Life Goes On

Though still in his early twenties, gravel-throated Houston MC Trae raps with the gruff authority and world-weary wisdom of a man many times his age. In a genre that sometimes seems stuck in a perpetual adolescence, Trae is one of the few up and coming artists who seems able to acknowledge that there’s more to the rap game than the giddy exuberance that comes with the purchase of that first caddy, or the successful mastery of a tricky dance move. Indeed, Trae’s slow motion cadences and relentlessly bleak subject matter recall the work of Scarface, the grand old man of Houston rap. *Life Goes On*, Trae’s second album for the legendary Rap-a-Lot label, finds him bending but not buckling as he tries to bear the heavy weight of Scarface’s legacy. On the brooding “Against All Odds” he paints a vivid picture of a summer day on a forgotten block in the 5th Ward. Flashes of jittery paranoia are evident in Trae’s imperturbable monotone as he reminds us that the threat of violence can throw a shadow over the sunniest of days. Though Trae lacks the stunning verbal dexterity of his friend and labelmate Z-Ro, he is able to inject potentially formulaic tracks like “Gittin’ High” with his sharp insights, and his unerring ear for language.

On his fourth album, Houston rapper and Screwed Up Click affiliate moves from gruffness and nihilism to a weary expression of mourning and loss.