Controversial Sydney rapper Kerser has released his fifth album in as many years, Next Step. While it contains every vulgar word in the English language (at least twice) and he insults everything from popular Aussie TV shows to well-known football players, it also has moments of honest, real emotions.
“Only Rap You Need” is the first full length track on the album and with lines like ‘Kerser is the Sickest’ and ‘It’s not my fault that I keep topping these charts, but Imma brag about it, fucking Kerser’s popular bruh’ it’s easy to hear the confidence Kerser puts out through his music.
It’s this confidence that carries “Keep Chasing Them” and title track “Next Step”. Kerser gets personal about his Campbelltown upbringing, a life filled with drugs and how he still managed to make his dreams come true. They are songs plenty out there will relate to, whether they’re a fan or not.
Kerser teams up with his mate and fellow rapper Fortay for “Different Shoes” and the track is a very different sound to the rest of the album. With a heavy piano presence, the track is inspiring and could easily be played on mainstream radio.
Of course, no Kerser album would be complete without a track insulting everyone and everything. ‘Takin Over The Scene’ does just that, with its sexist slurs and offensive disses. Tracey Grimshaw, Allday and long-time enemy 360 all come under fire (among many others).
While his lyrics and themes vary, the beat holds consistent – unfortunately this leads the album to feel quite repetitive. There are some exceptions, however, including “I’ll Be There For You” with its pop tone and borrowed hook from Roxette’s ‘80s ballad “Listen To Your Heart” and the aforementioned “Different Shoes”.
As an artist still quite unknown to many Australians, this album could gain Kerser some extra fans. But fans who have been there from the start will be happy to hear tracks such as “Still Haven’t Changed” and “Remain King”. They are odes to those fans and a chance to remind them that that he will always ‘run this scene’.
Review Score: 6.5 out of 10
Kerser’s Next Step is out now.
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