6 pe 6 by Karma
The Blog #13: more of the same and it's great
The Blog features short writeups on short EPs. My thoughts and track-by-track notes are listed below. Listen to the EP. Discuss. Enjoy.
Place @original listen: Bad driving on towards good
Thoughts:
Karma has figured out his template—6 pe 6 is more of the same Karma we have come to expect and love. I have been listening to Karma for some time now and you can roughly classify his music into three kinds of tracks—Travis Scott-Esque trap Karma, sad and senti Karma, and flex-rap-fuck-you Karma. The first Karma is the more experimental one, experimenting with synth-heavy, or more recently, rage-rap-adjacent, soundscapes. The results are mixed—when Karma finds a rhythm, he is able to take over the track and make it his own. But there are times where the production overpowers his efforts and he simply becomes a piece of the beat. The heartbroken Karma tracks work when you are by your lonesome and going through some shit. We are by rule a population that yearns, and the surface-level writing paired with melancholic production represents our unhappiness through sad tales of resilience and/or breakup. Tracks like Duniya Makkar and Online serve as examples of this, and have both found their way into my emo-playlist. The final category, flex-rap Karma, is what makes Karma a potentially bankable number one option. It also exposes his worst tendencies. The OGs of the scene were students first, rappers second. Rappers like Kr$na, Encore ABJ, Divine grew their craft by studying their counterparts and picking apart styles. Their writing sounds polished because they understand the formula that goes into writing a tight 16. Repetition breeds perfection. Karma is cut from the same cloth. This means that even if the track does not hit, or the verses meander, the writing and song structure of each of his songs is still solid. He has also realised that his niche lies in his punchlines, often connecting scenarios that your mind would not automatically leap toward. The problem arises when he gets lost in his own quest to deliver memorable lines. Lyrical-Miracle Karma appears too often in his flex raps for a modern rapper, and more times than not, he meanders into mediocrity and repeated rhyme schemes. However, in a tightly produced track, where there are fixed pockets to operate from, he is unstoppable. If Karma were a basketball player, he would be a Small Forward who can shoot the three. He is solid, and you can count on his fixed production on the daily, but when he catches fire and shooting threes, your team is guaranteed a win. Special shoutout to Sez on the Beat for their numerous collabs—Sez is the point guard that knows how to get Karma to his spots. Hold Up should get a lot more love that it does today. Some of my favourite tracks of the rapper are of this variety—the horn section and bouncy drums get you hype before his punchlines floor you. And that brings me to 6 pe 6. As evidenced from the album cover, the EP is meant to solidify his identity in the scene, not reinvent the wheel. As a placeholder project, this serves its purpose well. The tracks are expected, as are the highs and lows. My favourites off the EP are Back 2 Back and WBDTU. Karma is at a stage in his career where he has not fully crossed over to the mainstream yet but is big enough to have a recognizable aesthetic. This makes his style acceptable to his core fanbase because he is still “pure” i.e. not listened to by the “normies”. It is a sweet place to be in—you can continue to create under the comfort that people will never tire of you. Better this than the spotlight and its incessant trolling. Just ask Divine.
Notes:
Meri Jaan, Pt. 1: Senti Karma. His reputation is the money he earns and that is all people see. The electric guitar makes the beat—it adds texture to Karma’s measured flow. Well-produced track, the emotions are brought out by having the vocals front and centre.
Mindset: Deep Kalsi’s intro is hard, really sets the tone. Hook has the head bobbing. The bass is thumping. Karma rides the beat and delivers a hype verse. One thing I really admire about Karma is that unlike rappers, he does not put on another accent to rap. He raps like he talks. Simplistic production. Solid track.
Buzzcut: The beat sounds like something off Dangerous Summer by Yeat. Trap-rage track. Karma experiments with the delivery on this one and it sounds pretty good. Solid track once again.
Carefree Style: Production starts with similar synths as Buzzcut before turning into a Boom Bap track. I like the narrative arc Karma is trying to spin on this track but it needs to be measured for people to really absorb the imagery. The flow is solid. The “pow pow” rhyme scheme threw me off.
WDTBU: The production is perfection for Karma—allows his naturally melodic delivery to shine. The saxophone section on the hook is a nice touch. The flow is bouncy and the punchlines hit. Extra points for shouting out my alma mater. Catchy hook. My favourite track on the EP.
Back 2 Back: Talk your shit, Karma. The drums hit. This is what Karma and Sez do best—tightly produced track while Karma spins punchlines around the beat. Also, this is probably the first track of Karma I’ve heard where he gets somewhat political (although it’s maybe two lines at most). Great track.