Alexander Anyaegbunam, more commonly known by his stage name, “Rejjie Snow” is an underground Dublin rapper. He’s signed to 300 Records, which is also the home of hip hop artists Fetty Wap, Young Thug and Migos. He’s toured with Madonna and worked with the producers of Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper, so he knows what he’s doing.

Dear Annie is Snow’s introspective sophomore album, was released on Feb. 12. On his Spotify page, Rejjie notes that it is a “bold statement of intent.” The twenty-track album is a relaxed and moody tribute to a girl he met in Paris, featuring “Egyptian Luvr,” a song with breakthrough artist Aminé. However, Snow’s album does not seem to have as bold of a style compared to his first album The Moon & You– although the works share the same lo-fi, pop, hip-hop, and R&B traits.

The album starts off as happy and melodic, Snow rapping lyrics like “Girl it’s your world / The evening stars fall from you / Bet that’s your birthplace / The sun reminds me of you” from “Pink Lemonade,” a song much like the rest of the first half of the album; happy, light and melodic.

As the album evolves into the second half, Snow then turns to melancholy and despair. In “The Ends,” he raps “I feel so lonely, I’m so sad, sad, smoking faces / I feel so scrawny, and so bony, I ain’t eating bacon / and all these rappers say they know me but I’m feeling hated.” The Dublin rapper uses  an artificial American accent in this song, channelling unoriginal Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator vibes. His authenticity would be appreciated here, as his nationality is what makes him stand out.

Dear Annie has an overall groovy sound but should have gone further in making the artist stand out as an individual. Rejjie Snow is too heavily influenced by his inspirations, but this can be perceived as a good thing- he has a lot of potential and can be one to look out for during 2018.

Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐