It’s a scary thought that BrokeNCYDE’s influence has contributed so much to the modern wave of trap and emo-rap, especially considering how derided they and the rest of their ilk were. At least the others had the good sense to jump ship while they were ahead; Breathe Carolina made the transition to EDM and are actually doing pretty well at it, and 3OH!3 and Blood On The Dance Floor couldn’t be more irrelevant, but this pair have somehow managed to weather the implosion of the MySpace scene to be dredged up in the peripheral vision of so many disposable, forgettable emo-rappers with bafflingly huge online followings who’ll undoubtedly flame out just as quickly as they began.
As such, one could assume that this return is BrokeNCDYE’s way of asserting their dominance within the scene and prove that these two men in their thirties can hold their own again kids mostly half their age. If there’s any secondhand embarrassment emanating from that last sentence, that’s perfectly natural, given that BrokeNCYDE aren’t playing down their status of elder statesmen one iota. And when that involves the same braindead, screechingly obnoxious shtick that was borderline unbearable almost a decade ago, that’s far from a good thing.
To their credit though, toning down the whole screamo-crunk things goes some way on paper to making 0 To BrokeNCYDE a bit more listenable, though that’s still not conducive with being good. They at least point in the right direction with the more imposing trap beat of Marijuano$, but there’s not much else of the sort here, given that BrokeNCYDE’s primary objective seems to be taking their insufferability in new and fascinating directions. And make no mistake, there’s seemingly no limit to how annoying this album can be, from squealing, grating synths thrown all over the place, to Lil Aaron’s horrendous AutoTune abuse on his guest verse on D@ Good, and pretty much the entirety of Mueve which starts out with a moderately tolerable reggaeton groove only to devolve into two separate, excruciating samples of someone vomiting. Of course, that’s not an exhaustive list, but given how vile so much of this sounds on a purely sonic level, as well as content which never offers much more than the most derivative trap nothingness imaginable, it’s not something you’re particularly going to remember, nor would you want to. And with the gruesome twosome of Mikl and Se7en serving as the lecherous, overgrown frat boys at the front of it all (just take Ass & Titties for the most concise evidence of that), it’s just one more reason to add to the already considerable list for why 0 To BrokeNCYDE should just be avoided at all costs.
Except, given how many hip-hop artists have inexplicably found so much appeal in them, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. It really should considering that BrokeNCYDE have next to no merits as musicians, but there’s still something so irksome about how these, of all people, are currently enjoying a second wind when they really have no right to. Still, for anyone with actual taste, the response to this won’t change; you’ll grimace multiple times, you’ll feel the wave of embarrassment wash over, and you’ll experience overwhelming remorse that you’re spending almost fifty minutes of your life in 2018 listening to fucking BrokeNCYDE.
2/10
For fans of: Blood On The Dance Floor, The Medic Droid, Lil Aaron
Words by Luke Nuttall
‘0 To BrokeNCYDE’ by BrokeNCYDE is released on 22nd June on Cleopatra Records.
