Released September 5th, 2022
Written by Ryan Henderson & Taylor Michael
Opinion Before Listening:
YTN Paco has one of the most interesting voices from Toronto I have heard so far. I’ve recently been binging his music and was amped when I found out he was releasing an album. With Bangers like, ‘Switch’, ‘Don’t Feel The Same’, and ‘Cz World’ all being dropped before the release of ‘Only Way Is Up’ you can tell he was trying to get people excited for his debut album and it worked! His style showcases where he’s from so clearly. The melodic rapping flow with the extreme changes of pitch throughout his songs makes for an amazing listen!
He seems like an extremely motivated and family oriented young man at only 20 years old, consistently mentioning how he’s doing this for his mother and how he’s working hard to “make it out.” He talks about being into criminal activity in his music a lot and even bringing up how he’s facing charges as we speak and grinding for a better life for him and his family. It’s sad to see talented young men going down that path so I hope he makes it off his music as he continues to grind and release more! I’d love to see another one make it doing what they love!
Tracklist Ranking:
#1: ‘No Manners’ – 8.4/10
#2: ‘Takin Risks’ – 7.9/10
#3: ‘No Guidance’ – 7.7/10
#4: ‘Love Scars’ – 7.4/10
#5: ‘Struggling Pt.2’ – 7.3/10
#6: ‘Cz World’ – 7.2/10
#7: ‘Get Left’ 7.1/10
#8: ‘Suicidal’ – 7/10
#9: ‘Smoke Screen’ – 6.7/10
#10: ‘Lion’ 6.4/10
#11: ‘Way To Live’ 6.3/10
#12: ‘Untouchable’ – 6.1/10
#13: ‘Dangerous’ 6/10
Top 3 Tracks Strictly Based On The Performance:
(trying to analyze bars, singing, and energy put into the music aside from the beat.)
#1 No Guidance – “They don’t got love for me. I did a lot of shit the opps gon’ hate, but they remember me” I feel like this bar can be decrypted in a couple different ways. The message I perceive YTN Paco is trying to convey is how jealous his “opps” are of what he’s achieving and doing for those around him.
“All the youngins’ just want violence. The streets just ain’t the same no more, these n-‘s got no guidance” All of today’s rappers are glorifying guns, violence, and other criminal acts all for the sake of being “real”. It’s completely unfair to place all or even half the blame on hip hop but to think it doesn’t have any affect is almost ignorant to how the younger upcoming generations are so extremely mailable to everything around them which nowadays is social media’s almost guaranteed by the age of 10. Hip hop has become one of the biggest if not the biggest genre of music in today’s world. The rappers of the 90s and even 2000s were guiding their listeners to a more positive way of life. (For the most mainstream anyways, Tupac, OutKast, Biggie, Em, Nas, etc. Today’s biggest rappers are nowhere near as introspective about societal problems or how to escape the cycle of the streets as today’s rappers seem to be promoting that way of life.
“I’m so paranoid from sirens (Yeah, yeah), Think I’m lackin’, bullets find ’em (Grrt), The streets so cold.” Painting a vivid but all too familiar picture. The killings of many “thugs” and upcoming artists because of things like such. The gun glorification in hip hop is very extreme for me when I think about things rationally. It’s something I wish could change because of all the young talents we see die to gun violence. We’ve had too many shocking deaths in the recent years because of this the list would be too long. Wonder why things need to change?
#2 Love Scars – “Never gave away my heart before I met you”… “promise I’m gon make things right cause I love you.” Love is definitely one of the most powerful emotion we have. It makes you do things you would have never done before. Like sacrificing things you never would’ve if you didn’t meet this person. We always hope it’s in a positive way but we’ve all seen our fair share of toxic relationships especially in today’s fast paced social media era.
“All you wanted was my attention, streets so cold. I’ve been busy trying to grind and bring racks home.” The everyday fight of the man grinding for his passion while he’s in love. There’s no money at the start and there’s even more sacrifice because of the lack of money, so it’s extremely hard on both parties for obvious reasons. I’ve always seen this in the construction field where men get caught up in the money they’re making and run through wives..
“Lately I don’t know who you are, I told you life don’t feel the same no more. Why would you leave I needed you to hold on.” Insanely deep line that hits me and many others I’ve shown right in the feels. This can be related to so many different situations like death, heartbreak, family relationships. It really opens up a great connection for the listener to form with YTN Paco.
#3 Struggling Pt.2 – The hook on this track is absolutely beautiful and conveys so many emotions and harsh realities of YTN Paco’s life. “I remember days that I was struggling, then I found my way.” I really enjoy tracks with messages like these because hearing about someone make it is no better motivation for me at least. Hearing about how people believed in themselves, stuck to their grind and it all paid off. Messages like these form people who are born in bad neighborhoods already set further back than the average person over something they can’t control still making it doing exactly what they want to do. How can you not think your dreams can come true if you just put the work in!
“Call me brother but you watching my pockets.” Something that fears me about having those close to me is how quick love can turn into envy. Mental health and the struggles people go through everyday go into this a lot but if one of your brothers start to think you’re undeserving of what you earn things can go sour very quickly. A popular quote that correlates here by Wayne Gerard Trotman “Instead of loving people and using money, people love money and use people.”
Overall Rating of the Album: 7/10
YTN Paco’s highlights would have to be without a doubt his extremely catchy hooks with the mixture of his vocal range giving creating a sound I have only heard few do n very little have success like he has found. The verses throughout the album were all-around solid and you can tell he has a type when looking for beats. When you listen to his music you can’t really say he sounds like anyone else besides Paco!
Follow Ryan Henderson
YTN Paco has created an incredible piece of work with ‘Only Way Is Up.’ Going braggadocious, to introspective, to talking about heartbreak, he really covered all alleys of life and what he’s experiencing in real time with him being on the come up! Paco has done beautifully on picking who to collaborate with. Working with known artists and members of TrapRel8ted to get a great squad of talent together and I expect them to work together consistently because all the tracks with features were impressive! He made great choices to showcase what Toronto’s Southside has to show for itself talent wise! Personally I think 2Kz, Duvy & Franchize killed it! They’re all extremely talented rappers and it’s incredible seeing all this local talent and it’s opened my eyes to what’s possible for people where I come from.
Checkout YTN Paco’s album ‘Only Way Is Up’ for yourself and form your own opinion! Do you agree with my rankings or where did I go wrong?
