Coming out of Minneapolis as the former drummer of the post-hardcore band
Four Letter Lie, Derek Smith aka
Mod Sun sounds like the opposite of his back-story. His debut album,
Look Up, is sun-drenched pop-rap -- or as
Mod calls it, hippie-hop -- as if
Chris Webby and
Sean Kingston jumbled their genetics and the radio only offered enjoyable hooks and irie vibes, 24-7. "Goddess" is the best example of how
Mod Sun can rap a positive rhyme while trading in
Maroon 5-styled swagger and pop-styled reggae, while "Howlin' at the Moon" is the less Jamaican, more Californian version of the same sweetness with light EDM powering the pre-club anthem. The topics here are light and airy and yet these singalong lyrics are a good argument that the drumsticks should be hung up for good, and if
Mod Sun's jump from post-hardcore to rap seems an insincere cash-in, he's bold and brave enough to invite most of the current competition (
Machine Gun Kelly,
G-Eazy,
Riff Raff, and more) onto his debut album for easy comparisons. Hippie-hop is a cringe-worthy term, but
Mod Sun's debut example of it is still a vacation worth taking. ~ David Jeffries