The rapper/producer was born in Jamaica, the son of the trailblazing gospel reggae singer Papa San. Upon moving to Miami, an eight-year-old BEAM began absorbing a new set of sounds—Atlanta trap, Florida jook, EDM, reggaetón. Those hybridised influences, both secular and non, shine through on ALIEN, his debut full-length; switching every so often into Jamaican patois, BEAM strings together left-of-centre trap (“HI TECH”, a collaboration with Valee, your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper), spacey R&B (“SUNDOWN”, with a moody hook from Justin Bieber) and grimy dancehall (“PDF”, a steamy club banger whose acronym stands for “pon di floor”). And though it’s a pretty far cry from the church music of his youth, the album’s high point is “2ND SAMUEL”, a weightless, Yeezy-esque scoundrel’s hymn that closes with a blessing from Papa San himself.