Travis Barker & Yelawolf - Psycho White (EP REVIEW)
Yelawolf and Travis Barker’s Phsyco White EP is a collaboration that many could probably see coming from a mile away. The two collaborated on Yelawolf’s 2011 album, Radioactive, on the track “Slumerican Sh*tzen.” So it wasn’t much of a surprise to hear they’ve be teaming up again.
Barker (best known as the drummer of Blink 182) is no stranger to teaming up with rappers or doing hip hop remixes as he’s done quite a few with varying success over the years as well as providing drums and beats for his hip hop/punk outfit The Transplants. Barker brings a similar style beat making and drumming that you have come to expect from his work with The Transplants as well as his work on his solo material and with various other hip hop artists. It works for the most part but it feels awkward in some songs. You can also find Barker’s bandmate from The Transplants and Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong on the track “6 Feet Underground.” Armstrong’s presence makes the track feel quite a bit like a new track from The Transplants and oddly sort of like a Sublime song.
Yelawolf is once again found mostly rapping about his southern heritage in a quick bombastic pace that over Barkers production style can make the listener feel bombarded by the bombastic nature of the music (say that three times fast haha).
At this point you either like Yelawolf or not and I at least enjoyed some tracks off Radioactive enough to list it as a favorite hip hop album last year (with the worry that his southern shtick would eventually grow tiresome). I think Yelawolf is at the point where he needs to expand his subject matter to a degree. The lyrics on the EP come off as the same old stuff you’ve heard him say for the past two or three years. At times it’s noteworthy but not nearly as interesting as when he first made his presence known in the scene. He may continue to rap about the same stuff, but at least he does it competently enough.
My favorite track on the EP is “Whistle Dixie” it works so well to the strengths of the artists and is just a well done track all the way around.
The EP isn’t a must have, but it is an interesting listen because it is done well. The EP shines in the fact that the tracks are better than the majority of Radioactive and I feel like they were put together quite a bit better. Yelawolf may have found a kindred spirit in Barker, but the EP also finds both artists resting too heavily on what they’ve come to know and not taking too many chances along the way. The performance isn’t lazy. It’s just too much of the same to be a must have. Although if you like what Barker and Yelawolf do and aren’t looking for experimentation, it’s some of the best of what both do well.
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