George Watsky, former slam poet and current singer/rapper, released his fifth studio album on Jan. 11. “COMPLAINT” is a short album (the nine tracks each clock in at around three minutes in length), and marks a huge departure from Watsky’s typical musical style, relying more heavily on singing than his previous albums’ acerbic speech-rap.
George Watsky, for those of you who haven’t heard of him (I’m going to assume that’s a pretty large portion of you since his Spotify following only tallies in at around 730,000), got his musical start with a short YouTube video called “Pale Kid Raps Fast,” as well as a couple features in the “Epic Rap Battles of History” videos. He has released five albums, including 2009’s “Watsky,” 2013’s “Cardboard Castles,” 2014’s “All You Can Do,” 2016’s “x Infinity” and most recently, “COMPLAINT.” If you’ve been following Watsky since his first album was released (which, again, I’ll assume you haven’t been), you’d realize that each of his albums before “COMPLAINT” attempted to take what he did to the next level. Each album was more ambitious, more lyrically prolific and featured better production value, culminating in “x Infinity’s” overstuffed 18 track playlist.
“COMPLAINT” is Watsky’s first album that doesn’t feel like an attempt to one-up his previous self, instead cutting the tracklist in half and changing his musical style. Before his album was released, Watsky tweeted he’d been taking vocal lessons. It certainly shows in this album. Songs like “Welcome to the Family” and “Limo 4 Emos” (also two of his best songs on the album) in particular showcase quite impressive vocal ability. The album also marks a large departure from the content of his older music, which focused on a diverse range of subjects, but largely avoided Watsky’s love life. This album instead tells the story of what Watsky calls an incredibly intense relationship, detailing the ups and downs of his love with a person with severe mental health issues. Although parts of the relationship make Watsky feel positive emotions, detailed in songs such as “Welcome to the Family” and “What Goes Up,” Watsky begins, by the second half of the album, to feel like he is no longer capable of supporting his love: “I’ve built so much armor but ring the alarm / I’m in love with someone who’s bringing me harm / I’ll pick lovers who got monsters and we bond on mental health / Till they remind me of what’s ugly in myself.”
Watsky’s fifth work, while certainly much different than his older music, still does not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the tracks (although if you’re not a fan of autotune, I would avoid “What Goes Up” and “Fuck It Up”) and enjoyed the album even more on subsequent listens. This album definitely works best when listened to in one sitting, and it’s not hard to do so, as it only takes about 28 minutes. “COMPLAINT” highlights are “Welcome to the Family,” “Limo 4 Emos,” “Mean Ass Drunk” and “Whitecaps.” Although I wish Watsky did rap more in his latest endeavor, and I do wish we got a few more songs to listen to, this album works exactly as it was intended to: painting a picture of a difficult relationship, and allowing Watsky to experiment with new methods of making music. Altogether, I give this album a 7.5 / 10.