ALBUM REVIEW: Jon Bellion – Glory Sound Prep

By Olivia Malek

I have been a Jon Bellion fan since I was a freshman in high school, back when his mixtape, The Definition, was his only music on Spotify. So when I heard Glory Sound Prep was being released, I was thrilled. He hadn’t released any new music since his debut album The Human Condition in 2016, which followed his style of alternative R&B that’s heavily laced with pop and sprinkled with some hip-hop and rap, and I was excited to get more of his unique genre-mixing music. The album is stacked with great features and was announced with a Pixar-animated trailer. Not only that, Bellion had been absent from social media for the nine months leading up to the release of this album, so safe to say, I had high expectations

Listening to Glory Sound Prep for the first time definitely took me for a trip. This album leans much more towards pop than any of his other music and it is a very heavily produced album. One of Bellion’s strengths as an artist is his voice, and one of my big disappointments of this album is that the production at times distracts or detracts from the vocals. For example, in the pre-chorus of the song “Couples Retreat,” the production causes his voice to cut out almost like he’s on the phone and losing service. It’s jolting and not pleasant to the ear. He’s also a great lyricist, and there are some songs in the album that repeat lyrics when there was room to write different ones. However, he showcases his rap ability a lot more on this album with the songs “Adult Swim” and “Let’s Begin,” which has some really unique lyricism that you don’t often see in rap. Additionally, a lot of Bellion’s music is also really fun, however, this album seems to take on a more experimental side to his music, making it less accessible or engaging to people not already familiar with his music.

All this being said, there are some songs I really enjoyed on this album, because they really tie back to his roots as an artist. The first song I was really drawn to was “The Internet,” a very poppy song addressing the negative effect the internet and social media have had on our life. It really demonstrates a strength of him as an artist: the ability to give depth to a song beyond the music. The production on this song is one of the better on the album, and I find myself wanting to dance and sing along even when the lyrics are “No one cares if you’re happy / Just as long as you claim it.”

Another song I really enjoyed is “Cautionary Tales”: a song that hits his alternative R&B side. It tells the story of his progression as an artist in the form of a fairytale, or an urban legend. It’s produced just enough that it adds to the fun nature of the song, and even though he’s not explicitly featured, Will Smith raps the chorus.

But my favorite song on the album is not one that I would listen to everyday, nor one that I feel like actually fits in with the rest of the album in style. It’s the final song of the album, “Mah’s Joint.” The first two and a half minutes of the song are a tearful story of his grandmother’s dementia, and how seeing her memory slowly fail and watching his mom take care of her even when she doesn’t recognize her own daughter has had an effect on him. It’s followed by a jazzy and more upbeat trumpet-based interlude featuring Quincy Jones, which is a nice contrast complimenting the beginning of the song. This song celebrates motherhood in a really beautiful way. I cried the first time I listened to this song. It showcases his voice by having very minimal production, and is a very touching tribute to the important people in his life, while allowing himself to be vulnerable about his struggles with his faith, something which heavily influences his life.

Overall, I think this album initially did not reach my expectations, granted, I set them very high. But I think this album is very 50/50 for me. The more I listen to it, the more certain songs like “Blu” or “Adult Swim” really grow on me, but I just don’t think it’s as easily listenable as his other albums. You will definitely find me bopping out in my room to some of the music, but I think this departure from genre-bending music into strong pop is a change I wasn’t expecting, and one that I still feel unsure about.