From the first few tracks, something just wasn’t clicking for me. Positivity isn’t quite the right word, but there’s this buoyant, almost overly bright tone to the production that doesn’t land. De La, have always operated in that lane, but here I’m just not feeling it. The production on 'Good Health' was the first moment I actually enjoyed, and Nas absolutely steals the show on ‘Run It Back!!’, as he usually does. That beat leans more boom-bap and drops the optimistic gloss, which helps a lot. Features like Black Thought, Killer Mike and as I already mentioned, Nas, are so much more engaging than the De La boys on the mic which tells you what I think of the rapping here. 'The Silent Life of a Truth' is an example that would be better with more energetic rapping. I see what he's doing with the flow but it makes the song boring.
I can hear the effort in all aspects of the songwriting. There’s clearly more craft here than on some of the other recent Mass Appeal rollouts, like the Mobb Deep project-and I do appreciate that. But overall, this one just isn’t for me. After giving it a passive listen and not really connecting with it, forcing myself to sit down and properly listen for the sake of reviewing it has been a bit of a slog.
Beats: ★★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★★
Hooks: ★★★
Best Tracks: Good Health, Run It Back!!, EN EFF, Yours, Cabin in the Sky
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