Aight Bet – S/T
There’s a phrase in entertainment journalism / criticism that people seem to either love or hate: “just turn your brain off.” Depending on who you are, or what you like, that phrase either makes you seethe or nod in agreement. I’m in the middle of that, personally, especially now that I’m older. I used to dismiss albums that were merely surface level listens, or albums that you don’t need to think that deeply about, and you can enjoy for what they are. I wanted albums that I could sink my teeth into, and ones that had what I also call “lasting value,” but I’ve come to realize that’s a close-minded way of thinking. It’s okay to enjoy albums and bands that have a surface level sound, whether the sound is generic, or the lyrics aren’t about anything extremely deep or profound. Something doesn’t need to be deep, profound, or unique to be great, and I’ve learned that quite a bit over the past few years of getting back into new music. Sometimes a great album is just catchy, fun, energetic, or worthy of a good time. That’s how I feel about Chicago self-proclaimed “hoodcore” Aight Bet’s sophomore self-titled album. This is more or less their debut album, because the band put out an EP in 2023, but the band calls this their second album, so I’ll just say it’s their sophomore album. I found these guys on Bandcamp a few days back while looking for some new music, especially metalcore, but their identification as “hoodcore” caught my attention. I didn’t really know what that meant, but I was really curious about this album.
As you can probably tell, the album art isn’t very flattering, but you can’t judge an album by its cover (at least for the most part, anyway). After hearing it, though, this album bangs so hard, I love it. Is this album going to win any awards, or will it be one of the best of the year? Not necessarily, but I’ve learned that isn’t a bad thing. This album is 34 minutes of nu-metal, metalcore, and hip-hop, but it’s done relatively well. A lot of people would make comparisons to Rage Against The Machine, Korn, Linkin Park, or Fever 333, because those are the only few rap metal bands people know (Korn isn’t quite rap metal, but you know what I mean), but some of those make sense. These guys don’t sound like Rage whatsoever, but I hear some Korn, Linkin Park, and even some Fever 333, especially when these bands lean into their hip-hop influences more. Aight Bet really isn’t afraid to lean into those, especially when a lot of rap metal bands don’t want to fully go into hip-hop and add hip-hop production into their sound, but that shows up on the entirety of this album. Another apt comparison would be Dropout Kings, who are a self-described trap-metal band, and that’s a band that just wants to have a good time. By an extension, they want you to have a good time, too, and that’s exactly how I feel whenever I listen to this.
Aight Bet is a band that isn’t concerned with saying or doing anything profound, but that’s completely fine. This is a 34-minute nu-metal / rap-metal bruiser, and it goes absolutely hard, but in all the best ways. If you want riffs and breakdowns for days, and lyrics that will make you like a total badass, you’ll get it. I hate to say that, but at the same time, there just isn’t much to say about this album. It’s not one of those albums that I don’t have anything to say, but it’s pretty bare bones for what it is, and what it’s trying to say, so there’s not much to really go in depth about. It’s one of those albums you can almost turn your brain off with and enjoy it quite a bit. There is something to be said about how hardcore and hip-hop can come together to create something really cool, but Aight Bet isn’t the first band to do it. They’re not the first band to have this style, but they make it work well. If you like any of the bands I mentioned, or you just like nu-metal, nu-metalcore, or any of that stuff, I think you’ll love this. Yeah, this won’t win any awards, but does it really need to, though? When I look at an album like this, I’m not expecting to be a post-progressive-death-black-alternative metal album with a thesis on the state of the world. I want some sick breakdowns, grooves, and lyrics about how awesome and badass I am, and that’s what this album provides in spades.
