Lil Skies Burns Bright on ‘The Evolution of the Rose’ LP
Lil Skies
Lil Skies has never been one to color inside the lines, but this time around, he’s not just outside the box—he’s torched the cardboard and written a love letter to vulnerability in the ashes on his way to laying down a hybrid confessional called The Evolution of the Rose. It’s equal parts diary, demolition derby, and mid-2000s alt-emo mixtape, soundtracked by a man who’s wrestled with heartbreak, diapers, studio lights, and just enough real existential dread to give every bar some wisdom-laden gravitas. Four tracks deep, and he’s ripping pages out of his past to light them on fire to warm you up, and when all fourteen tracks are burnt through, the remains tell a story that’s both his and your own.
For this plunging epic, Skies brought in John Feldmann, the genre-bender’s fairy god-uncle (think Warped Tour royalty with a production Midas touch) who’s famously worked with former FAULT Featured artist Avril Lavigne. The result sounds like what happens when hip hop strays a little from the tough-talking bravado of suburban streets to pick up some heartfelt angst. It’s as if Skies cracked his knuckles and said, “Let’s make something that doesn’t know what aisle it belongs in.”
The lead single, ‘Burn’, ties the project together thematically. You can almost smell the kerosene as its trap-hop-emo-punk hybrid sound unfolds. Landon Cube jumps in, and the chemistry is volatile—in the best way: all flame, no filter. ‘Ganja’ is an upbeat, West Coast party hip-hop anthem, while tracks like ‘Sick and Tired’ and ‘The Loners’ lean into a more melodic, arena-sized pop-rock composition.
In a way, this doesn’t seem like the same kid from Chambersburg who broke through with ‘Red Roses’ and ‘Nowadays’. Sure, he still glides over stoner beats with that same signature melodic ease, but now there’s less flex and stun and much more emotional substance—more scars, more skin in the game, and while evolution has always been part of the game for him, The Evolution of the Rose is the full transformation: a grown man’s reckoning with love, loss, and letting the past burn quietly behind him.
After peeling off the major label tags, Skies has been moving with nothing to prove and everything to say. 2023’s indie streak proved he could navigate without a co-signed compass. Now, he’s pulling from every emotion on the spectrum and every corner of his sonic palette—emo, trap, hip hop, lo-fi, and straight-up pop—to really capture what the moment is all about.
He’s performing live with Trippie Redd and crew this September in Ontario, CA. Listening to The Evolution of the Rose, it sounds like he’ll be bringing a full spectrum of emotions with him: the rage, the reflection, and the redefinition.