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Released: December 6, 2019

Artist: XXXTENTACION

Tracks: 25

Here we go. This is the album I have been looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. XXXTENTACION was and still is one of the most influential artists of our time. The versatile style that saw him upload screaming infused explosive hip hop, as well as sweet and somber melodies on topics like love and depression, captivated the world. He remains at the top of my favorite artists of all time and so I hate to admit that I was disheartened at the release of his last project Skins. I felt that the project lacked the depth and life that X breathed into his projects.  It felt like whoever was in charge of putting that album together went through X’s project files and took any little bit of his voice to string together a half baked song. I have felt this way with quite a few of XXXTENTACION’s posthumous releases. Often times we will get a looped few lines dropped as a song or something of a chorus that other artists fill out with their verses.  In a way it was just a reminder that he was gone, never to finish any of these songs or projects with his own vision. This left me excited for the release of this album, but also a little cautious. So does Bad Vibes Forever, the final album by XXXTENTACION, honor and validate his legacy? 

DISCLAIMER: Other than right at this moment, I won’t be discussing his past, his allegations, or anything of the sort. I feel that regardless of what is true or not this young man was not the same person he was when he first experienced fame. He left this world in a much better place than he found it by way of charity and lending his ear to the millions of fans who found his struggles with mental health issues relatable. 

Just like the rest of X’s recent discography, this project opens with an introductory track of a brief moment of the rapper speaking about how he wants people to let him live over a quiet and peaceful beat. This track reminds me of X’s way of speaking his mind and shows a side of the rapper that just wanted to be allowed to exist as he was without the constant input of others. 

Ex Bitch is the first actual song on the project, and we see a familiar guitar plucking beat that backs the soft vocals of XXXTENTACION. I found this track enjoyable, even though it does seem to echo the previous cases of turning an incomplete idea into a song. I will say that this song could pass for an X song, as often times his music was riddled with very short songs. At least this song seems to be a complete idea. 

These first few tracks have the variety that many people look to X for. The second track, Ugly sounds almost like a part two of the rapper’s Soundcloud track, Teeth. It gives off the same dark, eerie vibe as the latter track which was nice to hear. We don’t often hear much in the ways of that era of X’s music, so to have a song that could have fit in that era of him releasing music was a very appreciated inclusion.

There are some strong moments on Bad Vibes Forever. The above-mentioned tracks, as well as the lead single with the same title as the album. PnB Rock and Trippie Redd combine with X’s chorus to make for a solid track overall. XXXTENTACION’s hook is complemented and expanded upon by the features and it makes for a song that may fit the bill of an “a hook that other artists fill out with their voices” situation that I previously mentioned. This track, however, contained features who had previously worked with X, and it appears as though they are here to remember their friend rather than gain something from the track. I thoroughly enjoyed this song. 

School Shooters (feat. Lil Wayne) is where the features start getting a little odd. I was a little confused about X’s appearance on The Carter V last year, especially after Lil Wayne admitted he had no idea who the rapper was before working on that song. This song is overall a bad song and just a weak point in the album overall. There are some other out of place features as well, such as Rick Ross being included on I Changed Her Life, however, this song was a decent song overall. So while it may bother me that Rick Ross had no affiliation to X before his death, I will say that Ross’s verse seemed to pay homage to X as well as fit into a very solid track. 

Bad Vibes Forever is a farewell to a generational talent whose life was taken before he had even reached the massive well of potential he had showcased in his short career. I do feel a little bit empty after listening to this project, knowing that this is supposed to be the final project of the rapper’s body of work. I also feel that it left a far better impression on me than last year’s Skins did, and although it does struggle with things like out of place features and a lack of overall content in some of the songs, this feels more like an X project and less like someone’s interpretation of what an X project should be.  Thank you Jahseh for everything your music has done for me and my generation. Thank you for making it okay to not be okay, and thank you for being you. Rest In Peace.

Bad Vibes Forever earns a 7/10 for its recognizable variety of X’s content. Some of the problems persist because of the obvious lack of content from the rapper himself on some of the songs. With a much better outing than Skins, the album is a solid track of a little empty at times with some odd features. It does not carry the same life, soul, or weight that X’s projects from before his passing, but I feel that as a farewell it is a solid entry into his discography. 

Songs I Loved: 

Ex Bitch

UGLY

Bad Vibes Forever

Triumph

Kill My Vibe

IT’S ALL FADING TO BLACK

Songs I Liked:

I Changed Her Life

Limbo

before i realize

Ecstacy

Hot Gyal

Daemons

Eat It Up

wanna grow old

numb the pain

Songs I Disliked:

School Shooters

CHASE/glass shards

[neverendingmusicreviews]

Released: October 11, 2019

Artist: Youngboy Never Broke Again

Tracks: 18

So I have a confession, this album, the album I am reviewing, yeah this album, is my first ever time listening to Youngboy’s music. I have heard him as a feature in songs that I have liked, but I have never sat down and just listened to his music before. I saw the waves he is making in the current hip hop scene, and at his age, his accomplishments are very impressive. AI Youngboy 2 peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200 albums list and has since dropped to a still impressive 11th. I decided to give his music a first listen after being told multiple times to give Youngboy a shot so here we are. How is Youngboy Never Broke Again’s AI Youngboy 2?

The energy of this project does not ever falter. Right from the jump with the opening track Carter Son, Youngboy impressed me with his ability to put forth melody with immense energy. That mixture of rough sound and harmony is found throughout this album and although it is a bit tired or misplaced on some tracks, overall it works. I found his wordplay and lyricism to be much better than the stereotypical melodic rapper, and his flows to be intricate and interesting over these often melodic and chill beat that you wouldn’t necessarily tie to his sound. 

As this is my first Youngboy Never Broke Again project, I really was not sure what to expect. I didn’t mind him on features like Bandit by Juice Wrld and thought he managed to match a lot of the songs he was on with verses that were both well thought out and fit the overall track well. I have noticed that he is a somewhat divisive artist, as people generally either love him or hate him which I felt would have made it hard to review this album. I have heard both sides and I believe that this project falls more on the positive side. Youngboy is definitely not a bad rapper in any way and this project is a strong one, but I am interested to see where he goes from here. His music is both original and interesting, but I would like to hear him step out of his comfort zone a bit more. 

As I listened to this album I did feel that many of the songs were very similar in build and sound. This isn’t inherently bad as any artist should be able to be easily identified by their voices and styles, but when listening to an 18 song project, it does get a little redundant to hear the same sorts of songs with little to no versatility mixed in. There are moments here where he steps briefly out of the sound of the rest of the project, like the beginning of Gang Shit where the rapper explodes onto the song just to later return to his melodic style. This is also the case with Hot Now where the adlibs and brief moments in the song are explosive and sound like the rapper may go into a harder flow and instead opts to go back to melodies.  I would have liked to hear him keep on with some of these harder flows just to sort of test himself and change up the album a bit. As I said before it isn’t necessarily a bad thing because most of his songs should reflect the style that his fans have come to expect of him, it’s just noticeable over the course of 18 songs. 

AI Youngboy 2 is a solid album and it shows the craft of a young up and coming rapper with high marks in both talent and potential. This project was a good listen and left me sort of surprised at some of the hate I have heard the rapper get. He is on par if not better than some of his peers and while I would like a bit more variety in an album, he isn’t nearly as bad as some people would have you believe. I am interested to see Youngboy over the next few projects continue his growth and as the first-ever project I heard from an artist this was definitely a good first impression. I commend Youngboy for reaching the number 1 spot on Billboard, and with only a single song with features on it. 

Through his unique sound and combination of melodic elements and hard banger lyrics, Youngboy Never Broke Again’s AI Youngboy 2 earns a 7/10.

Songs I Loved:

Hot Now

Slime Mentality

Head Blown

Time I’m On

Outta Here Safe

Make No Sense

Songs I Liked:

In Control

Where The Love At

Lonely Child

Carter Son

Self Control

Gang Shit

Songs I Didn’t Like:

Ranada

Rebel’s Kick It

[neverendingmusicreviews]

Released: November 22, 2019

Artist: Trippie Redd

Tracks:21

Trippie Redd has always been an artist that I felt has so much potential. I found his music intriguing after hearing his Luv Scars when it was showcased on Complex’s Pigeons and Planes and I have followed his career and growth ever since. Although Trippie is obviously very talented, one-word sort of defines his music (especially his projects): inconsistent.  That is once again prevalent on this new entry into the A Love Letter To You series. 

Trippie opens this album with a track titled after his most recent ex-girlfriend, Leray. This song really is a strange mix of what sounds like an odd breakup text read aloud, and slam poetry. The guitar string plucking of the beat is both very soft and melodic, which is sort of thrown off by Trippie just talking on the beat. I will say that this song does get much better when the rapper sings towards the end, harmonizing perfectly with the beat. This sort of jumbled mess of conflicting ideas is what has plagued these last two projects by Trippie. The most recent projects by Trippie feel like they have lost their identity. 

 His potential is on full display with tracks like the lead single Love Me More which is easily the best song on this album. While I do feel that Trippie can be inconsistent, when it works it works very well and this is a perfect example of that. This track is a beautiful song about being in a relationship in which the rapper doesn’t feel loved enough. He sings about a feeling that many can relate to, the feelings of inadequacy and the human need to be loved for who we are and not who someone wants us to be. Trippie’s vocals are beautiful on this song and the cadence of both the hook and verse work very well with the sad trap beat. This song, in my opinion, is one of Trippie’s best songs to date, and I appreciate how relatable and simple the song truly is. 

This album is much stronger in terms of variety and overall song quality than Trippie’s last album “!”.   There is a good blend of trap bangers and melodic songs about lost love and heartbreak found here. I will say that the songs where Trippie shows glimpses of realizing his potential are a little scarce, with most of the songs falling into the “above average” category. There are some songs I really don’t like on this album like M’s (feat. Lil Yatchy and Pierre Bourne) for basically just being a little too familiar to previous work for my liking, but there are quite a few decent tracks here. Trippie did what we all have come to love about his work with his melodic songs about heartbreak and his bangers about killing and trapping. 

So how does Trippie’s album stack up against the previous work?  I feel that the variety is mostly a strength for this project, and although it definitely follows Trippie’s trend of being inconsistent, it is a much better outing than the last album we received. When compared to some of his other projects this one is definitely not the best, however, I feel it is a step in the right direction. Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter To You 4 is a mix of relatable material on being used and in and out of love, and some loud banging tracks that feel good to play. It is held back by some of the mediocre or just bad songs included here, but I feel that it deserves a 6/10 score. 

Songs I Loved:  

 Love Me More

Love Sick

Real Feel

RMP

Can You Rap Like Me Pt.2 (Feat. Chris King)

Songs I Liked:

6 Kisses (Feat. Juice Wrld & YNW Melly)

Sickening (Feat. Tory Lanez)

Abandoned

The Grinch

Songs I Didn’t Like:

M’s (Feat. Lil Yachty & Pierre Bourne)

Leray

This Ain’t That (Feat. Lil Mosey)