“A Change” by Kendre Streeter

A boldly colorful fusion of jazz and R&B with some slight bop influences, the stellar beat we’re met with in the new single “A Change” by Kendre Streeter is arguably half the reason why the track is as attractive a listen as it is. There’s no overstating the impact that a slick percussive presence can have on a song like this one, and personally, I think Streeter was wise to go larger than life with “A Change” on this front. He’s playing from the heart here, and therefor requires a throbbing rhythm as passion-filled as any of his words could be.

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Streeter’s vocals could melt steel from under water, and in “A Change,” he’s exploiting this talent for everything it’s worth and then some. He explores his range without hesitation; from the fluidity of his raps to the soft but smoking melodic crooning he sews into the beat, there’s never an instance where he shows off anything but swagger here. His contemporaries could stand to learn something from his moxie, and moreover, the way he’s applying it to an otherwise balladic framework in this latest single. It’s conceptual but not so experimental as to deter casual audiences from digging the music.

“A Change” is undisputedly a very groove-oriented song, as I previously mentioned at the start of this review, and to a great extent even its melodic components contribute to the physicality of the beat. From the devilishly confident guitar to the suffocating bassline that occasionally swells into the foreground of the mix, everything here is designed to get – and keep – us moving. This isn’t to chock up all of the charms in Kendre Streeter’s new song to dance-centric ideals, but instead to point out how danceable a track it is (even when it’s not necessarily trying to be).

The bass part gets a little indulgent in the final forty seconds of the track, but I can understand what Streeter was attempting to accomplish in letting the backend of the song run a little wild near the finish line. By letting things come undone as we inch closer to the end of “A Change,” it gets all the more difficult to steer away from the central flashpoint of the harmonies here – Streeter’s own voice, and furthermore, the magic he makes with it. He’s a methodical songwriter for sure, and though he takes some big cues from his influences here, it’s not enough to relegate this single to the dreaded ‘retro’ R&B tag.

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I admittedly wasn’t very familiar with the complete works of Kendre Streeter before getting turned on to “A Change” this June, but if this is providing us with any sort of indications as to what kind of artist he’s going to be, I definitely will be wanting more from his camp soon. He doesn’t strike me as being the type of player to follow a trend just for the sake of making some easy money; in a song like this one, his soul is as much a contributor to the theme of the music as his voice is.

Michael Rand