Brillo Beats – “Mommy” (Beat Tape Review)

Brillo Beats is a producer from Rochester, New York who got his start by dropping his debut beat tape Seeds on SoundCloud at the beginning of 2016 & following it up that summer with Stems. He then went on to release 2 more beat tapes the next summer & form the duo Cigarillion with Sai, but is taking it back to basics by dropping a 5th beat tape on sites like YouTube & Bandcamp.

After the “Kids” intro, the first actual track “Lifted” sets off the tape well working in a bass-line & a glitchy vocal sample whereas “Shoulder” follows it with a a more tribal feel down to the infectious loop throughout. “Watch” goes right into the chipmunk soul route that RZA started back in ‘96 but after the “Huh” interlude, “Even” picks the album back up by displaying a crooning sample.

Meanwhile on “Quack”, we have Brillo showing some really cool chopped & screwed influences just before “Lilly” incorporating some violins & the loop here is actually pretty catchy. “LaughC” shoots for a more dustier sound with some repetitive vocal chops & after the “Club” interlude, “Pajamas” mixes together these strings with a slowed down sample much like “Quack”.

“Furry” has this gospel quality to it that I was admittedly not expecting at all & “Cathedral” follows it up with some tense piano chords & a chilling vocal flip. “Elk” continues to expand on the sound that “Shoulder” was shooting for, but then the harmonizing on “Tea” is entrancing as fuck.

The track “Meadow” keeps it rolling with a bass-line & these groovy vocal melodies while “Bomb” is a final continuation of “Shoulder” & “Elk” sonically. But prior to the spoken word outro “Problem”, the final actual beat on the tape “Extreme” sends it all off with some handclaps & empowering chants.

Of all the instrumental projects that this guy has under his belt so far, I feel like Mommy might be the best of the bunch. You can definitely tell he’s a crate digger because the samples that he uses throughout this tape are very unique & obscure, which I admire because it reminds me a little bit of Madlib in a way.

Score: 7/10