“I Need a Holiday” by “MR. SHAMMI” as a single brings together a manic and multi-layered, slightly retro Hip Hop soundscape, with a distant and affected vocal line that seems to sit on top of the beat in an underground hip hop sort of way. As the track progresses, a certain familiarity develops within the vibrant chaos of the ambiance – the synths and riffs rain down on you as the music pours through. This in itself quickly becomes a key trait of the song – giving it that all-important flicker of recognizability. On top of this is the leading voice, something the artist toys with at the point of production as if it were another instrument – another electronic element to be explored.
“I Need a Holiday” rightfully makes certain you’ve heard it once the beat starts to play. MR. SHAMMI has presented something that musically leans back and forth between retro elements of electronica, and the more epic, synth or string layers of vibrancy as well. This gives the song weight, for sure, but each time you listen it feels like less of a purely loud and bold piece of music and more like something with a few dashes of emotion and intent to it – introducing a little more edge, in my opinion. The music has something fresh about it, particularly in this context.
The unusual and quite striking nature of the music takes your focus away from the song’s concept at first listen. Lyrically the track presents the classically bragging nature of modern hip hop with nothing held back. The opening verse in particular sounds youthful and carefree, the delivery is confident but quiet – not screaming out for attention, just keeping that bounce alive and working well within the surrounding ambiance. The tone of the voice suits the smoothness of the beat pretty well, and the changing sections – the moments the pace picks up to impress and build a greater dynamic – are all well executed.
The second verse presents a slightly deeper vocal tone and something with a little more grit and attitude about it. The theme remains the same, that essential rap confidence runs strong, and with the soundscape progressing in a fairly repetitive nature – as downtempo or electronic beats generally do, in order to let you really escape within them – the vocals push for something a little more structurally interesting among this. The track offers a soft but certain hook, and with each new listen you fall more in line with the movement of the verses – the whole thing quickly becomes a familiar piece to embrace as the summer floats towards its end.