ALBUM REVIEW: TypeOh - Seeker

TypeOh's Seeker showcases hard-hitting rap packed with rapid-fire bars, catchy hooks, and eclectic production.

Reviewed by Ash

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please remember to support TypeOh by streaming this project! Seeker can be streamed on Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music.

THIS YEAR'S MTECH FRESHMEN are making quite the splash so far. Between nickwuh, Kai Banda, and Ethan Crowley, I find myself scarcely able to keep up with all the freshly arrived new artists and their projects that keep popping up in my review queue. TypeOh's Seeker is at the front of the line for today. TypeOh, known to friends and classmates as Luke, released this LP back in May; the three years between Seeker and its predecessor, the seven-track, 23-minute long [Sic], released in 2019, afford him lots of space to show off his artistic growth. Seeker clocks in at fourteen tracks and forty-three minutes in length, so TypeOh affords himself plenty of space to navigate a variety of different sounds and genres without overstaying his welcome. The result is a record which stretches between rapid-fire, hard-hitting trap bangers and emo-adjacent indie pop rock, anchored by TypeOh's excellent production and songwriting ability.

Seeker opens with a track appropriately titled "Intro", which sees bouncy jungle percussion meet washed-out synthesizers to create a shifting soundscape of laid-back, funky rhythms and rich textures. The track is primarily instrumental, leaving plenty of room for the listener to appreciate the synth melodies on display on this track; TypeOh's sound selection is really good here and the drums have a nice, chill groove to them. A sampled narration discusses the meaning of life over backing vocal harmonies before the track abruptly goes into a beat switch, at which point we get our first appearance from TypeOh. This short hook is based in a soul chord progression and a major key flute melody, making for a distinctly upbeat vibe that is intensified somewhat by TypeOh's quietly confident delivery. Soon enough, this repeating hook fades out and the track closes with another narration, revolving around the theme of life on other planets. As cool as I find "Intro" in isolation, after having listened to the whole record a few times in its entirety, I find myself wishing that this intro track had provided me with a clearer picture of the kind of music that awaits on the rest of the LP. "Intro" feels a little stylistically out of place amongst the rest of the album for me, but it definitely makes for a cool piece of concept art.

"200mm Lens" follows; a chopped, manipulated piano sample anchors this track, backed by trap drums with a crazy, 12/8 swung groove. TypeOh delivers confident triplet-flow bars in which he raps about his own growth as an artist and desire to make it to the top. The track has a super unique feel, in part owing to its distinctive 12/8 feel, and as the first non-intro album track, I really like the decision to open up with a message of growth and confidence as our first true peek into TypeOh's psyche.

The third track, "CREAM Interlude", features an instrumental based in a guitar sample that sounds like it was lifted from a 1970s progressive rock song, supported by retro boom bap drums. Dusty-sounding hi-hats and a punchy rimshot anchor the rhythm of the track. TypeOh gives us a more aggressive delivery on the verses, which works well with the retro soundspace and '90s vibes; he discusses his focus on financial success and money through witty zingers ("Opportunity'll never pass me/Been sticking with the classy/They fronting that they gon' shoot/All smoke like a track meet") that make this short track and shorter verse nonetheless an entertaining listen.

 

TypeOh, also known as Luke, flexes his NYU dorm setup in this picture.

A whispered hook and punchy, West Coast 808 pattern open "Night Time", soon becoming accompanied by drums that straddle the line between trap and synthwave, punctuated by bongos and metallic fills for a distinctly funky rhythm. The result ends up feeling like a 1990s rap hit in a modern, bouncy West Coast trap song's body: a stylistic crossover that TypeOh's tasteful production makes feel impressively natural. As someone who can never seem to get whispered vocals to sound good, I really admire the mixing work on this track. Everything comes together really nicely and it sounds super professional. TypeOh quotes The Notorious B.I.G. ("Sicker than your average/I'm a classic man, expensive taste on my fabrics") as he spits straightforward, retro flows with palpable swagger. The second verse brings a doubled, pitched backing vocal for a more unhinged vibe that makes for a solidly ear-catching moment. I really like this track; the beat successfully rides the gray area between retro and modern, while TypeOh's writing and performance abilities come to the forefront and combine to make one of my favorite tracks so far. In short, "Night Time" kicks off a stretch of tracks that rank among my favorites from the album as we venture into more hard-hitting, macho territory to which TypeOh fully commits himself.

"Flatline", the lead single from the album, follows next on the tracklist. The intro opens with aggressive bars over a heart monitor beep sample and a reverb-heavy kick that hits in two-step patterns resembling a heartbeat. Once the beat kicks in, we get hard-edged rage synths and distorted 808s in the vein of Playboi Carti and Yeat, making this track feel distinctly fresh and modern. TypeOh's fiery delivery and well-practiced, precise flows grant him a certain resemblance to Logic; I was also reminded of the raw energy of Scarlxrd, albeit minus the screaming. TypeOh compares himself to figures like Jeff Bezos and talks down to his detractors with an infectious confidence and swagger that anchors his performance. We even get some cool moments with alternating, panned lead vocals trading lines in the second verse. I love this track and TypeOh maps the aesthetics of rage over his existing style remarkably well.

Synth bell fifths and a simple Southern hip hop groove form a minimalist yet catchy instrumental bed on "Hollywood". TypeOh spits zippy, quick-footed lines with a hungry delivery full of bravado. I was again reminded of Logic while listening to his increasingly flashy and speedy delivery. The simple beat and nimble performance combine to create a track that feels distinctly like a showcase for TypeOh's pen game and rapping ability, and it's a really good one. 

On "Overdrive", a bouncy, minor key West Coast beat pairs heavy 808s with a really nice, rounded synth bass in a seamless combination that must have been the result of extremely careful EQ work. I really enjoyed the danceable and braggadocious vibe of this track; though the track sounds distinctly modern in its presentation, the retro-sounding synth bass, rapid two-step hi-hats, and TypeOh's energetic old-school flows reminded me of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" for some reason, which I think speaks to TypeOh's impressive ability to successfully capture a similar kind of frenetic, rebellious energy despite the wide differences between the two—or maybe my brain is just drawing random comparisons. Either way, this track is really good and I found it to be a really fun listen.

After several tracks of nonstop bangers, we take a short break with the comparatively chilled-out "PD Interlude". The spacey, synth-based boom bap instrumental is pretty cool, and TypeOh delivers a solid verse, though considering this track is only forty-two seconds long, I don't have too many other thoughts to offer.

On the following self-titled track, TypeOh treats us to a spacey beat with sliding bass. I love the lyrical content of this track; he discusses the chase for fame and recognition with palpable emotional investment and unadulterated hunger that makes the lyrics instantly relatable.

The record totally switches gears on the following track, "Alone at Night", and we veer off into indie pop/rock territory following this point. This track begins with a somewhat muted major key chillwave-esque guitar riff over pop rock drums and autotuned vocals. I don't love the way TypeOh sounds through this much autotune, though underneath all the pitch correction, I do think his voice is remarkably well-suited for this pop punk-adjacent indie rock sort of style. I found myself really enjoying the sections wherein his natural voice surfaces during the more rap-leaning portions of the verses, while I tended to gravitate away from the vocals on the hook. The featured artist, Jessica Li, also sounds a little overcorrected on the vocal side of things, but she has a nice vocal timbre underneath, and her two-part harmonies during the last part of her verse are pretty nice. I think the mix could also use some work; the backing vocals during the chorus that chant "alone at night" come through pretty loudly and I found it a little piercing.

"Soliloquy", the second single from the album, stands out as a definite highlight of the record's second half. A watery, two-chord guitar line opens the track. The panning vocal on the hook is pretty cool, and TypeOh's voice is utilized really well on this track in general; he brings some vocal inflections that feel indebted to The Kid LAROI, which sells the emo vibes pretty well. The melodies on the verses, and particularly in the prechorus, are also really catchy, and his overall vocal delivery retains some of the aggression and confidence employed during the fiery rap verses from earlier in the record. The distorted, screaming guitar playing during the choruses is a very nice touch. The switch back to rap in the second verse works quite well as TypeOh's nimble flows work nicely over this uptempo groove. This track is definitely a daring stylistic experiment that successfully proved that TypeOh can write catchy pop lyrics and melodies just as well as hard-hitting rap lyrics and witty bars.

Reversed drums and autotuned vocals form the foundation of "Slow Motion". TypeOh gives us a multilayered, stacked vocal performance; the harmony arrangement is pretty nice, though I wish the mixing separated out the various layers a little more and made them more distinct. In general, the mix of the whole track seems to be really loud; the reversed sample on which the instrumental is based seems to get slightly piercing at times as well. In my personal opinion, the slow burn style of this track doesn't fit TypeOh's typically energetic style as some of the other sounds explored on this record. I wish the song had a clearer buildup and a greater sense of dynamism and progression overall. The guitar coming in during the last part of the track was really nice, though, and made for a nice vibe switch that put a new spin on a familiar chorus. The guitar tone employed here is also really sparkly and shimmery, which I enjoyed, and it has really nice interplay with the other plucked guitar parts here.

"Catapult" brings a distinctly cavernous vibe, communicated through hollow synth pads and distant, warped plucks. TypeOh sings with a delivery that straddles the line between singing and melodic rap as trap drums enter underneath. I think the combination of TypeOh's robotic yet somewhat raw singing and washes of synths and strings contributes to this track's unique, detached vibe. I catch shades of Don Toliver and Post Malone in the song's watery, psychedelic aesthetic. The backing vocals throughout the song sound like they've been processed through a vocoder, which ended up being a really nice sound; TypeOh sounds absolutely godly through a vocoder like this and it sounds especially good here. The final minute of the track sees the layered and vocoded vocals come to the front in a stripped-back, catchy outro section. I really like this track and I think TypeOh shines as a singer, but also as a writer of melody and harmony on this track.

"Coming Home" is the final track on the record, and continues the significantly more indie-leaning sound of the album's second half. A pop, DIY-sounding acoustic guitar progression opens the song before abruptly cutting out and giving way to huge, EDM-style synth leads articulating the same progression; I thought it made for a similar production genre crossover as I'd previously reviewed on nickwuh's us against the universe. Soon enough, we get big '80s drums and a sung chorus. I'm not the biggest fan of the vocals on this track; I found the lyrics to be a bit difficult to understand underneath all the autotune, and I also felt that the backing vocals clashed with the lead in a strange way, which might have to do with the mixing. The underture towards the end of the track was a cool moment, though, as lyrics and lines from earlier tracks in the album pop up and are mashed together in a moment that sums up the entire record into a few seconds of music. As a closing track, I suppose it made for a cool listen.

My overall thoughts on Seeker are somewhat mixed, but generally positive. On one hand, the album feels a bit uneven to me. Tracks like "Night Time", "Flatline", and "Overdrive" really cement TypeOh's very strong abilities as a rapper and hip hop producer. However, I found myself less captivated by tracks like "Alone at Night" and "Slow Motion", which I thought left behind many of TypeOh's strengths as an artist in favor of pursuing a different sound. I don't mean to say that artists like TypeOh should be restricted to a very specific sound forever, and I think that experimentation and pushing the boundaries of one's comfort zone is always an admirable and worthwhile pursuit; I just think that the results from the second half of the album just didn't gel with me as well. "Intro" and "Coming Home" also feel a bit out of place to me; I feel like since these two tracks are the opening and closing tracks, respectively, they should tie in more heavily to the themes and aesthetics of the other tracks on the record, but "Intro" inhabits a strange place as an intro track that doesn't quite sound like a preview to anything else on the album. The result, for me, is a project that feels a tad unfocused. Its indie pop and hip hop halves don't always come together to create a clear sound, resulting in a listening experience that felt a little disjointed to me. Ultimately, though, that's just my opinion, and this review reflects solely my personal enjoyment of the record.

While I would have loved a more cohesive project, there's nevertheless a lot to love about Seeker. The first half of the album is packed full of hard-hitting bangers that capture the massive boom of modern trap and marry it with the raw energy and rebellious braggadocio of 1990s hip hop in a winning combination. TypeOh's prowess as a rapper is truly remarkable here and his confident delivery manages to completely sell the bravado and swagger of his witty, razor-sharp lyrics. Unlike many MTech student projects, lots of which are made by artists who are really still trying to find their voices (and there's nothing wrong with that!), it's clear that TypeOh has found his voice and is sticking to it, as with Seeker, he has rather successfully carved himself an utterly convincing stage persona as a fiery underdog who isn't afraid to scrap. In spite of that, his ventures into more vulnerable territory yield occasional gems as well. "Soliloquy" and "Catapult" are both great tracks that make excellent use of TypeOh's unique singing voice and strong melodic sensibilities. I just think that the record struggles to showcase all of these different strengths in a manner that feels narratively & aesthetically connected. Nonetheless, there's a plethora of great ideas on display, and I really do feel that as long as TypeOh can corral those myriad ideas and bring them under one cohesive umbrella of sounds, then he's bound to create a wealth of great music in the future. Overall, there's a huge amount of talent and potential showcased on this record, and I hope to see TypeOh continue to grow as an artist as he progresses through the MTech scene!

Overall enjoyment score: 6.5 out of 10

Standout tracks: "Night Time", "Flatline", "Hollywood", "Overdrive", "Soliloquy", "Catapult"