The R&B/ Soul artist Brent Faiyaz made his mark in the music industry in 2016 when he was featured on the hit single, “Crew” by Goldlink along with Shy Glizzy. When this single was released, listeners instantly wanted more from him. Almost a year later in Oct. 2017, he released his album “Sonder Son.” Over the past 8 years, Brent Faiyaz has released other singles and albums that have been helping him continue his R&B career including his album “Wasteland” that released last year in July 2022.
This brings us to his recent album, “Larger Than Life.” Released on October 2023, the album starts off with “Tim’s Intro.” The song includes a melody that starts with the album’s name, “Larger Than Life.” I personally thought it was creative to start the album with a song that introduces the album’s name like that. It leaves the audience curious about what the song will set in motion for the rest of the album.
The lyrics also include “We Larger Than Life,” and “You ain’t seen it coming did you baby?”. This implies that the life Faiyaz is living is luxurious and people doubted him before it became this way.
The song is short but also introduces the first theme the album addresses- living your life the way you want to and living it that’s bigger than what people thought.
The album intrigued me because of how Faiyaz wrote his songs and addressed other topics in the album. It’s eye-opening when you realize what Faiyaz is implying and the lessons he’s trying to teach his audience through these songs. For example, in the song, “Last One Left” featuring Missy Elliott and Lil Gray, the lyrics say, “If they gonna run your life get out of mine” and “It’s your life are you gonna share it with mine.” The song introduces the idea that people shouldn’t run your life for you, and you shouldn’t follow the crowd. This is an interesting topic, especially for our generation today. In many instances, you see people allowing others to run their lives meaning they don’t make decisions based on what they want, they make decisions based on what will make them look “cool” and fit in with people around them. That is why the lyric, “It’s your life are you gonna share it with mine”, is a strong component of this topic.
The album also recognizes life’s obstacles while trying to live a “larger than life” lifestyle. He talks about dealing with heartbreak and the emotions that come with it. This is shown in the song, “Outside All Night” featuring A$AP Rocky and N3WYRKLA. The song recognizes how someone would like to be out having fun living a carefree life regardless of the people around them and their concerns, but they still have that one person on their mind and want to be with them. A lyric that demonstrates this theme is, “Can you show me/ You’re not just anybody/ Or I’ll treat you/ Just like everybody/ I been outside all night long/ Looking for some signs in the stars/ I need some insight to your heart.” The song addresses the confusion that comes with a situation like this that many people find themselves in. It makes the album and song relatable to the audience. It gives the listener comfort knowing that they’re not the only ones who have been through the overwhelming emotions of heartbreak or trying to figure out a relationship.
I love how the album creatively puts together important concepts while not neglecting that life has challenges and hard emotions you need to face. For those reasons, you should go give the album “Larger Than Life” a listen and be ready to manifest your idea of that “larger than life” lifestyle.
