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This album was released on March 10th this year. I’d never heard of this guy until this project came out. I was pretty surprised when I found out that he was signed to Dreamville. Usually whenever J. Cole signs a new artist I see a news article about it, but I had no idea this guy even existed. I was also surprised when I saw how much praise this project was getting. Dreamville is cool, but none of their projects ever get the kinda reception that this one got. It’s supposed to be one of the best releases of the year. Even my homie Frostie wouldn’t stop bugging me to check this dude out. I’m expecting big things from this project.

Track 1: Doo Wop (Prod. Sean McVerry)

Okay, someone’s singing right now. It’s a cappella. Is that J.I.D? Is it him or Sean McVerry? Oh shit. Okay, the instrumental just came on. Oh shit. This is awesome. That’s definitely J.I.D singing. He’s just singing “Everyone’s a star.” This isn’t really a full song. I really like it tho. It’s just an intro, but I’m not gonna be deleting it. I won’t rate it tho.

Track 2: General (Prod. Latrell James & OZ The Additive)

Oh fuckin’ shit. This beat is so fucking dope. I love this percussion. It’s really hard hitting. It sounds like someone was actually playing the drums in the studio; it doesn’t sound like it came from a machine. J.I.D’s voice sounds like a slightly altered version of Anderson .Paak. Damn. This is really dope. That first verse was nice. Man, this is a REALLY well produced track. I’m not just saying that ’cause the beat sounds good; you can tell that they really put a lot of time into this track. The production is perfectly synchronized with J.I.D’s bars. I don’t know how to explain it. The shit sounds pristine tho. The instrumental sounds expensive. The first verse was great. The hook is really cool too. Oh fuck. Gotdamn. He murdered that second verse. “Kinda close but no cigarillo / He was armored up; that’s a armadillo / My pops did time in the military / And he taught us how to disarm a nigga.” I can already tell I’m gonna love this album. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 3: NEVER (Prod. Christo & Childish Major)

I think this is the track that Frostie’s obsessed with. It’s either this one or LAUDER. I can’t remember. It’s definitely one of the capitalized tracks. It’s starting now. Oh okay, yeah this is definitely the song Frostie was talking about. I think he played this in his car. This beat is HARD, and the hook is dope af. Childish Major is one of my favorite producers, so it’s cool to see him on a popular project like this. I think he’s from Atlanta too, so that must be how J.I.D knows him. Gotdamn. He’s killin’ this first verse. His flow is awesome. His delivery on the hook is really fucking cool too. Oh shitfuck. The beat just switched up. This is crazy. Gotdamn. Lmao. He snapped on that second verse. Fuck. Okay, I definitely fuck with this song. This shit is dope af. 5/5

Track 4: EdEddnEddy (Prod. Hollywood JB)

LOVE that show. Oh fuck… No he didn’t… Oh fuuuuuuuck. Lmao. This motherfucker Hollywood JB sampled Scenario. This shit is so fucking hard. He lowered the tempo and added some Trap inspired percussion. This is awesome. I love this dude’s flow. It’s smooth as hell. Aww, what? The song just ended… Damn. It’s under 2 and a half minutes long. I enjoyed this, but it’s far less satisfying than the previous few tracks. The beat is really nice, but there’s only one verse, and he doesn’t really go into too much detail about anything interesting. He kinda just rambled about getting high and chillin’ with his friends. It just feels kind of undercooked. I enjoyed it tho. I love the beat, and his flow was really smooth. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 5: D/vision Feat. EarthGang (Prod. J. Cole & Johnny Venus)

I’m not too familiar with these EarthGang fucks. I liked what they did on the J. Cole track that was on DJ Khaled’s latest album. I’ve also heard pretty good things about them. It bothers me that there’s no space in their name tho. For those of you who don’t know, they’re a duo consisting of Johnny Venus & Doctur Dot. This track is starting now. This hook sounds kinda weird. J.I.D already has kind of an unorthodox voice, so it sounds extra bizarre when it’s pitch-shifted like this. I don’t think it’s a bad hook tho. This beat is pretty dope. J.I.D did his thing on the first verse. “Anybody wanna see ’em I can make ’em a believer / At your neck like Gillette / Get you, and the nigga next to you / In present time they sayin’ that I’m the next nigga.” I really like the way he structures his verses. He always starts off kinda calm, but it always evolves into a really impressive flow and gets progressively doper. Doctur Dot’s goin’ in now. I like that they’re all goin’ in one after another without the hook interrupting them. Dot’s verse was dope. Now Johnny’s goin’ in. This is my first time hearing either of them rap, but from this it sounds like they have a pretty similar style to J.I.D. They all sound like they could be one group. Johnny Venus fuckin’ killed this shit. He honestly probably had my favorite verse. That was really dope. This is a really great song. I fuck with this. I fuck with this “the long way.” Lmao. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 6: Hereditary (Prod. Tha Officialz & Childish Major)

I’m not gonna lie, when this track first started I thought it was gonna be some bullshit. It starts with this girl saying “hey, we really need to talk” and then these dramatic piano keys came in. I thought it was gonna be some of that corny love song bullshit. Like, the kinda love song that DJ Khaled would put together. Once the rest of the instrumentation comes in it gets a lot better. J.I.D is singing the hook, and he actually sounds really fuckin’ good. He could probably make a straight up R&B track, and it’d be good. Oh. That’s kinda what this is I guess. He’s singing the whole first verse. This is nice. Man, this guy is REALLY talented. This is a very diverse project. It has influences of Trap, old school Boom Bap, and now even Contemporary R&B. This is pretty much just an emotional break up song. “I know this what I need, but who’s to say what I need? / What you say to your demons? / What you say to your heart when it’s walking away with your feelings?” The content isn’t too interesting for me, but it’s really fucking dope sonically. Oh shit… The beat just switched up for the second verse. Damn… This motherfucker is KILLIN’ this shit. Fuuuck. Okay, this is fucking awesome. GotDAMN. A fucking saxophone just came in. Fuck, man. This needs to be a single. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 7: All Bad Feat. Mereba (Prod. Hollywood JB)

Man, this beat is fucking fantastic. This shit is so smooth and soulful. J.I.D & Mereba are harmonizing on the hook, and it sounds SOOOO fuckin’ good. He’s singing the first verse. This is a really slow song. The first verse was cool. Man, this is a really, REALLY slow song. Mereba’s singin’ on the second verse. She sounds real good. Man… There really aren’t any noticeable flaws in this song, but it’s not blowing me away like a lot of the previous tracks did. I still fuck with it tho. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 8: Underwear (Prod. Christo)

This song has a really dark Trap beat. It’s dope. It kinda sounds like something XXXTENTACION would rhyme over, except the bass isn’t boosted to an almost unlistenable level. Lmao. Woow. This hook is stupid af. Not in a good way either. It’s just dumb. It doesn’t ruin the song, but nah. I’m not feelin’ it. Damn. His flow on this first verse is awesome. He killed that shit. The second verse was nice too. Fuck, man. This hook is so bad lmao. The final verse was really dope. I fuck with this song. The beat kinda got old for me after a while, and the hook was wack, but the verses were all pretty great. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 9: 8701 Feat. 6LACK (Prod. Childish Major)

I’ve only heard one song from 6LACK, and I think I enjoyed it. I don’t really know. It’s been a while since I listened to it. I think I remember liking it sonically, but thinking it was kinda dumb lyrically. It was a catchy track tho. This one’s starting now. Ooooh fuck. Childish Major. Yes. Childish Major. God, yes. He put his ASS in this beat. 6LACK sounded pretty good on the first verse. Woah… The way the beat switched up for J.I.D.’s verse was crazy. What the fuck? This is insane. Good lord. Lmao. This is so fucking cool. I’m not crazy about the hook, but it’s not bad. This track ends kind of abruptly. J.I.D’s verse was great tho. This is a really dope song. I fuck with this. 4/5

Track 10: Hoodbooger (Prod. SMKA)

This beat is dope af. Jesus. This is so fucking dope. The first verse was nice. This hook is awesome. Bruh… SMKA fucking killed this beat. It’s so fucking good. The second verse was cool. Fuck, man. Should I give this a 4 or a 5? I mean, there really isn’t anything wrong with this track. I just wish the verses were a little longer. This would probably be a really good choice for a single. You know what? Fuck it. I’m just gonna play it safe. I really loved the beat, and J.I.D did his thing, but I don’t think this song is super amazing or anything. It’s really fuckin’ good tho. I fuck with this track. 4/5

Track 11: Somebody (Prod. The Imaginary Kids & Christo)

Wooaah… This beat is really fucking cool. It’s really lighthearted and smooth. This is so nice. Okay. This might end up being my favorite track. I love the jazzy production, and this first verse from J.I.D is really fucking dope. “Patience is cool, I had to learn that too / I had got kicked out of school, like, ‘nigga fuck y’all rules‘ / And them niggas that snitched on me; yeah, it’s fuck y’all too.” The hook is really simplistic, but it works. His flow on this track is great. That second verse was fuckin’ phenomenal too. This is awesome. “They asked me ‘what’s my sound?‘ I tell ’em ‘nothing particular‘ / I’m blowing this purple ’til I feel perpendicular / My flow crash like homicide vehicular / Leave a nigga’s brain at the scene, sign for signature.” I definitely fuck with this track. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 12: LAUDER (Prod. J. Cole & Christo)

This beat is really dope. Damn. He killed that first verse. This is definitely the most personal track on the album. Holy fucking shit… Bruh. That second verse was crazy. His flow was fucking insane on that shit. How the fuck did he rap like that without stopping to breathe? He fucking spazzed on that shit. BRUUUH. HOLY FUCK. That final verse. FUCK. Goddamn. This dude fucking snapped on that shit. “Let’s get it poppin’; they’re pulling pistols on apostle Paul / So paid the piper or meet the sniper legend of the fall / I knew in diapers you and I was nothing alike at all / I do or die, you do it to die; I’m really making calls / You couldn’t kill it and take it out of me / The ideology, this the odyssey / I’m Odysseus, you gotta follow me.” His flow is fucking bananas. This motherfucker can rap. Gotdamn. Lmao. Fuck. Hahaha. Shit, man. He fucking annihilated that shit. This is dope af. 5/5

Final Thoughts:

This album is amazing. This is definitely one of the best releases of the year so far. I love this album. I’m so glad I finally decided to check this shit out. First of all, the production throughout this entire project is fantastic. Let’s talk about J.I.D tho. This dude is really fucking good. I don’t think he’s super amazing lyrically like Lupe or El-P, but he’s definitely up there. He’s far better than most other rappers. He’s definitely the best on Dreamville. His flow is fantastic tho. His breath control is really fucking impressive. He’s also just a really talented songwriter. It’d be one thing if he could just rap, but I could see all of these songs being played on the radio. They all just sound really accessible, like a Logic or Kendrick song. I definitely think he’s better than J. Cole at writing songs. Well, honestly he’s better than J. Cole at everything. Except producing, but that’s only because he’s not a producer. His flow, delivery, lyrics, hooks, and even beat selections are all better on this album than those of Cole on his most recent LP. I should also reiterate that shit I said before about this album being so diverse. It almost sounded like there’s nothing J.I.D can’t do when it comes to Hip Hop. I think he can do even better than this. I wanna hear a whole project where he’s goin’ off like he did on LAUDER. J. Cole hit the fuckin’ jackpot with this dude. I can tell this guy’s gonna be big. This album was dope af.

Favorite Song: LAUDER

Least Favorite Song: Underwear

Verdict:

91%

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