JOSMAN's "SPLIT" review: ambitious but limited

Strongly inspired by the eponymous film directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Josman unveils split, his new album composed of 23 tracks. 23 titles for 23 different personalities. With this formula, the rapper promises us a unique album whose each song will be different from the previous one. A year and a half after his last project J.O.S which earned him, rightly, his first gold record. The expectation around this mysterious project was therefore at its peak. But has the bet been kept? verdict! 

Yes… But! 

The album is long… Very long! In the age of streaming, 23 tracks for an album, it can seem like an eternity for the listener. This length may therefore put off even the most ardent fans of the rapper. Indeed, the first criticism that popped up on the web after the release of the album was its length. But not that! To our great regret, the album also has the defect of being very repetitive in its themes. Josman mainly talks about his vision of the world, drugs or women… This repetitiveness is quite contradictory for an album supposed to show a different facet of the rapper to each song. However, some songs manage to do well and denote with the monotony of the project, such as babygirl, bambi or money, drugs and sex. 

Featurings

This is where the bottom hurts… The featurings could have been a way to take Josman out of his comfort zone a little but nothing helps. Yet he managed to bring back beautiful people on his project (hamza, leto, zed de 13 block, Chily and Seth Gueko). These collaborations are enticing on paper, but the reality is far less convincing. The guests are mostly on autopilot and do not create surprises. It's a shame because artists with a well-marked universe like Hamza could really have colored this graying album of sadness and melancholy. In addition, the collaboration with Seth Gueko is as strange as it is successful. Indeed, the instrumental change and the well-felt puns of Seth Gueko give relief to the sound. In the end, only Zed managed to create a little surprise with his verse in Bruce Wayne, the banger of the album.

Album or Playlist? 

Nevertheless, without being exceptional, the album does the job. Failing to have a real thread, it can peck in any circumstances, sound after sound, in the order you want to give it. As a result, the project looks more like a playlist or mixtape than a real album. Josman offers 23 facets of his personality to his audience, you are free to choose the one that suits you best and make good use of it. With Split, Josman delivers a more than intimate project. It is a real journey in his tortured mind that is proposed to us. A half-hearted bet and too unsurprising, which will put off more than one despite successful sounds.