Swirling in a surreal pattern of melody and rhythm not entirely defined by the structure of the lyrics that will soon adorn every beat in the song, the first few bars that come flowing out of the speaker at the start of Mayne’s latest single, the formidable “No Hook,” aching with a raw nerve of emotionality that will only grow more intimidating and ghostly in the next few minutes of play. “No Hook” is short, simple and anything but sweet – at just over three minutes in total running time, the track makes use of its brief window into our minds by weaving together one vicious verse to another against a brittle backdrop of unfurling harmonies which never quite find completion by the song’s conclusion. There’s tons of unsatisfied tensions here and little catharsis to go around, but something tells me that was totally intentional on the part of Mayne. This isn’t a single that was designed for the FM pop crowd going crazy over the new Lil Baby track this March – this is stone cold hip-hop with an alternative beat intended for the genre’s serious connoisseurs, and it’s easily one of the smartest new songs I’ve heard in the year so far.
The texture on the bass parts in “No Hook” does a lot to balance out the stark tone of the drums, which occasionally borders on the visceral in a couple of moments leading into the midsection of the track. Mayne’s vocal is always mixed with a little bit of extra kick on the high-end of the EQ, but his mashup of melodic poetry and straightforward phrasing in the verses never conflicts with the brooding underpinning of the music behind him. “No Hook” is littered with classic rock references to everyone from Nirvana to Pink Floyd and R.E.M. to C.C.R., and you can definitely feel the impact that scooped and distorted riffage had on his style when listening to the compositional foundation in this single. It would be cool to hear the song live at some point, if for no other reason than to see how much of that rock star energy would carry over to the stage.
Soul Speak
This video has a double meaning and I hope those who listen listens closely. This song is for everyone that is suffering from PTSD but by the same token this…
I wasn’t listening to Mayne as intently as I will be from here on out prior to now, but after checking out what he’s got cooking in the studio with “No Hook,” I’m too intrigued to leave his story off of my radar in 2020. He’s coming up against a lot of incredible competition in the hip-hop genre right now, with formerly underground players like NLE Choppa, Trippie Redd and Baby Keem emerging from the shadows as some of the most promising artists we’ve heard in rap since the 90’s, but I think that as long as he continues to produce content packed with as much muscle and melodic virtuosity as this has, he’s going to find himself dominating the upper tier of the charts as much as the aforementioned trio have been. Mayne needs to keep this creative momentum moving, and he’s doing a great job of that in “No Hook.”
Clay Burton