Pi'erre Bourne review – rapper-producer with an eye on Kanye's crown
‘When I say, ‘Yo Pi’erre’, you say, ‘You wanna come out here?’” instructs Pi’erre Bourne to an obliging audience as he steps on stage. The line – a dialogue sample from The Jamie Foxx Show – has become the rapper and producer’s tagline since it featured on Playboi Carti’s Magnolia, a monster hit propelled by Bourne’s game-changing earworm of a beat.
The South Carolinian’s board skills have rocketed him upwards, and he is now one of the most sought-after producers in hip-hop, working with Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Chance the Rapper and even his hero Kanye West. It was West’s dual role as producer and rapper that Bourne once looked to shadow, saying: “I could really be the next Kanye type of star.” In 2019, he released his major label debut, The Life of Pi’erre 4, a T-Pain-esque overload of Auto-Tune crooning above deft production skills.
Album highlight Poof kicks things off, as Bourne’s pitch-corrected voice wails over a beat that dances gracefully around genres: he steps into groggy trap territory before sliding into slick R&B. There’s a quiet buoyancy to Bourne’s production – it bounces along rather than ratchets up tension for colossal drops. He maintains this mid-tempo vibe across tracks such as the velvet-smooth Lovers, although the hook-laden Guillotine incites a young man to charge the stage in excitement. Bourne has none of it, however, and tosses him back before resetting the track.
As the evening goes on, things become a little lacking in variation. Bourne’s heavy reliance on Auto-Tune can often mean his voice dissipates into his beats, the two coalescing to create a hazy unified front. This works for the texture and ambience he transmits, but can be a setback when it comes to presenting defined and distinct songs.
After a fierce delivery of Switchin Lanes, which has a menacing snap to its beats, Bourne premieres a new video for Try Again to finish the night. Barely visible above the sea of heads, it’s a strange and anticlimactic finale, but also oddly fitting for an artist who seems intent on doing things on his terms.
Touring until 19 February.
