Review Summary: With buoyant production and a capable flow, Rome Fortune produces a better-than-average debut.
Rome Fortune has been on the come-up for a while now. Despite lacking a big star-making single, he’s seen his profile rising pretty consistently for the last couple of years, thanks in large part to some A+ collaborations with Toro y Moi and OG Maco (who does have one hit to his credit). But on his debut album Jerome Raheem Fortune, the aspiring rapper keeps things pretty contained, eschewing guest verses in favor of an eclectic and constantly shifting sonic palette that should appease fans of hard-nosed Atlanta trap and skittering Four Tet style electronics equally.
The first two tracks are unremarkable enough, but the shift from 808 and Heartbreak-style crooning to the Peruvian pan flute trap of “Blicka Blicka” showcases a surprisingly deft production hand, with the seams being virtually imperceptible. The chorus is nothing too remarkable, but the verses are especially poignant, especially as Fortune details his hard rise to his position (“what did you think I’d amount to?!”). About half way through, it slips into a nice synthy coda that contrasts really nicely with the gruffer elements of the song. As a single, it’s a little obtuse. But as an album track it fits nicely, its fluttering Afro-Caribbean percussion wrapping up the song’s dissonant ends.
One point solidly in the corner of this album is its very keen sense of cohesion. Despite boasting a wealth of different styles (“Heavy As Feathers” couldn’t be any different than its predecessor or its successor), the tracks nicely flow into each other, and the lyrics largely occupy the same emotional topics (success, family, excess). It’s definitely well-trodden territory, but Fortune’s ability to tease out a good chorus from even the dourest of material keeps the album from doing too much navelgazing. Even a four-on-the-floor single-worthy track like “Dance” is used to address heartbreak and loneliness.
Rome slows the flow a bit on “What Can You Do” to talk about his baby mama problems. The production is suitably uncertain, vacillating between ambient noise and jagged James Blake-style synths, lending the more unbearably honest parts of the track a suitable roughness. This disconnect characterizes a lot of late-album production, with mild textures contrasting with the more traditionally hip-hop style drums or production. The one notable exception to this is “Still I Fight On,” buoyed by icy trap production from Cubby, Rome spins a familiar story of poverty and hood politics. “Like the Wild West, niggas chasing dollas,” he groans. A late blooming groove adds a bit of sonic hope as he intones that he continues to fight, even in spite of his hardships.
If there’s one gripe that can be leveled against this album, it comes in the form of Rome himself. As a curator and presence he’s definitely very good--workmanlike in his ability to spin radio-ready hooks from even the most unmarketable emotions and material (“Alone Tonight”’s breezy hook is proof enough). But lyrically, many of his songs rely too heavily on either the production or his hooks. Many of the more adventurously produced tracks (like “Blicka Blicka” and “Past Future”) lack much in the way of a good or memorable verse. Rome has proven time and again that he is capable of producing grade-A bars (a number of tracks on this album, like “Still I Fight On” and “Paid Back Loans” boast good and auspicious verses), but on a good many of these tracks he relegates himself to hook duty only, which makes the album seem more like a producer’s showcase than a rap album with eclectic production. With the names he pulls to this album (Kaytranda, Cubby, Four Tet, and Toro y Moi are all name-dropped in the press release), it’s surprising that he does as well as he does.
But if this is the direction he wants to push in, this is a problem that needs to be addressed sooner or later. Whatever the faults, Jerome Raheem Fortune is a really good album from an artist that’s barely cracked the ceiling of his potential. He’s got some ways to go before he rivals some of his more well-connected contemporaries (Goldlink, with Rick Rubin in tow, comes immediately to mind), but it’s that struggle that gives him and his career some charm. He’s the scrappy underdog, fighting it out against better funded and better connected rivals for a chance at the brass ring of stardom. If you can tolerate its growing pains, Jerome Raheem Fortune serves as another triumph in that fight.
