An emotionally direct but musically adventurous R&B statement

Brent Faiyaz wasn’t mincing words when he named his long-awaited third album. If the dramatic two-minute orchestral flourish that opens Icon doesn’t make the Maryland singer’s world-beating ambitions clear enough, then the subsequent nine tracks of emotionally direct yet musically adventurous R&B will drive the point home. Icon is rife with evidence of why Faiyaz has become your favourite rapper’s favourite chorus crooner.

“other side.” casts his golden voice in a plush proto-disco soul stunner, while the aptly titled “pure fantasy.” is a shimmering slow jam that lets Faiyaz imagine he’s a Michael Jackson-level ’80s pop star, complete with roaring crowd effects. But Icon stretches its canvas wide enough to accommodate Faiyaz’s auteurist idiosyncrasies, with the Tommy Richman collab “have to.” indulging his love of pitch-shifting mischief and the Frank Ocean-esque reverie “strangers.” dissolving into a robo-voiced motivational speech straight out of Radiohead’s OK Computer playbook.