Kid Ink - Summer in the Winter

Kid Ink
Summer in the Winter
2015
Kid Ink - Summer in the Winter

Second album in less than a year is quite impressive for someone like Kid Ink, the problem is that neither of them were all that good. Summer in the Winter does have a nice rhythm and a pace that is great for dreaming of warmer times, but the rhymes are soft and any edge feels so contrived. The entire album was produced by DJ Mustard who of course will tell you as much at the beginning of every track. This signature tag may have been needed or nice as a way to get his name out there but at this point hearing "Mustard on that beat" before every damn track is bordering on run away narcissism. Summer in the Winter further affirms that Kid Ink is going to place himself firmly in the mainstream, you won't find the gang banging or drug dealing that typified his early career only what He has to floss, what clubs He gets into and the people He associates himself with. The album is full of big name features like Fetty Wap, Omarion, Akon and Starrah who do add quite a bit to the tracks they are on, but rarely elevate them to any kind of greatness level.

This is where it is hard to judge this album because really it is fine. The beats are fine, the raps are fine but in music these days fine just is not good enough. If one of these tracks came on at a party you would be perfectly fine vibing to it, but no one is going to ask who this is and make sure they look it up later. The track with Akon "Rewind" however feels like it belongs in 2010. Somehow this album manages to make less of an impact than Full Speed (released earlier in 2015) and is just a cookie cutter version of club bangers. DJ Mustard does very little in terms of development here which adds to the dated feel of the album. This album is not going to offend anyone if it's played but I really can't imagine anyone except die hard Kid Ink fans really going back to these tracks. Take a listen, move on.

4.2 out of 10