Don’t sleep on this latest album from Tree. It was released on March 22nd this year. I would’ve written a normal review for this album, but unfortunately I don’t have the production credits. I almost didn’t even listen to this just because I didn’t know who produced it. If any of y’all have the credits, please send them to me. For now, I’ll just assume it’s self produced.

Anyway, when the first track started I was a little skeptical to be honest. I don’t know what it is about the way that song begins. It just sounds rough to me for some reason. Things thankfully smooth over once the beat finally drops. As always, Tree’s voice sounds absolutely fantastic. He’s one of the first rappers I think of when people ask who has the best voice for rapping. Anyway, the song is really dope overall.

My dad was an addict
I didn’t like needles; I never got tatted

The beat really grew on me, and the first verse was great. Also, I was honestly really surprised by how well the sung hook went over. Tree has a pretty raspy voice, so I wasn’t expecting him to sound that good as a singer. The raspiness gives it a kind of warm, soulful eccentricity. It sounds really damn good to me. It’s even better on the following song, All I’ll Ever Be. That beat just makes me feel like I’m with my favorite people in the world, around a fire, drinking something like hot chocolate. It just sounds like auditory happiness & comfort. Tree’s voice sounds perfect over it. That fucking hook though… That shit sounds SO FUCKING GOOD, man. That shit is FIRE. I love it. I was so glad I didn’t skip this album when I heard that shit. Also, that second verse is awesome. It’s definitely one of the best songs I’ve heard from Tree. I guess that’s not really saying much since this is my first time checking out a full project from him. I like it even more than the song he had on that Blockhead album. I don’t even mind the short length. The song is less than two minutes long, but it doesn’t feel incomplete to me. I love it. It’s dope af. I unfortunately didn’t like the following track quite as much.

Just like with the opening track, it sounded pretty goddamn rough to me until the beat actually dropped. The intro thankfully doesn’t actually last that long. It still sounded kinda awkward to me though. I kind of have mixed feelings about the overall song. The production’s kinda cool, but the singing from Tree didn’t impress me as much as it did on the previous song. It’s not really bad. I just didn’t enjoy it that much. It was decent. That’s pretty much how I feel about the entire song. I’m kinda torn on it. The verses aren’t bad. I’m just not really into the hook that much. The content wasn’t really that interesting to me either though. It’s a decent song, but I won’t be returning to it personally. Things picked back up for the following track, No Lies. I feel like the beat itself isn’t super impressive, but I really like the way Tree sounds over it. His flow isn’t super impressive or anything, but it worked. Apparently he doesn’t write any of his lyrics down. He does what Lil Wayne says he does, which is just rap bars that he has in his head. It’s crazy to me that some rappers can do that, and I don’t really get why they’d choose to do that other than to just be able to claim that they can. I personally don’t see any real benefits other than bragging rights. I’m not gonna tell them how to do their jobs. I mean, it’s possible that their flows would be less sporadic and more impressive if they weren’t winging it, but it’s not like Tree’s rapping super lazily. The first verse was cool. The hook is kinda simplistic, but I like it. The second verse is good too. It’s a nice song. It’s not a favorite of mine from the album, but I definitely like it.

Flights definitely has one of my favorite beats on the whole album. The verses are really good too, especially the first one. I just wish the hook was a little more interesting. Other than that it’s a dope song though. I like it a lot. Again, the production is dope af. The Meek is definitely one of my least favorite tracks on the album to be honest. It’s kind of frustrating because I actually think Tree’s performance was pretty dope. I just don’t really care for the beat at all. I don’t know what it is about the beat… It just isn’t that good to me. It may have more to do with the mixing than the actual beat itself. It sounds a bit too loud to me. Just like with Like U Used 2, I’m really torn on this track. I wouldn’t ever call it wack, but at the same time I didn’t really enjoy it enough to say I like it. It’s definitely a decent song though.

Runaway Gurl is another one of the best songs on the album in my opinion. It’s one of those really well done tracks where I don’t really have any gripes. The beat is really dope, and the lyrics are actually interesting. He’s pretty much just rapping about women who are in really fucked up situations and have shitty lives. The first verse was dope, but the second one is even better. His flow is really nice. However, there is one point at the beginning of the second verse where he repeats the words “even leaving meaning” a few times, and I’m not really sure what that was all about. I mean, it sounded cool as a rhyme, but it’s balderdash as far as I can tell. Overall it’s really fucking great though. Again, I think it’s one of the best songs on the album. It’s dope af. The second half of the album contains three songs that are basically open letters. The first one is Letter to My Exes, which is really dope. I really like the production a lot. I feel like Tree would make great music with 9th Wonder. The opening to the track is pretty cool, but it gets so much better when the percussion comes in. I like the attitude Tree seems to have about his exes. Unlike most rappers, he doesn’t sound bitter about them at all. He rapped about keeping in contact with them, and still being friends with them, which I admire. It’s actually a really good song. I like it a lot. It’s just one verse, but it’s dope. Thank God is the longest song on the album. It’s really fuckin’ good. He goes into more of his personal history. I really like the production, and he sounds great over it. The hook’s nothing special. The production & verses are really what make the song stand out. It’s dope as hell.

Letter to My Sons is definitely another one of my favorite tracks on the album. Just like with the previous “Letter to…” song, it’s just one verse. It’s a really heartfelt song though. The beat is good, and I love how his delivery gets more aggressive and loud towards the end of the verse. The song is dope af.

Backflip is a solid track. It’s definitely not one of my favorites, but I enjoyed it to some extent. The verses are good. I’m not crazy about the hook, but it works. My least favorite part of the song is when Tree literally starts explaining the hook instead of doing a third verse. I’m not really sure why he felt the need to do that… The song is good though. I like it. I actually found the production credits for Newport Shorts in a Box. It’s by someone named Left Bank. Also, Runaway Gurl was produced by Xcelence. Anyway, the singing at the beginning of the song sounds really good to me, and that beat from Left Bank is great. The verse from Tree is dope as hell too. That line about how Chance told him to send some tracks, and then he never heard from him again was funny. I’d probably like the song a little more if it was longer and more fleshed out, but I still really fuck with it. I like it more than the previous one. It’s dope. The final track, Letter to Project Mayhem, is fire. First of all, that beat is fucking amazing. That might actually be my favorite beat on the whole album. Tree murdered it too. Just like with the Letter to his sons, I love how his delivery got more aggressive towards the end of the song. The way he said “plus I’m probably better than your top 5 ever” sounded so fucking cool to me. The song is amazing. Definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album. Overall, I think this project is great. There are a couple songs that I won’t be returning to, but I don’t think they’re actually bad. There’s not a wack song on this album in my opinion. Again, Tree has one of the best voices for Hip Hop in my opinion, and he’s pretty good at writing entertaining songs. He refers to his style of music as “Soul Trap,” which is a fitting label in my opinion. He uses a lot of soulful samples with Trap influenced percussion. His singing sounds really good over it too. I don’t really see many people talking about this album, which is unfortunate because it’s great. Tree carried the whole album without any features, which is impressive. Well, I mean, it’s a pretty short project, so he doesn’t really give you much time to get bored. I’m kinda glad there are no features. Anyway, check this album out if you haven’t already. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s dope.

Favorite Song: All I’ll Ever Be
Least Favorite Song: Like U Used 2

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