070 Shake: You Can't Kill Me (Album Review)

070 Shake’s second album You Can’t Kill Me was released just days ago and here’s what the contemporary rapper's new project offers:

You Can’t Kill Me comes as an intimate extension of Shake’s philosophical take on humanity. The album explores interpersonal connections while interrogating emotional investment, co-dependency, and withdrawal.

070 Shake features previously released tracks such as ‘Body’, ‘Web’, and ‘Skin and Bones’ on the 14-track album combined alongside new unheard tracks.

Shake’s existentialism continued in her music video for the album track ‘Medicine’ (directed by Alexander Wesseley), depicting Shake submerged in water and vocalising through an oxygen mask, the visuals invoke the sense of human reliance on the material world, whereas You Can’t Kill Me realises we exist as more than just a body. Shake suggests that reducing ourselves to physical identity means we become susceptible to being hurt, as the album's title indicates.

Having been recognised in 2016 with the track ‘Trust Nobody’, which was released by Kanye West’s Def Jam-supported Getting Out Our Dreams label, the last six years have seen Shake’s musical reputation grow exponentially as she becomes an established artist. 2021 saw the consistent release of countless singles and accompanying music videos attributing Shake as a visual and sonic radical. Key inclusions on Pusha T’s ‘Santeria’, ‘Ghost Town’ and ‘Violent Crimes’ from the Ye album by Kayne West in 2018 cement her status.

You Can’t Kill Me was executively produced by 070 Shake herself and Dave Hamelin, mixed and mastered by Mike Dean, the album delivers all the storytelling and honesty that Shake has become renowned for backed by futuristic gospel sounds. The album is a cerebral experience that transcends music into art and human philosophy.