His seventh studio project released and eleventh of his prolonged career.
John Anthony isn’t known worldwide to many as he still remains a cornerstones in the upcoming hip hop artists scene. However, his recent album Words Are Weapons has seemingly drawn some attention in the long, endless wormhole of independent rappers trying to make a name. The album is little over three months old as of now, as has surpassed over 10,000 worldwide streams. Though it’s not a staggering number, Anthony’s previous album streaming statistics haven't been substantial to say the least over the past few years. Words Are Weapons, or WAW, has seemingly gained a lot of recognition since it’s release and has, in a sense, shined some attention on the career of John Anthony.
The album features a few hit’s in their own perspective. That Boy Different, which was the first single released before the album dropped has become a perfect fit for today’s mainstream sound with it’s heavy bass, low-key melody and creative, wordplay exceptionalism. A few other’s that grew to rise are Toxic; which shows John Anthony oppressively criticize and verbally deprecate his formal girlfriend’s mother, calling her “trailer trash” and stating in the song:
“You’re the clear definition of trailer trash with your ripped up tee’s and, pants / but at least I know where the fuck your daughter got all her gene’s from”
There She Goes interestingly enough caught on to many as it also shows John Anthony diss his former relationships. The song has been played on several radios stations throughout Atlanta and New York and even reached out of state in Russia. It’s one of the highest streaming songs on the album and is a huge credit to the albums success and attention. Some other notible mentions that drew streaming interest in many so far is Gloves Off, Massive Appeal, Break and Seduce. All these songs have everything to do with the albums compact success.
However, with praise comes critique and though the album has done well, there are many flaws. For one, many viewers have criticized certain songs for sounding too much like Eminem, a comparison I’m sure John Anthony has heard a lot. Songs like Bodied, which is a heavy-hitting aggression track, have almost an identical style to that of Eminem’s 2002 massive hit song ‘Till I Collapse”. According to K-100 Radio Station is Atlanta, the song received major backlash and criticism due to comparisons following it’s air, resulting in the song being taken down. There are many other songs on WAW that kind of give off a somewhat similar, early 2000’s Eminem vibe and whether or not John Anthony intentionality seeks that style, there’s no debating the creativity or skill delivered.
Overall, Words Are Weapons is an informative, satisfactory project that is sprinkled with some new school and old school vibes along with skilled lyrics and a perfect comprehension to who John Anthony really is. Definitely is an album worth the listen, especially for fans of the earlier 2000’s hip hop.
You can listen to the full album, plus the deluxe version everywhere today by clicking here or can visit John Anthony’s website here for more information.
