Could there be a better time for AraabMuzik – the Rhode Island MPC wizard also known as Abraham Orellana – to return with a sequel to Electronic Dream, his generation-defining 2011 debut? The original album was confounding and exhilarating in equal measure, thanks to its canny fusion of EDM rave-up synths and blown-out hip-hop beats. Alongside the rise of producers such as Clams Casino, it spoke to a post-financial crisis millennial generation finding much-needed euphoria in electronic maximalism. Now, gen Z-beloved artists such as Bladee and Nettspend are reviving an even bigger, bolder version of that sound, and finding huge cult audiences
But perhaps that’s why Electronic Dream 2 – while engrossing and atmospheric, capturing AraabMuzik’s trademark fusion of dread and debauchery – almost feels meek. Some songs, such as the smeary, blushing Til You Drop, capture the hallucinatory brilliance of the original album. Others, such as opener 3AM and the moody Half a World Away, feel more like generic beat tape cuts, in part because AraabMuzik’s sound has been so influential that it now seems a little rote.
Dubbing the album a sequel to Electronic Dream may have been a mistake: the grand trap track Reach Out is imposing and scary, building to a dense cacophony, but it feels out of place on a sequel to an album with such a defined sound. It’s an understandable impulse to make a sequel: rappers have done it for years, and nostalgia-bait has become a dominant form of popular art – to the point that Madonna has been teasing Confessions Part 2. But for an innovator such as AraabMuzik, moving on seems the best path.
