TAYLOR BENNETT
MAINSTREAM MUSIC

If you didn’t already know, it only takes a few minutes of Mainstream Music to realize that Taylor Bennett is Chance the Rapper’s brother. Comparisons are inevitable, and Taylor knows it, seemingly leaning in with an approach that is extremely similar to that of his older and better known sibling. But while they share a nasal flow, an uneasy singing voice, and an ear for outsider beats, Mainstream Music zigs into bubbly alt-synth-pop where Acid Rap zagged into jazz-soul.

Not to belabor the point, but it’s like a hyperactive little brother fighting for attention. Taylor’s overactive stream of consciousness rapping sees lyrics tumble forth and onto each other. His flow results in an overabundance of ideas, if not necessarily many new ones (“My life’s in traffic / it’s always moving / my life’s in action / I’m in a movie” and so on). But while his singing can be distracting (the moaning and groaning on ‘Fire’), his strongest songs are when he nails a hook with the croon of an early-aughts emo-pop frontman; Mainstream Music is more Brand New than Brand Nubian.

Standout ‘New Chevy’ features a laidback King Louie, who sounds oddly comfortable over some prog-rock synth noodling, and horn-heavy drug anthem ‘Creme Brulee’ sees Taylor sharpen his flow to keep up with Lil Herb. While the moody and menacing ‘New Additude’ and ‘Right Now’ sound out of place, Taylor is still finding his voice, and he knows it: “labels think that I’m a goofy / trying to sign me / that’s a doozy / I don’t even know my signature,” he admits. At a time when Chance and Vic Mensa both appear on XXL’s Freshmen list, this brand of left-field hip-hop is mainstream music, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor finds a way out of his brother’s shadow.