Max Cartwright, Contributor 

[Above ground Entertainment; 2024] 

Rating: 7/10  

Key Tracks: “TIME MOVES SLOW”, “SAME MISTAKE”, “WAR!”  

DESTIN CONRAD’s new album, SUBMISSIVE2, serves as a sequel to last year’s, SUBMISSIVE. Conrad is a fairly new artist, debuting in 2019 with his song, “CAUTIOUS”, and his new installment serves as his fourth mini-album. Throughout his career he has established himself as an R&B artist, but doesn’t just stick strictly to that genre. A lot of his music contains elements of soul, alternative, rock, pop, and more. This was my first introduction to Conrad, and I was not disappointed.  

SUBMISSIVE2 contains nine tracks, with a total run-time of 16 minutes. This album is where he really explores the fusion of R&B and soul. The production throughout the tracks is pretty consistent, but each contains different and unique elements sprinkled throughout. “IF I LIE” brings more of the energy to the album, while tracks like “SAME MISTAKE” contribute to the rawer and more stripped back sections of the album. 

Read more: Album Review: Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete – Crosses

“TIME MOVES SLOW” opened the project, and we are immediately pulled into the world of Conrad wanting to be vulnerable and “submissive” with his partner. We hear lyrics such as, “Everything you do to make me feel like I’m so amazing, but tonight I wanna feel inferior,” which shows that the singer is ready to take his relationship further. Throughout the song, he expresses how he is unsure how his partner feels. 

He makes this point through lyrics such as, “Wan’ know how you feelin’ bae, so tell me (what’s the deal?) / Time movin’ slow but it ain’t in our favor.” Overall, this was a great introduction to the album, having a catchy hook and bringing you into Conrad’s mindset for this project. This was my favorite track on first listen and is still one of my favorites now. 

“WAR!” is probably his most submissive song lyrically, where the lyrics are geared towards saying everything he would do for his “baby”. These range from committing crimes to moving across the country. This is one of the more enticing tracks, as the last half of the songs feature different voices saying what they would do for their desired love. This track also goes a slightly different route with the production, being one of the more upbeat songs, providing a nice change of pace. 

“SAME MISTAKE” is the only song with a feature on it, and I think it works really well for this album. This song is currently my favorite to listen to, as Conrad and Alex Isley collaborate and complement each other nicely. Their voices blend together seamlessly and the two are able to tell a story of what seems to be a friends-with-benefits relationship, where the two contain complex feelings for one another, constantly falling in and out of love. The chorus of this song is also catchy, although it lacks lyrics as most of it is a lot of “da-da’s” and “la-da’s”, with the name of the song intertwined.  

With this new project, Deston continues the same themes that he explored the first time around. These themes range from sex, desire, trust issues, toxic relationships, and of course, being submissive – whether that be physically or emotionally. Although these concepts are somewhat diverse, they sometimes become repetitive.  

The main downside I have to take away after listening was that I was disappointed with the length of the project. With there being only 16 minutes of play and nine tracks, that leaves less than a two-minute average of tracks. Three tracks on this album are all around 30 seconds or less, the shortest being 14 seconds long. 

While I can appreciate an interlude or two on projects, they need to be able to make sense with the rest of the tracks, and I don’t think a third of an album should be interludes, such as this one. That said, “still soulmate(s)”, and “yo confidence pt.2” do fit the story as they talk about themes presented in the album. However, “mum’s story” is a track that does not seem to fit. The only lyrics in it are, “Let me out, let me out of here”, and features Conrad’s mom talking. To me, this was a random addition and didn’t have any substance to it.  

I think without the interludes, this would be a good 8/10 EP, but as an album including these tracks, I feel as though a seven is more fitting. That said, Conrad is still pretty new to the music industry, and I was still pleased with the highlights of this project and am excited to see how he evolves as an artist and to see where he goes with his music journey. I think fans of Jordan Ward and Planet Giza would enjoy this album.  

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