Album Review: Beach House [EP] by Ty Dolla $ign

Life sounds amazing for Ty Dolla $ign. Traveling cross country collecting checks, beautiful women cluttering the cypher, ocean waves crashing in the distance—all with little to no real world consequences. For the Atlantic Records artist, everyday ends like the closing scene of an Entourage episode. At least that’s how it’s depicted on his recently released Beach House EP.

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The Bay Area’s high intensity, sparsely produced ratchet music scene has reached its tipping point, what with locals like Sage the Gemini scoring chart hits without any airplay elsewhere in the country, savvy out-of-towners like Nicki Minaj and Jeezy genuflecting westward as early adopters Drake and Tyga did on “The Motto” and “Rack City”, and artists like J. Lo and T-Pain linking up with ratchet impresario DJ Mustard in search of a renewed relevance. Los Angeles singer/producer Ty Dolla $ign heads up ratchet music’s R&B division; after paying dues producing for Compton stars YG and Problem and featuring on Cali rap records of every stripe Ty finally zeroed in on a sleek, commercially viable sound on his flagship Beach House mixtape series with tracks like “My Cabana”, which crossed a swatch of Skrillex with horns lifted off of the R&B band Mint Condition.

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On his debut EP for the Atlantic label, singer, rapper, and producer Ty Dolla $ign comes off as a hip-hop and street-level alternative to R. Kelly or T-Pain, one who's able to sling the slang like it ain't no thing (key track "Paranoid" goes "I got a bad light skin from the Valley/She be in the club with not panties") while making epic musical moments (opener "Work" sounds like a suite that travels across pop-rap, gangster music, and dubstep). There's no filler, which isn't so stunning since this is an EP, and before there's even a moment of lackluster music, the large guest roster rotates another exciting name through, with Wiz Khalifa, Casey Veggies, and B.o.B at the top of the list.

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Ty Dolla $ign is next in line to reap the success of genre-hopping, ecstatically Auto-Tuned singer-rappers like Future and Rich Homie Quon. Over a handful of well-received mixtapes and tons of guest spots, the Los Angeles artist's singsong rap&B has maintained a perfect balance of comforting croon and pickup-artist kink – think "Fiesta"-era R. Kelly with an extra dash of robotic perv.

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Over the course of two years, Ty Dolla $ign has inked a deal with Atlantic Records, released two critically acclaimed mixtapes and constructed his own lane in the rap genre. “They say I sing rap lyrics,” he says about his style of music. The melodic spitter-producer hails from the West Coast, and has already appeared on tracks with the likes of Dom Kennedy, Terrace Martin, Wiz Khalifa, Ice Cube and of course, longtime collaborators YG and DJ Mustard, creating a his own independent sound that continues to develop with each project.

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