As with most music cities, Chicago is full of promising up and coming talent that is ready to blow at any second, but it just takes the right set of ears and a little bit of luck to get to the next level. When it comes to the Windy City’s very own King Leer, he’s as promising of an artist as they come, and he’s back with another incredible project where he intends to prove this point over and over again.
The name of the project is The Decree, and while he might not have the enormous fanbase or millions of plays quite yet, he’s working day in and day out to show his growing fanbase that he means business. Clocking in at nine songs and just over 24 minutes, The Decree shows off his plethora of talents and acts as a sort of reintroduction to any new listeners or admirers, and it’s going to pay dividends in the long run as he continues to level up his skills.
On the opening track “WWTT”, he introduces himself and the album before going in over some mischievous, playful pan flutes, classic Trap percussion, and sped up 808s. Despite the quicker tempo of the record, he keeps up with no problem, offering up some rapid lines and rotating through a plethora of different cadences that draw listeners in from the moment he begins to spit. After the second song “Blow”, which was a remarkable single he released previously, we arrive at “Can’t Step with Me”. This song utilizes ambient synths, spread out percussion, and simplistic drums that work together for a somewhat simplistic foundation where his vocals absolutely shine. He begins with some Kid Cudi-esque hums before going back into his quick flows, eventually elevating the pitch of his voice to truly squeeze every last drop out of his autotuned vocals.
“Stout” comes next, providing us with a slower base that includes some mystifying guitar strums where Leer shows off some more stretched out, masterful notes. As each line comes to an end, his words echo off into the distance, leading us into the next, similarly sung bar that acts like as much of an interlude as it does a divider among all the crazy talents he is putting on display. He continues this softer, more melodious style in the next track “Out of my Head”, this time mixing his strong notes with some more honest, straightforward lyrics that highlight some of the mental struggles he has to deal with on a regular basis. It’s clear that his voice has a low tone up until this point, but when he ditches his tuneful delivery to wear his heart on his sleeve and use this as a proverbial therapy session, his deep vocals shine through unlike ever before on this album.
He picks the pace up once again on “Wave Runner”, flowing quickly over some crisp, consistent hats and constant drums. He ditches a lot of his vocal effects to provide a much cleaner, more insistent delivery than ever before. Although I feel like with the absence of these alterations, his voice might be lacking some qualities that bring his sound to new levels, he still gifts us some incredible bars and intriguing wordplays that show off another side of his artistry that wasn’t displayed up until this point on the project. “All Day” is up next, mixing a few elements within the instrumental that we’ve heard prior to this like guitar chords coupled with some hasty percussion, going back to his more altered vocals, turning this into possibly my favorite song on the project, although there are so many great songs, it’s hard to make that choice definitively.
On the penultimate track “Kingsh!t”, he slows things down one more time to flow effortlessly over another teasing, pliable beat that he fluently bounces along on, providing a deeper taste of his versatility before the final record. This leads us right into “Often”, a track that boasts a groovy, slightly Jazzy beat that Leer takes and absolutely shreds to pieces with his impeccable cadences and impressive delivery, ending things on a high note and leaving listeners wanting to immediately come back for more.
While it can be discouraging for certain artists at the same level as King Leer to give every project their all because of the lack of support early on, he doesn’t allow this fact to dampen his spirit, but rather uses it as fuel for the intense fire and passion that he has burning within him. He believes in his skills, as he should, and every single song on this album proves that point tenfold. It’s not easy to carry a project alone without even a single feature, especially at the level Leer is at, but he takes this opportunity to display all of the various skills he has perfected in order to give listeners a sort of sample platter of what’s to come in the future. His deep voice is as addictive as it is enthralling, and his versatility is as good as anyone in the industry, even at the highest levels. King Leer leaves it all on the table when it comes to The Decree, introducing himself on one of the most compelling projects you’ll hear all month, so make sure you familiarize yourself with the rising Chicago talent as soon as you possibly can.