“You never heard something like this before” goes the first line of Los Angeles-based rapper Kenan Bell’s (that’s pronounced “Ken-en,” not “Keen-en”) informs us on “Fruit and Vegetables” from his debut full-length, Until The Future. It’s quite a statement, a bit of a platitude, and, well, despite Bell and his production team’s best efforts, not entirely true.

Bell has a style a little reminiscent of Cadence Weapon or Aceyalone (with whom he’s collaborated), and most apparently, Kanye West’s lackadaisical flow and penchant for puns and jokes – though Bell is an overall better and smarter MC. Unfortunately, sometimes he moves from inspiration to near-plagiarism: “Chlo,” for example, opens with chords rather reminiscent of OutKast’s “ATLiens,” and has a hook that literally goes “throw your hands in the air.”

Still, Kenan Bell’s a proficient rapper, able to go for bars on end with the same rhyme, to play on words and syllables as well as phrasing and themes. “Not a fluke when I come out top like the dorsal fins/Sharks rarely come up for air, you dare snorkel in?” he says in “Enjoy,” one of the best songs on the album, going on to use “scorchin’,” “porcelain,” “Morrison,” “abortion,” “courtin’,” “sporkin’,” and “orphan,” over a Blockhead-esque beat. It’s a song that shows off his creativity, and wit, and, unlike some of the weaker tracks (“Sounds Awesome,” “100k”), doesn’t feel derivative or silly. Bell’s a relatively young MC, and his lack of experience sometimes shows through – he can seem more concerned with the punchline than with the substance, and pretty much refuses to change up his flow. But there’s promise here (also heard in his mixtape, Good News, which finds him rhyming over Peter Bjorn and John, Lily Allen, and Jose Gonzalez, among others), a lightheartedness and intelligence, that, maybe with a bit more time and focus, could turn into something we actually haven’t heard before, and something really good.

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