lade: LaFlair

"Take 'Park Terrace,' where he comes across as cool, fastidious, and reflective in the face of grandeur. There's tension brewing in the oscillating bells and onomatopoeic gunfire, a mafioso chill to the icy arpeggios and percussive jolts. Flexes come naturally in the lyrics, and so too do allusions to family. 'Always had to put my mama first/My folks always told me keep my word,' ladé spits earnestly."

"So much of being a good rapper is conviction: How much you believe in what you rap, how much you can get people to believe in it, and how seamlessly that synergy is relayed. Lyrically, ladé moves in familiar territory, oftentimes leaning on trap clichés. Despite this, I never get the feeling that he's selling a life that isn't his own. What he lacks in clever, colorful songwriting, he makes up for in cutthroat execution."

LaFlair's Park Terrace presents a cool, fastidious, and reflective persona confronting grandeur with tense, cinematic production. Oscillating bells, onomatopoeic gunfire, icy arpeggios, and percussive jolts create mafioso chill and urgency. Lyrical flexes sit alongside family allusions — 'Always had to put my mama first/My folks always told me keep my word' — asserting authenticity amid trap clichés. Tracks like 'Jesus Piece' and 'Stay Solid' reveal survival reflections and restrained delivery. LaFlair's hooks and verses meld into continuous momentum, finding rhythmic poise and melodic stability. Some melodies burrow into the subconscious despite occasional reliance on familiar beats and tropes.

Read at Pitchfork