Chicago, Illinois rapper & Only the Family Entertainment founder Lil Durk finally dropping his 5th studio LP ahead of his murder-for-hire case. Rising to prominence a little over a decade ago off his debut mixtape I’m a Hitta, he would go on to follow this up with Life Ain’t No Joke & the first 2 installments of the Signed to the Streets trilogy until signing to Def Jam Recordings for his full-length debut Remember My Name & the sophomore effort Lil Durk 2X. Since then, Durk has made himself home at Alamo Records by dropping 9 more mixtapes & bounced back from the mixed reception of 7220 in the form of Almost Healed to let off a collection of Deep Thoughts.
“Shaking When I Pray” is this decent cloudy trap intro that Isaiah Valmont of Internet Money Records whipped up talking about people doing anything to go viral these days whereas “Keep on Sippin’” addresses an individual he gave everything to & yet, they still continue to trip out. “They Wanna Be You” featuring Future finds the 2 talking about kids wanting to be exactly like the both of them prior to “Soul Bleed” admits to putting others ahead of his own team as of late.
Lil Baby joins Durk on “1,000 Times” talking about people they used to hang with in the hood leaving them drowning just before “Turn Up a Notch” has one of my favorite instrumentals from Southside & Smatt Sertified clapping back at everyone who counted him out a decade ago. “Vanish Mode” produced by Chopsquad DJ addresses a bitch lying to him about loving him leading into “Monitoring Me” getting in his Chicago drill bag.
“Untouchable” ends the 1st leg by hustling whenever he gets a chance & barely holding his stance as it already is while “Notebook” gives off a laidback trap direction talking about the industry putting him in beefs. “Can’t Hide It” was a decent pop rap single that benny blanco & Cashmere Cat laced together delving into relationships, but then “Wondering Again” ponders if an ex will ever love him once more.
Hunxho appears for the mediocre “Late Checkout” still in disbelief they found love while “Think You Glowed” shuts down a hoe lying to herself that he’s glowing up. The song “Opportunist” remembers his late brother & describes the way he copes with depression while “Alhamdulillah” talks about finally being healed. “Deep Depression” with Metro Boomin’, BoogzDaBeast & FNZ all behind the boards closes the album figuring out why he’s in love with the streets since shit gets ugly.
7220 & Almost Healed were both admirably personal with the latter kinda stepping it up in the production department, which led me hoping Deep Thoughts would expand on. Unfortunately for the most part, it turned out to become the same old melodic trap/pop rap that we’ve been getting from him in recent memory. Even with the introspection he brings to the table, the production is a step down from Almost Healed & it kinda feels repetitive.
Score: 2/5
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