Tallahassee-based Ice Jackson immerses throughout the new full-length The Flu, a backronym for “Florida Life Understood” that paints a realistic portrait of his home city. As the Believer Entertainment CEO’s first full-length since 2018, the record explores how hedonistic pursuits can lead to unintended consequences. Consuming lyricism blends with dynamic beats, blending ghostly beats and wit with a cinematic perspective on the grinding, loyalty, and the evolving obligations of adulthood in the Sunshine State.
A riveting opening track, “Whose Car We Gonna Take” melds an intoxicating beat with confident vocal prowess. “South side, south side, put your hands up high / If I tell you you my dawg then we fam for life,” the vocals stir amidst a hazy, psychedelic backing, bolstered thereafter by moody piano as the “I need your help” beckoning continues. Lyrical perspectives of loyalty, friendship, and carpe-diem opportunism coexist alongside confident “grinding mode” swagger. The ensuing “Sunpass” continues the knack for ghostly beats, here progressing from nocturnal synth pads into a glimmering infectiousness; a spacey synth-pop production enamors within a charismatic “two bad bitches” vocal sequence, inducing replays with its personality and hookiness.
Another standout track, “Outta There” fuses the emotional ferocity present in preceding tracks with a fantastic central hook. Thumping bass and gliding keys compel within the introspective verses, reflecting on the comforts of familiarity in the face of tumult — “back to the same old slumbers, back to the same old wonders” — before moving into a reprisal of the excellent hook: “you know my style, I’m outta there!” The Flu continuously impresses with its mixture of heady verses and punchy, replay-tempting culminations, and “Outta There” is an excellent example of such.
An especially gripping intensity is apparent on the album’s title track, navigating with a haunting piano-forward beat and “you just caught the flu!” vocal entrancement — with references to envy in the form of the “green-eyed monster” and a biting subconscious moving artfully within a lyrically enveloping, visceral tour-de-force of a production. The subsequent “On Brand” moves back into a more pop-friendly territory, its flourishing woodwind additions and ethereal la-la vocal backings complementing witty hip-hop lyrical flows. “I get paid, that’s so on brand,” a vocal swagger emerges within a particularly momentum-filled sequence, arising into that delectably frolicking “talk dirty to me” central hook.
Album finale “All I Know” caps it all off with a fully satiating impact. A breezy guitar-laden jangle leads the underlying beat, while playfully soulful vocal backings mirror the steadily unveiling lead. “Surrounded by people, but you go die alone,” the vocals let out, reflecting on the weight of the world as parents age and obligations mount; it’s a reflective, melodically consuming success that concludes the stellar The Flu with an affecting glow. The Flu is a thoroughly successful hip-hop full-length from Ice Jackson.
