Rainbow Brain

GRiZ

2021

2.37

Rating

103

Votes

23%

35%

28%

Distribution

Genres: Electronica, Hip Hop, Funk, Soul Styles: Future Jazz, Dubstep, Glitch

User Submitted Album

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Album Summary

Grant Richard Kwiecinski (born May 31, 1990), also known by his stage name GRiZ, is an American DJ, songwriter, and electronic music producer from Southfield, Michigan. He is known for playing the saxophone along with producing funk, electro-soul, and self-described future-funk. Kwiecinski was born and raised in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In elementary school, Kwiecinski was first introduced to the alto sax as well as the piano. After growing up on big horn sounds of funk groups like The Meters, Kwiecinski found himself gravitating towards that influence when he first began making his own music in college. He attended Birmingham Groves High School and then Michigan State University for several years before he dropped out to focus on a music career. It was also during his college years that he had become personally comfortable enough to openly identify as gay. While at Michigan State he would frequently DJ parties at his friends' fraternity houses and play shows in the East Lansing area. GRiZ first became popular with the release of his free debut album, End of the World Party, in 2011.

Reviews

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Rating: All 5★ 4★ 3★ 2★ 1★

Length: All Short Long

Mar 31 2026 Author

Rainbow Brain by GRiZ. I did not like this album. I thought it was some dubstep with other dance/EDM styles, but it's something more undefined and it goes all over the place. It's like someone who read a book about dance music and tries to reinvent all the things that already have done before by so many other artists. Each song only scratches the surface of an individual subgenre with all the bleak and uninteresting characteristics and it hops on to the next. It even sounds dated while being only 5 years old.

Mar 17 2026 Author

A massive buffet of all the worst EDM/pseudo-dubstep trends lifted straight from 2014. Like a buffet, will leave you feeling nauseated and greasy after having way too much slop shoved down your throat. Less album and more musical product, I'm sure this one does numbers on the royalty-free streaming list for how generic and forgettable it is.

Mar 22 2026 Author

-Excision Shrek visuals came across my brainrot YouTube algorithm literally today, maybe that's the algorithm's way of saying I am in fact the target audience for this album -I will say, the switches between abrasive electronica and brass grooves make "Astro Funk" a pretty unique listen -"Vibe Check" is more recognizably brostep à la Skrillex or Knife Party -"Other Side of Jupiter" makes good use of those wobbly, Leslie speaker-kind of vocals -I think by "Feel It All", I was ready for it to be over. But I will say though, listening to the cut up vocals in the final track "The Echo Tree", I acknowledge the bones Griz throws at people such as myself who don't really care for brostep/riddim/bass music/whatever one might call it. The spacey synthy interludes, and of course the brass and organic elements help balance the drops. -My final thought is I wish it leaned into those fringe elements a bit more. The build and denouement are better than the climax -wub wub wub HL: "Burn Up the Floor" title track, "Harmony" March 21, 2026

Mar 15 2026 Author

I didn’t enjoy it really. Apologies. This felt scattered and all over the place in a messy and disorganized way. Feels like they realized they could make an album, but failed to pause and think what they should do with that information. The album doesn’t lack talent, it lacks direction, but that can be just as bad. Not that the whole thing isn’t cohesive, more it feels like a vomiting of music. Maybe I just don’t have the energy for it today. Dubstep always makes me feel physically ill. 2/5

Mar 20 2026 Author

It’s hard to avoid the sounds of Griz as a Michigander. Especially with the popularity of electric forest and partying through the colleges, griz was known by many. Now his sound is pretty vast with some jazz sax sound to the bass dubstep. This album kind of ventured intro he heavy drug mix where it’s all a blend that feels like a bad trip. Too much dubstep that has become dated. There’s definitely better griz albums than this one. 4.5/10

Mar 24 2026 Author

Over the course of this experiment I have become far more in tune with electronic / dance / and variants. I found this pretty uninspiring though

Mar 30 2026 Author

Looks and sounds like a bowling alley during friday night after-dark hours. Releasing something in 2021 that leans this much into the corny dubstep elements is a move that I find endearing, rather than annoying, but... eh I think it's kind of a mess, overall

Mar 16 2026 Author

Blurgh

Mar 18 2026 Author

I guess at least this is more... uh... colorful than most brostep albums? I don't know, this is rough. Boring at best, downright obnoxious at worst, and no offense person who added this, but it's hard to not think you know this artist or are this artist, because this seems like it was pulled from out of nowhere. It's just not good.

Mar 21 2026 Author

I had no idea what to expect from this, and to be honest having listened to it I still have no idea what, exactly, it is. But it's great! Taking dubstep (I think) and using it as a vehicle to explore a multitude of genres. Those choppy bass sounds have dated a bit (I'm old and I know something has dated, woohoo!) but it's so nice to hear something that's positive and doesn't make me want to slash my wrists.

Mar 24 2026 Author

Gets maybe a bit too dub-steppy in the back half but I absolutely love the space funk techno fusion sax explosion that's going on. And honestly I secretly love dub step too.

Mar 27 2026 Author

No skips, amazing!

Mar 16 2026 Author

This went a little harder on the bass than I usually prefer. Kind of hard edged afterparty in a crammed basement vibe. Those kind of parties are likely in my rear view mirror and any other setting isn’t really my bag but I didn’t hate it. Something like this should be on your before you die dance card.

Mar 19 2026 Author

7/10. Not totally my thing, definitely some funky stuff going on here though, in a sort of trip-hoppy miasma

Mar 22 2026 Author

This one did make me do some moving around

Apr 13 2026 Author

A lot of EDM is boring. This definitely isn't. It's all over the place. It sounds older than it is (early 2010s), but it works.

Mar 14 2026 Author

This one was a mixed bag for me. The more dubstep and trap-adjacent stuff didn't do anything for me, but then I have never had a lot of interest in those genres. But I liked some of the rest of it pretty well.

Mar 14 2026 Author

Not really my thing, but he's from my old stomping grounds of Southfield, Michigan, so that's cool. 3 stars.

Mar 17 2026 Author

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Gold

Mar 22 2026 Author

Fun beats

Mar 27 2026 Author

It was ok.

Mar 31 2026 Author

Based on the cover I wanted to hate this and the music is exactly what you would expect. Yet it sort of works? At times it is really annoying and 10 years too late to dubstep but other times it works. I can't explain why but it does. My personal rating: 2/5 My rating relative to the list: 2.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Apr 12 2026 Author

This isn't my preferred genre, but I didn't think it was that bad as it's currently rated. It was ok overall, but this isn't something that I would listen to regularly. I think a 3 is fair. This had a unique sound to it, lots of bloops and beeps and boops. The features were definitely an eclectic mix of styles for sure.

Apr 14 2026 Author

Well alright

Apr 20 2026 Author

This is kinda a cool relic of the dubstep era. It's weird that that the genre is old enough and has completed its lifecycle to the extend that we can reflect on it. It's fun music overall. Not mindblowing, but I enjoyed listening to it 3/5

May 01 2026 Author

I'll revisit this for some dj remix beds

May 01 2026 Author

Look, I like GRiZ. "Good Will Prevail" is a great album, and GRiZ is a fun listen, but GRiZ is not a must listen. This was fine. Too many "WUB WUB"s for me, not enough saxophone but it was fine. I just think something else should have been on this list instead.

Mar 17 2026 Author

The font / typeface / track listing layout alone was enough to piss me off and tell me everything I needed to know.

Mar 28 2026 Author

Electronic, trip hop, dubstep, glitch hop, future funk. No me ha gustado. Un 2.

Mar 31 2026 Author

This is user album #70 for me. I listened to every album on the list completely with the exception of one album. This is my second DNF. 2/5.

Apr 02 2026 Author

Profoundly middle-of-the-road American-style dubstep that was somehow made in 2021. Even though the trend died on the vine with Skrillex's peak in the mid-2010s, GRiZ seems content to try innovating on the genre with moments of saxophone. In all honesty, this felt more like a chore than an enjoyable listening experience. Imo dubstep is a genre that has already reached its creative limits. At this point, it seems like music that only a certain subset of gamers listen to. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: No, but I'd reckon the list could use some big names from dubstep. Skrillex, Burial, and Skream all deserve a spot.

Apr 03 2026 Author

Dance funk jazz sax - which could work, but comes out a wee bit messy and unfocused

Apr 12 2026 Author

Weird and not great.

Apr 14 2026 Author

I've come across this before- so much talent as a mixer/producer/sampler but it's so jagged and misdirected.

May 11 2026 Author

Rainbow Brain gave me a headache, this stuff is okay in small doses but you simply can't listen to a whole album of it just by itself, there needs to be a fuller experience whether it's live among a crowd or on various substances or anything like that. I'm not sure whether it's a good or bad thing that it jumps all over the genre map but I mostly felt like it tries too hard, the fundamentals of dubstep/EDM are in there somewhere but if someone like Skrillex is the standard, this is a 2/5 and a long way short.

Mar 18 2026 Author

I'm happy dupstep died in 2015 1

Apr 03 2026 Author

Terrible terrible! If I could give this a lower rating then zero I would

Apr 14 2026 Author

There was still music like this being made in 2021?!? I had hope it died out a long time ago. Regardless, this one is pretty terrible. 1/5

Apr 28 2026 Author

this is a no from me. i appreciate and respect the difference in music taste among us all but i dont like this, not one bit.

Apr 28 2026 Author

Something about dubstep makes me feel genuinely physically weird. It's like the uncanny valley of music or something. Anyways, very much didn't enjoy. This sounds like something you'd hear in a slop Youtube video like "The top 10 funniest fails of 2024" with a guy cutting soap underneath. _____ This has been my 500th user album. I'll probably start wrapping up soon. Starting to feel like Sisyphus rolling a boulder up a hill with the pace at which new albums are added being faster than you can realistically get through listening to one album a day. Got like 2 more weeks in me I think.

May 01 2026 Author

Silly, synthetic and show-offy. Overstuffed, obnoxious and every bit as subtle as a Marvel movie. Future generations will hold us collectively responsible for such dreck.