“Paranoid” is Razz’s Genre Mashing, Psychedelic Hip-hop, Blues Pop Song About Needing to Get Some Sleep Before One’s Mind Goes Completely Into the Red

From the beginning of Razz’s single “Paranoid” you’re not quite sure what you’re in for. It comes on like an techno track but has production like a hip-hop song with vocals like a rap but executed more like an odd psychedelic pop song. The music swims with simple percussion, bell tone swirls, burbling tones and counterpoint backing vocals. A synth bass accents the passages and seems to establish the rhythm of the song but all the elements dip in and hang back like an odd barbershop quartet but without anything of that aesthetic except the structure. It’s an unusual song that defies genre pigeonholes almost completely. The lyrics outline the late night thoughts of a person who is plagued by night terrors that shake his psyche and interpret the world through the stressed perspective of someone whose mind never fully gets to rest and it makes him, yes, paranoid. Listen to “Paranoid” on Spotify below.