The Art Of Healing is an introspective hip-hop tune about moving on from trauma and an individual's spiritual journey. It uses a wonderful, ethereal-sounding vocal as its main sample and builds a compelling hip-hop beat around it with rhythmic drum foundations and generally solid production.
Maddy Suppez’s vocal performance is a guiding light throughout the track, leading us through the narrative and interacting with the instrumental in a way that feels both powerful and vulnerable.
The mix of singing and rapping on the track is impressive. The themes feel equally strong in both mediums and the instrumental accommodates each of the vocal timbres and cadences nicely.
Maddy Suppez’s vocals are bold and emotionally resonant. Through her carefully crafted wordplay and thoughtful, introspective execution, she brilliantly explores the themes of the track through her delivery. Although the performance is subdued in sections, she never fails to get across the tone of the lyrics and it’s that balance of subtlety and emotional depth that gives her performance that edge.
Justice Gbada’s verse in the middle of the track is a real highlight, having such a different register to Maddy Suppez, his performance makes both vocalists shine through contrast to the other. It also helps build a rich, textured, and diverse sonic landscape through that juxtaposition in sound. Gbada just sounds so comfortable and candid throughout his verse, it helps immerse me into the song’s narrative.
The lyrics are another strong point of the track, delving into the depths of uncertainty, trauma, and recovery. I like Suppez’s exploration of drugs as a way to cope with difficulties in life. “Too many lines, too many blunts” contrasted with “back of my lungs, feeling the love” shows that for some people, drugs are an unhealthy escape they use to feel good. I also like Gbada’s theme of butterflies turning to roaches. As fear can often be described as butterflies in your stomach, those butterflies turning to roaches feel symbolically significant in terms of that fear turning to dread. It’s a great metaphor that connects back to the theme of trauma brilliantly.
Overall, this track is a subtle and creative take on trauma, told in a bold hip-hop style. What sells it, however, is the great performances from Maddy Suppez and Justice Gbada.
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