Over the last couple of weeks, rap fans have been given a number of albums and singles to listen to. Some fans haven’t had the time to hear it all yet, while others just aren’t sure where to start. Don’t worry, guys, I have your back with this quick review of every good and bad project that was recently released.
The Good
Logic:
"44 More"
Spitting exactly 44 bars on this track’s beat, Logic gives us the sequel to his “44 Bars” song off of the "Bobby Tarantino" mixtape. The beat is awesome and samples pieces that were taken from both Kanye West and Future on each of their newer albums.
This song certainly comes off like Logic is mentioning the disses from Joyner Lucas, who has apparently had a grudge against Logic since they worked together on Tech N9ne’s 2016 track, “Siracha.”
"Overnight"
Overall, this song is not that bad. I think it’s pretty fun to listen to, as most of Logic’s work is, but I would definitely say that his bars were a little weak on this one. Again, some of the lyrics give off a vibe that makes me think this is somewhat of a response to Joyner Lucas’ recent disses at Logic.
"Everyday"
Probably my favorite of Logic’s three new singles, “Everyday” is an anthem to Logic’s work ethic while informing all of his haters that he isn’t phased by them because of all the success he’s achieved. This, to me, makes an even stronger case that Logic has heard Joyner Lucas using his name on tracks and decided to show Lucas he doesn’t care.
XXXTentacion:
“SAD!” & “changes”
Over the last year and a half or so, XXXTentacion (X), has become one of my favorite young artists to listen to. He’s shown to have two sides to himself: the first being a crazy young rapper from Florida going berserk on distorted beats and the second being this mature, young artist putting out shorter songs in length but they are so much better that most people will play them on repeat or find the looped versions on Youtube so it feels like a normal-lengthed song.
X has hit us with two new hot tracks, “SAD!” and “changes,” that appear to be off of the same album, “?.” “SAD!” is a song containing a catchy beat and hook with an upbeat tone despite its negative meaning.
In contrast, “changes” is a song that means exactly what it sounds like. and it’s probably one of X’s most beautiful creations thus far. This track is very dark, slow and melancholy in sound, but it is so perfectly executed that you can’t help but put it on repeat.
Joyner Lucas:
"Stranger Things" (with Chris Brown)
The first single released from Lucas and Brown’s upcoming collaborative album certainly left us wanting more. Lucas performed with his untouchable combination of flow switch-ups, bars and energy while Chris Brown showed off his talents when he rapped a few verses of his own. The two seem to have great chemistry, but only time will tell how true that is when their album is finally released
"Look Alive" (remix)
Joyner Lucas, once again, gave us a remix to a song that destroyed the original song– he seems to have a knack for that. He did it with “Bank Account” by 21 Savage, “Mask Off” by Future and “Gucci Gang” by Lil Pump, but he had a few bars on this song that only his “Mask Off” remix can relate to when he took another shot at Logic:
“44 shots traumatize in front of 45 hit 44 more,
Carbon copies say you kamikazes
That's for e'rybody”
His word choices of “44 more” and “e’rybody” comes from Logic’s “44 More” release (which came out just a week before Joyner dropped the remix) and his newest album and its self-titled track, “Everybody.”
Swae Lee (ft. Rae Sremmurd):
“Hurt To Look”
I really don’t know what else to say about “Hurt To Look” except that it was just flat-out awesome. The instrumental gives off a dance vibe but Swae Lee’s lyrics are so deep and meaningful that it really gives you the best of both worlds. “Hurt To Look” lets you have your cake and eat it, too!
Tory Lanez:
"MEMORIES DON’T DIE"
Lanez officially released his new album “MEMORIES DON’T DIE” on March 2nd after releasing singles off the record like, “Shooters” and “Real Thing” (ft. Future). Overall, I was really impressed with the album and feel as though Lanez is moving his young career in the right direction.
One criticism I do have of the album, though, is how he’ll have a track that was very “pop style” followed up by a song that was straight rap with a hard beat. To me, this didn’t really allow the audience to get as into the album as they easily could have under a more organized tracklist.
The Bad
Gucci Mane, Migos and Lil Yachty:
“Solitaire”
The only reason this song is listed under “The Bad” is that I found it to be very boring. Having heard tons of songs by Migos and Gucci Mane, I would have to say this is easily one of the most repetitive sounding songs I have ever heard. It sounded no different from any of their other songs together or as individual artists, and that’s what made “Solitaire” so boring and disappointing to me.
DJ Khaled, JAY Z, Future, & Beyoncé:
“Top Off”
From beginning to end, this song was absolute garbage, in my opinion. “Top Off” sounds like the literal definition of stars believing they are so big that they believe they can put out anything and have it climb the charts–and sadly, this song probably will do just that. There is zero creativity to this track, and it’s mostly just noise. JAY Z’s parts were relatively entertaining, but everything else is just obnoxious, plain and simple. Save your ears and don’t listen to this. But if you do, just keep it away from me.
