$not – “Ethereal” Album Review

Story posted February 17, 2022 in Arts & Entertainment by Jayson O’Connell.

Florida rapper Edy Edouard, aka $not, released his highly anticipated third studio album “Ethereal” this past Friday.

The last work we’ve seen from $not was in 2020 when he released two albums, “Tragedy +” and “Beautiful Havoc.”

Both albums are made up of mostly mellow, emo rap songs that cover subjects like mental illness, love and heartbreak.

Although this type of rap is his strong suit, some experimentation is needed in this album to consider him a proven up-and-coming rapper.

“Ethereal” lives up to the expectations at points but overall is a very inconsistent project. He continues to use his music to address his struggle with depression and his failed relationships.

$not sticks to his roots and goes for a mellow intro with the song “My World.” He raps about fighting his demons over a beat featuring beautiful notes from an acoustic guitar and woodwinds. But the verses in the song are basic trap lyrics that don’t match the chorus.

He follows the intro with another generic trap song called “Doja.” The beat is very hard-hitting and features strong 808s and awkward vocals that don’t match with $not and A$AP Rocky’s flow.

In “Blue Moon,” $not raps about not wanting to waste a girl’s time because he doesn’t want a relationship. But he also reminisces about everything that they’ve been through up to this point. Teddi Jones’s feature adds a stunning touch to the song even though her voice and $not’s are very different.

He then picks up the pace again on the record with three straight fast-paced songs with futuristic beats. “Go,” “5AM” and “Alone” all feature synths that make the songs very dynamic.

In “5AM,” $not emphasizes the syllable at the end of each bar which sounds like he is reciting a child’s poem.
“Alone” sounds like it is straight off of Trippie Redd’s last album, “Trip at Night.” To make it sound even more like a Trippie Redd song, he takes over much of the run time as $not’s verse is very short.

Trippie Redd’s singing adds a great touch to the song and sounds like it is from his older work while $not’s verse is in one of the higher pitches he’s ever rapped in.

“Benzo” is a poorly produced song because of the overwhelming 808s and hi-hats that drown out the melody. But $not does show his ability to switch between speeds while rapping.

On “EYE EYE EYE,” $not picks a different beat selection than his usual music. It features flutes, woodwinds and bells that give off a very mystical feeling.

$not raps a very lively verse but Kevin Abstract’s feature added an even bigger jolt of energy into the song. This makes it one of the standout songs on the album.

The energy is kept up in “Euphoric” with a speedy beat that is almost overwhelming. At the end of the song, the beat slows down which sounds a lot better and would’ve been nice if that was the beat for the whole song.

$not produces generic trap lyrics but also shows off his singing ability at points in the song. The production is again very weak on “Halle Berry” to the point where you can’t hear the melody. $not gives off a calm verse with mellow bars while Juicy J provides a feature that makes the song come alive.

$not and Joey Bada$$ provide lyrics about loneliness, depression, heartbreak and the people they know acting fake in “How U Feel.” The two rap over a boom-bap beat, which we know Joey Bada$$ does very well. $not has not done this before but his bars sounded nice over the beat and it is something he should continue to experiment with.

He then raps about a girl who he is into but is not sure if she is into him on “Fighting Me.” But later in the song, he starts rapping about the other women he is involved with. All of this is rapped over a video game-like beat that doesn’t go well with $not’s flow at all.

$not follows this song with “high IQ” which features a calming acoustic guitar with soothing vocals. He then raps a little aggressively over the beat but it shakes up the song well.

In the outro, “Once Upon a Time,” he raps over a beautiful piano solo. He sings about how he’ll find a girl when he is mentally ready for a relationship and gives some imagery of what it will feel like when this happens.

$not did a lot of experimenting on “Ethereal.” He stuck with his usual mellowness on a few songs but also included some hard-hitting songs, a boom-bap song and songs where he showed off his vocal abilities. Some of his experimentings paid off while sometimes it fell flat.

But overall, this was a solid album. $not showed that he can be more than just an emo rapper and that he can perform well on many different beats.

If he can continue to experiment with the best parts of this album, be more consistent and add some more lyricism into his work, he can establish himself as one of the best young rappers.

Rating: 5/10
Reviewer’s Favorite Songs: “EYE EYE EYE” and “Once Upon a Time”
Reviewer’s Least Favorite Songs: “BENZO” and “Fighting Me”

Jayson O’Connell is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jbo5216@psu.edu