by Daniel Oliveira
The late rapper XXXTentacion’s album has finally been released, but before we dive into the controversial rapper’s album, the actual controversy behind the album itself has to be addressed. Most people are starting to be suspicious of his record label for releasing works he has never finished only to profit from it, now all his past producers and friends are beginning to say that all the work that’s being released was his idea. However, the 2 singles that came out were also very suspicious. The songs didn’t sound very polished and the song “Falling Down” with the late Lil Peep (one of the more popular singles) went completely against Lil Peep’s thoughts. He never liked X due to the allegations that he beat his pregnant girlfriend beforehand. Things were already not looking good in the quality department for X’s new album, it didn’t help that the last single released before the album’s release titled “Bad!” sounded poorly mixed and was essentially 80% hook and 20% verse. It had a very creative sample though to say the least and the use of a unique sound in place of a snare or hi hat gives it an interesting listen.
Now, into the aspects album; the introduction track isn’t much of a high-point, but it sets the tone for the rest of the album. The next song is called Guardian Angel, where X is usually known for displaying emotion in his voice and in this song he does it well. He speaks about his relationship with a girl and also addresses the topic of people portraying him as someone evil. The problem with this song though is that it didn’t mix well, and doesn’t dive deep into what he’s talking about due to length. The lyrics were vague with his wording making it seem like he wrote down anything sad that came into mind, it’s enjoyable though to say the least, but far from best track.
The next track, Train Food, is the highlight of the album. It depicts X being approached by a man and having a conversation with him, but everything turns for the worst when he blacks out, and wakes up tied to a train track naked. He quickly thinks of everything he missed out on doing before he dies. The song itself was a good short story and probably the best sounding and best song content on the album.
After this, the next interesting song: One Minute, featuring Kanye West, has a horrific sample. It’s an extremely bland guitar sample that just repeats over and over. The verse starts with Kanye West and he touches on very controversial topics of his problems with the fame, controversy, and allegations around him. The verse drags on for way too long, but it wouldn’t seem so long if the sample wasn’t so boring. Then X comes in with screaming vocals, and the problem with his is that he never finished them. It’s evident on this song more than any other, that his scream was looped to make the song longer because of how bad the mixing was. However, this was another climax of the album, because after this, it just goes downhill. The producers decided to throw in an interlude into a 20 minute album. After the interlude there is just mediocre singing and the song “What Are You So Afraid Of”, which is the ending track where he speaks about the fear of being in love and a waste of time. It’s just dull and extremely repetitive, it didn’t end on a strong note, and with that the album is finished.
The main problem with this album is lack of consistency and no song actually tackling the topics they aim for well enough. The production and mixing on some are not up to par at all, the album clearly wasn’t worked on long enough and the label released it knowing well that it would sell because it is a deceased rapper’s album.
Overall, it does have a charm to its sound but not enough so that it would make the inconsistencies unnoticeable.
RATING : 4.7/10, because it doesn’t even feel like its finished, and his death shouldn’t be used as an excuse for this glaring flaw. If that was the case, than the album shouldn’t have been released period. I hope the man is resting easy.