Toy soldiers in line fall like dominos
One man's trash is cash, for some, it's liquid gold
Said that you love me and you make me feel ugly
Said that you love me but you make me feel ugly
TV screens, adverts, and the grown men
Cryin' like infants for no reason
People make mountains out of mud hills
Boys with their toys and flexin' their muscles
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
When pigment's a depiction of class
When your body has to be a wine glass
You drop your guard, you realise it's hard, it's ugly
Lovin' is brittle plastic
But soft in the middle, the same as Skittles
When vultures purge with a piercing grin
Your boss won't fuck off
And you're on the brink
The rent is due and you're overspent
The world is ugly
(The world is ugly, the world is ugly)
The world is ugly
(The world is ugly, the world)
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
I'm sick of toyin' with a broken idea (Sick of it)
I'm sick of thinkin' there's
A reason I'm here (Why, why, why?)
We're just puppets in a simulation (Just puppets)
We're just puppets in a simulation
With a pipe dream like
A pipe bomb in the eighties (Boom)
White screen, bein' brainwashed to a regime
Stuck gettin' lead we're dogs out the kennel
All this trauma in the name of a medal
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
You will notice when I'm not around
Ten minutes late to say you're sorry
At first, they love you, then they're stubbin' you out
We kill each other for some juice and a bit of clout
And progress we test man made devices
Gettin' tired of migrants, the only ones tryin'
You will stare in admiration, you will stop what you're doing
Cut the tension with a butter knife, you are not in control
The moment the world stands still
(The moment the world stands still, stands still, stuck)
You are not in control, the moment the world stands still
(You are not in control, you are not in control)
You are not in control
(The moment, the moment the world
Stands still, you are not in control)
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
U-G-L-Y, U-G-L-Y
L-Y
L-Y
Ugly
The most beautiful people
Do the ugliest things
Meaning & Review Slowthai - UGLY
The album literally knocks you off your feet with its fierce, uncontrollable energy, and its 38 minutes are enough to keep you "charged" for weeks, if not months. Moreover, its intensity is such that even making it to the end of the album is challenging — the urge to go out and smash real and imagined enemies (and friends) is overwhelming. The sound here is astonishing. Is it rock? Punk? Indie? Electronic hip-hop in the style of late Massive Attack? Post-punk with a fierce and vibrant rap? It’s immediately clear that this album has as much influence from The Fall as from the proverbial Eminem.
Secondly, the themes. On "UGLY," slowthai raps, screams, sings, and moans about his own addictions to sex and drugs, his rejection of therapy, failed attempts to escape self-destruction, depression, suicidal thoughts, and the lack of any semblance of happiness or idyll in his life. The title "UGLY" is intentionally capitalized: according to slowthai, it stands for "U Gotta Love Yourself." The album’s themes are in stark contrast to "typical hip-hop" with its cult of success, fame, wealth, macho lifestyles, and masculine charisma. This agenda is more in line with bands like Nirvana, which slowthai is trying to emulate here.
Why is the sound of the future likely to be a blend of electrified rhythmic hip-hop and punk, rather than some obscure futuristic wails in the style of Björk, robotic guitar battles, or dances to primitive electronic bleeps? It’s quite simple. It’s already evident that the future will be shaped by neural networks — if they don’t replace creators in all creative fields, they will become their main assistants for a long time. Neural networks learn from existing samples and will inevitably prioritize the most popular genres of the moment. In 2023, the world is experiencing another peak of nostalgia for rock, but hip-hop, which dominated the past decade, is still very much present. And so, the creators of the best rock album of 2022, Fontaines D.C., are helping yesterday’s rap artist slowthai record one of the best albums of 2023, playing and singing on its main track.
A significant role in creating the bone-crushing sound of "UGLY" belongs to producer and co-writer of almost all the tracks, Dan Carey, who has previously worked with Black Midi, Wet Leg, Squid, and Fontaines D.C. — in other words, almost all the outstanding British rock bands of the past five years. This album further confirms that we are witnessing a new rock renaissance, the influence of which will resonate for decades to come, this time with its epicenter once again in the British Isles. Only now, "Cool Britannia" will be replaced by "UGLY Britannia."