Ghetto Cupid is the debut studio album by American rapper Jaydes, released on August 29, 2023 through 10K Projects. The album was recorded between 2022 and 2023, after Dumount had started working on new material for a new project, it was supported by two singles: "Undercover" and "Kesha K". Consisting of seventeen tracks and a duration of around thirty-two minutes, it was entirely produced by Jaydes, who was accompanied by a few other producers.
Ghetto Cupid is a hip-hop record with a mix of elements featured in the genres pop and rock. The album was written by Dumont after the release of his third extended play, Heartpacing (2022), and centers on self-destructive behavior in relationships and the pursuit of a self-destructive partner. Upon release, Ghetto Cupid received acclaim from music critics, who praised the confidence of the lyrics and the music's enjoyability.
Background and recording
Jaydes would release his third extended play (EP) Heartpacing (2022),[1] which would start to gain traction online.[2] He began to work on his debut studio album following a string of single releases. Jaydes released the album's first single, "Undercover", on January 21, 2023. A plugg song, Pitchfork's Alphonse Pierre discussed its "exasperated" lip flap.[1] Later on April 13, 2023, the second and final single "Kesha K" would release. Ghetto Cupid contains 17 tracks,[1] and the production was done by a handful of producers, also marking Jaydes' switch to making music using guitars.[3]Ghetto Cupid is a hip-hop record with a mix of pop and rock,[4] that explores themes of self destructive behavior in relationships.[5]Ghetto Cupid was preceded by the singles "Undercover" and "Kesha K", both initially released on SoundCloud.
Composition
Music journalists have described Ghetto Cupid as a trap and plugg release with barely audible vocals.[5] Jackson Crocker of The Summit Pinnacle believed that it was "not perfect, but in an era of increasingly over-saturated, cookie cutter music, albums like “Ghetto Cupid” are a breath of fresh air."[5] Going more into detail that it was an example of "unfiltered creativity [...] the vocals are barely delivered—more of a low din than lyrics—the production is messy and blown out with heaps of recycled and repetitive samples, songs are often absent of structure with simple repeated lines".[5]
Ghetto Cupid's opening track begins with a driving, shoegaze pattern before transitioning to a dreamy production of second track “anemic,” Crocker felt that it '"infuses a deep uniqueness into the project."[5]
At Pitchfork, which assigns a normalized score out of 10 to ratings of music, Ghetto Cupid received a score of 7.5 out of 10. Alphonse Pierre writing for Pitchfork explained that the project pulls together disparate strands, from plugg to shoegaze and emo, further going into detail, It's "messy", but [it] works more often than not."[1] Also comparing it to the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Lucki.[6] Pierre also commented that while the "hodgepodge" should be corny, it’s not, because [he’s] just so earnest about it all".[6]Jaydes layers "soft," "lovelorn" melodies over a wide range of beats.[1] Matthew Strauss of Pitchfork said the project was a follow up to his previous success, Heartpacing, and called it more "expansive".[2] While Jackson Crocker of The Summit Pinnacle believed that it was "not perfect, but in an era of increasingly over-saturated, cookie cutter music, albums like “Ghetto Cupid” are a breath of fresh air." exclaiming that "songs are often absent of structure with simple repeated lines and the theme of relationships and self-destructive partner chasing is as played out as it is elementary in its execution.".[5]
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