CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3, Jaden

All albums are reviewed on a scale from one to ten, with ten being the highest possible score.

Please Note: All views expressed here are the author’s own.

Jaden Smith has created his third studio album at 22 years old, which creates a unique experience for people my age listening to this album as his peer. The album starts with songs that are reminiscent of early teen youth, and then transitions to current life as an adult that is freshly navigating the world on their own. The album is supposed to be a prequel to SYRE, which also provides these themes of endless youth and love that lead up to a more recent image of Jaden.

The beginning of the album lends itself to the nostalgia of young love. Jaden calls upon young, immature, overwhelming love that isn’t realistic but he yearns for anyway, and that overtakes him. Frequently throughout the album, he makes drastic claims about needing the person he loves to survive and that he wouldn’t know what to do without them. This immature look on love is highly-reminiscent of the life and worries of an early teen. 

Heavily influenced by The Beatles and a “flower child” image, common themes throughout this work are love and positivity. These are found not only in the lyrics but also in the synth blends that layer and flow well together, creating a light atmosphere to the music that we all need in our lives at this point. The cover was directly influenced by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the song “LUCY!” is a daydream about a sunny picnic date where Jaden would do drugs with “Lucy” from The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. 

Throughout the whole album, there is a very clear image that is supposed to be produced. The dream-like and groovy sounds that make up the music all blend together well without straying far from the intended image. Jaden has himself said that you're supposed to listen to his music when the “sun is setting and you’re in a good mood,” setting the album up for an extremely specific summer-love, a groovy vibe that fits perfectly. This does unfortunately cause the album to cross into slightly too-poppy territory at times, though. Interestingly though, while the album does inspire nostalgia, it consistently uses modern sounds and electronic techniques to establish it, which I believe fits perfectly with people in the same peer group. 

Overall this album manages to combine the nostalgia of our early-teen youth and the issues of those days, while also interweaving issues that we experience now in our early-adulthood. Jaden references uncertainty about the future and even brings up the reality of our lives as young adults still trying to find love through quarantine in “Cabin Fever.” Jaden does this all while creating a very specific upbeat and dreamy atmosphere that brings all of the other elements together into a cohesive work. 

The album then ends on an upbeat, uplifting message about our generation changing the world in “Boys and Girls”, and while it is fitting, it’s also slightly jarring after the whole album transitions from his younger days to the present, just to launch us back into a positive and blissful state. While I believe this track would’ve fit better in the first half of the album, it does finish the project with the uplifting mindset that Jaden is trying to promote. In the end, this album asks for nothing of its listeners other than good vibes, and for that, I have to enjoy it.

WORDS BY NINA BOSNJAK, STAFF WRITER