Burn the Image: A Review of Cities Aviv's "Come to Life"

Only a couple days before Hurricane Sandy ran it's course through the New York area, Kendrick Lamar destroyed the rap mainstream with the release of the jaw dropping, magnum opus, good kid, m.A.A.d city. Flooring critics and fans alike (sometimes both, hi), good kid, m.A.A.d city was somewhat of an anomaly in mainstream rap, a multifaceted and heavy concept album, intent on evoking complex emotions from listeners and artist alike. However, compared to such an album as Kendrick's previous Section.80, good kid's ambition didn't come as a surprise.

In the following November, Memphis by way of Brooklyn rapper Gavin Mays, who goes by Cities Aviv, dropped the flat-out brilliant Black Pleasure, which didn't happen to destroy the mainstream like good kid, but destroyed mine and my small group of friends who happened to listen to rap's perception of rap music. After seeing a show at the Knitting Factory, enveloping myself in Mays' back catalogue ("Planet" being one of my favorite finds), holing up for a week listening to follow punk rappers Antwon and B L A C K I E, Black Pleasure may have been my most anticipated album of 2012. Dropping like a bomb in my understanding of rap and it's surrounding culture, Black Pleasure broke the rules. Who says the rapper has to be "heard"? Who says you can't reference various post-punk icons like Ian Curtis? Who says you can't say you dislike True Religion?

Unfortunately, Black Pleasure came as a surprise to many, who were expecting more "feel-good" singles from Cities Aviv, such as "Coastin" or "Float On". His debut mixtape, Digital Lows, was still a heady listen, but radiated warmth through it's iPod shuffling dynamics. Black Pleasure was the sound of an artist trying to distance himself from the misunderstood sentiments of his body of work, marred by blogs gushing over a rapper's single from a 7-inch, not bothering to check out the even better deep cuts.

Cities Aviv's newest, Come to Life (which is considered to be his debut album, even though he wanted Black Pleasure to be considered an album), comes as less of a surprise as Black Pleasure. This however, does not hurt the album in any shape or form. If anything, this only aids the album more, allowing the listener to be overcome with the lovingly layered textures of music, thus giving the music a familiar feel. This may not be apparent through "Intro", a chunk of noise that dissolves into Cities whispering "come to life". But once the choppy eight-bit sample of "Fool" kicks in, the album picks up. Throughout his career, Mays has expressed his love-hate relationship with the internet and what it entails through both interviews and music ("Stimulation" from Black Pleasure and the single "Power Exchange"), and "Fool" is no different. What could be misunderstood as a diss track, "Fool" acts as a self proclamation of surviving in an era such as ours. "You won't make it through the summer" he says in the direction of the numerous e-rappers, later understanding their plight ("you must be stupid if you think they give a fuck about this message in your music... tomorrow such a phase / a name without a face").

Much of the music of Come to Life deals with realization of the self. Over a chirping soul loop, "URL IRL" finds Mays in full on attack, rapping loudly (alluding to his punk roots in the local Memphis hardcore band, Copwatch) claiming that all these guys who rep their "status and [their] hood... don't know what's good". The short interlude "CTL1" finds fellow rapper / ex-hardcore punk Abdu Ali ruminating on what it means to "come to life"; "just do you".

Mays expressed how he felt Come to Life melded together the more nostalgic vibe of Digital Lows with the more violent and unorthodox production choices of Black Pleasure, and Come to Life has proven this. "Perpetuate the Real" finds Mays in full on lover-man mode, stating "your body tastes like chocolate sweet strawberries". Where Black Pleasure had the jaw-dropping "Not That I'm Anywhere" as a closer, Come to Life ends with the hopeful "Don't Ever Look Back", where in a series of short, rapped mantras, Mays is able to encapsulate all the tones of Come to Life. "I just woke up and I still love you," he intones at one point, and at another, "you so fake I don't know who you is." All of this over a stuttering, static laden soul sample which is looped into infinity.

The way Mays approaches the beats for a Cities Aviv album is similar to the way RZA did with the early Wu-Tang Clan releases; they had to be good enough that they could keep the listener interested, even when there wasn't a dude rapping for a prolonged period of time. There's nothing such as GZA's "Cold World", but the beats here are so chuck full of detail that one can't help but be entranced by them. Mays is responsible for some of the best on the album (the Oneohtrix Point Never sampling "Realms" and the moaning "Perpetuate the Real") and Houston noise terrorist B L A C K I E adds his signature touch to "(Self 100): Know Who You Are". However, what has been Mays' secret weapon on all past releases is the relatively unknown producer, RPLDGHSTS. Some of the most stark cuts of the Cities Aviv catalogue have been helmed by RPLDGHSTS and it's no different here; the muted horn sample on "Dissolve" or the sparkling yet sinister "Worlds of Pressure".

Digital Lows happened to have a great sense of humor at times (most notably the line about "girls whose favorite band is Mr. Bungle" from "Fuckeverybodyhere"). Some of that humor is renewed on Come to Life, like when Mays shouts out "these bitches twerkin' futuristic". However, the personal (and personable) themes from Black Pleasure are still prevalent. "Dissolve" finds Mays citing how our bodies will all turn into dust, in the semi-chorus of "Worlds of Pressure" (a staple of the live set for the past year), Mays chants "I can give it to you, I can take it away!" and in "Still" he confesses how he's "never felt more alone". Mays once again alludes to his hardcore days, taking on a full-throated vocal affectation on the excellent "Vibrations" where he growls "black skin, black boots but nowhere to go".

The way Mays approaches a Cities Aviv album is more accustomed to ex-LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy instead of someone like, say, Joey Bada$$. He's a music nerd, who seems more interested in whole the whole thing sounds, the way his voice blends with sounds, instead of riding on some hood shit. He's part of a small pocket of rappers who seem intent on tearing down the common rap tropes, like Shadowrunners, Antwon, Oddisee and Milo. Rap music nowadays can stem from something as little as some guy with a barely working mic and a decent backing track; the rest is up to them. Rap music is exciting once again.

Cities Aviv - Come to Life
9/10
Recommended Tracks - "Fool", "URL IRL", "Dissolve", "(Self 100): Know Who You Are", "Vibrations", "Worlds of Pressure", "Don't Ever Look Back"