Pink Siifu - Black’!Antique Review
Pink Siifu’s fourth solo studio album is out now, and once again we can tip our hats to the king of genre-bending.
It’s safe to say when listening to BLACK’!ANTIQUE, you should expect the unexpected. The realm of music that Pink Siifu enters within this album feels like uncharted waters. Your ears will feel revirginized in the most ruthless way possible. It’s abundant, startling, and cohesive. Aside from the beautifully calculated sound vomit, The sheer amount of features on the project create an incredibly dynamic listen. Siifu keeps us on our toes, and it’s truly addictive.
Track one, “BLACK’!ANTIQUE” opens the album with an intense, electro, and ambient entrance. After the unsettling one minute and 15 second long instrumental build-up, Siifu promptly asks permission to talk his sh*t over a bouncy drum beat. The claim to the game here is “I drive classics, I’m an antique” (which we’re drawn back to in the reprise). Siifu takes authority of the album in the first song, and doesn’t shy away from doing so in the proceeding tracks.
Fair warning for the headphone users when “ALIVE & DIRECT” commences. Siifu paints a soundscape that feels as if you're being summoned down into the depths of hell. There’s a brief sub siren intermission that provides no relief, but an insatiable curiosity of what’s to come next. It’s harsh on the ear drums, yet terrifyingly intriguing when the metal-influenced guitar picks up where the beat left off. Although Siifu’s vocals are entirely muffled, the track is still nothing short of powerful.
ConQuest Tony Phillips makes an appearance on “1:1[FKDUP.BEZEL]”, treading heavily through his verse about self wealth and a broken Rolex bezel. Siifu struts his impeccable production style that seems to be clad in a Boiler Room-esque garb. There’s no sacrifice to quality here, even though our attention spans are stretched thin with each new sonic addition.
It’s not a Pink Siifu album without ungodly beat switches and two-in-one tracks that make you feel like you hit the BOGO deal. “Sacrifice’!BonAppetit” is ushered in by a Mother Marygold soliloquy. The conglomerate of ominous, electronic sounds are transcended into a turbulent techno atmosphere where Siifu raps with an ear-stifling vigor. In a similar light, “SCREW4LIFE’!RIPJALEN’!” morphs from a deeply reminiscent focus on Siifu’s late friends, to an emphasis on how deep his pockets reach. Siifu has no trouble seamlessly blending thick, trudging beats into clean-cut scuzzy trap, and it works beautifully in this album. “4DOE[47]” is the sweet relaxant our ears need in order to take a breather. This track is a delightfully melancholic pivot that works as a palate-cleanser for the listeners.
“WHOYOUWITHHO+” stands as the album's lead single, and although charming, doesn’t pack quite as much heat as the other tracks on the project. It’s always a treat to hear Turich Benjy on a Siifu project, whose work is primarily featured on his 2023 album IT’S TOO QUIET..’!!. “Girls Fall Out Tha Sky” places Benjy and 454 centerstage, and sounds of liquified honey. It really is another testament to the ground Siifu is capable of covering within one project, appealing to the head-bangers as well as the traditional R&B lovers.
“FACECARD’!” is a standout in the project that picks the tempo up again in the latter half of the album. We love to hear Siifu’s special lady, Ss.Sylver go full diva with “I need a freak seven days of the week.” It’s clubby and bouncy, and a lo-fi change of pace that’s much appreciated. Siifu taps into a vintage jazz movement in tracks “OUTSIDE’!” and “LAST ONE ALIVE’!”. Siifu raps “Turn me up some, I ain’t takin’ no losses, I ain’t takin’ no fools, I’m breakin all rules”, in track “LAST ONE ALIVE’!” where he flaunts self-importance and career success aside a moody sax.
As stark as the intro stands the reprise, “BLACKWATER’!”, featuring Big Rube. A lightly-picked guitar strum and ambient watery noises accompany Siifu’s solemn-sounding verse. It’s a rest stop after the twisting and turning that precedes it. Rube sends the track out with a powerful “My people are original, and divinely unique. Our value will keep rising by some black antiques”, that creates the album’s potent full circle moment.
This project is lengthy, but undoubtedly thorough. Each track provokes an insurmountable curiosity, and flourishes in their uniqueness. Timeless albums don’t come around often, because naturally sounds become stale, but BLACK’!ANTIQUE provides a certain eclectic listen that has no expiration date. Siifu (time and time again) defies the boundaries of Hip-Hop and allows his works to take free form, adopting a multitude of styles and sounds that work together productively and harmoniously. This album is frantic as much as it’s deeply harboring, a difficult sensation to appeal to. BLACK’!ANTIQUE dances within a crowded room of genres unapologetically, and stays true to Siifu’s innovative artistry.