Bazzi, Focus | Track Review

Rising urban-pop musician Bazzi, known for breakout hit “Mine,” returns with a confident, enjoyable single, “Focus,” assisted by rapper 21 Savage.   

“Slide with me, ride with me, get high with me / You know that I like it when you next to me / Especially, like sexually / ‘Cause you know that I’m fuckin’ with you heavily…”  Hey – he’s honest! Urban-pop singer Bazzi dropped his debut LP, COSMIC in 2018, fueled by the breakout hit “Mine.”  Notably, COSMIC had no features, though a remix of another key single, “Beautiful” brought Camila Cabello into the fold.  On his latest single, the brief “Focus,” he gets an assist from rapper 21 Savage.

“Focus” is respectable by all means.  First and foremost, the youthful pop singer delivers a nice vocal performance.  No, Bazzi is no male powerhouse, but his tone is beautiful, he never over-sings, and he brings confidence and swagger to the table.  Yes, that means that there’s some slang and of course profanity (see the aforementioned excerpted chorus), but it fits his artistic identity you might say. Give his blend of pop and urban contemporary sensibilities, the production is sleek, anchored by a hard beat and sick synth/keyboard/programming.  No, the backdrop isn’t game changing, but sufficient and quite effective.  As for 21 Savage,  he complements well, matching his confidence (as much as you can with his deadpan style of delivery):

“Ridin’ through my hood, I got your bae with me

I took her on a date, I brought my K with me.”

Final Thoughts

All in all, as aforementioned, “Focus” is a respectable offering from Bazzi.  Game changing? Nope – he doesn’t revolutionize the urban-pop game by any means.  But, was that ever the point?  This is solid and enjoyable, with a nice lift from a brief verse courtesy of 21 Savage.

Bazzi • Focus (Ft. 21 Savage) [Single] • Release: 6.13.19

Photo Credit: Bazzi