Roy Wood$ – “Flower City Heartbreak” review

Brampton, Ontario, Canada rapper & singer/songwriter Roy Wood$ dropping off his 6th EP. Signing to Drake‘s very own OVO Sound a decade ago already, he has since gone on to release a total of 3 full-lengths & 5 EPs, with the most notable of the handful being the 2015 debut EP Exis & of course the debut album Walking at Dawn the following winter. Rolling Stone back in December felt like a bunch of uninspired Weeknd runoff & Dark Nights wasn’t any better, gearing up to spill some Flower City Heartbreak.

“Energize Bunny” starts with a corny mutation between dancehall, pop rap & cloud rap talking about being the type of guy that makes your girlfriend get naughty whereas the lead single “1 Night Stand” featuring Chow Lee on the remix continues by going for a generic alternative R&B direction praying this girl he fucked gets her period asking how she got a body like that. “You’re So Right” gives off a trap soul vibe singing about the way she makes him feel & the “no XOs” line possibly being a sneak diss towards X❤️O Records until the moody “I Like It” tells his partner he enjoys it when she screams his name.

The song “TSA” kicks off the 2nd half of Flower City Heartbreak with an ironic Weeknd bite singing that he doesn’t want to cheat on the chick he’s been speaking to recently & knowing he can do better which I commend him for admittedly, but I’d much rather listen to Hurry Up Tomorrow. “Supposed to Be My Lover” makes for another moment reminiscent of Abel’s music asking how he’s supposed to live without this woman by his side & the outro “Crazy” takes 1 last opportunity to rip off The Weeknd singing a out the baddest bitch walking.

To see Roy Wood$ go from providing a unique take to the alternative R&B, trap soul, cloud rap & pop rap styles compared to the rest of the OVO roster a decade ago when Exis had initially dropped & supposedly ghostwriting his mentor’s “Sicko Mode” verses to increasingly becoming more & more like a Great Value version of the alternative R&B artist that Drake wishes he was all because he started up X❤️O instead of signing to OVO has only been getting sadder because it’s getting to the point where his output keeps declining.

Score: 1.5/5

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Roy Wood$ – “Dark Nights” review

This is the 5th EP from Brampton, Ontario, Canada rapper & singer/songwriter Roy Wood$. Signing to Drake‘s very own OVO Sound a decade ago already, he has since gone on to release a total of 3 full-length studio LPs & 4 EPs, with the most notable of the handful being the 2015 debut EP Exis & of course the debut album Walking at Dawn the following winter. Rolling Stone back in December felt like a bunch of uninspired Weeknd runoff & is looking to take us on a journey through the Dark Nights nearly 2 months since Drizzy followed the current 4-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan on social media regardless of her on-screen relationship with the newest WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio.

“So Obvious” begins by talking about clearly seeing this woman in pain advising her to lay her problems out in front of him whereas “Stay with Me” after a brief interlude asks for his lover not to leave him & asking what he has to do for their love. “Whatchu Mean” comes off as another Weeknd bite addressing an individual who has no love for themselves just before “What I Used to Get Into” produced by Drumma Boy talks about being different as of late.

To start the 2nd half, “Like You” embraces an alternative R&B vibe continue to copy The Weeknd singing that he’s as fucked up as his romantic interest is while “You” asks how did he ever let this relationship go wrong. “Disrespectful” speaks on a woman who’s constantly talking over him & “Tell Me What I’m Living For” responds by saying respect isn’t hard to show.

Roy initially saying that Dark Nights was gonna mark a return had me hoping that he would improve from the lackluster reception his most recent output has been receiving, but it’s still the same ol’ generic alternative R&B & pop rap we’ve been getting from him in who knows how long at this point. I understand the situations of betrayal he’s been through are very much real, the execution of it is what leaves little to be desired.

Score: 2/5

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Roy Wood$ – “Rolling Stone” review

Roy Wood$ is a 28 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Brampton, Ontario, Canada whom Drake signed to OVO Sound a decade ago already. He has since gone on to release a total of 3 full-length studio LPs & 3 EPs, with the most notable of the handful being the 2015 debut EP Exis & of course the debut album Walking at Dawn the following winter. Following the sophomore effort Say Less, his output since then has been welcomed to generally mixed to negative responses across the spectrum & I wanted to go into his 4th EP open minded.

“Solo” is this mediocrely melodic trap opening talking about the way this bitch be freakin’ him whereas “She Don’t Care About My Name” feels like a throwback to his earlier stuff from the atmospheric instrumental to the heartbroken lyrics explaining that this particular romantic interest could give a fuck less of getting to know him more. “Rockstar Baby” hooks up some pianos & hi-hats to talk about his new chick being so down while “Outside” hops over a generic trap beat tryna take this woman out of the party.

The song “Hold Still” reaches the starting point of Rolling Stone’s final leg by heading for a cloudy direction instrumentally & laying these thirsty ass lyrics on top of it prior to “Bring It to the Room” hilariously ripping off The Weeknd, who Drake almost signed to OVO & fell out with him after dissing on the We Still Don’t Trust You highlight “All to Myself” this spring. “Nobody Else” featuring 03 Greedo ends the EP talking about a woman who doesn’t want anyone else loving her & Greedo going the hardest.

My opinions on some of the OVO artists’ latest output including Majid Jordan’s 4th album Good People named after the singer/producer duo’s original moniker or Naomi Sharon’s debut album Obsidian & namely PARTYNEXTDOOR’s 4th album PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 haven’t really changed, but Rolling Stone has to be the most underwhelming body of work that the camp has put out in a while. The production is generally subpar & Roy himself sounds like as if he’s uninterested for at least 60% of the time.

Score: 2/5

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