Devinn Le’Raay is hot and bothered in the new single “FaceTime,” and with a little help from Lakes the Voice, he’s going to make sure we know just what he needs to get straight again. Le’Raay’s smooth demeanor punctuates a scandalous string of verses as stinging as they are simplistic, and although the lyrics are on the leaner side in “FaceTime,” the way they’re presented to us in this track is just too sexy to turn down. The start of 2022 has ushered forth a lot of surprisingly solid R&B, and this is a single that qualifies as just that.
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There’s not as much percussion behind the verses as I would normally prefer, but I suppose that’s a forgivable sin given the push from Lakes the Voice’s handoff to Le’Raay. These guys really connect with each other here, and while the music video for “FaceTime” is pretty long – a highly cinematic seven minutes and change – it doesn’t waste our time with anything outside of the aesthetical narrative. This is a collaboration that gives plenty of spotlight to both players, and despite its minimal shortcomings, I think it proves that these artists put substance ahead of flash every day of the week.
Refusing to follow the model is so much more than simply rebelling for the sake of being an outsider; what Devinn Le’Raay is turned onto in this single and its companion video speaks to what he wants to do in and out of the studio, and that’s present a story with maximum cool, no matter who’s in the booth with him. He and Lakes the Voice make a really great team in “FaceTime,” and if he can develop other collaborations beside varying players from across different genres, his versatility will essentially be able to expand and become the greatness hinted at here.