“Crumbs” [ft. Playboi Carti]

DRAM trades mostly on a jolly disposition and happy-go-lucky melodies. Songs like “Cha Cha,” “Broccoli,” and the more recent “Gilligan” all thrive on his pep and spirit. His new song, “Crumbs,” is a pretty dramatic change of pace:Less friendly and approachable, it finds him giving in to the corrupting influence of Playboi Carti and moodily refusing to share his fineries with others.

DRAM uses his voice's natural musicality to new effect on “Crumbs.” His vocal turns are muffled in spots, and his whiny intoned raps produce melody. His sing-song raps maximize the space in the murky OZ’s production, wading through amorphous synths that hang like a fog. In the age of rap splendor, Teslas, and Patek Philippe timepieces, there’s something endearing about his boasts being so much more attainable: living somewhere that requires gate-code entry and having sex with two different people in the same day. The short Carti verse is almost entirely ornamental, with rote lines about women and drugs and twerking; his more important contributions are his ad-libs, which animate all the space around the pair. Even when DRAM goes dark, it’s still a party.