It's easy to hate the next generation.
They're young and dumb and rely on new technology for EVERYTHING. They say slang we don't understand and wear crazy clothes. Hatred of the youth is natural in our society; everyone goes through it. I'm pretty sure there was a 30 year old in 1960 annoyed that the youth liked American Bandstand and danced with "Negroes", shit I wouldn't be surprised if there were people who thought that indoor plumbing was making our kids "soft". The youth is crazy because the future is scary and confusing.
So I get why people don't like Jaden Smith. I completely understand, because I used to do the same thing. But then I heard Syre.
When I was 10 Will Smith was my favorite, well, favorite everything. He made me laugh, he made me cry, he could rap. He was a Super Hero to me. So I think that a part of me always disliked Jaden because he had the privilege of being Will Smith's son; he was set for LIFE. Any time I saw his tweets and general misery with the world I got irritated because I thought he was being dramatic. He has nothing to be sad about, he's the son of the FRESH PRINCE. Quit bitching and just be happy. I realize now after listening to Syre that all that "forced" misery was really just a kid trying to find himself.
My homie Sam once told me that to truly grow you have to "go to all the dark places in your mind and deal with what you find" this can be a very difficult journey which leaves you distracted in the modern day. However for those who have the privilege to make this journey with little conflict, a true knowledge of self is revealed. Jaden Smith has the time, money and most importantly, the SUPPORT to make this journey. Syre is basically a well produced and well engineered semester abroad.
Jaden experiments with new perspectives and sounds to figure out who he really is, and its dope. Each track is fun and serves a purpose, even if the purpose seems dumb its still enjoyable. This is an album you listen to when you decide to skip a whole week of class at College.
This album is weird for a rap album, because usually rap albums are just niggas bragging about how ill they are by telling tales of hoes the fucked, drugs they sold and niggas they killed. But this album has Bell Hooks references, the grief of unopened texts and the misadventures of living in Calabasas. This is the highest level of swag rap, "my dad gave me the freedom to discover myself" that is a flex unheard of.
Admittedly this album has its faults, Jaden doesn't really have his voice yet, but thats probably because he hasn't finished puberty. This album documents his journey to find himself, he still hasn't yet. You can tell this album was inspired by Donald Glover, Drake, Chance the Rapper and the Migos. Jaden is good at rapping, but he's not good at rapping like Jaden.
Overall this album is really interesting, however it's not for everyone. If you see Jaden as a spoiled rich kid, this album is not gonna change your mind. There were actually some moments listening to it that I daydreamed about robbing him, not because I wanted to but because I probably could. However I digress, this album is good. This album explains why Will Smith has been making mediocre movies for a decade. Will wasn't focused on creating amazing characters, he was focused on creating an Amazing Son.
I bought this album with my own money, I was drunk but still I spent the 9.99 to cop this and I don't regret it. I give Syre 8.5 bottles of Blonde Hair Dye out of 11.