Although the instrumental melodies behind him qualify as synthetic in origin, there’s still something very cerebral about the lurid harmonies Tommy Stoner forms in his trap-style single “Sturdy (ft. Ferregamo Swave & Ghee Boe),” currently out everywhere intriguing hip-hop is sold and streamed. Stoner’s inelegant management of the hook in this track is indeed one of the main features to consider here, given it provides the song with so much more of a rebellious edge than it would have possessed otherwise, but if you ask me, it’s his overall attitude that makes “Sturdy” sound like a career-making breakthrough on his part.
This single is pretty short, clocking just under two minutes in total length, but it covers a lot of ground within the context of its narrative in that time. Truth be told, there’s just no need for any additional bombast that a lot of other artists might have employed in this same mix; Tommy Stoner’s virtuosity as a vocalist is the main attraction in “Sturdy,” and beyond the capable contributions of his two collaborators in Ferregamo Swave and Ghee Boe, there’s never any room for debating what the track is all about. He’s too dominant a force to be reckoned with for anyone to get it twisted.
Watch the video for “Sturdy” below
To-the-point but still a bit sophisticated in regards to its sonic and lyrical depths, I think “Sturdy” might be the best content that Tommy Stoner has recorded thus far. Next to the swelling postmodern pop movement, hip-hop is getting even more diversified and colorful than it was just five short years ago, and in this single, Stoner asserts himself as someone who wants to stay on the experimental edge of the genre’s burgeoning alternative scene as opposed to joining up with the mainstream. That’s why, in my opinion, “Sturdy” feels like so much of an identity track.
