Red Burns
After dropping their debut last year, the collective released an even more personal and unique project called Red Burns on September 11. This album is like a scrapbook, made with help from artists in their New York community, including the up-and-coming rapper MIKE. The title refers to the lasting scars left by imperialism on black and brown people. “It’s a curse that people of the diaspora have,” Escobar told The Fader. “Manifest destiny caused colonial white settlers to violently change another people’s history forever. We can never undo these things.”Red Burns isn't about one specific concept; it’s more of a collective response to recent events . It’s a “weird ass album” that’s a freeform, hour-long track, feeling like an intentional subversion in the age of playlists. This album takes you on a sensory journey through New York City, with each track acting like a street sign. Escobar has shared his frustrations with the limitations of traditional music, saying, “Not everything you feel can come out in a song.” Red Burns is a multidimensional map of NYC’s diverse perspectives. The album’s website, filled with memes, serves as a visual and emotional moodboard for the project. It’s an experimental manifesto for young brown New Yorkers, offering bursts of insight amid the chaos and noise. Right from the start, Red Burns sets its tone: “The inability to breathe is what this record is all about,” with Eric Garner’s final pleas for air in the background. The album asks listeners to find meaning in its layered sounds and snippets of conversation, lyrics, background noise, and various vocal effects. Some moments are peaceful, while others are jagged and chaotic. The album features spoken word, soul singing, and Puerto Rican music, all interconnected despite the constant tensions. The narrative of Red Burns flows freely, pivoting on five recitations throughout the hour: “nate sees the storm,” “red burns comin!,” “cleb sees the storm !,” “what about the planet?,” and “the devil Meets Red Burns.” These soliloquies guide the direction of the album, painting a picture of a city in constant motion. One captures snapshots like, “You know these young kids run up on old school, with a gun and a mask, and the cops don’t stop cuz they’re scared. And the kids skin their knees. And somebody’s dad is barbecuing on the sidewalk in the summer. Somebody’s gonna miss their dad...And somebody’s mother’s crying for her baby. Somebody got a new baby, sadly, or happily, you can never really tell.” The essence of Red Burns is to make fast observations and gather what you can from everything around you. The sounds of Red Burns are as diverse and thrilling as the city it represents. You’ll hear sensual Marvin Gaye soul, Tribe alt-rap, tributes to free jazz maestro Albert Ayler, and a touch of Playboi Carti’s “Magnolia.” There’s a deep cut from MIKE and an Afro-Cuban track honoring St. Lazarus and Oricha Babalú-Ayé. “Sellin Soap” shifts from a drum-happy coke saga to mellow keyboard fills, while “Wont U” starts with DJ airhorns and builds into spacey sounds. Throughout the album, you can feel the duo and their friends navigating NYC with both despair and optimism, saying, “Survived 9/11, I’ll be damned if we don’t make it to heaven.” Their interpretations are helping to revive NYC’s hip-hop scene.
STANDING ON THE CORNER - RED BURNS
RATING - 9.5/10
GENRE - Jazz, Hip-Hop, Rnb, Soul
FAVORITE TRACKS - All