ALIEN

ALIEN

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 hybridized 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-center trap (“HI TECH,” a collaboration with Valee, your favorite rapper’s favorite 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.

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