Good luck trying to ignore Slowthai. Over the course of his short yet eventful career, the British rapper has never shied away from bold choices, audacious pronouncements, or confrontational antics. He’s the type of guy who can walk into an awards show as the “hero of the year” and become the most hated man in the room by the time he’s escorted offstage by security. This antagonistic stance hasn’t just made headlines, though: From the moment he dropped the hard-nosed “T N Biscuits” in 2018, it was clear Slowthai would become one of the biggest personalities in English rap. He was quickly named the “voice of a generation” (he seems to prefer “Brexit bandit”) after dropping his debut album, 2019’s Nothing Great About Britain, which addressed the UK’s overlapping political crises through street-level tales. The follow-up, 2021’s TYRON, felt like an intentional retreat—more personal, less political—though it was unusually focused for a double album and only served to fortify his fanbase. With album three, the rapper born Tyron Frampton squares up for a fight with that very fanbase. What better way to upset rap fans than with a rock record?
Two caveats worth mentioning about Ugly: The record doesn’t abandon beat music entirely, and there’s plenty of precedent for Slowthai’s detour into rock. He was one of the first British rappers to embrace the blown-out, aggressive sounds of SoundCloud rap, a movement with plenty of punk in its DNA. He’s peppered his albums with throbbing post-punk instrumentals, jumped on stage with IDLES, and even covered Elliott Smith (poorly). So while the kids moshing at his shows won’t be scandalized to hear guitars on these songs, they may be surprised by the album’s overall shape. Ugly features as much singing as rapping, a number of slower ballads, and little of the grimy futurism that defined Slowthai’s compelling early work.
Slowthai takes a lot of big swings on Ugly and a few of his experiments connect. Album opener “Yum” is the closest thing here to a traditional Slowthai song and its bacchanalian subject matter (“I won’t stop ’til I’m in a coma”) and industrial gallop play to his strengths. “Feel Good” aims for the dumb fun of mall punk and hits the mark with chipmunk vocals, a bouncy bassline, and a repetitive chorus. “Sooner” splits the difference between synth-pop and sock hop: The jaunty instrumental undercuts Slowthai’s self-deprecating muttering and lends the album some welcome verve.