Charlie Curtis-Beard - "Love in LA"
Lo-fi, soulful hip-hop
Charlie Curtis-Beard (CCB) is an LA-based rapper who is originally from Nebraska. He was one of the first musicians that I discovered on TikTok (and I have, at this point, found several through that app), so I’ve been following him since early in the Covid times.
CCB’s brand of hip-hop is very lo-fi with a soulful flow. This is easy-listening hip-hop with an emphasis on melody and vibes. Read: CCB doesn’t do a lot of upbeat bangers (that said, this album does have “Pain!!!”, and his last one had “Nails Mint-Green”).
Love in LA is CCB’s fourth LP, though it comes in at just shy of 30 minutes in length (his third album was only 20 minutes long). And that’s really the biggest complaint on this album — I need more.
The album does have a thematic throughline, with all of the songs dealing with love and heartbreak; and many of those looking specifically through the lens of ‘real’ vs ‘fake’ love, given the distortions in how we collectively view romance and relationships thanks to nearly a century of Hollywood (and, more recently, social media). The album also speaks to the resulting loneliness and depression stemming from failed relationships with “Dishes and Laundry” and modern alienation in closing track “You Can HMU”.
This is also the most ‘mature’ album that CCB has produced, I think. There are a few more swears, and sex is a more overt topic than usual. Also, there are definitely fewer “Oh, my!” tags. But CCB still has great flow and some really solid zingers (“you must love chicken when it’s under-seasoned”).
I will say, though, that the songs on this album do seem weaker than the songs on 2022’s Polaroids of Venice — specifically regarding their hooks. There are still several earworm moments, but I don’t feel like they compare. I can go months without having a song from Polaroids pop up in my shuffle, but I am eternally at risk of having “Something in the Water”, “Anime & Chardonnay”, or “Nails Mint Green” just pop into my head. Not to mention the skit at the end of “NASA” — “What the FUCK is a CCB?!” is a meme that more people need to be playing off of.1
Polaroids was very much TOO DAMN SHORT, but it was a very tight package.
That isn’t to say that Love in LA doesn’t have good songs — just that they do not yet strike me as the same level of memorable. And with the rush I’m in to get through these last several reviews, I don’t really have time to sit with the album as much as I’d like to.
Currently, it doesn’t quite clear the bar into 8+ territory. But it’s very good.
Rating: Green
This is also one of my favorite transitory skits of all time, from “Churros!” to “Allow me to put you on…”