This is the sophomore full-length LP from Pennsylvania rapper, actor & “comedian” Lil Dicky. Appearing on the iconic 2016 XXL Freshman Class list, his debut album Professional Rapper was panned in 2015 & his debut EP I’m Brain in 2017 was also panned except to the point here you could argue that it might be the worst EP of all-time. “Freaky Friday” featuring Chris Brown became a hit too even though that wasn’t a good single either. However, he’s returning to release the soundtrack to his FX series Dave which was actually pretty well received running for 3 seasons.
“Brand New” is an industrial trap opener produced by Dylan Brady & benny blanco pulling from Yeezus a bit where Lil Dicky talks about feeling reborn which is fine, but KiD CuDi did it better on “New Mode” off Entergalactic. “Honestly” though works in an aquatic loop with hi-hats talking about how he’ll probably shock everyone when he drops whereas “Mr. McAdams” was actually a decent pop rap cut serving as a love letter to Rachel McAdams.
Corny bars like “Women shave they pussy smooth, lookin’ like a Ken doll” over generically thunderous trap production is what we get next on “HAHAHA” prior to the acoustic “Ally’s Song” focusing on his failed relationship with his ex-girlfriend of the same name. “Harrison Ave” samples “Wrapped Up Tight” by Delilah Moore based on the titular 2nd episode of the 3rd season, but then “Burst” is a poorly sung ballad about being a hopeless romantic.
“2nd Coming” calls himself “the next Kanye West” over a bassy trap beat when Ye is a top 10 producer of mine with 2 of the greatest albums of all-time in The College Dropout & My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy under his belt when Lil Dicky is known for having an FX show better than both Professional Rapper & I’m Brain combined. “I Love Myself” goes drumless surprisingly talking about self love when I’d rather listen to “Self Luh” by Mach-Hommy while “Kareem-Abdul Jabbar” is from season 2 episode 4.
The concept of getting older on the melodic “Going Gray” isn’t anything new, but the way Lil Dicky paints it here doesn’t move me emotionally as Stevie Nicks during “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac. The “Batman & Robin, it’s comical how I’ll keep runnin’ from problems” bar on “I Met a Girl” is one of the worst on the album & the singing is worse than it was on the previous cut. After the YG interlude from the pilot, “No Fruits & Vegetables continues the 2nd half of the LP with an obnoxious ode to cunnilingus from the 9th episode.
“I’m Drunk” goes into spacey pop rap/trap direction talking about being intoxicated on top of Cashmere Cat cooking one of the best instrumental on the album while “Morning After” takes place directly after the events of the previous joint except it has a more chilled out sound thanks to Tom Levesque of Vanguard Music Group & that Lil Dicky’s talking about intercourse. The bassy “My D!ck Sucks” admits to his dick being shoddy which I didn’t need to know & the settle “Still Freestyling” outro talks about turning 30.
To begin the 4 bonus tracks: the FNZ laced “Jail (Pt. 1)” is taken from the 10th & final episode of the first season while the trap-infused “Hearsay” continues to drop eye-rolling lines like “no capping with this paper like a Magic Marker”. “Hi, I’m Dave” is the theme song to the show & lastly “We Good” featuring GaTa ends the LP by going back & forth with each other exactly like the way they did it in the season 2 finale.
Other than a few cuts that sound okay within the context of the show that premiered the FX network owned by The Walt Disney Company, I really didn’t get a whole lot else out of Penith. The production mostly handled by benny blanco is the best thing the album has going for it blending pop rap & trap with additional elements of contemporary R&B but much like everything else in his discography, Lil Dicky’s take on comedy rap isn’t funny.
Score: 1/5
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