In hip-hop, there’s not much within a song that is as important as rhythm is, but Dre’Co is more than aware of this. His latest single, the cerebral “Way Up,” is a track structured around – and atop – its circular rhythm, throwing us in one direction as much as it does the other, with the only central point of consistency in the groove coming from Dre’Co’s lyrical delivery. He’s got a little help from Asia Major on the hook, but at the end of the day, this is one rap juggernaut you can credit to his name almost exclusively.
The vocal dueling between Dre’Co and Asia Major is conservatively highlighted in the master mix, but it undeniably has an impact on how we’re to interpret the narrative here. The tension we experience going back and forth from the melodic end of the spectrum to the cut and dry delivery our star is employing is significant, but it only adds to the effect of release once we get into the fever pitch of “Way Up.” These are two players who know how to use and develop a mood together, and I’d love to hear them do it in a slow jam some time as well.
Watch the video for “Way Up” below
I’m seriously digging the crossover element in “Way Up” this January, and while it’s becoming popular to blend trap with melodic hip-hop and components of progressive pop, I don’t know that I’ve heard another single/video combo quite like this one in 2022. Dre’Co comes into the booth straight swaggering here, but he isn’t frontin’ with a lot of bells and whistles ahead of his lyric – quite the opposite, frankly. His is a journey to the top beset with experimentation, and thus far, he’s yet to disappoint in any of the releases he’s offered from behind the mic.