I’ve had three monumental days in my life: 1) my Bar Mitzvah, the day when I became a man in the eyes of the Jews despite only having a handful of pubic hairs; 2) the day I quit my day job at A&E to pursue this site full-time; 3) when I found out that I was STD free—turns out that the burning sensation from shaving cream in one’s dickhole bears a striking resemblance to gonorrhea symptoms. But now, it looks like I can add a fourth day to these historic occasions: the day when Bryson Tiller dropped three new songs.
It’s been a minute since we’ve heard new Bryson. After his breakout 2015 debut album, T R A P S O U L, music fans were introduced to the exhilarating combination of soulful melodies with progressive trap production—a beautiful pairing that rivals Rob Schneider’s dream combination of lamb and tunafish. Tiller inaugurated this intoxicating sound, and then seemingly faded into music’s backdrop. We’ve enjoyed sparse Bryson sightings since the album’s release, including features on Gucci’s The Return of East Atlanta Santa and DJ Khaled’s Major Key, but this limited presence hasn’t satiated any Tiller void—it’s simply highlighted his absence by teasing us with his talent. Yesterday, that all changed.
Bryson accompanied his forthcoming album announcement (True to Self will drop June 23rd) with three new tracks, one featuring Young Thug. Tiller emerges aggressively from his hiatus on the Young Thug-assisted “Get Mine” by redeeming the intense, focused flow sparingly explored on T R A P S O U L. He has grown accustomed to fame’s double-edged sword, forcing him to question the snakes and fakes, while reminding us of his career-launching individuality, “Post Trap Soul gettin' back to it / No, nigga, this ain't no trap music / Soul, rhythm, blues with a slap to it / Watch how young Pen Griffey put his bat to it.” Bryson demonstrates dynamism by returning to his smooth, sensual form on “Somethin’ Tells Me,” as his hard-hitting raps defer to soulful singing about a waning relationship. The third single, “Honey,” manifests his eclectic ability through a melodic spoken-word flow that balances the previous track’s lustful curiosity with sincere love.
Heed my advice: leave all three tracks on repeat—you won’t be disappointed. These singles suggest a strong follow-up to Bryson’s 2015 release, and remind us what we’ve been missing; stream them below. Follow Bryson to stay updated on album announcements, and pre-order True to Self before its June 23rd release.