Hana Mullen | Staff Illustrator

After my first article on Lil Sperm, I swore that I would never return to the bowels of Spotify. Instead, I would write intelligent, grounded journalism that would bring practical information to the WashU community. It was a noble dream. Yet, like a man reaching middle age being inevitably drawn to books about WWII, I was pulled towards CRZFawkz’s new project: “Sauce Explosion.” In a word, this mixtape is eclectic, blending trap beats, enunciated yet unintelligible lyrics, and nokia ringtone-esque melodies. 

This EP’s instrumentation is surprisingly complex. The drums and bass are regimented, yet restrained, and wouldn’t be out of place on a standard trap album. However, the synthesizers are unlike the looping, melodically simple keyboard lines of standard backing tracks. Instead, CRZFawkz uses long and frequently strident notes which rarely repeat, giving a slow but noticeable sense of progress within each song. 

This clash between each songs’ rhythm and melody, rather than degrading the songs, actually elevates them. The tension functions almost as a strange form of counterpoint, where each idiosyncratic element plays against the discordant ringings of the other. The very fact that I’ve noticed this interplay tells me something about myself as well: I am either an extraordinarily gifted listener, or I have Stockholm syndrome.

The vocals are also original. Rather than remaining in tempo, CRZFawkz’s verses wander over the beat, moving in and out of rhythm with his surprisingly well-crafted backing tracks. The vocals also oscillate between states of extreme distortion and perfect clarity, giving his performance an organic, yet industrial quality.

All this is not to say that this project is bad. In fact, I would argue that there is a subtle psychological value present in this EP. In a society that is becoming more and more obsessed with curating other people’s perceptions of ourselves, whether in social media or in real life, I found a strange catharsis in Sauce Explosion. This is not music made to coddle or entice mass appeal, but instead is for exactly one person: CRZFawkz.