Music Single Review: "Archetype" by Omar Apollo

3 Boomboxes

"...Archetype is redolent of an indie RnB track, and one expects the freedoms that indie artists are afforded for their little pay and fanbase."

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Single from album “Archetype”

Released: June 15, 2022

Length: 2:48

Genre: Rnb & Soul

Written by: Omar Apollo

Produced by: Oscar Santander, Omar Apollo

& Carter Lang

"Archetype" by Omar Apollo struggles due to its limitations. Sometimes, a song can have the right ingredients for a chart-rising track, a funky bass, a bouncy piano, steady rhythm, and versatile vocals, but it simply doesn’t blend right to make a fresh and entertaining experience.

Using the tropes and rhythms previously practiced by artists with tracks that earned reputable success is trite and boring. It limits the artist. It stifles the artist’s creativity, putting them in a box that won’t allow them to fully express themselves, as they must follow the procedures learned from the previously successful. A musician and artist must be defiant or fun-loving, memorable, and intense (in your face); however, a box can stifle these necessities for their creative excellence.

And here we are with "Archetype"by Omar Apollo, a bold attempt at expression through the hackneyed and high-pitched RnB piano, the horrid imitation of Justin Bieber’s vocal style mixed with earsplitting falsettos, the sleep-inducing tempo, and the forgettable 60’s funk bass — an all too familiar images of an RnB star. All too familiar!

One can visualize the record executives and studio procedures convincing Omar Apollo that success is imminent if he creates the track their way. They’ve done it before. They know the secrets. Or on the other side, one can see fear from an artist afraid to deliver his whole caliber. These may be a manifold truth in the reality of business and art, but the question is, did Omar Apollo succeed in his full creative expression, making "Archetype"wholly his own?

This listener feels not. If so, there would have been beautiful moments of him showing his vocal range — a hook that rose and fell like a stormy sea, emotions that pushed the clouds of misunderstanding to a fruitful land of equality. Instead, the vocals are flat, on a single unvegetated plane, and safe, with solely the falsetto being its crux. There is no pathos, none of the emotional depth that connects artists, through their art, to the audience.

When the song begins with the piano introduction, "Archetype" is redolent of an indie RnB track, and one expects the freedoms that indie artists are afforded for their little pay and fanbase. The freedom which makes their artistry seasoned with their whole self, which makes them favorites within a playlist. However,"Archetype"disappoints and continues to disappoint: from the lack of change in the vocals and production to the unmemorable hook, the drowning out of the bass, and more. Worse, the lyrics that should have been heartfelt were not felt at all.

This listener believes "Archetype" by Omar Apollo would have been blazin’ if Omar just sang all out on a track without the sounds and themes we have heard too many times, without the pressures of success on his back.

Liked this music review on the RNB track, "Archetype" by Omar Apollo? Check out something similar with "Oh My God" By Adele - [Basic! - 3 boomboxes]

If you enjoyed "Archetype" by Omar Apollo, you can check out his latest album, "Ivory," released April 2020.

Bolivar T. Caceres is a Bronx-based artist and writer. His poems appear on ShortEdition and Ariel Chart. He is also the author of the chapbook Outside My Garret Window, published in 2020. He currently writes for the quarterly film blog Film Studies 401 and the news blog New York Positivity. Connect with him on social media @BolivarTCaceres and at www.BtcArt.co.

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