This is the 9th full-length studio LP from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper Tory Lanez. Blowing up a decade ago off The New Toronto mixtape, he ended up signing with Interscope Records the following year & releasing a total of 4 albums until departing at the beginning of 2020. Daystar that same fall gaslight everyone after shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot & if that wasn’t enough, we’re getting a successor 5 years later after teasing it with multiple singles last summer.
After the intro, the first song “Free Me” calls for his freedom due to him having a family & some homies who need him advising to not let your emotions supercede your intelligence whereas “Sneeze Wrong” talks about the game not being based around sympathy & finding his way home until he loses himself. “White Lightning” finds himself getting drunk in his cell off that moonshine while “Guide Me Through the Storm” talks about needing God more than ever.
“9$ide / Amethyst” is a 2-parter with the 2nd half of it sounding rather unfinished compared to the other & after the “MAWA” interlude, “Lunch Tray” promises that shit won’t ever be the same again once he comes home. “$ailor Moon” has one of the better instrumentals courtesy of araabMUZIK dissing a woman who fucked his dog after becoming incarcerated just before “Verdict Day” reflects on the very day he was found guilty.
After the “Lawyer Fees” interlude, the actual Lawyer Fees” song itself admits that he doesn’t have the money he needs since he’s down bad & his pockets are currently light leading into “Slipping & Falling” coming off as a decent homage to one of the late DMX’s most popular cuts “Fallin’”. We get treated to a couple more 2-parter with the first “Charlie Row / Wishing Well” having a more repetitive 2nd half, but then both halves of “Phone Secs / FaceTime” feel fully complete except the themes of love portrayed don’t do it for me.
“T.D.F (Turn Down Fades) / County Jail” produced by Lex Luger has to be my favorite 2-part joint on the album rejecting any fades that come his way & asking where everyone was when he was fucked up in the county while “Gangland / Fargentina 4EVR” featuring WolfGang Petersen finds the 2 being fed up with these bitches playing with them. “I Fucked a Lady Cop” tells a female officer that she’s his best kept secret while “My Shayla / SPICE-RILLA” featuring D$TNY responds to being served restraining order papers in his cell.
The track “Back Out$ide” featuring SOS oddly begins the encore of Peterson by defending disgraced Bad Boy Entertainment founder Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy ahead of his trial a couple months from now & after TB’s interlude, “Free Tory” wraps up the Daystar sequel by promising to God that he’ll be released from prison at some point later on in 2025 & even if I personally am not so sure of it, we’ll just have to find out for ourselves in due time.
Tory’s 5 Fingers of Death freestyle on Sway’s Universe back in 2018 epitomizes the amount of talent he has & it’s a shame that he hasn’t put anything out channeling that same energy since. Peterson for being a continuation of his most panned body of work isn’t as bad as the predecessor albeit it almost is. I’d be lying if I said the production wasn’t only a smidge above Daystar almost half a decade ago this fall & his performances for a good run of it are subpar.
Score: 1.5/5
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