“If Looks Could Kill”

Simon+Chasalow

Simon Chasalow

Tavian B., Student

21 year old rap phenom Destroy Lonely has just released his highly anticipated album titled “If Looks Could Kill”.

 

Destroy Lonely, dubbed “Lone” by fans, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, and is a member of fellow popular rapper Playboi Carti’s record label known as Opium. Alongside him on the label are frequent collaborator Ken Car$on and rap duo Homixide Gang, as well as a plethora of other creators ranging from fashion designers, label executives, stylists, A&R experts and many more.

 

This project has been teased since September of 2022 and acted as a follow-up to his previous mixtape “NO STYLIST”. Since then, he has maintained the label’s trademark MIA personality, avoiding media outlets and other platforms which would overly inform fans of the actions he had recently been doing in order to build anticipation for the eventual release.

 

The titular track “if looks could kill” was previewed a few months ago, and quickly gained traction on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. As soon as the song was released, fans everywhere were listening constantly, and the song now sits at around 22.5 million streams on Spotify. After this release, he went back into his “radio silence” until a few weeks ago.

 

Fans began to notice billboards and other memorabilia with the phrase “if looks could kill” plastered on it, acting as promotion for the album. Along with that, fans found an unknown website acting as a countdown until May 5th, many fans speculating that to be the release date of the album, to which it was soon confirmed with Lone dropping a tracklist and promotional images on his social media accounts.

 

As of now, the album has been out for one day and has been making a lot of noise amongst fans and the underground rap scene as a whole. With a bit of mixed opinions, the album is definitely an evolution of his previously existing sound, and sounds unlike anything else he has ever put out prior to its release. A mix of genres, the album incorporates a lot of different elements and tries to blend them together however he sees fit. Though definitely a polarizing sound which may not appeal to everyone, if you enjoy music within his lane, I definitely think there will be something in there for you upon your listen even if only one song. Only time will tell whether the album will go down as a masterpiece or a disappointment, and I await to see the results.