Vancouver-based Greek-Colombian artist YUNG MAS likes to keep his creative world close. As a songwriter, producer, engineer, and creative director, he shapes the music and the visual identity surrounding it, treating each release as another chance to push his ideas somewhere unfamiliar. His #GXP collective follows much the same spirit, favoring experimentation and individuality over the usual expectations of hip-hop. Even his voice resists settling into one role. A relaxed, sometimes nearly monotone delivery gives way to melodic phrases, processed passages, and sudden changes in cadence.
That restless approach runs through “Dead Fortune,” a seven-track release lasting 22 minutes and 23 seconds. Its play on the phrase “dear future me” gives the project an intriguing point of departure, while the music travels through experimental trap, emo rap, drill, and grunge. The atmosphere is decidedly nocturnal, like a transmission picked up from some damaged corner of the internet. There is a strange appeal to how little YUNG MAS seems interested in smoothing out the rough edges.
Blown-out bass and ominous synths dominate the production, with hard percussion and haunting melodies cutting through the distortion. Sounds occasionally seem to pull against one another, but that friction is part of the record’s character. Vocal effects are woven into the arrangements so closely that separating the performance from the production isn’t always the point.
“Tinta” makes that clear from the opening track. Grunge-rock attitude meets sparse, punishing beats built from skipping hi-hats, thick sub-bass, and dark ambient loops. The open space gives YUNG MAS room to play with his delivery, drifting through slow, slurred lines before suddenly accelerating. Those jolts in pace keep the track unsettled, even when the instrumental holds to its ominous mood.
The tension tightens on “dear future me…,” produced by TRUFACETONY. Distorted 808s press against hazy, melancholic synth pads, creating an almost claustrophobic space for the vocal. YUNG MAS pushes the processing further here, his voice becoming another warped texture in the mix. There is something confessional about the result, like private thoughts spilling out during a sleepless night.
Sixth track “eYeZ oN tHE tHroneE” finds a surprisingly catchy pulse inside that darkness. Its drill-leaning drums, weighty 808s, sinister synths, and haunting strings form a dense backdrop for emo-colored melodies and treated vocals. The melodic appeal never completely lifts the tension, which makes the track stand out without disrupting the project’s mood.
“Marxo (I Go Polo),” featuring JUGGMAFIA, brings a more confrontational burst of energy. Punchy low-end and volatile rhythms match the aggressive delivery, while “#again” takes a different route. Running beyond four minutes, it leans on hypnotic repetition and breathing, side-chained production, allowing the same ideas to circle back with growing intensity.
For all its jagged surfaces, “Dead Fortune” has a coherent personality. YUNG MAS finds room for melody inside the abrasion and treats instability as a creative choice. It is a dark, restless addition to his underground catalog, one whose unusual textures are worth sitting with.
“Dead Fortune” is available everywhere!
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