FIVIO FOREIGN: B.I.B.L.E

By Leo Hewitt-Provost

04/08/2022

I first heard Fivio Foreign on Drake’s 2020 Dark Lane Demo Tapes and the song just blew my mind, from Drake’s incredible vocal ranges to Fivio’s presence, from that point on, I knew he was a big deal. It’s incredible to hear his progress and his ascendance, he also featured on Off the Grid with Playboi Carti and Ye last year on Donda, and brings a new dynamic to drill music.

B.I.B.L.E has been anticipated for a while, originally supposed to come out on the 25th of March alongside City of Gods with Alicia Keys and Ye, the album date was pushed back. The album is executively produced by Kanye West and features heavyweights in the game: Quavo, Lil Yachty, A$AP Rocky, DJ Khaled, Polo G and Ne-Yo just to name a few.

On God featuring KayCyy is the first track of the album, and immediately you can feel the Kanye influence behind the track, and Mike Dean does ever so well on the production. KayCyy also features on Hello with Fivio Foreign and Chloe, who both killed the track, whilst Fivio repeats himself frequently.

Quavo was called upon on Through the Fire and Magic City, and shows his versatility to flow on any song, which isn’t an easy thing for trap artists when transitioning over to drill beats. Fivio does sound hungrier on Magic City than he does on Through the Fire, where he perhaps lacked a bit in substance.

B.I.B.L.E (standing for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) makes it clear that the instructions to follow when listening to the project is to have an open mind about the completed piece of work. Songs like World Watching feat Lil Tjay and Yung Bleu are great examples of that. The song is a different vibe, with Both Tjay and Yung Bleu bringing another dynamic to the album, and is nearly impossible for anyone else to do.

Songs like World Watching and What’s My Name (sampling Destiny’s Child) give us a whole variety of songs to vibe to, perhaps erasing many people’s doubts and fears that Fivio couldn’t do anything but heavy based drill music.

City of Gods featuring Kanye and Alicia Keys was released just under two months ago and it is everything people love to hear, Alicia Keys always brings the heat when mentioning New York City, Ye brings immaculate storytelling and Fivio establishes himself in the game. The single was such a good introduction to B.I.B.L.E.

For Nothin is Fivio Foreign’s first solo track and refers to Fivio’s growth in the game, his opponents and issues with women, over the two-minute track, it may not feel like he’s saying much but he is, Feel My Struggle is similar in that regards where he is once again on the track by himself, and both songs are very intricate, personal and you can feel his pain.

Confidence features A$AP Rocky and my initial thoughts were that the song is too short, but that was before Flacko comes in and goes back and forth with Fivio, this feature is one I’ve been looking forward to considering both rappers are from NYC and being a big fan of both also helps. The song is incredible, but I would have liked another 45 seconds to let the beat die down a little.

Slime Them features Lil Yachty and is definitely the best song yet, Yachty and Fivio aren’t playing on this one. The production is scary, heavy, menacing and out of this world. What follows is DJ Khaled over B.I.B.L.E talk warning Fivio Foreign of the career he is about to have, the haters, the jealousy and fake friends wanting to tag along.

From that point on, the latter half of the album is varied, Changed on Me featuring Vory and Polo G is soothing and each verses are fire. Left Side feat Blueface is yet another vibe, trying to combine New York drill with Blueface’s West Coast’s trademark signature, the song is quite catchy but a tad bit too long, frustrating considering some songs may deserve a longer runtime.

It sounds incredible to hear Ne-Yo on Love Songs, the instrumental sounds exactly like what you expect a love song to sound like, plus the drill components make for a tidy finish. Whoever has an incredible production yet again and is just outstanding, nothing ever heard before and sounds like a very hopeful track, with Fivio Foreign explaining that this track goes out to ‘whoever’.

Can’t Be Us is the last track of B.I.B.L.E and sounds like a track that could be one of Drake’s in an alternative universe, after all, that’s where I first heard Fivio Foreign talk his shit.

B.I.B.L.E is a great body of work, many people will be surprised to hear a variety of sounds throughout the project, but that just means drill fans will benefit from listening to their favourite drill tracks on here, and there are more than just a couple. KayCyy, Coi Leray, Vory and many other artists brought a breath of fresh air to the album to make it a bit more complete.