After 1 minute you’ll be intrigued. After 1 song you’ll be burning with excitement. And after only about 2 songs, you’ll be willingly adding Trackfam Wundabread’s EP, Now or Never, to your playlist. Ranging from motivational bangers to unapologetic chronicling records, Now or Never is packed with hit after hit flaunting over-the-top mix and mastering quality assembled with lyricism of a stature you haven’t heard in a while… if ever! If you enjoy the likes of 50 Cent, Jadakiss, Jim Jones, Lloyd Banks, THIS is your upgrade in musical taste.
After starting off with a bold, royal statement “I’m a king!”, Trackfam Wundabread proceeds to sing-rap in his bass voice the equally powerful hook with lines like “I never switch sides/ I’ma stand with my team”, “I been through it all n****/ I ain’t got sh*t to prove”. King (the title of the first song off Now or Never), is musically structured to pull you in right from the start, featuring the hook and the post-hook first, with the latter being the top melodic element of the entire record boasting unfiltered, genuine lyrics like “I been to jail I broke the law/ So now I just wanna ball”.
Trackfam Wundabread then goes on to paint graphic imagery in the listener’s mind throughout the entire song about his initial struggles, the neighbors calling the cops on him, being robbed, and even having haters go as far as snitching to his own family about his endeavors. The atmosphere is seriously charged with honesty, realness, emotional value. The artist’s flow is monochrome, which serves him right in this case as it adds to the somber message he’s portraying. The crystal-clear pronunciation is something that will impress many. Deep-register voices are often hard to understand and Trackfam Wundabread, however, found his ideal vocal spot and doesn’t deviate from it.
And last but not least, the music. The music takes an auxiliary spot in this track because Trackfam Wundabread’s voice is what matters most and shines front and center. Simply put, King‘s weight relies on the vocals first and on the music second. The production style resembles 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ album, with multiple layered voices on the hook, crisp vocals, but with an oomph on the stereo sound, matching the 2020 music market standards. King is a flawless rap record to host the introductory mood for Now or Never.
Song Credits: Steven Wilkins (Trackfam Wundabread) – writer, producer; Shock (at Shockhouse Studio) – sound engineer.
X B Mad, the second record off Now or Never, is something that’s otherworldly. Imagine seeing a movie in only 3 minutes and 21 seconds. That’s what X B Mad feels like.
The song’s main music motif retains vibes à la Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata by making epic use of the repetitive, grim, far-sounding piano notes. Trackfam Wundabread’s flow follows suit and terrifically matches the gnarly music: “No exaggeration/ I ain’t got the patience/ For the bullsh*t you’re on/ Nor the bullsh*t you’re making”, “Real n***** respect me/ Your opinion don’t affect me”. He then does this entertainingly peculiar thing by shifting the narrative from 1st person perspective to mocking unqualified hustlers: “All your guns is legal/ How you think you look/ Talkin’ ’bout you on a pull-up/ Selling drugs on Facebook” 😀 Why is this so funny?? I guess it’s the follow-up monologue that’s presented to us like a phone conversation that then transitions to sounding like a broken vinyl before Trackfam Wundabread reprises his rap.
The second verse is mostly dedicated to lyrically annihilating the ex b*tch, that never believed in the artist, and we get to agree with his monicker for her when we find out that she wanted the cheddar.
By the end of the 2nd verse we realize there’s no hook but what makes this discovery rather shocking, is that you never feel a need for it. Trackfam Wundabread managed to arrange the lyrics and melody line in such manner as to make up for the chorus absence by giving the audience an easy-to-follow flow.
The dauntless 3rd verse concludes X B Mad by drawing parallels between Trackfam Wundabread and the people that turned out to be inefficient cretins surrounding him.
This entire time the piano led the track effortlessly, the bass was abundant, the drums were rhythmic, and the audience was granted a superb balance between the voice and the beat.
X B Mad is a hit song waiting to happen.
Song Credits: Steven Wilkins (Trackfam Wundabread) – writer; Just Sickk – producer; Shock (at Shockhouse Studio) – sound engineer.
In Chase Bag, the third record off the project, we establish one thing for a fact: Trackfam Wundabread has a passion for broken-vinyl sounding music 😀 His very appealing deep voice eats up the beat like it’s no big deal, the central music pattern is lighter and more optimistic than the previous two songs, and the hook is oh-so magnetic: “You know me, I gotta get this cheddar/ On me, I gotta make it better/ I seen rainy days, been through the stormy weather/ I been through it all, I’m ready for whatever”. What is also clear by now is that Trackfam Wundabread is consistent in writing commercially appealing songs. Even in his Come Back record, which we previously covered, he packed radio material through and through.
The storyline pinpoints to the title but it also comes with a pleasing touch of autobiography, detailing how the artist had to endure hardship and just hang in there hoping for a day it will all pay off. Chase Bag is another mainstream contender of high caliber that will most likely turn out to be a founding pillar of Trackfam Wundabread’s career.
Song Credits: Steven Wilkins (Trackfam Wundabread) – writer; Penacho – producer; Shock (at Shockhouse Studio) – sound engineer.
The Finer Thangs breaks the silence with another piano-infused instrumental and a hook enumerating golden items and pretty women as part of the ultimate made-it package. What’s endearing is the punch of sincerity we’re shortly after hit with: “Another homie dead damn, Lord have mercy”, letting the audience decide for itself whether the money-chasing path is worth it or not.
The fact that Trackfam Wundabread is a bonafide hit songwriter is uncontestable at this moment. 4 songs in and not one second were we bored or distracted. And before you get to the Credits section, we’d like to give a shout out to Steven Wilkins, the artist’s full name, for having composed this song as well. His potential in our eyes just reached stratospheric levels. An excellent songwriter, multi-faceted lyricist, and a fantastic producer. And here we got a BOMB to drop on you! His 15-year-old son, 7even, was the co-producer of Finer Thangs 😮 The talent must be in the blood. APPLAUSE!
Lyrically, Finer Thangs has a certain gloomy grandeur that touches on a myriad of topics, like the artist starting his own business, being in jail, being betrayed by an ex with one of his best friends, having no days off, ignoring haters’ negativity. Having all that knowledge offered to us on a sick beat and a very catchy hook, is more than rare. It almost doesn’t exist! Meaningful lyrics tend to usually be boring songs while braindead texts get to the top spot being club bangers. Maybe Trackfam Wundabread has just found his X Factor.
Song Credits: Steven Wilkins (Trackfam Wundabread) – writer, producer; 7even – producer; Shock (at Shockhouse Studio) – sound engineer.
The fifth song, Freaky Texts, will provide grand satisfaction for those seeking club bangers. If we’re being specific, it’s a total strip club anthem for grown people.
Trackfam Wundabread raps about an infinity of places where he’d like to have crazy sex. He even threw a dash of funny in it: “We could do it doggy/ We could do it froggy”:-D so many questions… like does she have to croak or do you spread her out like one? okay! okay! I’ll stop 😀 In all seriosity though, Trackfam Wundabread manages to cast significance over the song that goes beyond the physical aspect by adding a recurrent theme to the lyrics: “Look don’t get in your feelings/ I’m tryna make millions”, “Gotta get this money/ Gotta feed my daughter/ My girl needs them bags/ And my son want them Jordans”, “I’ma get money/ Till the Lord call for me”. If you think talking this much about money is ridiculous, let me tell you what is ACTUALLY ridiculous: parents not teaching their kids about money management and savings. I think we’re all paying the price for ZERO education on the most important thing in this world, MONEY. If anything, artists are not talking ENOUGH about getting money.
The flow in this one is super playful, sometimes reminding us of nursery rhymes cadence, the hook is increasingly memorable, the music is light with a gorgeous xylophone being in the leading role, and the mix is, of course, absolutely flawless. Blue Rhymez Entertainment approved.
Song Credits: Steven Wilkins (Trackfam Wundabread) – writer; Just Sickk – producer; Shock (at Shockhouse Studio) – sound engineer.
Our Way the sixth and last song off Now or Never is the only collab record present on the project. Also apparently the only one dating back to 2019, as all the other five were uploaded in 2020. And yet… it is the fittest song for an outro. It abides the beat pattern present on Now or Never since the first track, and more exactly, a short melodic sequence repeated on loop while letting the vocals shape both the structure and the appeal of the song. CM’s presence is welcome on the EP and it acts as a 3rd party approval stamp, elevating Trackfam Wundabread’s respectability and credibility as an artist. Believe it or not, managing to successfully add another artist to your record is huge. Half of the collaborations in the music business never even get to the recording phase because Uhm, hello? EGO!
Both artists revel in describing their go-getter attitude, their mental and material upgrades while the larger-than-life beat takes over the entire atmosphere and makes the listener feel like he’s in the middle of a Friday night club special.
Song Credits: Steven Wilkins (Trackfam Wundabread) – writer; Quinton Davis (at Lights Out Music) – producer; Shock (at Shockhouse Studio) – sound engineer.
Now or Never is far from your regular upcoming-artist-trying-to-sound-decent type of EP. Its musical and lyrical progression is spaced and considered with Trackfam Wundabread cherishing his hunger for material gains as an instrument of power. The artist’s stern rap mannerism reveals him as a complete, developed, grown musician. It is truly the only EP we would send you to if we had to show only one for 2020.
Add this disproportionately outstanding EP to your playlists on Amazon HERE, on Deezer HERE, on Apple Music HERE, on Google Play HERE, and on Spotify below:
Written by Mariana Berdianu
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2020
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 