Emerging emcee Matt Nye shares his new project I’ll Be Fine, a 16 track project that is filled with smooth soulful beats, gritty boom bap punches, and most importantly honest and reflective lyrics. The project is helmed by the rapper himself with features ranging from the legendary emcees Keith Murray and Krayzie Bone, Rime Salmi, Johnny Hardwick, and more.
From the intro “Call From Gribble,” listeners can tell that Nye doesn’t quite take himself too seriously and consciously throws in humorous elements to lighten the somewhat gloomy subject matter. He also doesn’t go overboard with the humor so there is quite a balance throughout the project. The title track follows the intro and gives listeners a glimpse into Nye’s mindstate as he comes to terms with his situation and he assures us all that he will be ok at the end of it all. “Whatever Is Whatever” has a dreamy jazz texture and solid bounce while Nye delivers more than a handful of off-the-cuff lyrics like “and I heard Jane Fonda won’t wear Prada but best walk the streets at night with no dollars/My gramps hung with Lanksy asked to kill Seigel.” “Bruh” takes a sample from the Bruh man character from the classic Martin show and has a solemn texture with a thumping bassline to match. “Wanna be A Gotti” has a bright flute-like synth and heavy trap bounce and sure changes the energy on the project and sees Nye in his element. “Smokin Mirrors” features Keith Murray and Kell Vicous who join Nye over a melancholic piano-driven beat that is as cinematic as they come. The rappers share their thoughts on people who fake it to fit in and all the drama that comes with it. The next song “So Low When So High” features Krayzie Bone and it’s quite interesting with its surreal and atmospheric mood. Krayzie delivers his characteristic melodic style and kills the hook as Nye details his family background with such vividness. “Gaslight” features singer Rime Salmi who opens up the track with an emotionally gripping chorus. Nye plays an emotionally abusive character who uses gaslighting as one of his tactics to manipulate his significant other while Salmi plays the friend who is trying to warn her to be aware. This is quite insightful and relatable. The project ends with the guitar-laden track “I’ll be great,” a humorous track that sees Nye trying out some melodic runs and he sure delivers the goods. He is as honest as ever and hilarious as well.
I’ll Be Fine as a whole is quite a journey, it sure has a lot of mood swings and varied emotions, and for the most part tackles a wide variety of issues, mainly personal. Nye shows a lot of character and gives the listener both sides to his life without going overboard.
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