Lil Baba Ventures Into Hardcore Rap on ‘Shhhh’

Producer-turned-rapper Lil Baba returns with his second full-length album, ‘Shhhh’, venturing into darker sonic landscapes characterized by gritty, harsh beats. This 17-minute project sees Lil Baba experimenting with rage, trap metal and hardcore rap, marking a significant shift in his sound. The album’s production is primarily handled by Lil Baba himself, with the exception of one track produced by Dr. Mo3geza, and features contributions from Nour, Abo El Anwar and Ahmad Santa.

The album opens with the title track, ‘Shhhh’, an aggressive hardcore piece that showcases Lil Baba’s experimental side in full force. Here, he delivers his bars with intense emotion, accompanied by screamo ad-libs and haunting vocal samples. The track also incorporates a sample from writer Mostafa Mahmoud, discussing the effects of music on the brain, adding thematic depth to the record.

Throughout the album, Lil Baba is raw and unfiltered, revealing a more vulnerable side. While the themes can feel scattered, his ideas are fresh and distinctly different from his previous work and the current trends in the scene. Lil Baba introduces punk and hardcore sonic elements, blending them with drill influences, synth-driven melodies and glitchy cuts that permeate the production.

The standout track, ‘Ahhhh’, featuring Ahmad Santa and Abo El Anwar, sees the three rappers dominating the beat with relentless verses filled with screams and ghostly ad-libs. Abo El Anwar’s performance showcases a new stylistic delivery that could be one of his best guest verses to date, offering a refreshing sound amid a series of recent underwhelming releases.

However, the album’s quality wavers as it progresses. Tracks like ‘Shoft’ deviate from the aggressive production, with Lil Baba’s playful singing and vocals breaking the thematic continuity. This track feels out of place and perhaps should not have made the final cut. Conversely, ‘Adeena Bengarab’, a collaboration with Nour, follows a similar departure but is executed with much better quality. Here, Lil Baba crafts a minimal beat, and the duo delivers subtle vocals that contribute meaningfully to the album’s overall themes.

‘Shhhh’ is arguably Lil Baba’s most experimental and ambitious record yet. He fearlessly dives into uncharted territory, experimenting with unconventional sounds that could be polarizing yet it serves as one of the more refreshing releases this year.