Steve 'Flash' JuonWe’re not off to a great start when the very first song I hear on Subiibabii’s “Subiworld” is blatantly ripping off 50 Cent’s “21 Questions” featuring the late Nate Dogg.
Speeding it up and then rapping over it fast doesn’t make “Love Me Now” clever. It makes a hip-hop classic into annoying trash. Nevertheless I was reliably told (in a self-authored bio) that Subiibabii is “an underground American rapper and audio engineer” who had “very little success when he first started.” Well if he can be humble and self-effacing like that I can give him another chance. Let’s see what else the almost self-titled “Subiworld” has to offer.
There’s a theme here. Subiibabii is trying to go fast. The album goes by fast, the songs go by even faster, and tracks like “Power” end up sounding like they were recorded while tripping on a speedball made of energy drinks and caffeine pills. I’m glad his heart didn’t explode but by “Freepops” I’m listening to him “pop percs” and pondering his life decisions. He’s going so hard that he clearly wants to slow down, but maybe if he started out at a medium pace (insert your own Adam Sandler joke here) he wouldn’t need to add even more drugs to a seemingly dangerous cocktail.
By the time “Mine” rolls up I’m absolutely exhausted. How is he not? Well he’s not because he IS rapping at a measured pace and speeding it all up in post. That creates a sound for his vocals like Alvin and the Chipmunks. If that’s what Mr. Jackson was going for, congratulations. Also, I don’t like it. I didn’t check out “Subiworld” because I wanted to hear from Alvin, Simon and/or Theodore.
In the end Subiibabii’s style is just too strung out and adrenaline fueled to work for me. There’s definitely an audience for this out there somewhere. I hate to sound ageist but I’ve got to imagine it’s TikTok. When Charles White talks about the “brain rot” that comes from an algorithm feeding you nonstop dopamine hits in short addictive bursts, this is the music that personifies it. If you’re already in that world you might as well be in Subii’s world too.