“Clone” By Levi Deadman Review
By Bri Lamontagne
“Clone” by Levi Deadman seems to be a rap song about the deterioration of society. I would say it’s always had problems, but Deadman seems to be of the opinion that it is worse now than it was when he was growing up. I draw this conclusion from lines like “what happened to men and the way they were raised” and the majority of the second verse where the narrator compares modern standards to how he was raised. The first verse is mostly about how society is messed up now and the struggles of a rap artist. The music here is fast and the beat sounds a bit harsh on my ears, almost like a machine-gun ricochet – I wonder if that was on purpose? I’m calling these two the verses, because the first lines of the song are refrained at the end of the song, and the tempo of that intro/outro is different to the rest of the song.
The intro/outro portion is full of metaphors about pain and strife, though it ends with the sentiment that the narrator loves it. The beat of these sections is not as fast as the “verses” but it’s fast enough that it took me several tries to grasp what was being said. The rhyming here is certainly on point, though – that is to say, impressive. This was more like the rap I grew up with (but rarely listened to), both musically, lyrically, and in terms of speed.
The middle part is the slowest and repetitive, in a way that is common of the “chorus” of many rap songs. It discusses the rapper’s struggles in life and perhaps rivalry, though it’s not clear who the “you” is that he is referring to. This is the portion that comes between the two verses, but it only comes once in the song, so I have trouble calling it either a “chorus” or a “refrain”.
“Clone” also starts and ends with a more melodic, slow tune, which lends a little bit of a peaceful feel to it, despite the feel of unrest throughout the rest of the song.
