Steve 'Flash' JuonI’ve got good news for you off rip — Lucifear’s “I WANNA DIE” is only $1 on Bandcamp. Now obviously Bandcamp allows you to pay more than a buck if you want to, and if you’re interested in this album I’d recommend it, because I can’t imagine the split between the artist and the service is super lucrative. I’m sure it’s better than most streaming platforms you can think of like Apple Music or Spotify, but even if you imagine Bandcamp to be less shitty and ONLY take 50% of what an artist earns, that still means that Lucifear only made Curtis Jackson for 20 minutes of instrumentals. I’d give them more than that.
I’m also happy to say that whatever morose mood they were in at the time of recording didn’t stick. They continued to make music including an album called “I WANNA LIVE,” and apparently even rebranded to the name Nugenesis2000, although I can’t find much music uploaded under that name. While songs like the title track suggest depression on the surface level, scratching beneath the top layer of epidermis reveals atmospheric trippy instrumentals. The instant comparison I can draw is Lil B and I think it’s not only fair but would be a good collaboration. This is the the type of beats I want to hear Brandon McCartney rap over. It would fit him like a glove.
Here’s the big problem though — with one account that’s seemingly inactive and another with virtually nothing uploaded, I’m not sure what Lucifear is all about. Good luck trying to search the name and not get a whole bunch of results about Christian mythology completely unrelated to this Florida producer. The fact I can even tell you they are from Florida comes again from that now defunct Bandcamp. It’s where you can go to hear individual tracks like the Southern mixtape inspired “Make You Fucking Pay.” I half expected to hear a voice say “Damn son where’d you find this?”
In short if you’re still out there Lucifear (1.) good on you for not dying and (2.) I think you were onto something with your beats. “I WANNA DIE” is long enough to be enjoyable but short enough to also be a demo of what they are capable of. There’s just enough boom and pound to whip in your ride but there’s also a mysterious air circling through every track that makes you think it could score a horror movie. That’s a surprisingly pleasant combination.