6LACK - East Atlanta Love Letter

6LACK
East Atlanta Love Letter
2018
Spotify

6LACK is actually an underrated talent. The East Atlanta Rapper and Singer has returned with this sophomore release East Atlanta Love Letter. 6LACK as an artist is someone that continues to defy definition. He writes his own stuff and is equally skilled in both rapping and singing. More than anything He is able to cultivate a vibe better than anyone else. His motif is usually on the darker side of things, slow and melodic allowing the songs to unfold rather than come in with a punch. It's almost like a less experimental version of Frank Ocean, 6LACK has the ability to go where Frank does but maybe He just hasn't opened that door in his career just yet. Future features on the vibey title track, but the syrupy slow song doesn't really find its legs until near the end. Future, as is well documented on this blog, also sounds like a mumbled mess. This is also coming from someone who likes "mumble rap" i just hate the way Future sounds when He does it. This song in particular just has Future being his usual Future self just, slower which is obviously worse. The album finally hits an uptempo moment at "Let Her Go" a p[perfect punch to cut through the haze of the earliest tracks. The whole record really flows well together, crafting this through line of haze and ideas of real love. There is an ease and gentleness to this record that is all at once really pleasing and also somewhat frustrating.

The meandering 6LACK does on this album is kind of a lot. It makes the songs where there is a hard punch all the more enjoyable. "Switch" and "Let Her Go" are two of those songs where it finally comes through and all the pieces align. Yet they still feel like part of the whole vibe that 6LACK is creating, all pieces to the larger puzzle. "Nonchalant" however is one of those tracks where it becomes so much about the words that He is saying that you never engage with it as a song. So much of this record feels like poetry, The track with Khalid, "Seasons", shows what a dimension a powerful melodic voice adds. Khalid continues to shine on damn near everything He does and seemingly it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. East Atlanta Love Letter is just that, a love letter to the life that 6LACK has cultivated. It's a vibey world He exists in, but it's one that is rather beautiful when you really take a hard look at it. There could be some more fun on this album, it could be paced a little better but it's because those things are missing that this album has such a particular voice, and a particular beauty. It's a truly a lovely record.

8.7 out of 10