Theophilus London
Timez Are Weird These Days
Warner Brothers

Trinidad born, Brooklyn raised Theophilus London is amongst the new era of artists who refuses to stay pigeonholed in one particular style of music or fashion for that matter. Combining the past with the present sonically and visually, London’s music is a sort of New Wave Hip-Hop with a dash of BK swagger. While some may cringe at such a title, this is actually a good thing as a balance to what is the perceived stereotype of rappers these days. Theophilus London dazzled audiences a couple of years ago with his release “This Charming Mixtape”, a collection of tracks that showcased the Brooklyn emcee rhyming over everything from Amadou and Mariam’s “Sabali” to the UK’s Crazy Cousinz’ funky track “Bongo Jam”. His next mixtape “I Want You” pushed him further into a sonic nouveau chic-ness that has helped to set the tone of his debut album “Timez Are Weird These Days”.

The album starts with the track “Last Name London”, which is also the current single. The electro flavored song feels like a stroll through the East Village in the early 1980’s with a raw yet glam-like intrigue. “Why Even Try?” featuring Sara Quin, a tune that was on London’s “Lover’s Holiday” EP, once again maintains an 80’s r&b/pop appeal similar to the fine line that Prince walked early on in his career. There are moments on the album where songs completely lean towards electronic rock with London crooning throughout the entire song such as “Lighthouse”. At times, there is the hope that Theophilus would include more spaced out tracks such as “Cold Pillow” ft. Jesse Boykins III yet that doesn’t necessarily happen. The production on “Girls Girls $”, with its future electro snap, comes closest to what London sounds great on but throughout the song there is the repeated banter of “she got drunk, showed her p**** on World Star”. With only 10 full tracks on the album, one track being an interlude, this record is more of a “straight to the point” effort. This isn’t good nor is it necessarily bad.

“Timez Are Weird These Days” overall is entertaining and gives more of the perception that Theophilus London will transition into a completely different genre than Hip-Hop altogether. While introduced to the world musically, there are the possibilities of London pulling a Grace Jones move where the music only aids the visual package of style. Regardless, there is never anything wrong with experimenting and Theophilus proves that not following what the rest are doing can have its benefits.