When PreauXX quips, “You a queen, got steez, got all o’ that/It’s been a hot girl summer, gotta check the stats,” on his latest album, God You’re Beautiful (Unapologetic), it’s one of those lines that captures a whole vibe, a whole story, a whole season. And in case you didn’t check our cover, that season is summer. If you’re searching for the joint to define your fun in the sun this year, look no further: God You’re Beautiful is it.
If steez is the perfect blend of style and ease, PreauXX himself has all of that, and yet this is more than a dazzling fashion statement or a “hot girl summer.” The rapper is working on many levels here, and, as with so many Unapologetic artists, they’re built on emotional risk. “This is my most vulnerable project,” he says. “I’m talking about the ups and downs of relationship woes. I wanted to cater to a different side. This isn’t even just PreauXX; this is more my Handsome Samson persona. This whole project is kind of tied up with that. That’s why, for these past six months, I haven’t been in my braids. I’ve had my afro out because that’s the persona, that’s Handsome Samson. I’m very luxurious, my skin glowing. I’m being who I am.”
This naturalism translates directly into his delivery, which is simultaneously unhurried, off the cuff, and carefully crafted. The Handsome Samson motif rings true partly because the melodies are like half-remembered choruses from Soul Train. Perhaps more than any other rapper, PreauXX has a sure sense of memorable musical lines, perfectly wedded to his lyrics.
“Choruses, man,” he says. “I really pride myself on writing these hooks that stick to you. And not only stick to you but are relatable to different things you may have gone through.” Assisting him on this melodic mission is a veritable squadron of musos from the Unapologetic collective. After PreauXX drops a chorus, then moves on to spit rhymes, the producers and collaborators keep the music’s haunting atmospherics flowing underneath him.
One such collaborator is Cameron Bethany, featured on two tracks, who weaves in such golden harmonies that you may wonder if his voice is a sampled radio hit. Uni’Q further lends both melodic beauty and considerable sass to the tracks, and, in the album closer, “So Relieved,” she shows that this saga of relationships is not just a bed of roses. Her dis to a former lover in turn draws out some very reflective lyrics from PreauXX himself.
“I wanted to speak on some stuff that I went through in my life,” he says of that track, “and also give another piece of vulnerability from me. Not just romantic love, but like the love my mom has for me, by still being there. And consider what these relationship woes may stem from. Because that’s how my relationship with my parents was. It’s a super vulnerable moment, in a different type of space, a different type of love.”
A number of producers worked on God You’re Beautiful, including IMAKEMADBEATS, but the most consistent beat-maker here is Unapologetic producer C Major, marking tracks with his audio tag, “Bitch, are you jealous?” His distinctive, stuttering-yet-flowing beats underpin many tracks, including the lead single “Eastend,” though PreauXX notes that the final track was a “spirit bomb” of work from many Unapologetic talents. Another mastermind was producer/musician Eillo, who, PreauXX says, “super texturized” the song “Regret,” in addition to adding a solo jazz piano outro to the track that is drop-dead gorgeous.
But the masterpiece here may be “Incarceration,” the synthetic pulse and drive of which is almost completely drumless, giving it a hushed urgency that matches its subject matter. “I made that beat on my phone,” says PreauXX. “Then IMAKEMADBEATS came in with the Moog and enhanced everything around it, creating an atmosphere around the taps. He was like, ‘We’re going to make this a whole other world.’ I wanted to compare being locked out of love to literally being incarcerated. It was the first song on this project, and it meant a lot.”
Ultimately, such metaphorical flights and lyrical reflections are wrapped in ear candy so compelling, so memorable, that God You’re Beautiful bears repeated listenings as we watch the season roll by. “Just put it on loud and experience it. It’s a whole world,” says PreauXX. “I dropped it right before summer because it’s just so top down, press play. This is definitely the summer project. That’s what it was meant for.”
