The single ‘Red Dress’ from LR’s EP, It’s Late, locks you into a smooth, seductive groove with its Latin-tinged guitars after a wavy, trappy R&B intro which gives way to LR’s arresting cadence that hypnotises you into his marked with metric precision verses.
As the complete epitome of vocal charisma, the up-and-coming rapper ticks all the right boxes in this multi-dimensional, progressively exhilarating hit that radiates with so much more than lust; it’s a celebration of beauty that will make you question the perception filter you view the world through.
LR veers away from any sense of pretence and taps straight into the soul with his expertly stitched bars that give you a sense of the Bronx grit that has shaped the artist’s conviction. Rather than merely imitating the revered rappers he grew up listening to—those whose names still echo through New York streets—he channels their raw honesty into his own reflections. Influences from the likes of Aaliyah and Missy Elliot shape his fluid approach to melody and harmony, resulting in a style that refuses to settle into any one corner of hip-hop.
Red Dress is now available via Apple Music and Spotify with the rest of LR’s It’s Late EP, which dropped on December 2nd.
Review by Amelia Vandergast