“I Was Mature For My Age, But I Was Still a Child” by grouptherapy

An energetic shot in the arm for alternative hip-hop.

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Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!

Today’s music pick is an energetic shot in the arm for alternative hip-hop, seamlessly bringing together rap, pop, punk, and dance elements.

Genre: Alternative Hip-Hop, Experimental

Label: Self-Released

Release Date: June 27, 2023

Vibe: 🤩

To even call grouptherapy’s I Was Mature For My Age, But I Was Still a Child a hip-hop record is a bit of a misnomer. The group, consisting of TJWm Jadagrace, Rhea, Koi, and producer Dee Lilly, mine the likes of pop, punk rock, house music, R&B, and even weepy singer/songwriter ballads to create a text that extends far outside what most hip-hop heads would consider the genre’s typical boundaries. Like Let’s Start Here, this record isn’t content to let adequate-to-tepid imitation and the resulting nostalgia drive its music. The collective balances moments of chilling moodiness with others of hilarious, catchy levity. This tone is increasingly difficult to pull off in an era where rap is, for better and worse, sometimes too self-serious for its own good.

Part of this LP’s appeal is that there’s something here for everyone. Tracks like “How I’m Feeling” and “Nasty” are club-ready firestarters, while “Thatsmycheck” is the kind of playful, accessible pop-trap record that sounds destined to soundtrack TikTok videos in perpetuity. A cut like “American Psycho” shows that grouptherapy can serve up some gritty bars that go hard, especially in the second verse, which sees TJOnline put the haters on blast. All that said, the most surprising moments of Mature were the quieter, more vulnerable ones, including “Club Song :(“ and closer “Still Alive.” Both feature outstanding vocals from Jadagrace and, lyrically at least, offer glimmers of hope amid prevailing darkness. As she puts it on the latter, “I'm still alive (Still alive, still alive)/I’m still getting by one way or another/I'm thinkin', maybe I'm/I'm meant for more than a life, just shy of the gutter.”

Watch out for grouptherapy—they’re on the come up.

👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈