Quavo and Travis Scott - Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho

Quavo and Travis Scott
Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho
2017
Spotify

2017 may go down as the year of the collab, as Future and Young Thug teamed up then Metro Boomin and 21 Savage next was Big Sean and Metro Boomin again; finally just under the wire this new album from Quavo and Travis Scott. As trap artists try to move out of the trap and into the pop space many have found the collaboration as a way to do something different but also build their fan base. Quavo and Travis Scott make for the most "no duh" pair having worked together since 2014 and appearing on each others stuff more than once. Here's the thing about this record, all the pieces are in place: two artists at the top of their game, huge producers and a finger on the pulse of exactly what is happening right now which is why it's so disappointing. To be a good collaborator you have to pull the best out of who you work with. The Migos do it, so do tons of other musicians but when Travis Scott and Quavo get together it is an absolute snoozer. Sure the beats are good, as they usually are when dealing with these two, but they have nothing to say. The album becomes an exercise in listening close for some kind of good line or some kind of fascinating quip but they rarely if ever come. "Go" has almost nothing to it but the two repeating Go over and over again barely scratching any lyrical surface. Travis' Gothic vibe is somewhat diluted by Quavo's party vibe and the two never quite mesh.

The vibe on the record would be perfect for an EP, something quick to hit the point then bounce, but it's to much of the same thing for the whole thing. "Moon Rock" is the one track where the production is switched up, but it falls totally flat and the two rappers aren't able to adjust their voices enough to let the beat soar. The same can be said for "How U Feel" which has this gentle trumpet playing over a trap beat that in someone else's hands may have been something real, but these two just don't take advantage. Like all Travis Scott's albums however it sounds razor sharp in your ears making the fact that the songs never really engage all the more of a miss. What this album shows you more than anything is how important chemistry is in collaborations. Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho lacks any kind of chemistry and becomes an album of big beats and flat vocals.

6.2 out of 10