“Where would this shit be if I never came through? / ’Cause these niggas keep reheatin’ the same soup / McDonald's be sellin' more burgers than For The Win / But at the end of the day, the quality is shit, don't trip."
Ironically, those bars could be describing this album itself. Fifteen tracks of the same-sounding material, rehashing what these two have been doing of late. I’m bored of this kind of hip hop. Listener after listener call it “safe,” "basic," or “boring,” and they’re right, but they still hand out 3.5/5 like participation trophies. Standards are way too low and there are way too many conformists.
We generally admire art because it does something we can’t. Great rappers make you feel that gap, but here, you don’t. There’s no bouncy flows, no sharp delivery, no commanding mic presence, nothing that makes you rewind a line. Especially with Alchemist. That slow flow, that you need no talent to do, where you could drive a bus between each bar is a style I've always disliked, and he leans on it hard here. There are a few clever lines (assuming they wrote them), but way too much empty brag rap too. Hit-Boy fares better on the mic. Take 'Show Me the Way' as an example. It's a 4/10 track until he steps in and gives the repetitive beat some life to increase the quality. The first couple of songs are passable, with the second standing out mostly thanks to heavier drums.
These two need to take a step back and stop releasing every half-baked beat they touch. Give us something that moves. Something that surprises. This same formula of looped soul samples and dusty textures dragged out for three minutes for a whole album needs to die. No hooks, no energy. Too few seem to know how to write a hook anymore or value it. Aside from the drums kicking in around the 30-second mark on something like 'Home Improvement', there’s almost nothing new to hear from the instrumentation if you've listened to the first 10-seconds of songs. Honestly, even if this were my favourite rapper, I couldn’t try to convince myself that this kind of looping monotony is special. There are a few moments where the instrumentation slows or shifts slightly but that's when the songs are all but over. This happened on Mobb Deep's new album too - also partly produced by The Alchemist.
And as if the lifeless loops weren’t dull enough, we get Boldy James on 'Not Much' sounding like he just woke up from a 20-year coma. Give me some fu**ing energy!
This is another wildly overrated album from two respected artists who should know better. How hard is it to make a few seconds worth of a loop and stretch it for a few minutes? Especially for guys at this supposed level. It’s lazy, uninspired, and people will keep pretending it’s great even while calling it “safe” and “boring” before never listening to it again.
Beats: ★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★
Hooks: ☆
Best Tracks: Business Merger, Walk in Faith
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