Logic – “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” review

This is the 6th full-length album from Maryland rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & now bestselling author: Logic. Who is fresh off his debut novel Supermarket a couple months ago with a completely unlistenable indie pop album with the same name accompanying it. Now that being said, my opinion on Logic & his music haven’t always been negative. He showed a lot of potential in the early half of this decade with his Young Sinatra mixtapes as well as his first 2 studio albums Under Pressure & The Incredible True Story but since 2016, he has shown himself to be HIGHLY inconsistent. Mostly because his topics have gotten corny & that he’s drowning deeper in his influences to the point where it’s distracting, whether that be his 2017 album ΞVERYBODY sounding like a Dollar Store version of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly or his Bobby Tarantino 2 mixtape sounding like a poor man’s Travis Scott album. Nonetheless, my morbid curiously got the best of me for this new record over here & I decided to give it a shot.

Despite claiming to be in his own lane on the title track that kicks the album off, it literally sounds like a J. Cole song down the flow & the symphonic beat that 6 brings to the table. Then we have “Homicide”. Easily the best single of the 3 that were released prior to the album, but still average. The intro about Logic coming out of his dad’s balls is annoying, his lyrics dissing trap music is hypocritical because we all know Logic’s been rapping over this style of production for the past few years now. Also, his speedy flow is a blatant rip-off of Tech N9ne’s & the beat is kinda bland. But luckily, Eminem‘s closing verse is enough to make the cut decent & I love how they sampled Chris D’Elia’s viral impersonation of Marshall for the outro. Didn’t mind Logic referencing referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair either.

“Wannabe” is a barely finished look at people who seek attention online with a decent beat for the clubs while the song “clickbait” talks about the comments he receives over generic trap beat, a horrific delivery & a cringey line about he’d suck dick. The track “Mama (Show Love)” with Cordae sees the 2 telling their mothers to look at them now over a dark, druggy beat while the song “Out of Sight” does have a decently spacious beat, the lyrics are vapid to me. The track “Pardon My Ego” gets insipidly narcissistic over a Middle Eastern-influenced beat while “Commando” with G-Eazy is less of a song & more of a contest to see who can be more basic.

The track “Icy” with Gucci Mane sees the 2 charismatically talking about how clean they are over a smooth beat while the song “Still Ballin’” with Wiz Khalifa serves a pretty decent sequel to a highlight off of Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever. The track “Cocaine” hilariously talks about selling drugs over a piano & some heavy bass while the song “Limitless” is another redundant materialistic brag.

“Keanu Reeves” whines about the criticisms that Logic’s justifiably gotten over the past few years while the song “Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different” is a sappy motivational anthem despite the infectious instrumental & Will Smith’s verse at the start is easily the most awkward feature I’ve heard all year. The penultimate track “Bobby” is an egotistical ode to Logic himself with an old school instrumental & then the album finishes with “Lost in Translation”, which is actually a heartwrenching high-note to end on both lyrically & sonically.

Yeah I don’t know what else to say beyond that, this is yet another mediocre release in Logic’s ever-growing catalogue. The production is mostly just passable & the concept about social media does sound interesting but unfortunately, it seems like he loses focus of that narrative along the way in place of songs with laughable topics. I really don’t know where he goes from here & that’s sad for me to say as someone who’s appreciative of his early work.

Score: 1/5

Logic – “Supermarket” review

Logic is a 29 year old rapper who came up at the beginning of the decade with his Young Sinatra series of mixtapes. His first 2 studio albums Under Pressure & The Incredible True Story showed more promise of his potential, but pretty much everything after that saw him taking a total nosedive. However with a new novel out now, he saw fit to release a new album accompanying it.

The “Bohemian Trapsody” has a pretty acoustic instrumental, but it sounds half-written. The next song “Can I Kick It?” is a buttery bastardization of the iconic Tribe Called Quest song with the same name while the song “Time Machine” is a cringey piano ballad about saving this chick (presumably his ex-wife Jess Andrea). The song “Pretty Young Girl” is a decent acoustic tribute to one of Logic’s Day 1 while the title track insists that he’s not a stalker, but yet he’s obsessing over this chick to the point where he goes to her job just to see her & fantasizes over her constantly. The song “Baby totally ruins Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” while the track “By the Bridge” is pretty much Logic whining about why this woman doesn’t love him over another acoustic instrumental.

The song “Best Friend” is an acoustic love ballad that goes over pretty decently while the track “Lemon Drop” talks about setting this woman free over some funky guitar licking. The song “I’m Probably Gonna Rock Your World” is a hilariously sappy sex tune with a dreamy instrumental from Mac DeMarco of all people while the track “Vacation from Myself” talks about not needing sophistication over a mellow instrumental. The song “DeLorean” is another love ballad filled with Back to the Future & then the closer “I Love You Forever” is pretty much a boring diatribe to Jess.

I don’t know what else to say about this, it’s easily the worst thing he’s ever done. I can appreciate Logic for stepping out of his comfort zone & the production is cool for the most part, but the instrumentals tend to wear thin by the end. On top of that: his singing is awful & the lyrics are cornier than anything he’s been putting out since ΞVERYBODY.

Score: 0.5/5

The R.O.C. – “Digital Voodoo” review

One of Detroit, Michigan’s most underappreciated horrorcore emcees/producers The R.O.C. finally making his Majik Ninja Entertainment debut. Originally a member of the House of Krazees with Jamie Madrox & Monoxide, he later hooked up with Skrapz to put out 1 last album under the HOK name before starting a duo of their own called HaLFBrEEd when the Insane Clown Posse signed Twiztid to Psychopathic Records. Although they would only release 1 full-length under the HaLFBrEEd name titled Kontamination, it would go on to become a horrorcore classic. Welcome to the Darkside came out under Psychopathic’s now defunct Hatchet House sub-label & dropped Digital Voodoo.

The album starts off with the title track, where The R.O.C.’s talking about his return & the effects that’re done on his voice throughout the song are fitting. The next track with “Let Me Out” talks about how you’re worst nightmares will come true if their minds are let out over a dark, electro-tinged beat & the G-Mo Skee verse about how he became fucked up because of his cousin dropping him on a glass table isn’t bad either.

“Tear It Up” by Zodiac MPrint featuring Boondox has a murderous tone throughout even if it has one of the weakest instrumentals here & the track “The Chalmer” originally appeared on The R.O.C.’s Fucking Preylewd EP that came out at the 2016 Gathering of the Juggalos & it’s just as in your face as it was then.

The song “Dr. No” is basically him saying no to a number of thing such as letting you rock the stage with him & taking bullshit. There are some heavy guitars at some points on here & I certainly didn’t mind them at all. The song “Hecklers” featuring Kuniva & Trick-Trick is a lyrical jab at all the haters out there & if that’s not enough to get you in a pissed off mood (in a good way), the beat enhances the feeling of you wanting to start a brawl.

“Clouds Black Out the Sun” has a gloomy, ominous vibe to it but I’m indifferent towards the hook. The song “Still Running” has a decent beat from Strange Music in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7, but The R.O.C.’s delivery is on point & I can hear the sincere passion in his voice. The song “Disgusted” by the House of Krazees has a surrealist tone lyrically & the somber production fits in with it pretty well too. The track “Sleeper Cell” has some solid strings that’ll pop up every now & then & out of all the 3 guest verses on here, I really liked the militant tone of Whitney Peyton’s & I found R.A. the Rugged Man’s to be pretty humorous.

Both of Natas’ surviving members Esham & Mastamind appear on “What is Hell?” individually answering the titular question & the production is just thunderously sinister. The track “When They Hear It” talks about “zombies” being snapped out of their trance & the guest verses from Kung Fu Vampire as well as Prozak are just as hard as The R.O.C.’s opening verse.

“Zombies in the Apocalypse” is once again on some murderous shit & while but the verse from (həd) p.e. frontman Jahred Gomes isn’t bad, at times it kinda seems like he’s just yelling at the listener. The final track “Revels in the Dark” talks about still traveling from the hate over some ominous piano keys & the verse from Lex the Hex Master is rawly confrontative!

Digital Voodoo has been teased for a long time since his brief “retirement” & enhances what I’ve previously heard on The Fucking Preylewd last summer by surpassing both X-Posed & Oh Hell No! to become The R.O.C.’s greatest achievement as a solo artist in addition to one of the finest full-lengths in MNE’s catalog only a couple years since it’s foundation. He’s always been an outstanding producer & that’s no different here, but the amount of guests actually work out in the long run considering a lot of them are either his labelmates or some of the finest in all of the underground.

Score: 4/5