21 is still somehow worse at rapping when he tries to rap. same problem on as on /i am > i was./ he's edging closer to sounding like drake with each album, which i think is a bad direction for him to move in because there is outwardly very little about him that is vulnerable or sensitive. he's a little tough to relate to because his cold delivery actively puts up walls

i like the idea of sample heavy metro production but he's covering the same ground he covered when he withdrew from the spotlight a few years ago. and it's not even a triumphant return to his sound because hip hop has largely moved on from biting metro. less "let me show you youngins how it's done" and more "remember this style of beats?" i do really like "rip luv" for the use of the old nas sample even though there are a few senseless beat switches and some zaytoven piano noodling. the young thug feature is great, the "everlasting bass" sample is novel, and the final track eventually won me over. most of the rest of the album is executed well but not particularly memorable. the morgan freeman narration is a little cringey