Kwasi masterfully fuses alternative hip-hop, punk, indie, and emo-rock on Outstanding MISFIT, a fourteen-track debut album tracing the volatile relationship between the artist and his MISFIT alter ego. Distorted guitars, blown-out beats, and restless performance shifts frame an exploration of identity, alienation, and vulnerability, balancing manic energy with moments of melodic introspection.
“The MISFIT is all of it: the confidence, the chaos, the mistakes, the vulnerability, the good and the bad,” he says, referencing his MISFIT alter ego within the album’s conceptual story of an underdog becoming an anti-hero. “I don’t think the story ends with everything figured out, because I definitely haven’t figured everything out. I think I’ve just become more comfortable with who I am, and maybe with the idea that I don’t need to fit perfectly anywhere.”
Opening the album, “KAMIKWASI” plays as a bouncy, distortion-friendly introduction, unveiling the album’s conceptual character. “My name is Kwasi, I’m came to start a party, I’m gonna make it naughty, I don’t wanna hurt nobody,” his lead presence lets out amidst thumping bass and a variety of compelling production effects, at the ending moving from the “going” steadiness to a raucous invigoration. A capacity for revelry but also vulnerability unveils in these commencing lyrics, while the ensuing “Troublemaker” delights in its title-bearing proclamation: “I’m just a troublemaker, alright alright alright.” A post-punk bass feeling melds with twanging guitar work as the repeating, melodic delivery induces replays with stylish flair.
A particularly strong display of performance dynamics is apparent on “LIT!,” where brisk hip-hop verses envelop into a moody alt-pop “have to keep it lit” central hook. Kwasi shows the ability for both a melodic approachability and gritty, fast-paced ingenuity throughout the album, and “LIT!” is a primary example of that balance. The subsequent “UPPERS!” embraces the spoken-word rap delivery further, reminding fondly of JPEGMAFIA in the drive from hip-hop introspection to bass-buzzy, EDM-friendly hooky snippets. “Do you know what it means to be insane?” a spoken sample opens on the next track, “BREATHE,” strutting a crisp, jangly guitar-forward direction as the delivery intensifies with climactic charm; breathing effects lend a savvy rhythmic element, aptly aligned thematically with the “let it breathe” refrain.
Another stirring track, “Gold On Her Tongue” touts a very strong production, eclectic in its outpouring of initial soaring pop emotion that swells into rumbling rhythms and “got a body like a dancer” smitten hip-hop precision. drest and Boy Graduate are excellent in their additions on the track, bridging the emotive pop chorus with consistently magnetic rap flows. Elsewhere, “empty” embraces an outpouring of emotion in its “gonna spill out ’til I’m empty” melodic refrain, combining with twangy guitar chills and click-clacking rhythms for a riveting entrancement. “Room Full of Broken Hearts” also delights with its blend of Kwasi’s melodic hip-hop delivery and Nathan Wong’s smoothly harmonious pop presence, while album finale “On Everything” casts a dreamy, introspective spell with its R&B stylings amidst lyrical perspectives on friendship, moving on, and personal freedom. Succeeding conceptually and in its dynamically melodic productions, Outstanding MISFIT is a thorough success from Kwasi.
