Is the rap game really that awful?

Cian Wright, better known as Clavish has released his debut album ‘Rap Game Awful’. Clavish is known for letting us know he isn’t a rapper but an illustrator, just making stories and tracks of what he’s seen and been through. For example in the new track ‘No Difference’ when he so effortlessly raps “I wasted credit on this girl when I was in the can. Had couple plans, came home just to find out that she got a man. Damn, put my feelings to the side so I can work better”. This was able to show us he’s relatable, as unfortunately people get cheated on or get their hearts broken by others during certain circumstances like when he was to come out of jail and see the girl he liked with someone else, then letting us know that he had to put his feelings aside to carry on working, which is how a lot of heartbroken people deal with it.

However, Clavish can also show the raw, emotional side to his rapping, for example, in ‘Monday To Sunday’ featuring Fredo, Wright said “You’d commit the same crimes if you grew up how we were livin’. But, I’d rather them birded off than graveyard visits ‘cause that’s the main reason why I’m always in my feelings”. Giving us an insight on how he grew up and what he had to go through to protect himself, showing us he also cares about his friends when he says about them being in jail that being dead as he’d rather go and visit them in the jails rather than them being in the graveyard. Fredo also spun this track as usual when he touches a feature when he lets us know how important it is to look after your family and loved ones, letting us know his relationship with his mother in bar “Sellin’ cane down in the rain to buy some trainers for my mum”.

Following this, ‘Rap Game Outro’ was arguably his most emotional song on the album as he paid respect and homage to his friends that are in jail or that have passed. You also hear him apologise to his mother in lines “Before I rest in peace, I’m tryna give a hundred to my mum. That's for all the times you ran up in my room and found some drugs and I had no excuse because I was tryna run it up” and when he spoke about where he was when he lost his nan “Nanny used to lecture me often, ‘Stop sellin’ crack’ I was in the traphouse when I heard she’s never comin’ back”. When you listen to this track you can hear the emotion and pain in his voice when rapping about his relationships with everyone around him, definitely the best way to the end of his album. Calvish also told Apple Music that his friends from his neighbourhood YB and Rick, also mentioned in the song, that they should still be here and that he does this because they never got the chance to.

It’s hard to focus on everything Clavish is saying as his bars are sprayed over twenty eight different tracks, with that possibly being his intention as you can hear how repetitive his life is as he raps “You can put in work today but tomorrow nobody don’t care, because that was yesterday” as he makes it clear that he is very aware of what he needs to do to stay relevant. However, it would have made sense if Clavish had split the album up in two, maybe down two different sides to the tape like we saw in Loski’s ‘Music, Trial and Trauma: A Drill Story’ making his music mean more in story form so we can understand his life and views on things very clearly. If Clavish was to have done this it would have made more sense as he definitely has stuff to say and get off his chest.

Let us know what you think of the album over on our Instagram, what else do you think we will see from Clavish this year and what your favourite track on the tape is.