The Los Angeles-based singer, producer and illustrator Aries currently has 461,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, where he makes musical how-to videos and recreates the beats behind popular songs in two minutes, such as Drake’s God’s Plan and Kendrick Lamar’s DNA. The 23-year-old clearly has a skill set when it comes to producing, and yet there’s a chasm between ability and execution. While he blends rock with fragments of hip-hop in the way emo-rappers such as the late Juice WRLD or Trippie Redd have done, his attempts lack the texture and detail present in their work.
Believe in Me, Who Believes in You has brief moments of promise. Riding features a pleasant guitar riff, but what does “too smart, December you’re sweatin’ And all the nuances you’re forced to accept” even mean? There are lyrics on songs such as Ditto that seem to be trying to achieve nothing more than rhyme.
There are elements of introspective vulnerability here and there, but any relatable insights are drowned out by melodies and vocal arrangements so repetitive they feel as if they’re plagiarising each other.
