Logic - Bobby Tarantino II

Logic

Bobby Tarantino II

2018

Spotify

Oof. The "Rick and Morty" opening of this album (oh sorry i meant mixtape as not to anger Logic himself) is damn near the cringeyst thing I've heard this year. The two minute opening of Rick and Morty deciding which record, than which Logic record they are going to listen too. The duo lands on "Bobby Tarantino Logic's harder more attacking persona and the album opens. The intro is off putting for anyone not fucking obsessed with "Rick and Morty" and only serves to show you that the "Mixtape Logic" and "Album Logic" are two very different people. I've gone on long enough about the intro here, but the album doesn't fare much better. This angry Logic, this aggressive Logic is so opposite of the Logic we saw on last year's Everybody or 2015's An Incredible True Story. Those albums showed vocal depth, real consciousness and an ability to make sad rap worthwhile. I understand the urge to want to break out of that emo mold and try something more exciting, but a full album shift feels awkward and clunky. Why can't He square both personalities and have them create a harmony on one record. Doing it this way feels silly and somewhat childish, the voice cast of "Rick and Morty" making occasional appearances adds to the goofiness, but in an annoying way. One thing Logic does well here is pushing skilled lyricism onto trap beats. With most trap you can't use classic hip hop delivery, it just isn't a genre that lyricist thrive in, but Logic is able to bring his delivery into the beats with his usual deft and skill. It's to bad that so many of those lines feel absolutely stupid. On "Indica Badu" He shout outs "badu" and "J Dilla" two people who have zero to do with the track and Wiz Khalifa delivers another one of his pedestrian as fuck verses. You may be wondering did Wiz rap about weed? Why yes, yes he did...again. 

The thing is, Logic is probably better delivering these cutting lyrics than He is at the more philosophical and political ones. Yet, the fact that He does the softer stuff makes the harder stuff feel silly. It is odd to want someone to be one thing when they are trying to be something different, but it feels impossible to let both Logic's exist. Is he going to be talking shit with 2 Chainz or discussing existence with Neil DeGrasse Tyson? It doesn't feel like He can do both. Big Sean delivers a decent lyrical nimble feature if uninspired as per usual. There is a lightness to this record, a loose feeling that Logic is just letting this music spill out of him. It feels much more natural than the concept albums He has been putting out, but I just don't know if I'm buying it. None of these are actually bangers that you are gonna hear in the club or on the radio, they are Logic's versions of bangers. I'm so damn torn on this record because there are many aspects of it that work, perhaps if Logic took out the into and some of the other nonsense flourishes this record work work much better. It certainly could use a hell of a lot less of "Rick and Morty" that's for damn sure. 

6.0 out of 10