Fivioforeign’s new project, Pain & Love 2 , is the follow-up to a relatively obscure 2019 EP that dropped long before the New York emcee’s meteoric rise to fame. In 2021, Fivio stole the show with Kanye West’s “Donda” and became a household name. When Ye returned two years later with his major-label debut on Fivio, the rapper was a real force.
Part of the reason must be that Mr. West used his Fivio feature, City of the Gods, to threaten Pete Davidson, the then-boyfriend of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian: “This afternoon, a A hundred thugs gathered at ‘Saturday Night Live’/When I pulled up and it was dead when I arrived.” But Fivio also positioned itself as a bridge between New York drill roots and the next generation. In Pain and Love 2 he attempts to cement that status, albeit with mixed results.
Fivioforeign rose to prominence as a trench rapper, a emcee eager to dish out the cold realities of life on the street corners of New York. Fevio is at his best in Pain and Love 2, where he examines the consequences of calming down his life, tightening his circle and focusing on his career. On the breezy electronic album opener “Who Knew,” the MC raps: “Who knew they wouldn’t really care if I told them I needed them?”
The overt drama on the air isn’t nearly as good. The Swae Lee-assisted “Could it Be” is corny and generic; Fivio sounds like the result of an AI-generated “mid-2020s New York rap hit.” He raps: “When you think of Fivi, you think of delis / When you think of Fivi, you think of some wet stuff / Do you have a phone number? Then give me the phone.” Since 2004 , do people still call mobile phones “celly”?
These dull moments are all the more frustrating because Fivioforeign often showcases all the ways he’s grown as a rapper. On the Meek Mill-assisted “Same 24,” he engages in the kind of impromptu jams associated with Philly icons, doing bar-to-bar with one of rap’s biggest names. Soul samples simmer, and the piano melody is part melancholy, part inspirational.
The R&B-lite beat would fall apart in few hands, but Fivio uses minimalism to its advantage. He is genuinely introspective and reflective about where he has been and where he is going, actively weaving history and valuable insights into his stories. “How do I get rich with a self-taught skill? / I remember I couldn’t even afford this belt / I didn’t have the best bits, but I dressed well,” he gushed.
Fivioforeign is at his best when he’s not interested in showing off luxuries, instead using these newfound riches to illustrate how far he’s come since the first edition of Pain and Love.
Release date: February 9, 2024
Record label: RichFish/Columbia
Listen to “Pain and Love 2” below:
