Swedish rapper and “Drain Gang” member Bladee’s new record, Cold Visions, improves his old style.
Despite leaving the themes, beats, and flows of his old work behind, Bladee has returned with an improved version of his style and a 30-track run with features from Cloud rap legends and longtime collaborators like Yung Lean, Thaiboy Digital, and Black Kray. The majority of the beats are split between F1lthy and White Armor for production.
Yung Lean and Bladee expand on their longstanding relationship, with Lean being featured five times. Each Yung Lean feature further builds the rappers’ amazing chemistry, with the best examples of this chemistry being the songs “Fun Fact,” “ I Don’t Like People,” and “Terrible Excellence.” On each song, Bladee and Lean go back and forth like they used to in their older work.
The Black Kray feature comes as a surprise as he and Bladee haven’t really worked together since 2016-2018. Bladee and Kray’s chemistry is parallel to Bladee and Lean’s, but their styles are much more similar. This is especially clear on the song “Otherside,” with Kray and Bladee delivering fast and catchy verses.
Despite the excellent features, Bladee also delivers immensely with his solo songs. The songs “Sad Meal,” “Red Cross,” and “D.O.A.” are all examples of Bladee’s return and improvement of his past style.
“Sad Meal” is one of the more lighthearted songs on the album as it’s a play on the Mcdonald’s item the Happy Meal: Because Bladee is sad, it’s a sad meal that he’s eating. This works wonderfully as it’s a return to his old sadder and more depressed style while it still makes light of the misery.
