Insufferably bland R&B record from a group of artists that probably could do much better, but nonetheless this falls into every single pitfall of a typical collaboration album. This thing loses all of the distinct personality traits it's individual artists all possess when they come together, and on top of that there's none of the summery charm their first release as a group had. Everything from the songwriting to the production is as mediocre as an album can possibly be, and especially after hearing the mind-blowing potential there is in some of Rich Brian's newest material I'm left very disappointed.

The production on here is the furthest thing from innovative. It's just a bunch of Contemporary R&B tropes with some Trap and Synthpop elements mixed in, and that grouping could be used to describe a thousand other records that sound exactly like this one. The largely Joji-produced instrumentals are impossible to distinguish the crowd, and in turn they offer no reason to come back to this record. There aren't any bumping Trap beats that I could blast with the subwoofer turned up in the car. There aren't any tremendously soulful and powerful moments that match the emotional, albeit milquetoast, lyrical content. The only good thing I can say about the production is that the mixing is decent and the vocal effects are really solid. Those are all just things that come with the high production value of this thing though, and are ultimately just par for the course. It's upsetting that someone as inherently talented as Joji couldn't drum up something more eclectic for this, and it's even more frustrating that all these heads combined all decided to water down their sound into one gelatinous, lethargic audible goop.

The performances here are so forgettable that I couldn't tell you who's singing what and I couldn't be bothered to try. Even the artists here that I genuinely like are nearly indistinguishable from the artists I've never even heard before outside of 88rising, and that's a really bad sign. At best, these artists are just a smorgasbord of subtly different voices all singing the exact same parts. At worst, they're all drenched in so many effects that they're all the exact same voice singing the exact same parts. Even if you wanted to check this album out because there's an artist you enjoy listed in the credits, it wouldn't even matter because I promise you wouldn't even be able to tell when they came on without looking at annotations. It's an embarrassing attempt to siphon any and all personality out of these human beings in favor of focus-grouped, robotic garbage.

The lyrics on this record are pretty awful as well. The track "Hopscotch" landed itself in my "Unlistenable Garbage" playlist because of how hilarious, non-self aware and ridiculous the hook is. I mean seriously, I challenge anybody to explain to me how the line "Hopscotch shawty jumpin out a cool whip" could ever be something any intelligent human being would use in a song. The lyrics on that song are so terrible I find myself philosophically analyzing what would cause the human psyche to come up with them, and my pondering has left me with no reasonable answer. The only song on the entire record I admit I enjoyed was exclusively because of the lyrics though, and that would be "La La Lost You" (which is essentially a NIKI solo track). This cut, despite having a halfhearted instrumental, is actually really solid lyrically and has a lot of poetic lines that are not only deeply relatable but beautifully introspective. They offer a perspective that few people in this day and age can grasp, which is the genuine acceptance of letting somebody move on with their lives without cutting them out and repressing their memory. Maybe it's just because these lyrics are super reminiscent of recent events in my own life, but I find them to be truly remarkable. This one bright spot is the only redeemable spot in this dumpster of an album though, and it's certainly not enough to win me over in the slightest.

This is really sad. It can't even have the typical excuses that any other collaboration record would have considering Dreamville's album from earlier this year completely showed it up in every way (and that album was far from perfect at that). This thing is incohesive, void of personality and as bland as I can even imagine it being. This is music that will reduce your thoughts to involuntary white noise if it's on long enough, and if 88rising ever wants to create something cheery and enjoyable as a group they're seriously going to have to start playing by their own individual strengths. None of these artists have the same vision, and unless they compromise and truly collaborate they're never going to rise above being this disgustingly plain. Head in the Clouds II is the music equivalent of lukewarm tap water that's been sitting out for a week. Don't even take a sip.

2.5/10 (Best Song - La La Lost You)