Category: LWND Reviews

Chance the Rapper – “Star Line” review

Chicago, Illinois rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & activist Chance the Rapper returning for an official sophomore effort. Becoming an overnight sensation in 2012 towards the end of my freshman year of high school with his debut mixtape 10 Day, he would eventually follow it up the next year with one of the best mixtapes of the previous decade: Acid Rap. Coloring Book had a more admirably Christian message to his music & The Big Day became one of the worst albums of the 2010s, looking to bounce back on Star Line.

“Ride” featuring Do or Die & Twista on the remix after the intro made for a cloudy trap opener with everyone talking about getting your brothers ride & them having your back moving forward whereas “No More Old Men” works in some strings to assure that he’ll live until his hair turns white. “The Negro Problem” goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally talking about Afrocentricity leading into the “Drapetomania” featuring BabyChiefDoit dabbling with trap a bit to go crazy.

Vic Mensa reunites with Chance on the autobiographical “Back to the Go” referencing Black Sabbath fronted by the late WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne alongside fellow WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg’s revived Death Row Records leading into “The Highs & Lows” featuring Joey Bada$$ consciously blending jazz rap, boom bap & neo-soul for them to talk about taking the ups & the downs. The neo-soul/Afrobeats hybrid “Space & Time” sings to be freed of his ex really loved him while “Link Me in the Future” talks about waiting on forever.

“Gun In Yo Purse” featuring TiaCorine & Young Thug starts the 2nd half of Star Line with the trio hopping over a trap beat to suggest that things will get worse sometimes while “Tree” featuring Lil Wayne might’ve been my least favorite single amongst the handful that we got awkwardly mutating pop reggae & pop reggae for both of them to talk about weed. “Burn Ya Block” takes a shot at hip house looking to see the block on fire while “Letters” returns to the Christian hip hop vibes of his last couple projects.

To get the 4th quarter going, “Speed of Light” fuses these choir vocals & EDM drums together for an uplifting track about society wanting to hold each other down while “Pretty” talks about self-love. “Just a Drop” featuring Jay Electronica finds the pair tackling religious themes once more expressing their need for water to cleanse their spirits & “Speed of Love” laments on his failed marriage, asking when or if a real connection will come to find him. “Child of God” starts the deluxe run to soulfully talk about self-discovery & self-affirmation while “Wraith” featuring Vic Mensa felt a tad bit mediocre compared to “Back to the Go” earlier, even with it’s minimally abstract lyricism. 

“A Bar About a Bar” was a stronger attempt at Chance abstractly holding it down by himself while the footwork-driven “Yah Know” talks about mobbing in discreet. Gospel, jazz rap & chipmunk soul back the conscious subject matter of “Buried Alive” reflecting of a dark place he was at in his life while my favorite bonus track of the bunch “Together” produced by DJ Premier talks about his Chicago upbringings. “Stars Out” balances trap & jazz rap well thanks to Dominique Sanders doubling down on people turning their backs on them because of The Big Day while “Bad Boys 2” featuring Joey Purp homages the Michael Bay film of the same name. “3333” responds to the low ticket sales of his Minnesota State Fair performance while “Quiet Storm” airs his frustrations with the world these past 7 months.

Needless to say: A lot has happened to Chance the Rapper these past 6 years & Star Line makes his official comeback with what The Big Day should’ve been the summer prior to the COVID-19 pandemic changing our lives permanently. His consciously poppy lyrics takes the lessons he’s learned all this time head-on carrying over the predecessor’s secondary influences of neo-soul, jazz rap, chipmunk soul & trap to hit the targets better regarding their incorporations. I’d lastly be remised to point out the Christian hip hop & contemporary R&B elements being replaced in favor of boom bap & jazz rap, calling back to his earlier days.

Score: 3.5/5

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Evidence – “Unlearning 2” review

Venice, California emcee/producer & former graffiti artist Evidence releasing a sequel to Unlearning as his 5th LP. Coming up in the early 90’s as part of the trio Dilated Peoples alongside Rakaa & DJ Babu. He’s also established himself as a solo artist along the way dropping his debut album The Weatherman under ABB Records in 2007 & making himself at home with the renown Minneapolis powerhouse Rhymesayers Entertainment for 16 years by now. Weather or Not ended the weather themes of his earlier stuff & is picking up where his last album left off on Unlearning 2.

“Plans Change” sets the tone with a funky Sebb Bash instrumental talking about the difference between him & everyone else is that he isn’t losing steam whereas “Different Phases” produced by Beat Butcha reiterating that he hasn’t read the rules to the game. “Future Memories” featuring Larry June has a jazzier vibe to it thanks to The Alchemist so they can talk about making shit happen leading into “Outta Bound” talking about being judged for coloring outside the lines.

The drums get stripped completely on “Seeing Double” advising to trust someone when you love them because there’s no other way just before the lo-fi, self-produced “Nothing to See Here” talking about his position as a rapper who ain’t playing a part. “Define Success” work in a piano instrumental so Ev can break down what it means to be successful from his perspective while the soulful “Stay Alive” featuring Blu enlists Conductor Williams to talk about something keeping them full of life.

“Nothing’s Perfect” taps in with Graymatter behind the boards likening his life to the music of a playlist while the chipmunk soul-infused “Favorite Injury” featuring Domo Genesis finds the 2 talking about staying impatient until their last breath. C-Lance carries the sampling onto “Top Seeded” himself a minimalist with a massive profile while the crooning “Greatest Motivation” featuring Theravada talks about needing hate because love’s complacent.

The Step Brothers reunite for the jazzy/boom bap crossover “Rain Every Season” explaining that their patience thins whenever they’re waiting for inspiration while “Laughing Last” talks about beating up a brick to the point where it’s out of shape. “Dutch Angle” lastly chops up a weary vocal sample to end Unlearning 2 staying even ‘til he’s titled & stating the idea of him being past tense in his city won’t happen.

Focusing less on comfort & more on transformation, Unlearning 2 uses the opportunity of Evidence’s previous album’s open-ending to his advantage pushing back against the concept of legacy by making a deeper & more instinctive exploration of his style. The production’s more soulful than its predecessor was 4 years earlier, creating an experimentally rooted sound with more determination than ever to turn pain into purpose through sharply intentional creativity in.

Score: 4.5/5

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KAYTRANADA – “Ain’t No Damn Way!” review

Port-au-Prince, Haiti born albeit Montréal, Québec, Canada raised DJ, producer, singer/songwriter & rapper KAYTRANADA returning for his 4th studio LP. Starting as 1/2 of The Celestics alongside his younger brother Lou Phelps, he’s has been widely recognized as being amongst the most popular & in-demand producers in all of music for the past decade working with everyone from Mobb Deep to Mach-Hommy. KAYTRADAMUS even has 3 solo efforts under his belt in 99.9% through XL Recordings, the RCA Records-backed Bubba, the eponymous debut from KAYTRAMINÉ & more recently Timeless last summer. 13 months have passed since the predecessor & Ain’t No Damn Way! has arrived 4 days after it’s announcement.

“My Life” by Latrelle featuring Kelis gets sampled for the deep house intro with “Space Invader” throwing hints of contemporary R&B in the mix whereas “Championship” continues the house vibes with an 115 second instrumental piece. “Home” sticks out as one of my favorite beats here due to it’s carefree atmosphere just before “Target Joint” pulls inspiration from the funky house subgenre.

Nearing the end of Ain’t No Damn Way!’s first half, “Things” samples “Things Fall Apart” by Steve Monite for a futuristic house composition with some synthesizers leading into “backstABs” getting back in his deep house bag instrumentally. “Good Luck” definitely feels reminiscent to my all-time favorite production duo The Neptunes in terms of sound, but then “Shine Your Light for We” samples “Black Boy” by Cappadonna & makes it into a disco highlight of it’s own.

“Goodbye Bitch!” combines characteristics of both synth funk & funky house for an infectious beat that won’t make you stop nodding your head while the deep house cut “Don’t Worry Babe (I Got U Babe)” makes an irresistibly soulful use of sampling. Speaking of which: The last song “Do It (Again!)” after “Blax” continues to display KAYTRA’s ear for chopping up samples, this time repurposing “Let’s Do It Again” by TLC.

As opposed to having a cast of guests performing over his instrumentals like on all 3 of his predecessors, KAYTRANADA returns out of nowhere 14 months later for Ain’t No Damn Way! as a welcoming return to his electronic roots. Ditching the primary alternative R&B influences of Timeless last summer to emphasize the deep house side of it’s predecessor, he gets to sprinkle additional hints of funky house & synth funk over the 30+ minute course.

Score: 3.5/5

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Booda French – “Allotment Freestyles” review

This is the 3rd extended play from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom emcee Booda French. Aside from being a member of the Old Children, he would go on to drop 3 full-lengths & a couple EPs throughout the span of a decade plus including the 2016 debut Awesome is Everyday or the sophomore effort 6am Coffee Club a year later & The Loser’s Victory Lap. I should also mention Ventolin & Club 27 Reservations respectively preceding it all, hitting us with some Allotment Freestyles.

The November 2023 session track opens with an angelic boom bap instrumental talking about getting better with the lessons learned through aging whereas the December 2023 session track produced by King Kashmere gets in his hardcore vibe over a funky beat. The March 2024 session track hooks up a lo-fi sample courtesy of Cuth trying increase his revenue until the November 2024 session track sends it off floating over a jazzy Alecs DeLarge beat.

With all respect to both of Allotment Freestyles’ predecessors that came out during my adolescence, Booda French has come a long way since & this 10 minute collection of ideas stemming across an entire 12 months delivered off-top validates those claims. Debatably his strongest EP yet makes me hope we get an entire LP of production at this level of consistency & outside the context of the year-long concept, the right guest appearances rippin’ microphones with him wouldn’t hurt.

Score: 4/5

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Insane Clown Posse – “The Naught” review

Detroit horrorcore duo, Juggalo Championship Wrestling founders & the longest reigning 2-time JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champions Insane Clown Posse have officially unveiled their 17th studio LP & the final Joker’s Card of the 2nd Deck. Consisting of JCW Commissioner Violent J & the shortest reigning JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion Shaggy 2 Dope, many don’t know that 3 other members came & went during the first 5 years of the group’s inception. Not only would The Duke of the Wicked & the Southside Strangla go on to create seminal wicked shit albums like The First 6, they also gained an extremely loyal fanbase in the process & their self-owned Psychopathic Records became an independent hip hop powerhouse as the label’s roster continued to grow until they wanted to focus more on their own legacy. Commemorating the 25th annual Gathering of the Juggalos or the Gathering of Legends kicking off tomorrow & The 2 Day War between JCW & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) beginning later this weekend, The Naught will explore the afterlife in a concept differing from The Wraith’s exhibitions of Shangri-La & Hell’s Pit.

The title track produced by Shaggytheairhead after the intro opens with a trap song breaking down the titular character’s meaning whereas “Watch Me” reunites with longtime collaborator Mike E. Clark talking about the wicked shit splitting your shit up throwing it back to the Bang! Pow! Boom! & The Mighty Death Pop! days instrumentally. “Everybody Dies” moves forward with a 6-minute rap rock-influenced Violent J solo cut picking up where Everybody Rize” off my 3rd favorite Joker’s Card The Amazing Jeckel Brothers left off just before the semi-boom bap influenced “Happy Fun Day” uses wordplay for the Duke to ask what exactly others find wrong with him in having bloody fun referencing former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, ECW World Television Champion, IWGPタッグチャンピオン, WCW Hardcore Champion & 2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion Bam Bam Bigelow. 

“Only Wicked Shit” goes for an EDM trap direction thanks to Brian Kuma so both of the clowns can represent their style of music they’ve been making for over 3 decades & after the “Flashback” skit, “Dead Kelly” blends these bells & hi-hats together to tell the story of the titular character. Shaggy 2 Dope getting his own track with the carnivalesque “Here We Go” looking to tear the place down alongside the rest of his hatchet family while the playfully humorous “Cinnamon Pigtails” describes a tale of Violent J meeting a woman on Instagram who turned out to be a catfish.

Devereaux helps ICP dabble with trap metal on “I’m Still Breathin’” talking about their gratitude of being alive despite the chaos in the world while “Pop Out” continues the 2nd half of The Naught with another 2 Dope solo joint that DJ Clay makes more trap oriented than the last one angrily making the speakers jump while the disco rap-inspired “Throw ‘Em Up” after another “Flashback” skit talks about throwing your hatchets up. Violent J responds to 1 Man Kru’s disses these past couple years by calling him a “Softy Pillow Man” using a prominent tuba within the beat leading into the occult “I’m Fallin’” talking about them thinking no one should try to die.

Expressing some kind of resolution from the conflict inferred from the rest of The Naught, the iconic Toto single “Africa” gets heavily sampled throughout “While It Lasts” ending the 2nd Deck of Joker’s Cards structured similarly to “Low” off Fearless Fred Fury where the Duke’s singing during a good bulk of it & Shaggy drops off a brief rap verse. Wasn’t one of my favorite songs off FFF personally but “While It Lasts” is conceptually stronger than “Low”, basically talking about enjoying the time we all have on this planet.

Common complaints regarding Yum Yum Bedlam from what I’ve heard amongst juggalos is that it felt like a mixtape than a Joker’s Card or the producer tags, neither of which I had any issues with personally because I appreciated it being the first female character in the Dark Carnival mythology & it’s themes of loyalty. The Naught however has to be my 3rd favorite Card of the 2nd Deck, with #2 being Bang! Pow! Boom! & of course The Mighty Death Pop! at #1. The production feels like a throwback to the carnival sound even with Kuma & Mythic Mindz finishing the 71% that Mike E. Clark had yet to complete because of him moving & the clowns themselves answering the question of if one was ever alive at all if there’s no afterlife when we die.

Score: 4.5/5

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Hariroc – “The Squidfather” review

This is the sophomore effort from Atlanta, Georgia producer & rapper Hariroc. Known for being an extensive collaborator of Lil Tony, he would go on to fully produce the Troc & Swaggbaggs extended plays for Tony in their entireties preceding a debut album of his own Indalment last summer welcomed to moderate reception. 13 months have passed & The Squidfather has returned to bless the plugg subgenre of trap compiling almost 30 tracks recruiting more notable names than previously.

“Restart the Wave” by Lil Tony begins with a piano & some 808s talking about not being able to name a single person who’s pulled his cork whereas “We Don’t Like U” by Teflon Zay hops over these ethereal synthesizers & skittering hi-hats to poke fun at Will Smith slappin’ Chris Rock. “Trap Ain’t Workin’” by RRoxket proves to be a favorite of mine from the pluggy beat to the lyrics trollin’ his opps when he smokes weed while “Backwood Baby” by Pradabagshawty talks about using Swishers as of late to roll his shit.

One of the weaker cuts on here in my opinion goes to “Celibate” only because of 1900Rugrat wasting this insane ambient plugg instrumental until “Biting My Swag” by Babystaydown makes up for it by airing out his grievances towards everyone who be coping his aura & trying to make it their own. White Friends” by PCF Manman weighs things down again using a clumsy flow for roughly 104 seconds prior to “I Think” by Protect saving us once more talking about putting techs all over his body.

“SV” by 4eRedd & IsoBkae carried the plugg vibes forward joining forces so they can discuss not moving so loosely while “Bummy Scam” by Teflon Zay & Zone1eriic trades the mic back-&-forth with each other talking about using their Glocks to make their opps drop dead in the middle of a mall. “Hitmaker” by Yksteexy goes ambient plugg again feeling like he’s gonna be taken out for the things he won’t say while “Foxes” by Aobtrey & Fox BD dropping 1 comatose verse after another.

Nino Paid joins Lil Tony on “Threw Up the Drank” ending the 1st half of The Squidfather explaining they changed due to them not wanting to go back being broke & swervin’ while “From the Ground Up” by Cayo begins the 3rd quarter using this raw ass instrumental to talk about building this shit from the dirt skyward. “Yo Favorite Rapper a Hoe” by ApolloRed1 advises not to shed a tear if he’s ever killed while “Strike in Clayco” by Rx Yp picks up from there puttin’ belt to ass.

“So Much on My Mind” by Luhh Dyl, Seddy Hendrinx & Warhol.SS comes together to cloudily talk about doing things legitimately this time while “Kel Tec” by Double XL references Spider-Man 3, which was by far the worst entry of the Sam Raimi trilogy. “Man Up” by RW 5 talks about having to mature himself after he came home from prison like any other responsible person would do while “Turkey Neck” by GetRichZay & SSG Splurge wakes up daily to get a bag or 2.

Jripey takes the mic during the pluggy “Super Fly” talking about making songs for fun instead of charting while the ambient plugg “Watch My Back” by Day 1 Lil Willie looks back at a time where he told someone to trust to look out for him only to be betrayed. “Snakes” by TopOppGen moves forward running up in cribs without knocking beforehand while “Homie Hopper” by tana talks about taking down whole entire gangs by his lonely & asking where these individuals were when he was broke needing them.

“Stop the Cap” by Raqbaby pleas for these phony muhfuckas to cut out all the bullshit fibs they spewin’ while “Fake Percy” by Blo talks about throwing up due to taking percocets that weren’t even legitimate. “Chris Vec” by Lil Tony & 1900Rugrat reflects over the times they were down bad having nobody fuck with them but prior to the “Free Beat I Love Y’all” compositional outro, it only makes sense for Hari to approach the mic himself for the last song “Close with God” talking about fighting his demons.

Becoming a fan of his last fall through joints like “On Same Shit” by Babystaydown or “Living Room” by Pradabagshawty & “Ganger” by RRoxket, I had expectations of The Squidfather hoping that it would be an improvement above Cegular Records founder Whyceg’s sophomore effort Cegregation a few months earlier & that’s what I sorta got even if this is only better by a very slight margin. Hariroc’s production centered around plugg, cloud rap, ambient plugg & dark plugg sticks out amongst the best he’s ever made except the guest-list can be inconsistent at times a lot like Cegregation’s.

Score: 3/5

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Brennan Jones – “Brennan” review

This is the 2nd EP from Jacksonville, Florida recording artist Brennan Jones. Originally known as a fashion influencer on the Meta Platforms-owned Instagram social media platform, Edward Skeletrix would later inspire him to pursue a music career & released an eponymous debut EP 11 months ago to mixed results despite a couple standout tracks including “Crispy” & “wawawawawa”. However, I went into Brennan hoping he would capitalize on his full potential with more consistently brief musical opus the way his breakout single “Fashiontrappin'” did.

“in frontofmygranny” starts with a 97 second cloudy trap intro talking about pulling out a whole stack with his grandmother near him whereas “young & restless” promises to have crews hit if they dare fuck with him over a PROJECT4PLAY beat. “Brush It Off My Shoulder” dismisses the pressure surrounding him for the past year & after the cringey “she suck on the dick like a dick” line on “Fashion Shit” despite the nocturnal instrumental, “Lick Yo Tattoo” produced by Toom of Vanguard Music Group ends with Brennan talking about being the man.

As much as I want to like Brennan Jones’ newest extended play & the one we got from him almost a year ago because loose singles like “Affairs” or “Jewelry” still make fine examples of his artistic potential, Brennan isn’t that much better unfortunately & it’s a bigger disappointment when you take in consideration of him being independent now. The production is somehow a step down from the last project ditching the dark plugg, rage & experimental hip hop undertones in favor of conventional plugg & cloud rap with Brennan drowning so heavily in his influences to the point where it’s distracting.

Score: 2.5/5

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Young Nudy – “Paradise” review

Here is the 4th studio LP from Atlanta, Georgia rapper Young Nudy. Although he & 21 Savage are cousins, he eventually carved a lane of his own in the last decade with 10 mixtapes (the most notable ones being the Pi’erre Bourne-produced Sli’merre & it’s sequel) followed by his previous 3 full-lengths. I heard at some point last fall when Sli’merre 2 came out that Nudy had an album fully produced by Metro Boomin’ coming down the pipe but regardless when or if that happens, he’s taking us on a trip to Paradise.

“17” made for a cloudy intro produced by Kid Hazel talking about his young shooter layin’ bodies out whereas “What’s Happenin’?” featuring Latto finds the 2 pairing up over a Coupe instrumental so they can stay turnt in the club. “Pull Up” works in some strings & hi-hats for a homage to “Throw Some D’s” by Rich Boyleading into the Atlanta bass strip club heater “B.T.A. (Bounce That Ass)”.

The title track finds himself in the middle of a block party getting back on the trap vibes with some horns added to the equation just before “GOAT” bombastically talks about not wanting smoke with him at all. “Big Bad Wolf” featuring BabyDrill has a quirkier drill sound to it likening themselves to a pack of wolves while “Super Slime” talks about a woman falling in love with him because he ain’t no scrub.

21 Savage joins his cousin to make the Memphis rap banger “Iced Tea” basically saying you don’t get to eat if you don’t hustle while “Sugar” combines these pianos & hi-hats likening himself to Tony Montana of Scarface. “Mop Stick” has an eerier trap flare to it expressing is dislike for people cappin’ in their raps while “Snake” talks about the needing to clean up the streets & watch out for any rats.

“Chains On” nears Paradise’s final minutes to show off the ice around his neck over a trap beat with some vibraphones not having to flex shit because the girl he’s currently seeing is already well aware of him making money while “4 God” properly ties up our journey in Nudy’s Paradisewith some 808s & ominous synthesizers promising to put anyone who goes against him on a white tee shirt only driving fast.

Young Nudy & Coupe have crossed paths with one another countless times in the past already, using half of Anyways… or a great deal of both DR. EV4L & Gumbo as examples. Point is: The unique chemistry they’ve always had together still makes for a fun listening experience whether it be the trap, cloud rap, Memphis rap, pop rap, dirty south & rage production or Nudy’s explicitly gangsta approach to his songwriting.

Score: 3.5/5

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J.I.D – “God Does Like Ugly” review

Atlanta, Georgia emcee & singer/songwriter J.I.D releasing his highly anticipated 4th LP. Coming up 15 years ago off his debut mixtape Cakewalk & joining the Spillage Village collective lead by the EARTHGANG around that same time frame, he dropped a couple more tapes as well as DiCaprio after that & signed to J. Cole’s very own Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records in 2017. He has since made himself home there with The Never Story followed by DiCaprio 2 & more recently The Forever Story, having God Does Like Ugly precede JIDTRO fully produced by Metro Boomin’.

“YouUgly!” opens with J.I.D taking a ceiling challenge to shows he’s above his peers & a beat switch talking about not being the same as an individual tryna stand out in a crowd amongst fools whereas “Glory” produced by Lex Luger delves into his spirituality. “WRK” was a dope trap single talking about relentless hustle being required to achieve his ambitions while the crooning boom bap crossover “Community” featuring Clipse finds the trio looking back on their early days & wanting to shoot Bob the Builder.

Hearing “Walk” by Comethazine getting sampled on “Gz” was an unexpected welcome talking about car robberies while “VCRs” featuring Vince Staples continues the gangsta rap themes over a Jay Versace instrumental. “Sk8” featuring the EARTHGANG reunites the trio for an Atlanta bass cut talking about claiming your side whether it be north, south, east or west just before “What We On” featuring Don Toliver teams up for a psychedelic slow love song DJ Chase B helped put together.

6LACK appears for the tranquil “Wholeheartedly” wanting their partners to promise that they won’t ever switch up against them while “No Boo” featuring Jessie Reyez gives off a more cumbersome approach asking each other if they’re tired of being alone. After the “& We Vibing” interlude, “On McAfee” slaughters this nasty beat from Boi-1da, Vinylz & Cubeatz warning that nobody’s safe while the 3-parter “On Blue” featuring Mereba talks about finding a place to feel safe.

“K-Word” balances drumless & trap hopping over some strings to address the topic of karma prior to “For Keeps” chopping up a jazzy soul sample talking about the feeling he’s been trying to find for so long hitting him right when it seems like the mojo is gone & nothing having the ability to make him step away from the mic. The album officially finishes with an extended version of “Sun” featuring Anycia, which was previewed during his Dreamville Fest last spring.

Starting the “preluxe” run, “Behold” boisterously talks about giving 2 middle fingers in a picture so they don’t ever forget while “Beau” dustily compares himself to Rambo. “Knew Better” by the BlakkBoyz stands at the dawn of a new era while “Lisa” asks not for his high to get fucked up. “Animals” featuring Eminem fresh off the latter’s appearance in Happy Gilmore 2 with the longest reigning AEW World Champion MJF now becoming the new CMLL Mundial Peso Semicompleto Campeon and the current WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch reunites for a breakbeat “Fuel” sequel.

Prioritizing lyricism & artistry above everything else, God Does Like Ugly continues to exemplify J.I.D’s status as the best artist on the entire Dreamville Records roster with a supple prelude to JIDTRO & a virtuous successor to The Forever Story realizing the potential we initially heard almost a decade ago emphasizing the previous’ Christian themes. You’re still getting doses of trap, neo-soul, jazz rap & boom bap within the production except the Southeast Atlanta native’s wordplay keeps getting better with time almost a decade since his major label deal got inked.

Score: 4.5/5

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