8 months ago, Ian was playing collegiate rugby at Clemson University. Today, Ian tears up rap’s underground with viral earworms like Figure It Out and Grand Slam with cosigns from superstars like Drake and Metro Boomin. He’s drawn comparisons to past rap phenomenons like Yeat, but Ian is paving his own lane in a way that has captured the attention of millions. With impeccable timing amidst red hot popularity, Ian releases his highly anticipated debut mixtape, ‘Valedictorian’. There’s a lot to like, but there’s work to be done.
On the upside, in many regards, Valedictorian contains all the hallmarks that have lifted Ian to virality. Apart from the aforementioned strong two leading singles, some of the tape’s highlights include Never Stop, Bentayaga Hermes Sheets, Chauncey, and AirBnB which feel like compact pipe bombs of glitchy beats matched with catchy hooks and flows, highlighted by Ian’s distinct vocal performances.
Yet as an entire work, front to back, Valedictorian struggles to go the distance. While Ian avoids any outright bad songs or critical shortcomings, even at only 19 minutes Valedictorian can exhaust his bag of tricks and expose what could be a lack of versatility.
Nonetheless, as a debut mixtape, Valedictorian builds upon Ian’s foundation. I’ll be awaiting a bolder turn for his next album, but in the meantime, Valedictorian solidifies Ian as a premier rising star in rap today.
