Quadeca
Vanisher, Horizon Scraper
X8
Quadeca has had an interesting career arc thus far, making the pivot from YouTube personality to art-pop songwriter, producer, and rapper. Born in Los Angeles, Benjamin Lasky began rapping shortly after his dive into the world of content creation, going through several career and style reinventions (his initial videos ranged from FIFA video game commentary to comedy sketches, with the occasional freestyle in between). But since 2019, he’s been focusing on music, slowly developing his flow and distinctive production style. On his latest, Vanisher, Horizon Scraper, Lasky converts to a style of hip-hop that’s not easily categorized, developing a sound that’s atypical yet undoubtedly euphonious.
He’s come a long way since his 2019 debut, Voice Memos, a largely derivative pop-rap album that made for a pretty uninspired listen. But with each subsequent project, Lasky’s creative powers have grown, and with them the quality of his output. He’d eventually hit his stride on 2022’s I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You, wherein the sound design suddenly became more experimental as Lasky played more with digital effects and sweeping orchestral soundscapes. And his growth continues on Vanisher, as his production style reaches a new zenith. It’s hip-hop, but with an unlikely blend of dark, folky soundscapes with electronic beats and bobs sprinkled in. This uniqueness makes the production the record’s best quality.
The intensity of the atmosphere also perfectly complements Lasky’s verses exploring self-destruction. On Vanisher, Lasky weaves a riveting tale of a sailor whose deep obsession motivates him to go out to sea, a choice that leads the sailor to his demise out in the open ocean. It’s all very Moby Dick, with a key difference in the existential elements Lasky brings to the story. Many of the lyrics explore alienation, which seems partly self-imposed, and although the subject matter can feel circular at times, that might be by design as it signifies the self-absorbed mental state of the subject.
Vanisher, Horizon Scraper brings together genre elements that aren’t typically blended and mixes them in a way that’s captivatingly ethereal. The record does begin to drag during its midpoint, but picks back up a few songs later on the Danny Brown featuring “The Great Bakunawa,” an edgy, intense tune with off-key, horror-film orchestration. Despite those weak points, Vanisher is a solid record with an idiosyncratic approach that works surprisingly well. The sonic layers of folk, strings, hip-hop, and electronica combine into something truly unique and immersive, coming off as almost cinematic, which continues to set Quadeca apart from his contemporaries.