Chillingsworth - it’s A Boy

Chillingsworth 

It’s A Boy
self-released; 2013

3.6 out of 5

By Demeira Harris

Don’t be misled by the title – the EP It’s A Boy doesn’t actually contain any songs about children. Given the sound Chillingsworth has, that’s probably a good thing – this is definitely grown folks music that reminds me very much of Sunday afternoons with the oldies station playing.

“Vacillate (ft. Billy Rodriguez-Lopez)” has kind of a 70’s – 80’s R&B vibe going on, particularly with the vocal style and harmonies. I was REALLY surprised to hear the smooth rapping about halfway through, as I was busy musing whether this reminded me more of Ronald Isley’s kind of music or Teddy Pendergrass (I settled on both). The flow was good and the lyrical content took me back to the solid hip-hop days. 

“Mr. Mayor” sounds celebratory and pompous at the beginning, much as you would expect from the name. The vocals thoroughly support this star struck atmosphere, and the lyrics struck me as a tad humorous, though I don’t really think they were supposed to be. I enjoyed the trumpet accents and thought they were a nice touch. 

Ironically enough, “Bruno Mars” has just the kind of beat I would likely expect to hear from the song’s namesake, and the song content reminded me of that song where Mars references how he doesn’t want to get out of bed. Outside of that, this is clearly a very distinct song and keeps that nice old school mantra. Here, the trumpet isn’t just an accent, playing a much more prominent part in the song. 

“NYU Love Story” is super disco, super funkadelic, super groovy. The verse vocals sound much different from the other songs, and it really affected the song in a good way, giving it a unique flair, while the chorus goes back to the sound we’ve grown used to. The drums are well fitted to the theme and could easily be laid over a Latin beat, making this a fun song to dance to. It was a nice way to close out the EP. 

I enjoy music that reminds me of the stuff I grew up listening to in my grandmother’s living room, and this EP is a fantastic example of that – soulful but funky with music that isn’t too complex but still remains quite enjoyable. I think this was a solid basis that leaves Chillingsworth a lot of room to expand and grow and try new things with the sound…an all hip- hop album, perhaps, but with the kind of tunes here? At any rate, It’s A Boy was a nice EP to listen to and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes their music smooth but fun.

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