Emily Montes: “Emily Montes” (Album Review)

        Emily Montes by Emily Montes, is the debut album of rapper Emily Montes, presenting her album titled, Emily Montes. An unexpected release of 2020, Montes gained artistic acknowledgement through her social media presence. Although influences like Travis Scott and hyperpop star Charli XCX are clear, Montes proves to outshine them by paving her own unorthodox path to success.

        Emily Montes remains triumphant through the casualness of which each of the songs on the album are presented. Montes makes each track on the album feel as though it was effortlessly made, despite the time and effort clearly needed to craft such complex songs. The first five songs on the album are all named after Montes herself, with a sixth Emily-named track soon after. This may be seen as an egocentric move in the eyes of the ignorant plebeians, but this choice was made as a conscious assertion of the self, not just sharing her identity with the world, but forcing it to acknowledge her. Montes’ self appointed position as the Queen of Rap (Nicki who???), leaves little room to argue, especially after displaying pure technicality in her rhyme scheme and lyricism for 14 tracks straight. 

        These 14 tracks are absolutely without filler, as the album as a whole only comes in at just under five minutes. This experimental take on music inspires others to live life without regrets and to the fullest during our short time on this planet we call home. The replay value on these tracks are also high, which may be because of Montes’ minimalistic take on the length of a song. Take me away is a perfect example of this, easily being able to be played over a hundred times in the course of a week without getting tired of hearing it. 

        Emily Montes is a package of pure versality, with each song showcasing its own side of the young rapper, which is reflected in the change of sound. Whether it’s talking about how crazy corona is (and you have to agree, corona is pretty darn crazy), or the pains of a broken heart, the scope of the album is truly enhanced by these independent yet still connected songs.

        Only five years of age, Montes proves to be a cut ahead of her generation of illiterate losers and jobless shut-ins. As Montes raps on “Give me my crown”, she is “a new kinda creature”. The depths to her genius can be seen on the closing track, “Roboticy”. A master of satire, Montes closes this album off with a track that focuses on a broken phone, (society?) in which there is an abrupt end. This is because phones can be very bad, especially for a young mind to look at for hours on end, and yet they are also tools of mortal pleasure. The conflict that exists here is almost infinite. This sudden end leaves the listener wanting more, almost as if they expected the album to be longer than five minutes. Quite genius indeed.

        Although Emily Montes is an album that has yet to reach mainstream and critical success, it is very easy to tell that it’s incoming shortly. Before this album, I never knew how moving a piece of art could be. Humanities thousands of faces described and broken down in the span of four minutes and forty-five seconds. It’s nearly unfathomable. As my shaky fingers finish typing this, I can only hope I do Emily Montes (the album, wait, the rapper. Actually maybe the album. Wait. Nah. The rapper AND the album…yeah) justice.

Favorite Tracks: Yup.

Least Favorites: lol

Enjoyment: 10.

Critically: 10.

Arbitrary Number: 10.