Brent Faiyaz is back. The Columbia, Maryland, native has released his sophomore album, Wasteland, on his Lost Kids imprint.
The 19-track LP includes the previously shared tracks “Dead Man Walking,” “Gravity” featuring Tyler, the Creator, “Wasting Time” featuring Drake and The Neptunes, and “Price of Fame.”
The album includes additional features from Tre’ Amani, Joony and Alicia Keys. Faiyaz also collaborated with a range of songwriters and producers, including Raphael Saadiq, The-Dream, Steve Lacy, Mike Dean and Jorja Smith, to name a few.
On Wasteland, Faiyaz explores the juxtaposition between wealth and poverty, as well as the effects of fame. “It was less of an album process and more of a life process. I just made a collection of songs and tied a story line together once I saw that they all kind of shared a similar theme,” Faiyaz explained to Vogue about the album’s meaning. “I didn’t really realize I was working on an album until I was maybe a little over halfway through. Then I realized, Wait a minute, this is a body of work.”
The Keys-assisted “Ghetto Gatsby” hears Faiyaz singing about the struggles of balancing a relationship with his hectic career.
“I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch / You said I be out of town too much / Flyer than the wind, I’m Gatsby (Uh) / I’m probably faded when you see me on the TV, I can’t help that,” he croons.
Keys shows up later in the song with a spoken-word verse delivered with a rhythmic flow. “Blew 300 thousand on me yesterday / Know me baby, you can check my resumé / Been rich been paid, all this art inspire me / Been fire, can’t nobody fire me,” she sings.
Wasteland is the follow-up to Faiyaz’s 2020 EP, F**k the World, which featured his RIAA gold-certified tracks “Clouded,” “Rehab (Winter in Paris)” and “F**k the World (Summer in London).”
In 2017, Faiyaz released his debut album, Sonder Son.
Stream Brent Faiyaz’s new album Wasteland below.
