Lord Sko - Uptown Rapper Changing The Game With Visionary New Project
Our favorite tracks:
Chris Benoit (feat. 3.p.f.o & Lord Vivo)
Last Page
End of Days (feat. TNT TYB)
Reasons to listen:
High quality production & beats
Variety of flows and sounds keep it fresh
Fantastic feature selection
Deep and complex concepts throughout projects/songs
Creative wordplay + dense rhyme schemes
Check out Lord Sko here
Unable to be defined by any one genre or term, Lord Sko has delivered an incredible deep dive into his psyche with ‘13th Angel’. Throughout the 9 songs and 28 minutes that make up the project, he moves through the various phases of his mindset during a trip. Below, we’ll cover each section of the project and how they work together to form a unique and powerful concept album.
Come up:
Tracks: ‘Asylum’, ‘Bruises//In His Sins’
Throughout the first two tracks, Lord Sko uses a psychedelic and almost ambient production style mostly consisting of synths and light trap drums. His delivery is altered by autotune and vocal effects throughout, adding to the trippy and melodic vibe, and his flow is smooth while also being fast paced and energetic, creating a relaxed yet enthusiastic feel. ‘Asylum’ first shows the cracks in his relaxed exterior with the stylistic switch to a harder rapping style 1/3 of the way through, which then reverts back to a more relaxed song 2/3 of the way through. This is probably my favorite section overall, with both my #4 and #5 favorite tracks in it (‘Bruises…’, then ‘Asylum’). When listening to this section, you really get the feeling of anticipation and buildup that comes right before the top - then, right towards the end of ‘Bruises…’, the track begins to devolve and shift, signaling the entering of the next phase.
Peak:
Tracks: ‘Chris Benoit’, ‘100 Rounds’, ‘HDMI’, ‘Fork In The Road’
The peak begins with ‘Chris Benoit’, a hard hitting and intense song with features from 3.p.f.o and Lord Vivo. It is a clear difference from the smooth psychedelic sound of the first section, and exhibits the most energy of any track on the project. The ambient synths of the Come Up section are replaced by a darker and more aggressive combination of strings, bass, and powerful trap drums. Lord Sko’s voice is unobscured by autotune and you can hear an edge to his voice not found in any other section. In ‘100 Rounds’, the beat is even darker than before, with heavy bass mixed with a drumkit, and Sko experiments with an extremely thick layer of autotune in parts and distorted vocals in another. ‘HDMI’ and ‘Fork In the Road’ follow the trend of dark and intense production with a mix of clean and autotuned/distorted vocals, and throughout the section Sko keeps the undercurrent of aggression. All of these have a hard and intense style of rapping, but there are still some melodic elements like the autotuned hook on ‘Fork in the Road’.
Reflection:
Track: ‘End of Days’
Another sharp contrast from the previous sections, this short segment (containing only one track, ‘End of Days’) sounds like a slower version of the Come Up tracks - rolling in melodic synths and light drums, Sko uses a measured but steady flow and vocal effects to create an ambient feel with a conscious lyrical approach. This section is undoubtedly his most lyrical, as he contemplates the impact that psychedelics and drugs have had on his life and what his ultimate purpose is. This perfectly suits the name of the section, Reflection, as he is taking the time to look back at his life and what he has and hasn’t done. This is all complimented by outstanding vocals from TNT TYB, the featuring artist, who helps add to the track a mellow and resonant vibe.
Come down:
Tracks: ‘Grudges’, ‘Last Page’
The final section of the project features a sound unlike either of the previous segments - the Come Down is hard to describe, but both songs within it have a unique energy. By the end of ‘Last Page’, Sko sounds almost worn out and weary of his journey as he delivers quiet but pointed bars about his life and experiences. While it has many of the same musings and contemplation of the Reflection section, the Come Down is more negative, both in its relatively pessimistic lyrics and somber sound. Vocal samples, synths, and even an organ come together to create a melancholy energy. Here you can really see the ‘13’ aspect of the title - his trip has allowed him to look within himself, and much of what he’s found isn’t what he wanted, or even expected. The trip Sko has taken, both literally and musically, pulled things out of him that he never knew were possible. The listeners mindset, and Sko’s own point of view, shift as all of the previous sections come into focus: this journey starts off on the outermost layer of his mind (the Come Up), which is what he projects to the world and is seemingly happy and relaxed. However, thinly veiled by this outer shell is the pain that is at this album’s heart - the Peak shows the next layer of his mindset, with the harsh and at times aggressive mentality brought on by his past experiences. Even deeper than this is the final layer, the Reflection. Here, Sko is able to detach from his physical self (known as Ego Death) and view his inner thought processes and psyche. Through this process he identifies his pain and what has made him who he is, but also loses sight of what he can be. This final section, the Come Down, is Sko coming to terms with his new sense of self, and at first he struggles with it. All of the built up negativity inside of him is being released through the Come Down, and by the end he has finally processed what has been going on in his subconscious. With just over a minute left in the album, ‘Last Page’ suddenly stops and a seemingly new track is played. Roughly 50 seconds of an uplifting piano solo accompanied by organs and a choir sample later, the album is complete. This final chapter of the Come Down demonstrates the changes Sko has underwent and the process of him identifying and releasing his negativity.
Looking back at this project after finishing an in-depth listen, you can see Sko’s descent into his troubled subconscious, and then beneath that to reflect on what truly makes him who he is. Listening to the album lets you as a listener experience his path to self understanding - only here will you be able to witness the Ego Death and unraveling of an artists mindset track by track. Luckily for the listener, not only is this project an emotional and spiritual journey, it is also extremely accessible with this guide to working through Sko’s psyche and has many memorable and catchy verses and choruses. None of this would mean anything if the music itself wasn’t good, but Lord Sko manages to deliver an album that is both deep and conceptual while also being easy to listen to and entertaining. If you haven’t checked ‘13th Angel’ out yet, hop on as quick as you can!
Check out Lord Sko on Instagram @lordsko
