Lord Apex's brand of Lo-fi rap music takes a darker turn as a result of his team up with Bushi Vibes. The mix down and the combination of sounds used in the melodies feels like earl sweatshirt's depressive atmosphere that is at core of his sound.
Lord apex speaks on the parts of life that can be bleak or depressing, and gives his answers on how he gets through it. This gives the title "Dark Skies" true meaning to compliment the dark tones across the instrumentals.
"Pharaoh in my past life" is one hell of an introduction to the project. The vocal samples alongside the drum pattern and the radio crackle effects underneath almost sounds like a storm brewing. It sets the tone for the introspective yet sporadic thoughts he gives in the form of rhymes.
Lord Apex has some strong lyrical performances on this ep, especially on "Young Grasshopper" where he literally hops from one rhyming scheme to another. You can count 3 in the first verse alone, and its truly impressive how his flows switches are so clean, yet they don't ruin the depressive tone set by the instrumentals by being too contrasting.
Bushi Vibes deserves a lot of credit for his production on this project, and if there is one track to highlight his talent, its "Sublime Energized Divine totals". The piano melodies are echoed nicely, and sit underneath the drum pattern. It has the 90's rap feel that is common in lo-fi rap due to its blues and jazz influences, but the distorted keys and the creative sounds used to replace the traditional snare gives it a unique feel and a darker tone.
There is so much more that could be dug into regarding how his themes tackled in this ep reveals his personality and contributes to his choice of lyrics. "All good things come to an end", uses the repetition and tone of voice to show his varying emotions or emphasise certain feelings. he feels stuck at a point in life, so sculpts the first 16 bar around the phrase "Stuck in". wordplay isn't just about punchlines, and Lord Apex clearly understands that.
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