Seven years after his solo mixtape Narcotics Anonymous and only three months after The $uicideboy$’ second studio album Stop Staring At The Shadows, we have a 20 track solo album titled A Man Rose From The Dead from $uicideboy$’ member $crim. I was looking forward to a solo album by $rim but this isn’t what I expected; this album is a disappointment to say the least. I know that the $B duo have multiple alter-egos but whichever of $crim’s personalities is responsible for this musical garbage needs to be repressed via hypnosis or heavy drug use. If you’re a fan of The $uicideboy$, you may be expecting dark, satanic, drug-addled lyrics over bass-heavy beats but these elements are hardly anywhere to be heard. There’s no Trap Metal, no real Horrorcore, and more importantly: no throwback ’90s Memphis shit, just back-to-back run-of-the-mill and sometimes corny Pop music. And apart from a couple of quick mentions of the devil, pills, and suicide, there’s no depressing themes here at all. Aside from the album title and the fact that as a listener you may feel depressed after listening to this disappointing LP, nothing here feels like typical $uicideboy$ fare.
I can foresee some fans of the group defending this album, saying a change of direction is welcome whilst using cliches such as “maturing” or “evolving” but these excuses are usually bandied about when an artist’s work is declining. There’s almost nothing satisfying on this release. The only reason to listen to this album is if you’re curious to hear what selling out sounds like.
The album begins with “Delusions Of Grandeur” in which $crim raps about cars, houses, skating, and moon-walking whilst utilising a dumbed-down flow. This sets the pace for the entire album. A Man Rose From The Dead is almost entirely composed of autotune singing, mediocre rapping, and hackneyed production. This means that this LP isn’t individual or distinct, in fact it could be anyone penning or performing this shite. If you heard any of these songs without being told who it was, you’d be hard-pushed to say it’s $crim of The $uicideboy$, in fact it could be any crap crooner, from a major-label-signed bubblegum star to an amateur, home-studio Soundcloud rapper.
Autotune Hip-Pop tracks like “Side Effects” and “PTSD” may appeal to fans of Post Malone or Drake but this is supposed to be the $uicideboy$! Okay, I’ll concede that the song “Naloxone” contains an extremely catchy chorus and it could easily get into the charts (and if it did it would be deserved given the captivating hook and effective key-change) but the marriage of catchiness and tolerability isn’t always present. Songs like “Feel It Too (Its Too Much)”, “Tell Me When I’m Good Enough”, “El Paseo”, and “Violent Secrets” are worthy of the bottom of the garbage pile rather than the top of the pop charts.
A song like “Scars” is on the catchy yet generic Hip-Pop side but not all tracks are forgivable or even endurable. Tracks like “He Got Game”, “Portola (Blood Clot!)” are neither indelible nor irritating so there’s not much point in them. “Nightmare From The Northside” is the first track you’ll hear on the album that comes the closest to being a typical $uicideboy$ song, although even this is forgettable if you compare it to their entire discography.
I have no idea why rappers who clearly cannot sing (Bishop ahem Nehru) keep insisting on singing (or should I say trying to sing). The singing in “The Devil I Know” sounds like it could only be achieved by squeezing one’s balls with barbed wire whilst the autotune is ramped-up… “Take my heart again!”. Speaking of squeezed balls, you couldn’t make “Percosets & Papers” any more banal even if you had Justin Bieber doing a feature on there and the shit singing in “Euphoria Euphoria” can’t even be fixed by the Auto-Tune plug-in.
Whilst I’m in the criticising mood; the intermittent call of “pull the trigger Budd Dwyer” gives the album a sense of mixtape repetitiveness which isn’t great given that most of the songs are already monotonous and indistinct. The album ends with “Lost Child”, a track that is hardly memorable or particularly listenable, even if you enjoy mundane Hip-Pop.
The one positive here is the fact that all of the songs are short (although even the best $uicideboy$ tracks are brief) so if you dislike something it’s over pretty quickly. The other positive is that the soundscape of the majority of the album is laid back and chilled (listen to opening track “Delusions Of Grandeur) which suits this time of year. Sounding summery may lead to these tracks being played and looked upon with fondness by some but not by me. Summer or not, I cannot get over the terrible, dumbed-down flow in addition to the already horrendous auto-tune.
There are a few glimmers of hope here and there for fans of The $uicideboy$, namely “Fight Club (Psychosis)” with lines such as “switch-blade coming for your neck” and “El Guerro” which shows that $crim’s ultra-basic flow as heard in most of the album, can be switched if needed. That being said, “Carcosa” contains a potentially decent production-and-sample combo but the sing-rapping ruins this track and “Jesus Wept” at only 2 minutes long, sounds like three songs bolted together giving it a sense of schizophrenia rather than enjoyability. These better tracks are book-ended by pop offal so it makes little difference that there’s blips here and there of decent music, and because the tracklist includes a couple of decent songs in amongst the detritus (in an apparent random order I might add) the album’s flow or sense of continuance isn’t great either.
$crim, when starting out producing, was apparently influenced by the likes of T-Pain and Kanye West and this clearly shows; with almost non-stop radio-friendly trash here, he’s definitely channelling these two lames as well as other mediocre singers of the past. This album is less $uicideboy$ and more Backstreet Boys.
I was never a fan of early $uicideboy$, and releases such as Skrim’s Patron Saint Of Everything Totally Fucked was too upbeat for my liking. Little did I know that an album like this was on the horizon. This makes all the corny shit the boys have made in the past sound positively credible by comparison.
It’s not like we’ve got a shortage of mainstream rap-singers that we need relatively underground artists crossing-over trying to appeal to Pop music aficionados. Why make something that appeals to everyone other than your loyal fanbase? Some die-hard fans will probably be satisfied with A Man Rose From The Dead, especially given that the Coronavirus lockdown is halting and delaying most forms of entertainment, but these folk can be placed in the easily-pleased category of fans. I’ve listened to this album twice and I never want to hear it again. It’s so shit that I want to slit my wrists (but I guess that’s not appropriate in this instance) I should instead sing badly about how it makes me feel… “I can tell what’s real, and what’s fake, yeah” 🎶🎤.
Jesus Wept.
WHAT WENT WRONG WITH...? 
Bro cmon this review could ruin the album for me give it some time they’re music is meant to grow on you at least wait a week or so before giving such a negative review.
It’s been a week and it’s still shite.
completely agree and fans do too: https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/232970-crim-a-man-rose-from-the-dead/user-reviews/
‘A painfully mediocre album’
‘This is embarrassing’
‘truly difficult to sit through’
wait until $B stans raise the score tho.
I felt this way on the first day. I no longer feel this at all. I disagree with almost 100% of this article actually (but I enjoyed the read). It seems that you are being unfair to an artist that you had once respected. You went in with extremely narrow expectations. What do you expect?
I’m glad Scrim experimented because there are some insanely beautiful songs here. The Devil I know is seriously just beautiful from a music standpoint. Lost Child, Portola, Scars are produced so well and I really feel them, even though I was expecting the drugged outsatanic vibes!
All I want to say is that if you are not a fan of the Hip Hop in 2020, you probably won’t enjoy this tape. It was much more mainstream sounding than $ui, but I loved it! Sure, I could have an album of Scrim going as hard as he did in Exofus for 10 songs straight (I really want this tape) but experimentation is necessary. For a first tape, having 3 great songs is enough for me to be happy. I know that he’s going to do even better next time and this experimentation only helps (KY$ series were also for experimentation btw).
Overall, I would just like to say that you should listen to the album for what it is. Don’t go in with expectations of it sounding like $ui. With that being said, the credibility of this article was bar none, considering the constant comparison to $ui. Just my thoughts.
I hear what you’re saying but sounding like everyone else in 2020 is the antithesis of “experimentation” in fact it’s being conformist.
Just saying, he clearly stated that this is not gonna be similar to the $b sound because they have their own sounds. This album is about his story, and his emotions that he went through and experienced while going through Rehab and being sober. it really sucks to see people so uneducated write reviews on albums that clearly mean nothing to them. If this was meant to sound like an $b album then it would’ve been an $b album so stfu, get off your high chair and listen to the album from a different perspective, this isnt $b, $crim is a producer of his own and everyone I know that is a diehard $b fan loves the album. In my opinion, this is an amazing album and its just the beginning to many more amazing albums to come from $crim
FYI: music is art not science, therefore a fixed outcome or emotional response is impossible. You like the album, I don’t, that’s the beauty of consuming art. Telling me to “Shut The Fuck Up” and calling me “uneducated” (dismissing my opinion) but then ending your comment with “In my opinion” is completely hypocritical. I couldn’t give two necrophiliac fucks what $crim intended to make, the end result sounded like trash to me (and by reading the comments on the link above – other fans too). If this is Scrim making music when he’s sober and clean, then he needs to get back on the drugs A.S.A.P. …and just for dumb-arses out there: that’s just my personal opinion and a joke.
BTW my choice for best track on the album is the least “$B sounding” song:
This was a Scrim album/mixtape, not $b, so obviously he is making it to his liking and for the purpose of sharing his story (which he did not have to do for us.). He said on a live that he likes the autotuned and the way that it adds a certain style or vibe to the music. It might not be for everyone, or it might take getting used to it to really enjoy it, but degrading Scrims work, his ART, is simply unnecessary. Scrim has been producing and rapping for a while now, and I think he knows what he’s doing. He wouldn’t put something he knew was mediocre out, because he’s not stupid lmao. He can try something new or different, and if it’s not for you just go listen to their old stuff, which is amazing just like this.
I respect what you’re saying but being over-angry and overly-degrading is this site’s style. I’m glad that $crim kicked the habit but writing a standardised, dull-arse review would be pointless. Peace.
I always knew $B was shit… The people that feature on their albums are much better, for example, JGRXXN, Ghostemane, Xavier Wulf and Pouya… This is yet more proof of my point.
Ahahah, all of those you listed are nowhere near as popular. Thanks for this joke. I’ve been listening to JG since 2013 and respect him but this is just false lmao.
Well,there were some songs on the album that i didn t like at first,the ones with a lot of autotune,but almost all the songs on the album are catchy,i don t personally feel that A Man Rose From The Dead is a bad album but that is my opinion,if you think is bad and you didn t really enjoyed it that is your opinion,i know there are diehard fans of $B that try to shame you for not liking $B saying you are a pussy or stuffs like that,i respect your opinion on this album and thank you for making this review because it made me think about what songs i didn t really like on the album.
If you didn’t like it, it would have been best to keep your opinion to yourself.
Because:
1. He didn’t ask for your opinion
2. You were purposefully insulting. It’s like you’re aiming to be negative & seems like you have a habit of arguing with people due to that (by reading all of the other comments & your response to them). You shouldn’t potentially make an artist feel bad because of your own issues & because you obviously weren’t raised to know when to say something nice or nothing at all. No artist needs someone being so hard on them for simply being/ expressing themselves & being vulnerable by taking a leap. Like you said, it’s art. It is not right to bash someone in general. Especially when you know they are taking chances & doing something different which automatically puts them in that more vulnerable state. You know exactly what you’re doing. You literally used the word trash, which was pathetic & uncalled for to say the least.
3. Basically broken down above; it seems like since you went out of your way to bash the man so hard that you have a problem. That’s clear to a lot of people who understand human nature & psychology. I already know you’ll say something negative if you respond so don’t even bother. I will not argue with you. Somebody clearly needs to tell you because it shows that you’ve got an issue. You could have written a review explaining why you didn’t like it with some class & integrity instead of being sarcastic & hateful.
4. Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid. So why bother? Seems like a you problem, not a Scrim problem.
5. You look like a hater, but unfortunately I’m sure you’re fine with that because as I stated before you know exactly what you’re doing.
Really hope this gets through to you & helps you out tbh. No offense is intended. It’s just what I immediately got from this unfortunate post.
1. Capitalism is literally asking the nation/world for an opinion. When someone releases an album or designs an item of clothing, they are basically saying “buy my product because you like it/me”. The people who don’t buy it don’t like it/them, and they are free to air their opinions about why they don’t like it in whatever style they want, including being sarcastic.
2. When I said good things about the $uicideboy$ you didn’t show up to congratulate me on my opinion:
https://whatwentrightwith.com/2019/05/12/what-went-right-with-suicideboys/
https://whatwentrightwith.com/2019/05/24/live-fast-die-whenever-by-suicideboys-x-travis-barker/
https://whatwentrightwith.com/2020/02/13/what-went-right-with-stop-staring-at-the-shadows-by-suicideboys/
But I slate one of their albums and now I’m a “hater”? GTFOH
Read more about that cliched response: https://whatwentwrongwith.com/2016/05/04/what-went-wrong-with-the-word-hater-and-its-use-in-popular-culture/
3. Existing in the modern world means you need a thick skin. What you call arguing, others call debating.
4. Shouting and being angry is my style. For instance, would you call Lewis Black “hateful”? Technically he hates the things he shouts about.
5. Suppressing opinions because they don’t align with yours is fascism.
6. Surrounding yourself with happy-happy, arse-kissing, yes-men is living in cloud cuckoo land. Welcome to the real world.
7. So no Brooke, you didn’t get through to me and you didn’t help me at all. Now get back to manning the $uicide hotline, where you can tell everyone to keep their shit to themselves.
Are you the artist? No.
You are a fan who is observing someone elses artwork which gives you no right to complain about whatever way he decides to take it. If you dont like it then dont listen to it. He is the artist, he decides what he does and most importantly he is a human being, not a robot who only puts out one specific style of music forever. Yes omg he changed the style of his music so much this is literally so different to everything they’ve ever released!! Then respect his decision and respect him otherwise you shouldnt even call yourself a fan
How the fuck do I know if I don’t like an album without listening to it? And once I do, I can’t air my opinions? Real fans say what’s wrong, it’s yes-men like you that tolerate garbage and keep listening to someone’s trash when they’re forty years old making lacklustre shite that doesn’t match-up to their earlier work.
Plus, by that logic do you say: “Are you the hotel designer? No? If you don’t like it don’t stay here” or “Are you the chef? No? If you don’t like it don’t eat it”. Consumerism leads to opinions. Don’t want them, don’t put anything out there.
And lastly, if you want blinkered adoration, why go anywhere at all to read a review? If you’re blindly “respecting him” you shouldn’t even seek an opinion.
And surely, if you don’t agree with my review, don’t read it. FFS 🙄