Album Review: Pez - Don't Look Down

"Adult rap" is still a thing because hip hop as a genre continues to celebrate being young, with the freedom afforded by money and fame. Rapping about the nine-to-five grind and whether or not it's fulfilling on any level may not go down so well at parties, but it speaks to the experience of many over the age of 25.

While 32-year-old Melburnian Pez isn't old per se, events such as the birth of his first child definitely make him an adult, and so it is with his music. This might not be everyone's idea of fun, but Don't Look Down, his second full-length album, manages to be inspiring nonetheless.

What Pez's voice lacks in power it makes up for in other ways: you get the sense that he's talking directly to you, in a voice that's part Aussie and part American but that still feels natural and unforced. Pez and/or his producers avoid neo-soul and jazz, which is common for "conscious" hip hop but can easily go wrong if you don't know what you're doing, in favour of simple, pop-influenced production, with some admittedly bland hooks. His lyrics hit deep, though: "We all got our eyes glued to our social media/Seeking admiration and other people's validation."

Still, at 12 tracks, the album could've done with a few more songs like They Try to Tell Me featuring 360. "They keep saying to us, 'Stay underground'/Why the fuck would we do that?/We wanna make money now," raps 360. Right on. To which Pez answers: "I think I want a figure around eight hundred thou'". With this economy, we should all be so lucky.