Jon Bellion’s new mixtape begins with a line stolen from Kanye West. Bellion thinks this is such an original move that he sings the same line over and over for almost a minute, stacking the contrived autotuned harmonies higher with each repetition. This is the absolute low point of the album, not counting the verse that follows immediately after, the song “Carry Your Throne”, the rap verse that is repeated twice in its entirety on “Luxury,” the single “Simple and Sweet,” and, debatably, every other point on the album.
The Definition represents an utter misstep in a career that has, up to this point, been going quite well. At the wee age of 23, Bellion has co-written singles for Eminem, Rihanna and Jason Derulo, released 3 other mixtapes to critical acclaim, signed a major record deal, toured the country, and broken the half million view mark on more than one YouTube video. On “Munny Right,” he claims to have made half a million dollars after taxes last year, more than most musicians will make in their whole career. All of this begs the question, what went wrong?
I think all of the misjudgments and poor choices that went into the creation of this album can be explained by imagining the kind of wackadoo mindset that would cause a man to plagiarize a single Kanye West lyric over and over for a minute at the front end of his album. Doing something that obviously insane requires superhuman, Kanye-level self-confidence. To put it simply, Bellion has been way too successful for his own good, way too quickly. His meteoric rise has convinced him that he is, as he puts it, “a full blown genius,” or “a fucking Warhol with this beat pad.” No longer is he trying to make the minimalistic, natural, and bright-eyed songs that earned him his following in the first place, such as “Dead Man Walking” or “Jim Morrison.” Instead, he’s an arrogant 23 year-old kid trying to make a masterpiece, without the know-how to back it up.
The Definition is an overproduced, underwritten missed shot. It might as well be an Owl City record.
Rating: C
