“FOURTY (feat. Space Cadet Music & NHT)” reveals Kid Zen’s relentless creativity in his peerless approach. Altogether forgoing the expected, he brings his sound into unexplored terrain. Though rooted in his flawless flow, he incorporates trap vaporwave into this relatively flexible groove. Bass goes deep into the red, for it bounces with such glee. Sort of the polar opposite of Yung Lean’s SadBoi themes, this feels like it is bursting at the seams. Plenty of it swirls about in this kaleidoscopic, dream-like atmosphere.
No, build. He drops you right into the mix. Everything here has an animalistic quality to it. Vocals work together with the echoes wafting out into the infinite. A true force of nature, he makes sure to hold nothing back—each additional reiteration of the theme results in an ever-increasing number of flourishes in the background. The ebb and flow, both his vocals and the arrangement, keep the listener on their toes. Sudden bursts of energy add to this sense of the unexpected. Yet, it retains that classic poppy output for all the unexpected delay, distortion, and outright messing with the usual format. Like hyper-pop gone rap, Kid Zen compresses many happenings within a concise track.
Kid Zen holds nothing back on the delirious trip of “FOURTY.”