Lil Till lets experience speak on Tallinn on Minu

ERR published a review by Martin Merirand of Lil Till’s self-released album Tallinn on Minu, originally published in Müürileht. The album received a score of 8 out of 10.

The rapper’s greatest strength is his experience. When Playboi Carti had just introduced his cult “baby voice” to the rap scene, a young Lil Till emerged on SoundCloud as his Estonian counterpart. His debut, Raha üle kõige, became something of a cult album and showed Till handling the influences of golden-era plugg and early rage with distinctive energy and variety.

The new album is broader, more serious and more grounded in life. Now an old hand, Lil Till lets listeners recognise his experience for themselves, placing his lines in the sweetest pockets of the beats. His vocal control and command of Auto-Tune allow him to distort and emphasise every syllable as he wishes.

The result is a steady stream of earworms. “Zaza” flows effortlessly from beginning to end, “Oxy” giggles, bounces and growls around an unforgettable chorus, while “Värvipime” is one of the most successful rap hits produced in Estonia. The beatmakers deserve credit as well. Particularly appealing is “434”, which samples Sigur Rós and combines yin-yang-like bells with 808 bursts to draw some of the rapper’s most heartfelt delivery yet.

The songs cover women, substances, designer clothes and cash, all familiar subjects for the style. Lil Till follows the rules and offers little that is radically new, but his understanding of those rules is close to virtuosic. Respecting both the scene in which he grew up and the one surrounding him now, he presents his interpretation of the genre with confidence and exceptional quality.