Review: Nostalgia by Killa Vanilla

Creating a track that harkens back to a previous era can be a difficult task to get right. If you're too earnest and overly sincere about your themes then it can come across as an artist taking themselves too seriously without a sense of fun, and particularly in hip-hop that is rarely a good thing. If you go too far the other way though the theme can come across as fickle, and the artist as disingenuous and, worst of all, inauthentic. The trick is to get the balance of entertainment and authenticity spot on and that involves a strong sense of self-awareness; it's something which Killa Vanilla has definitely got right with his latest single Nostalgia.

Hailing from Naples, Florida, Killa Vanilla is an artist who espouses a positive, characterful and fun vibe in his music. Across a number of singles released so far he has started to gain prominence beyond just his local scene, and with his big personality and propensity for a catchy hook it's easy to see why. Nostalgia sees him team up with singer Mrs. Vanilla for an addictive banger that manages to be clever and endearing in it's early 2000s cultural allusions.

The production is excellent, a splattered layer of glitchy synths and thumping bass crossover perfectly with a minimal trap style beat. It's immediately memorable, but it never overtakes the vocals, instead giving them a strong and colourful canvas to work from. Killa Vanilla's verses all revolve around some cleverly composed and often quite deep references to hip-hop and R'N'B culture from the early 2000s. There's some skilful flows too, and a certain powerful tone in his voice that you don't tend to find as much in the current crop of high-flying rappers. The chorus vocal provided by Mrs. Vanilla is brilliant, a sweet and sultry hook that counterbalances Killa Vanilla's potent rapping perfectly.

The track also comes with a lively and dynamic video, splicing up shots of the two performers with a wild abandon that fits perfectly to the energy of the track. There's something appropriately nostalgic about it, with the shots of early 2000s posters on the wall and classic MTV videos on the TV.

While Killa Vanilla isn't re-inventing the hip-hop wheel here, he is certainly offering something a little different to many of the homogenous sounds of modern rap. Nostalgia is a fun, energetic and effortlessly catchy track that does what it says on the tin, both in it's lyrical content and it's style. However, it does this in a way which still feels modern, and Killa Vanilla has performed this difficult balancing act impeccably well.

You can watch the video for Nostalgia on Youtube, and you can find all the links to Killa Vanilla's music and social media here.

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