,” but as much as the music industry wants to push us into increasingly narrow micro-genres, I’m just not hearing it. All I can think of listening to “Grinding My Teeth” is the same Soundcloud rap that overwhelmed hip hop in the 2010’s and continued right through the global pandemic. Guest star lilspirit says “I grind my teeth to pussy MDMA” and steals ericdoa’s show.
With bars like “Filled with anxiety, I keep grinding all on my teeth/without a thought, you cut me open, and you watching me bleed” there’s no doubt ericdoa is EMO AF. I’m not one of these hyper masculine macho types who has a problem with the new generation artists wearing their hearts on their sleeves. The problem I have is that too many of them sound the same and do little to distinguish themselves, winding up sounding like pale imitations of the artists who charted before them. ericdoa doesn’t even have a compelling delivery for his songs. Once again a cameo steals the show on “GossipGirl,” with SEBii saying “So much ice my nose is runny.” That would be a good brag even if it wasn’t being sung.
The good news is that the production on “Public Target” is polished and slick. Even if you ultimately grow weary of ericdoa being so weepy on “CryingMyEyesOut” the Ginseng & Kellbender beat keeps you going. There’s just enough bass and melody here to lift this generic “hyperpop” emo rap out of the doldrums and into a comfortable mediocrity. If this was suggested to you on autoplay you just might leave the mix rolling and not press the FF button to hear something else. Maybe.
I’m damning ericdoa with faint praise but that’s the vibe I get from his entire album, “curator’s cut” or otherwise. It doesn’t insult my ears to listen to him. The vocals are solidly mixed even if they’re sung with the enthusiasm of someone totally bent on Sprite and syrup. The music could be sandwiched between better artists in the emo rap genre and not sound out of place. “Public Target” is just barely good enough. It doesn’t do anything special for me, but I don’t hate it. It’s acceptable serviceable emo rap that gets a passing grade.