Brent Faiyaz Releases Sophomore Album, Wasteland
Image via Stereogum
Brent Faiyaz has finally released his second studio album, Wasteland. The highly anticipated project is Faiyaz’s first major release in two years with a 19 track record. The indie R&B powerhouse lined up an impressive roster of producer credits and collaborators which he released in an album trailer posted to Twitter.
The list of artists shown in order are:
Raphael Saadiq, Alicia Keys, The-Dream, L3gion, Tre’ Amani, Nascent, No I.D., Paperboy Fabe, Mike Dean, Jorja Smith, Lil Rece, The Neptunes, Jonathan “Freeze” Wells, Mikeblud, OG Che’ The Sensei, Joony, DJ Dahi, Beat Butcha, Steve Lacy, Itai Schwartz, Jayne Andrew, Coop The Truth, Sam Wish, Malcolm Mays, and Jimi Cravity.
Features by R&B legends Alicia Keys and Raphael Saadiq help bring the project to life on two new tracks by Faiyaz. We’ve already heard the tracks featuring Tyler the Creator and Drake, but putting them in the narrative context of Wasteland gives them new purpose and meaning.
Thematically, Wasteland is beautifully tragic. If you don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics, Faiyaz’s velvety voice can fool you into thinking this project is a love fest. However, brief skit interludes throughout the record help snap the listener out of the musical scenery and into the story behind Wasteland.
Faiyaz has a reputation for his lyrically toxic one-liners like “Darling, I don’t wish you well/ When you ain’t with me, I want you crying” and “It’s your fault for loving me/ You put your trust in me/ And I didn’t ask.” While he carries this same energy through Wasteland, Faiyaz seems to make commentary on where his actions could lead him. From cheating to letting his “superstar status” get the best of him, all of the pretty instrumentals literally screech to a halt in the last skit, “WAKE UP CALL.” The tragic ending of the record is largely left up for interpretation, but it’s clear that Faiyaz is aware of the consequences of his actions, and spells them out for toxic men everywhere.