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Music

Beat By Beat: Dillon Francis - "Money Sucks, Friends Rule"

Stream and read our thoughts on Dillon's debut album. We laughed, we cried, we sharted a little bit...It got emotional.

Dillon Francis emerged from the hard streets of Brentwood straight to the big time a few years ago as one of the faces of Moombahton. Since then, he's roved around big room sounds trying to find his style while perhaps being better known for his shenanigans and wonky social media presence than anything else – He's a firm fan favorite and always brings the crowd and that's how he landed a major label deal last year.

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Francis' debut album, titled Money Sucks, Friends Rule, released next week on Columbia Records, is going to be a major turning point in his career. Nobody really knows what his signature sound is, so this album is lookin' like a revelatory adventure of sorts. We listened to the whole thing and here are our musings on the subject.

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"All That" ft. Twista and The Rejectz
"Attention: Ladies and gentlemen, I have all the hoes on my pelvis, because I look like Black Elvis." At least we know he's not taking himself too seriously. Does Twista rap about "weeing" in someone's mouth? He spits so fast that I can't tell. That fried-sounding synth tone is pretty cool. Ambivalent about it as an opener, though.

"Get Low" ft. DJ Snake
We all know this song pretty well. Still rockin' that Phrygian scale that's so tokenly middle eastern that it's….almost…racist ;)

"When We Were Young" ft. Sultan + Ned Shepard and The Chain Gang of 1974
This is the feelsy Main Stage number that basic teenagers will make out to. This is what your recently divorced dad blasts in his car when he goes 'for a spin'. Somewhere in the background of the track, you can hear Tiësto in the studio softly saying "Yes, yes. Very good," as he gently strokes Oliver Heldens' hair.

"Set Me Free" ft. Martin Garrix
The track takes 1:27 to get to the drop, but when it does it's more electro than big room. I kinda fux with this one. Makes me feel weird to say it, though.

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"Drunk All the Time" ft. Simon Lord
Recognize this voice? He…is…your…friend. You'll never be alone again. This is a pretty fun disco track. Kinda lacking a hook and some of the creative flair I'd expect from an ex-Simian member, but we'll put this one on poolside every once in a while.

"Love in the Middle of a Firefight" ft. Brendan Urie
This track features the lead singer of Panic! at the Disco. This sounds like an attempt at a crossover-y single. It'll probably work. It could, straight up, be a Katy Perry song tho.

"Not Butter"
7 tracks in and it's the first track without a feature. Francis skips any pretense here and just starts with a drop. It's actuality a pretty raunchy, industrial-tinged electro track. It sounds like Nero or something. Fux w/ this. Should have started the album with this one!

"I Can't Take It"
If you've been to a massive recently, you've heard this one. It's Francis' cheeky take on the biggest of big room. I don't hate it, which is a remarkable achievement for a big room track. No Prydz snare, though. I don't think he could do that with a straight face. Diggin' on the absolutely warped soul sample for the vocals. Wait a minute, do I like this? Fuck.

"We Are Impossible" ft. The Presets
This track sounds like Duran Duran on Atavan.

"We Make it Bounce" ft. Major Lazer and Stylo G
Yeah this just sounds like Major Lazer doing that mainstage tip they've been on recently. It's not bad, though.

"What's That Spell?" feat. TJR
Slowed down Melbourne bounce, which, as a genre, is the audio version of a lobotomy. Those Deadmau5 synth tones in the build-ups are wicked, and I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, but "F-U-C-K" spells "FUCK!"

"Hurricane"
Tiësto's mad that he didn't write this but nobody else cares. Who makes it 12 tracks into a dance music album anyway?

Verdict:
Hey, so this isn't a bad record! Francis has found a way to appeal to a whole host of different genre sets without coming off too plonky or ham-handed. There are a couple of real winners, and after listening to it, you begin to crystallize where it is that Francis sees himself in the musical landscape. I reckon this'll crossover and be pretty successful. I'm not going to listen to it again in it's entirety, though.