kZm thrives when he is bewildering, overwhelming, throwing-off his listener. It’s that impulse that not only ensures he remains so entertaining but that his style stays in flux; every new kZm project rarely resembles the last. Pure 1000% is no different, following up 2020’s Distortion with heightened volume and wilder stylistic variation and spinning from blunt, thunking EDM to thickly fuzzy psych rock (helped by psych trio Gliiico, who appear throughout the work). The rapper flings himself from auto-croon to all-out screaming, his lyrics screaming nihilism into a blaring void of washing, blustering, blistering beats. But Pure 1000% isn’t all drama and extremes: the record is perhaps at its most phenomenal when, out of nothing, it drops into pure groove. The likes of “Real Life Sugar” and “Black Benz” show that, no matter kZm’s preference for the texturally adventurous and emotionally bleak, he’s also excellent at simply being a popstar.
Listen to “Real Life Sugar” below.
Author: Ed Cunningham
Artist Tags: kZm
