24hrs Shows Signs of Old and New on Valentino Twenty

With Valentine’s day passing in February, 24hrs decided he would let the holiday be a source of inspiration for his new mixtape, VALENTINO TWENTY . The 15 track project addresses 24’s apparent relationship issues while maintaining and expanding on his signature auto-tune, 808 heavy sound.

The project starts off with “FLAKE”, where 24hrs sets the tone for the tape by rapping about a relationship that ended prematurely over an 80’s synth and 808 driven beat. What is observed with 24 is that he balances out his emotional side with his swag content, as introspective lyrics are coated with subtle flexes and the emotional songs are almost always followed with a track that bumps. Two good examples of this would be with “GET IT GET IT” and “CARRY ON” as they run catchy 808 patterns and bring an energy that is closer to what 24hrs had done in the past, and the songs let 24 get emotional, but not too emotional. Some songs on the album, like “DRUGS” and “MY VALENTINE” use uptempo, 808 beats with great hi hat bounce to convey a more personal message, specifically relationship content. Tracks like this, and others like “MOVING” and “DEVATE SWINNG” show growth as a composer and sound diversity from 24, with reversed sounds being used frequently, which is good to see.

24hrs(right) with brother MadeInTyo

One definite strong point of the project is the feature list, highlighted by Ty Dolla $ign assisted “BUBBLE”, family track “BACKWOOD” featuring his brother madeinTYO, and “MY VALENTINE” with Soulja Boy aka Young Drako aka Soulja Boy Tell’em. Other features on the mixtape come from Salma Slims, MyNamePhin, Flippa Da Skippa, blackbear, Rossi Rock and Casey Veggies. The strength of the features is matched by the quality of the beats used, as 24’s producer background comes through for consistent rhythm and bounce and his signature 808 sound. The weak point of the project would have to be the lyricism, and even though there is improvement shown, the lack of content versatility could be improved.

Criticizing 24 hrs for content is not completely fair as he is not necessarily making his music to send a lyrical message, but is chasing a unique style, full of 808, well-used autotune, and catchy vocals. All of those elements are found on this project and at the rate 24 has been releasing music of late you can look forward to hearing more from 24hrs in the coming months.

Highlighted Tracks: “GET IT GET IT”, “BACKWOOD”, “COULDN’T SAY SORRY”, “MY VALENTINE”