Not Waving, But Drowning by Loyle Carner

Not waving, But Drowning by Loyle Carner

Loyle Carner is a musician from South London mainly known for his rap/hip-hop creations. Carner began his career supporting a variety of different rappers leading to his first main gig, where he supported British-American rapper ‘MF Doom’. For those not sure of who MF Doom is, let’s just say, supporting him as your first proper gig is a big deal. He went on to support artists such as Joey Bada$$, Nas and many more before finally releasing his first album in 2017 called “Yesterday’s Gone”.

Firstly, you’re going to cry. So, accept that now and we can continue. This is one of the most beautiful bodies of art I have ever come across, it’s a very special album. Created through the pain of living. Created through the joy of being alive.

This album is storytelling at its finest. Much like a typical story, this album has multiple layers -from the lyrics to the various styles of sound that you hear throughout. The balance between rap, melody, spoken word and sound bites from real-life moments truly make this album special. The stories are already relatable and touching, the use of the soundbites in specific parts of a song brings you even closer to the sound and the story being told, in turn giving you more of a connection to the album.

Something else to mention is that I feel sometimes too many collaborations on an album can make it appear and sound ‘too much’ or slightly garish, this album shows it can be done with class and somewhat perfection. Each artist on this album adds something to the song they’re on, they add to the feel of it and make it more interesting.

This album will always be one of my favourites and I just hope you adore it as much as I do.


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About the author

Hello! My name is Josephine Robertson. I’m a second-year university student studying Digital Media Production at Cambridge School of Art. After reading that it will be no shock to you that I love nearly all things creative. predominantly photography, literature and of course music.

Music for me, much like books and photography is in a realm of its own. Literature is there to transport your mind to a different time, a different place, something only the writer may fathom. Photography is there to grace you with scenes and experiences you could only ever dream of, it creates endless new worlds just waiting for you. Music, when powerful enough is the combination of both. When you find THAT album or THAT song it can be the piece of art that pushes you to decipher those places and drives you to visit those worlds.

Music to me is energy. Be that the energy of a friend when you’re heartbroken and can barely move or be that the energy of the whole world at your fingertips.

Now I’ve done my poetry segment (You’re welcome) I’ll come back down to earth for you. I love music. I’m not here to offer you opinions from a musically educated background. The education I have is formed from listening to music and feeling everything it has to offer, researching the artists and learning their stories. If you too are fellow music feeler you may enjoy my opinions on the music I love. You may even learn something. Basically if you’re in the market for some new to you music, some old-school masterpieces and a digital media students opinions on it come join me.