Here is the 3rd studio LP from Worcester, Massachusetts rapper & singer/songwriter Joyner Lucas. Somebody who first came to my attention in late 2016 with an incredible verse on “Sriracha” off of Tech N9ne’s 17th album The Storm, he exposure would increase the following year with the single “I’m Not Racist” along with a verse on “Lucky You” off of Eminem’s 10th album KAMIKAZƎ the year after that & his full-length debut ADHD was released during the COVID lockdowns to negative feedback from both critics & fans. Not Now, I’m Busy came out a year & a half ago to more mixed reception & basically half of ADHD 2 was already released as singles like literally every other rollout he’s had in the past.

After the “Family Therapy” skit, the first song “I Wish I Knew” opens with some pianos & hi-hats talking about inner growth featuring spoken word bits from WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg whereas “the “Fuck your top 5 ’cause I’m in the top 3 of your favorite top 5, let’s get this shit straight” on the lead single “One of Them” was laughable considering that Joyner’s discography comes nowhere close to Kendrick Lamar’s. Even if the horn-trap instrumental to be decent.

“Tear Me Down” featuring Ava Max made for a decent pop rap single tackling the theme of love hurting more than it heals & after the “Kevin” skit, “The Way That I Am” gives his flowers to Eminem much like he did with the Will Smith tribute “Will” on his debut. “Riot” is somewhat better talking about having money on his head & on the verge of getting arrested while “Hate Me” featuring T-Pain gives off a futuristic trap feeling to it coming with an 8 piece after others thought he was done.

After the “Denzel” skit, “White Noise” starts the 2nd half of ADHD 2 with a country trap fusion layering some auto-tune on his vocals feeling like his thoughts are getting too loud while “Butterfly Effect” carries the acoustics & hi-hats over to talk about going to another dimension if he could. “Anxiety Wins” featuring blackbear finds the pair getting on some emo rap shit until Ty$ probably saves my favorite feature on the album for “New Sofas” making up for typical Joyner bars like “To be Frank I don’t even do Oceans” leading into the “Therapy Checkup” skit.

Big Sean’s verse during “Active” was another highlight for me as he & Joyner talk about being outside when the lights are out while “Time is Money” featuring DaBaby & J Balvin could be the most tedious collaboration here with J Balvin’s verse at the end being my favorite regardless if it doesn’t do the rest of the song justice. “Listen to My Demo” is another favorite reflecting on trying to make it from 1999 to 2015 & the same can be said about “Momma” produced by N4 paying tribute to his mother.

Almost halfway through the current decade & ADHD is still widely considered to be amongst the worst hip hop albums of the entire decade, so my expectations weren’t all that high considering that & Not Now, I’m Busy being mediocre. And when he said “Nobody Cares” regarding his beef with Skepta, he wasn’t wrong considering that lame ass beef all drummed up in him dropping a sequel to his debut that’s slightly better than the original. Not trying to say he can’t rap because he can, he simply has a below average ear for production & the guests’ performances are equally tiring as his.

Score: 1.5/5

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