REVIEW: Yung Mas : GALLERIA1 (Album)

GALLERIA1 - YUNG MAS

Yung Mas is an upcoming rapper and artist who creates within the new age hip hop scene.

At the beginning of March 2024, the album Galleria1 was released by Yung Mas. The album features 13 tracks with themes of enigma and obsession.

We open the album with “SOIGNÉ” featuring a warping crescendo, adding a new spin on modern sound. The deep bass cuts through the rhythmic drums and vocals with a glitch feel. The song also features a polyrhythm style throughout which is highly unique for other hip hop genres. Yung Mas’ vocals are brilliantly performed to a high quality and with so much passion. Towards the back end of the song, we hear the warps and glitches coming back as new percussive elements. This track is a great opener track dor the album and leaves the listener invested to hear more of the new age style.

Our next track on the album is “MURDA'KEY”. This track takes on an upbeat form whilst having deeper lyrics buried between the melodic pattern. The drums are hard hitting and adds emphasise to vocals in the chorus for this track. 

“NOLIA'” swerves in to the 3rd track slot with a corrupted, warping, distorted burst of sound. The radio broadcast and voicemail sort of speech is a unique feature for this genre and is well input into this song.  The audio and sound design opening of this track is creative and inspiring. Lyrics like “heart getting colder” inspire feelings of pain and anger within the track. That emotion is matched in the vocal performance. The vocals fade in and out within the track almost emulating heart beats - or heartache. 

“2094 PT.2 (ACIDTRAP2094)” on with a unique sound within an acid trap sub-genre. This track is part of a recurring story within the album of 2094. There are 4 parts within the story but part 2 is first to hear. The song comes in hard with clear cut vocals and an enigmatic feel. With chimes and chirps intertwined in the bass and vocals, we hear the new age style come more into fruition. The emotion within this track feels more angry and powerful than the previous. The storytelling also emphasises a powerful feel. Some of the vocals are harder to hear within this track due to the filtering, which gives a distorted feel and is disorienting (and immersive).

Next we have the 1st part of this story with even more interesting use of audio and sound design. We have “2094”. The photography clicks in the backing of parts feel perfectly in place and almost distressing (as they can be for many). The mixing on this track stands out to me a lot with the super crisp sound. The vocals also sound doubled or delayed in parts which is another great addition and unique sound. This track was produced by Truefacetony. 

“2HUNNIT” is the 6th track on the album, marking just around the halfway mark. The vocals are crisp and tight with the rhythm presented in the arpeggio melody in this track. This track is a great representation of the new-age hip hop scene in music - presenting the hard kicks and brighter bells and melodies the genre hears commonly. 

Following “2HUNNIT” is “CASHOUT”, the first track I actually heard when hearing this album for the first time. I am instantly drawn to the deep 808s and awesome vocal performance by Yung Mas. This track feels quieter than the others but still stands out from the crowd and adds its own unique sound with the vocals and bass around the 1:27 mark with a more club style for a section then back to the hard drums, melody and lyrics. The idea of obsession is somewhat explored in this track with lyrics such as “cash, card, credit” and the theme of money within this. 

“2094 PT. 4 (ACIDPHONK2094)” is the continuation of our 2094 story with a phonk twist on the idea presented in 2094 and 2094 PT.2. The deep bass works so well with the low vocals in this piece. This track is evidence that Yung Mas, as a producer, has talent in a range of genres from the new-age hip hop to more electronic genres such as phonk and pop whilst keeping to the true hip hop roots. The mixing on this track is done in a different style to the other tracks with more attention to the bass (as is known in a lot of phonk) and particular attention to vocal changes. I particularly loved the addition of a tape stop at the end which then smoothly leads on to the next track (a perfectly performed transition).

As mentioned, track 8 and 9 blend together towards the end with the tape stop at the end of “2094 pt.4” to warping tape start on track 9, “CRASHIN’ PT.2”. Something I did not expect when first hearing this song was the changing of speeds at the beginning. This was well done and very effective in creating an enigmatic and immersive feel. Throughout this track, we are again presented with various elements of sound or audio design with photography flashes and voice recordings. The voice gating is an interesting choice used within this towards the end, which hasn’t been used yet in the other tracks - making yet another unique feature and twist in Yung Mas production. Right at the end of the track features a cool effect which perfectly shares a tape style stutter, a huge reference possibly to the use of cassettes and tape in hip hop’s history. 

“PANO” is a more emotional feeling song with smooth guitars and more impactful vocals and lyrics. The lyrics are more emotionally fueled with drugs and obsession and maybe even addiction being referred to in parts. You really have to experience this track for yourself. 

The next track was again produced by Truefacetony and is called “TRIA”. The futuristic world we first walk into here is almost dreamy. The floating melody and pads feel gentle which make the vocals that bit more strong. Through this track also feature interesting choices of lyrics including rhymes of “reckless” and “necklace”, “yellow” and “yeller”. Although this track is one of the shorter ones (at 2:06), the sounds and feel presented are a vibe which is unmatched. The dreamy feel is cut short drawing closer to the end with the fading and warping of the tape stopping drawing you out of the dream state into a new reality.

We warp into a new world, outside a club (from what the sound design feels like) then jumping into the club, we are met with a modern take on hip hop. Vinyl scratching, bass hits, chorus vocals as a melody and our well known story. We have reached “2094 PT.3 (ACIDPOP2094)”. Throughout this story, we are met with an environment of new sounds that would thrive in a live environment - to an immersed audience. 

“M.V.S.R.” is the final track of the album. This track features more themes of money and obsession with sound elements including gambling slots machines, clicks (machine like) and whirring - all creating a rich space. Panning is a tool that is used thoroughly in this track, particularly where a racing car (or plane) sound is used and zooms behind your head - I forgot I was listening to a song. 

Although the album has now come to a conclusion, I have enjoyed listening to it and will love to listen to it more in the future. The mixing and mastering is of incredible quality and sounds brilliant. The production on all tracks is unique and done to such a high quality. At times, I forgot that I was listening to music and reviewing - I just sat listening and enjoying. I played through the album a few times and I'm already awaiting Yung Mas’ next release. The lyrical content of the album is also unique and the performance by the artist is done very well. Overall, I would rate this album a solid 8.5/10.

I would highly recommend listening to the album and more of the music of Yung Mas. Below are some links to where you can find the album (GALLERIA1 by Yung Mas). 

https://www.youtube.com/@YUNGMAS 

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/yung-mas/1733975863 

https://open.spotify.com/album/6jkM6lKr5B9me3THwGzFNS 

Written by Kole Cook

@Kolecookmusic