Modern Struggle- Mandala

(Single) (Hip-Hop)

“Modern Struggle” is the latest single by Illinois rapper/writer, Mandala, who has been in the music business for quite a few years now. The track follows the release of a few other 2020 singles, like “Philosophy Major” and “Strange Walkin’”, and seems to be one of his most lyrically brave releases.

His new single makes a statement about temptations we experience on a daily basis—whether that be an addiction to your phone, or an addiction to pornography—and relates it to being tempted by the devil. As I’ve said, it’s very brave of him to put these lyrics out there, and to some degree I agree with the messages about phones functioning as gratification machines, where satiating impulses are just “one click away”, as he puts it.

I also like the line, “Why do you think that the most popular movie was the Joker?”, because it makes a good point that the movie may have resonated with some people for the wrong reasons; I also like the line because it reminds me of a line from RTJ’s song, “ooh la la”, where Killer Mike says, “Livin’ my vida loca, helped me understand I’m probably more of a Joker.” Obviously these lines take opposing views, however.

In general, though, I think the poetry would have benefitted from stronger examples of the modern temptations we face besides online porn. I say this because the line “All those PG-13 movies are now PG”, doesn’t make the point strongly enough, in my opinion. Besides that, this Satan diss track is filled with a lot of the rap posturing that makes the messages more poignant.

Lyrics aside, his rapping has a Danny Brown quality to it, in the way that it has a very nasal expression to it. And, I do not mean that in a bad way— I love Danny Brown— but specifically for Mandala, I would love to see him explore other sounds that could be achieved from his voice (like how the voice that Danny Brown has become known for being a voice he puts on, and his actual voice being much deeper).

Speaking to production on the single, it’s pretty good! I like the dreamy, plucky keyboard line, and I think it has a solid beat to it. Overall, I feel the track either needed a little bit more bass to it, or some additional instrumental lines layered on it, just to make the track sound a little fuller at moments.

Regardless, I would like to thank Mandala for sharing the song with me, and I very much look forward to seeing what else he releases in the future!

Give the track a listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/38zDMIMOS9UfkgkUDoZwAF?si=GgsHyX_AR9aSMRedU67y6A