[Review] DKB squander interesting beginning on “Still”

Rookie group DKB fit right within 2020 expectations by debuting with a noisy hip-hop track. But as forgettable as I found it to be, “Sorry Mama” did manage to incorporate a killer female vocal ad-lib that gave it a tiny bit of character. Unfortunately, that sliver of identity has been quashed by follow-up “Still” — as in, we’re still doing this awful trap stuff.

I’m actually surprised that this is a Brave Brothers production. I hear some of this hallmarks buried in the instrumental, but when I imagine a Brave Sound production my mind immediately goes to the hooks. His work is so often characterized by its instantly compelling melodies. Sure, many of them are just cut and pasted from his past tracks, but they’re enjoyable nonetheless. “Still” is just musical mush, inflicted with an unforgivable amount of autotune.

As with so many other trap “bops,” “Still” trudges forward without any sense of energy or purpose. It’s a slog to get through. Even DKB sound apathetic, and I don’t blame them. When your chorus amounts to little more than a pitched vocal warbling incomprehensibly in the background, it’s hard to get inspired. There’s potential in the instrumental’s central guitar loop, but it’s quickly met by lurching trap beats that render it impotent. DKB’s vocals are slathered by so many effects that they get lost in their own song. It’s an actively unpleasant experience, like a drug haze that never lifts. By the time the second verse gets going with its “skrrts” and “swish swishes,” I’ve long since checked out.

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IATFB says: Well, I enjoyed the opening riff, but it was all downhill from there.