SAINt JHn is the person I think I’d be if I had money.
He’s confident, charismatic and reckless while still calculated. He’s basically a Dragonball Z villain in their final “wait this monsters actually kinda hot” form. In the review of his last album I mentioned that my ex had a crush on him, well in this review i realized I have a crush on him. But like the man crush version where instead of wanting to sleep with him I actually just wanna BE him (somehow that’s more gay, “i wanna be inside you<<<<< “i wanna be inside your spirit” ) I look at SAINt JHn the way white guys look at Elon Musk; I want everything he has so I’ll defend him cuz he’s my dream manifested. So in other words, I’m a fan of his music.
With that said, let’s get into his newest collection, “While The World Was Burning”
It’s important to trust the process.
At first I was really confused at why he called his albums “collections” until I realized they’re all part of the same story. Some artists try to tell multiple stories, some strive to tell the same one until it feels finished. SAINt JHn is the latter. It’s pretty impressive when you remember one of the biggest hits in 2020 is a song he released in 2016. In an era where everyone’s desperate to make new music because fans are spoiled and believe they deserve 15 tracks every 3 months, SAINt JHn is rereleasing music from the last Obama year. That’s impressive as hell. Beyond that though, this collection is pretty solid, while the subject matter hasn’t changed, the energy has.
The most striking thing about this collection is the quality of the features. On his last collection “Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs” it felt as if every feature (besides the angel Lenny Kravitz) wasn’t sure of what to make of SAINt JHn. On this collection it’s clear everyone is on board and it’s beautiful to see. It’s like watching the new kid at school make his first real friends. JHn really got DaBaby to stop his one flow and try that sing songy shit, he got a Nigga thats KILLED People to sing about Monica Lewinsky, that’s impressive. Well to be fair, Monica Lewinsky had an affair with Bill Clinton, so hearing a murderer say her name isn’t exactly brand new.
Beyond the features, this album is basically the same as his last one. It’s vaguely horny, cool and ratchet, it’s like using Tinder on Dark mode at 2 AM. Some people might be put off by this as, instead of a step forward it’s more a step to the side, but that’s what he wants. At one point on the album SAINt JHn says “I could’ve blown up 5 years ago but I was really ballin” so in his mind it’s clear that he’s been at his peak and doesn’t need to do much more artistically. It’s not his job to make us see who he really is, we have to meet him where he’s at. This album feels like buying a new iPhone for the camera, it’s basically the same but you see things a bit clearer.
I like “While The World Was Burning” a lot, this is a good album to listen to if you wanna buy condoms AND plan b at the same time. Based on his trajectory, I’m guessing that it’ll truly succeed in 2022 in a world where senators are using TikTok and journalists have face tattoos. I listened to it in a wifebeater and woke up in a silk shirt.
I give “While The World Was Burning” 7 strip club chicken wings out of 8.