Music Mondays - 2hollis - trauma Review

2hollis - trauma Review

2hollis is the underground’s new golden child, and for good reason. The 20-year old artist, producer, and engineer has a discography that spans back to the infancy of the pandemic, but most critics and fans alike have been particularly enamored by his recent stylistic shifts and artistic evolution.

9/27/24

2hollis, in his early career, debuted his (at the time) signature “chainmail” sound— a dark, dreary, medieval-tinged form of trap, creating EPs such as “The Jarl”, “As Above, So Without” and “META” that showed the world his unique and progressively improving approach to hip-hop production and lyricism, helping to stamp his name in the ever-evolving underground rap scene and break away from his peers to become the artist we know today. Another interesting moment in the beginning of his music career was the Chicago drill-inspired mixtape, ‘Finally Lost’, a high-energy project with shimmering, glitzy production that strayed from his “chainmail” style and showed a bit more of his versatility as a rapper and producer. I don’t believe the tape to be an honest push towards utilizing this sound for his future work, but it’s wild to see a one-off project with such thought and talent put into it, just to be deleted mere months later.

Even as a teenager, 2’s skills were undeniable, with the release of his debut album ‘White Tiger’ in 2022 being a massive stylistic pivot in his career, shedding the medieval gimmick that helped to popularize his earlier work and letting his talents stand on their own with stronger songwriting that was much more grounded in reality than fantasy. ‘White Tiger’ wasn’t necessarily his first exploration of the grandiose fusion of EDM and hip-hop that he is most known for today, but at the time, it was his biggest foray into the sound and established 2hollis as one of the most innovative artists in the entire underground scene. Droning, witch house-adjacent cuts like ‘i always questioned it’ and ‘king of the darkness’ show Hollis closer to his roots as a rapper, with trap breakdowns and a more straightforward vocal delivery; in contrast, the most popular song on the album, ‘safety’, is a straight-up dance track that stood among the best in his career at the time. It is an especially interesting cut from the album, acting as the perfect transition into the glitchy EDM-inspired sound that the artist fully embraces on his next two albums, ‘2’ and ‘boy’. ‘2’ is hard to put in any sort of box-- it could be described as electroclash, synthpop, industrial, dance-pop, or all of the above, yet none of these labels accurately embody the work as a whole. 2hollis’ evolution as a producer and vocalist between ‘White Tiger’, ‘2’, and ‘boy’ would give any new listener whiplash as each project acts as a unique exploration of his influences and inspirations, while innovating in each sound that he explores in a manner that has established him as one of the most talented artist-producers in the underground to date.

There is little, if any, actual ‘rapping’ throughout any of ‘2’ as well as this year’s ‘boy’, where Hollis improves on the composition and structure of his songs while he puts the extent of his range as a vocalist and producer on full display. He works within the limits of his own vocal ability well, as he never pushes himself too far but manages to avoid the trap of homogenous performances with his prowess in composition, often using his voice as an instrument with glitchy vocal chops pitched and scattered around the main vocal throughout both records. Particularly on ’boy’, 2hollis’ sound and versatility reaches new heights, unafraid to launch himself fully into digital-age pop and EDM on songs like ‘crush’ and ‘say it again’— even dropping a fully-instrumental dubstep track with ‘3’— as well as songs that lean closer to a singer-songwriter style such as the album’s closer, ‘mountain’. The production ranges from minimalist and ambient beats (see: ‘sister’) to large, grandiose arrangements that hit the listener like a Mack truck. A personal favorite is the song ‘teenage soldier’, a deep cut that begins with Hollis’ voice at a drowsy whisper over ambient synth pads, his delivery intensifying to a passionate shout as arpeggiated synths preface the tracks’ massive first drop. Layers of gorgeous synth leads glide up each note in the scale over heavily-compressed acoustic drums, with the underlying reese bass reaching a fever pitch that is strong enough to make your skull rattle. Even the second drop grows more intense, with a clipped kick drum sidechained to nearly every other element of the track in a way that makes the song feel less like a static composition and brings a living, breathing rhythm to the forefront with everything else simply acting as the backdrop. It feels like a spiritual successor to ‘safety’ in a sense, or perhaps a victory lap; the two songs share a similar formula in their exponential increase in intensity and showcase his ability in creating journeys through music, but ‘teenage soldier’ is bigger, better, and stronger as a whole piece. The structure may be similar, but the execution has improved tenfold in just two years— at only 20 years old, it boggles the mind to even try and imagine what he has in store next. 2hollis may not be the deepest or most personal lyricist, nor is he the most technically-skilled producer alive, but he is a master at the art of songwriting as it pertains to building breathtaking pieces of music that still manage to evoke a wide array of emotions through the skillful use of melody and arrangement.

All of this is to say that 2’s latest track, ‘trauma’, is by far one of the most essential and energetic cuts from his discography yet. The signature arpeggiated melodies and chest-thumping drums that characterize his past two projects come back in full force, distorted and crushed beyond recognition, but Hollis makes a surprising stylistic choice here— he’s rapping again! It’s made abundantly clear through this track and the preceding single, ‘jeans’, that the 2hollis of years past never died with his ventures into the extremes of electronic music. ‘trauma’ sounds less like a Porter Robinson or Skrillex song, leaning more into the rage- and hyperpop-infused sound popularized by current stars such as Opium’s Ken Carson (who 2hollis is currently on tour with) as well as producers such as F1lthy, Starboy, and Loesoe. The signature reese basses are replaced with high-powered 808s, and club rhythms are pushed aside in favor of rapid hi-hats and staccato snare rolls.

Even Hollis’ rapping is improved in comparison to his first projects, hitting each pocket of the beat with pinpoint precision and a frenetic, fast-paced flow imbued with a newfound sense of confidence in his delivery. The vocal control displayed on his two latest projects is used in a delicate manner throughout the entirety of the track, as his bars are accentuated with an array of narrow melodies that accentuate the songs’ constantly-evolving structure. The lyrics are nothing new if you’re a long-time fan of 2, gliding between braggadocio and obscure references while— as is routine— vaguely alluding to some sort of lost romance, but it stands as one of the best executions of his lyrical style to date. A line in the hook managed to really throw me for a loop: “I’m stuck, C6H12, bitch I’m tryna forget you!” For those of you that didn’t drop out of a biochemistry major like I did, C6H12 is a molecule known as cyclohexane that consists of six carbon atoms in a ring with two hydrogen atoms bonded to each carbon atom. The 2D representation of its molecular structure is a closed, hexagonal loop of carbon atoms with each corner bonded to two hydrogen atoms (pictured below), which is honestly a pretty fucking cool way to say you’re stuck in a cycle of trying to forget someone. Hollis even pulls out the long-missed mythological references peppered throughout his early work, alluding to the wise Hellenistic-era sage Hermes Trismegistus– known for the Hermetica– with the bar “Bitch, I speak to Trisme / You can show me love or show me hate”, an easter egg that old fans may appreciate after the past three years that the artist has dismissed and rejected his “chainmail” sound.

The bridge of the song drops the 808 entirely, opting instead to layer even more plucky arpeggiated synths over the tense stutter of the hi-hat and rolling snares as Hollis’ high-octane vocals drop into the second part of the track. Exactly halfway through the songs’ runtime, ‘trauma’ hits new heights, now completely ditching the trap stylings in favor of an explosive four-on-the-floor dance beat atop a vicious, growling bass line. Piercing leads flutter through the mix as Hollis chops, stutters, and glitches the hook beyond recognition, creating new melodies and rhythms on the fly with nothing but his own voice as the instrumental suddenly cuts to a lone plucked synth bass. A signature of 2hollis’ music that can be found in nearly every one of his songs, the Minecraft firework sound, precede the final drop of the song. Various elements of the beat from each section, such as the stuttering trap hi-hat and the four-on-the-floor beat, come together for a more subdued flourish to close out the song. I particularly enjoy the blend of different aspects of the instrumental to create something familiar yet new in the outro, as it ties everything together beautifully but avoids feeling repetitive in spite of its repetition.

‘trauma’ has blown up since its release just a few months ago, becoming one of his most-streamed songs and creating even more buzz in the scene(s) he inhabits to the point that he may be on his way to mainstream success, already having performed at Lollapalooza this year on a stages’ line-up handpicked by Skrillex himself. This isn’t huge news, as Hollis’ mother manages Skrillex (a young 2hollis can be seen in an early OWSLA video), but it remains a testament to his recognition and talent at such a young age. Having seen him twice, his stage presence is undeniable— apart from his pretty silly dance moves, but hey, most of us look like that in the club too— and that will only help him grow in popularity as he continues to grow as an artist. ‘trauma’ in particular made new fans out of many people in the crowd that I interacted with, with even more Shazam instances open throughout the whole area outside of the raging moshpits that had formed several songs prior. It’s a callback to his early era as a rapper effortlessly fused with his latest endeavors into dance/electronic production and stands completely alone, managing to somehow be unique while fusing two very ‘mainstream’ styles in an era where strict genre rules have become loose guidelines and kids in their room can make Mozart-level compositions with a boundless array of influences to pull from. 2hollis is a generational talent and one of the most interesting artists of the decade so far, and if his latest singles/albums are indicative of him still continuing to grow into his potential, I’ll be counting the days until it releases.

Stream trauma: open.spotify.com/track/0jNhSK5gotdRB1G4nMqEau?si=f6f7dcd5b4064303