Beach House EP
Ty Dolla $ign is next in line to reap the success of genre-hopping, ecstatically Auto-Tuned singer-rappers like Future and Rich Homie Quon. Over a handful of well-received mixtapes and tons of guest spots, the Los Angeles artist’s singsong rap&B has maintained a perfect balance of comforting croon and pickup-artist kink – think “Fiesta”-era R. Kelly with an extra dash of robotic perv. This solid seven-song EP, Ty’s first official release, doesn’t sail out too far from the formula of his Beach House mixtapes. Sultry single “Paranoid” features frank lines like “Your bitch look like a booga wolf,” delivered with Casanova charm and a thin layer of computer love. DJ Mustard’s lush synths (also lurking on the Wiz Khalifa-assisted “Or Nah”) increasingly sound like slowed-down EDM, while violinist Peter Lee Johnson’s presence on five tracks makes the whole venture swing dangerously close to Philly soul – that is, if Billy Paul sang things like “If she ain’t got no ass, she got some titties” through an oscillating fan.