I was first introduced to Jared Frazer a.k.a Jizzy Fra after stumbling into what I can comfortably say was one of the best sets at Luna Light last year. Since then, the anticipation for this artist’s next move has been high. The New York native just released his debut mixtape, ‘Worldly Winds’, and it’s versatile in the sense that you have the choice of how you’d like to experience it – with or without vocals. Both options, influenced by one of his inspirations: Ryan Hemsworth, deliver an entirely different experience, making it nostalgically reminiscent of those Choose Your Own Adventure books.
The concept of the ‘Worldly Winds’ has been particularly helpful for me in coming to terms with the current state of the world. Things can seem really fucked sometimes, especially nowadays, and it’s easy to get caught up in all the negativity. The worldly winds of pleasure/pain, gain/loss, praise/blame, and fame/shame are constantly blowing us around and we have no control over them, despite the fact that we like to think we do. The key is to sail neither with or against the winds, feeling pleasure without losing focus, and feeling pain without becoming absorbed by it. The worldly winds teach us to be grounded and level-headed, acknowledging and appreciating the balance within everything. The broadening of one end of the spectrum only deepens the other. – Jizzy Fra
This dance with duality that we all endure is certainly eminent throughout the mixtape. With the full version, you’re immediately projected into trapping out the bando as vocals from Gucci Mane’s “Bitch I Might Be” roll in, sandwiched between Migos’s “Bad & Boujee” and Notorious B.I.G’s “Machine Gun Funk”. You can almost taste the promethazine on your tongue. Whereas the acapella version highlights the underlying foundation of this project, engulfing you into a cocoon of playful synths accompanied by dreamy, unreleased, deep bass beats. Polarizing indeed yet, after listening to both, it’s safe to say Jizzy Fra has successfully balanced these energies for our listening pleasure. Would you agree? Let me know in the comments!