Pi'erre Bourne: "Good Movie"

For a while, Pi’erre Bourne's The Life of Pi’erre (TLOP) series was overshadowed by the era-defining virality of Playboi Carti’s “Magnolia,” the track that fortified Pi'erre as a major producer in-demand.

Although Bourne blew up off of his production skills (he also won a Grammy for his work on Kanye’s Jesus is King), the artist has spent the last five years trying to convince the general public that he first starting making beats for himself, rather than others.

This pursuit is a worthy one since Bourne indeed released the first three entries of his TLOP series as a rapper/producer on Soundcloud prior to blowing up. With the newfound success from producing, Bourne released the fourth and fifth installments of the TLOP series over the past few years to re-establish himself as the jack-of-all-trades artist who does more than make beats.

While 2021’s TLOP 5 felt like the apex of his intoxicating beat-making and exuberant melodies, the project also signaled an end to the long-running series. Now, five years removed from “Magnolia’s” monumental success, Pi’erre has comfortably settled into the all-encompassing maestro role for his newest project, Good Movie, subtly skewing from the rapturous formula that made his Soundcloud singles so beloved by his cult fanbase.

Love and relationship drama have been recurring lyrical themes of Pi’erre solo projects before (see TLOP 4), but rarely have the themes been this salient. At its core, Good Movie is a project dedicated to finding love after heartbreak, or perhaps fixing a tainted relationship. But unlike other male-dominated rap albums around this conceit, where the female counterpart is often seen as the only scapegoat for failed relationships, Pi’erre infuses Good Movie with a charming set of tracks meant to make most people blush at their cuteness. Even the heartbreak moments are more analysis than antagonistic ("Your love is priceless/But it cost me every dime/And I'll do it again every time").

Although TLOP 4 and TLOP 5 positioned Pi’erre as the interdisciplinary artist he always wanted to show, the beats still felt like the heliocentric piece to his artistic puzzle. With Good Movie, however, Pi’erre attempts to place his songwriting and production on the same playing field, with both oftentimes mirroring the mood of one-another.

The fluttering keys and muddied tempo on “Ex-Factor” coincides attractively with Pi’erre’s auto-tuned serenade to a girl he wants to impress (“Girl, I ain’t like none of your exes/What’s my sign, girl, what’s your preference”), while the smoggy and stationary synth on “Love Drill” meshes well next to Pi’erre’s somber melodies as he processes the aftermath of a complicated relationship.

It’s typically difficult to take Pi’erre lyrics THAT seriously when they often include lighthearted vignettes about adolescence and Nickelodeon references. Some lyrics can be endearing, but others are just plain silly. Even on Good Movie, there’s a fair share of one-liners that induce the awkward cringe-laugh-like on "Kingdom Hall," where he compares a girl popping up at his place to a Jehovah Witness (there's also these one-liners sprinkled throughout: “Nashville, she’s the only ten I see;"and “Stacking cheese like a Mcdouble”).

But take away some of the habitual silliness, and Pi’erre does craft some admirably sentimental tracks, and the production once again proves to be his overwhelming strength.

What makes a Pi’erre solo album so fascinating is they often feel like one elongated song reminiscent of a DJ setlist at a club, a spirit captured on a past project, like TLOP 4, where vintage DJ tags are sprinkled throughout.

While those tags may be nonexistent on Good Movie, Pi'erre still uses his creativity by tinkering with his sound. His beats are always infectiously simplistic, but the sequencing is painstakingly ornate; qualities from his projects I always admire.

That same meticulousness is present on Good Movie, as tracks bleed into each other and change tempo with ease (much like the case with TLOP 5). Pi’erre will take an instrumental idea and use it in different variations and tempo between songs. The violin on “Superstar,” for example, sounds triumphant next to gleaming synth as Pi’erre delightfully croons about his girl’s stardom. Place that same violin on the forefront of the next track “Where You Going,” and suddenly the cheerfulness turns to melancholy as Pi’erre wonders where his lover went. The dispirited chorus on “Where You Going” suddenly turns euphoric when sped up, as the song transitions into the danceable “What I Gotta Do.” Pi’erre’s attention to detail is always unmatched.

As with many Pi’erre solo albums, however, some tracks suffer from repetitive choruses (“Hop in My Bed”) and limited songwriting (“DJ in the Car”), while a couple other tracks could shave about a minute of runtime like the stagnant “Shorty Diary,” where Pi’erre mundanely sings about a woman going through her feelings in awkward detail. The latter problem normally plagues Pi’erre albums, where some songs should be sprints rather than marathons.

Issues aside, I commend Pi’erre for straying away from his usual sugar rush formula on Good Movie. The beats are definitely more muted and soulful, sometimes even orchestral, but the same Pi’erre idiosyncrasies are still there (for better or worse). It’s probably not the project I’d recommend to a new listener, but there’s at least a push for something new. And let’s be honest, he can’t make the same beats forever.