Its another case of "I keep hearing that name" and in Logic's case I may deserve a slap for not getting around to the Beverly Hills rapper sooner. At almost ten years into his career Logic has graced every year with an album or mix tape, of which this is the latter, a squeal to his 2016 mix tape of the same name. The intro track alone lets you know he has fans in cultural places, a feature from the fictional characters Rick and Morty play out an amusing narrative of the two debating which Logic project they wish to enjoy together on their intergalactic travels.
To start of with some unapologetic praise, my experience with Bobby Tarantino II leads me to believe that Logic may just be the amalgamation of Hip Hop's past, present and possibly future as the young rapper seems to have a master on the prominent styles and techniques associated with spitting rhymes on the mic. Across the fourteen tracks he displays a mastery of his own ability as words arrive in all manor of deliveries. From relaxed, laid back, half sung and auto tuned lines to rapid technical flows delivering a torrents of rhymes in choppy rhythms, Logic also hits on many mid paced flows too, showing hes got a wealth of style to pull on.
There aren't many moments of pure originality but whatever technique is brought to the mic, he owns it. When in comes to topics a lot of the album lyrics revolves around self relevance, the hard work and hustle to establish himself and defiance at his critics. Its all wrapped in smart and sleek, sturdy rhyme schemes that generally hits a reasonably high bar of quality without too many exceptional moments. As much as I enjoy his rhymes and flow they wern't responsible for the moments that stood out the most to me on this project.
Behind his voice we have a equally high bar of entry for the instrumentals which have a wonderful balance of older sample driven styles and modern trap influenced production that keeps things flowing fresh and fun from start to end. Indica Badu's laid back, summer and sun instrumental peaks the vibes at the records midpoint but its Logic's singing in the chorus and on Boomtrap Protocol that elevates the music. This plays into what I was talking about at the beginning of this article, hes mastered a lot with his voice and its special when he bounces between rhymes to singing the hooks.
Overall I feel like this was a fantastic introduction to a very talented individual, however I get this impression he can do better. There's little to criticize but a lot of the topics he rhymes about feel a step behind his technique. Id also point out 44 More sounds very similar to Kendrick Lamar's DNA. One thing he has got down is the singing and use of auto tune. The songs with strong choruses really light up from the passion he brings through his voice. Fantastic record! Gonna have to work my way through his back catalog now!
Rating: 7/10
Favorite Tracks: Boomtrap Protocol, Indica Badu, Warm It Up, Everyday