Kyle Review
On his sophomore album, “Super Duper” Kyle promotes one life philosophy: to Smyle. Full of fun, upbeat music layered over the Southern Cali artist’s brilliant lyrics, this collection of songs is deserving of your attention.
It starts with “The Force,” the perfect introduction for new fans to the happy artist’s musical vibe. It’s a perfectly designed track for those moments you’re riding around in your car with the windows down and need something to blast through the streets. Fill your Honda Accord up with some friends and sink into this one.
Similarly, “Don’t Wanna Fall In Love” is the dance anthem you’ve been missing. It is impossible to listen to this song and stay in a bad mood. The rework of Jane Child’s late ‘80s hit of the same title, paired with Kyle’s lyricism that reminds many fans of Chance The Rapper is just lovely.
Coincidentally, Chance makes an album feature with “Remember Me?,” but this is not the first time they’ve worked together. Kyle first appeared on Chance’s Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment when he rapped the last verse of “Wanna Be Cool.” With his recent releases, Chance has also been blowing up on the music scene this past year, so seeing his name on Smyle means big things could be in Kyle’s future. “Remember Me?” is on the slower side of the album’s tempo, but it’s placed perfectly on the lineup of tracks.
The deluxe version of the album features by far the best example of the artist’s jovial personality. “DewWutItDoez” begins with Kyle’s parody of other rappers on-track shout outs with the lyrics “Uh huh, um yeah, uh shout out to Jesus / And uh, shout out to Jesus and Jesus” and again at the outro with “Uh, I got a homie serving life right now he go by the name of J-Dog / Or Jesus, you can call him that too, shout out to him / And uh I’m trying to think, I’m tryna think who else do I shout out / (Shout out jesus, shout out jesus) / You’re right right, OK.” Kyle is just having fun on this track, and it’s worth a listen.
The album, as a whole, has one intention: to teach you not to take life too seriously. He told Greenlabel in April he makes music that “encourages a generation of tech-obsessed youth to step away from their screens and reconnect with their real-life relationships.” Smyle does that with ease.
When the album dropped, Kyle announced #WorldSMYLEday, entailing that with every purchase of the album on its release date, he would donate $2 to Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft charity. He then extended it through the weekend.
Interested in seeing this wonderful human outside of your computer screen? You can catch his wild personality at one of his few big-city tour stops or on a pizza restaurant’s rooftop somewhere in Southern California. He’ll be the fool in the beat-up Vans and a smile that will make you feel like family without saying a word.
