Logic — Under Pressure

Debut studio album for Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, biographical name of the Maryland rapper Logic. The boy arrives launched by a series of very good mixtapes and has just revealed that he has signed with the Def Jam house, with which he has had a deal since 2011, five months after releasing his mixtape "Young Sinatra", managing to keep secret the agreement and releasing the next two free mixtapes again as an independent. 6ix and Logic are the main authors of the production, performed together with Alkebulan, DJ Khalil, Jake One, Dun Deal, S1, M-Phazes, Tae Beast, Skhye Hutch, Frank Dukes, DJ Dahi and Rob Knox. The album is the rapper's most personal and doesn't feature any guests.

Logic has always been a huge Biggie fan. Of course, he's also a fan of Jay-Z, Nas, AZ, Outkast, Kanye West too, you can see it from the samples. But above all, of Biggie Smalls. Like the great Christopher Wallace, Bobby Hall also decides to bite some better performers than him in the game: there's a tribute to A Tribe Called Quest in the choice of placing a robot with a nice female voice to describe the songs at each intro and outro as in "Midnight Marauders", but above all, there's a big binge from Kendrick Lamar's "Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City" in the choice of delivery of Logic's lyrics in this project. Imitating Compton's iconic MC, Logic makes sure that he has the best flow of his career, which allows him to create some of his best songs between personal stanzas and braggadocio, thanks to a flow that in addition to being fast and smooth is also compelling. The melodic, gloomy and dark boom bap soundscape conceived by the rapper and 6ix is the finest featured on a Logic studio album and contributes to the fluidity, coherence and solidity of the whole project, whose few flaws are obscured by many strong points.

Released by Def Jam and Visionary, the album is a huge commercial success, coming in second place in the pop and rap charts, certified platinum many years after its release. It's also almost universally applauded by critics, only the most fussy and attentive reviewers don't forgive him for a few slips and the many bites to Kendrick, which you can observe everywhere, especially in his best cut, "Growing Pains III". His two main series of songs ended in "Young Sinatra: Undeniable" (2012), with the third and final parts of both "Young Sinatra" (on samples of "Life's a Bitch") and "Dead Presidents" (on samples of "The World Is Yours"), with this song, he completes and closes the third series, based on the samples of Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents II".

A skit starts the song on a dark but light sample, ends with a shooting, then Logic attacks on the same sample, the drum comes later, trap, dry, hard. A boom bap beat comes out among the best the boy has ever received in his career, on which he continues to deliver with a style atypical for him, syncopated and sobbing, anxious and fragmented, confident, dirty; the bridge that breaks the song is beautiful, the best thing on the whole LP, great, light, it's actually a switchbeat that changes the mood of the track permanently. Logic attacks again, this time with a cold and detached, submissive delivery, completing one of his best tracks and letting the rhythm breathe at the end.

By far, it's his best studio album ever, despite 12 long choices (except "Nikki", none drop below four minutes, with the title track peaking at over nine) and 56 minutes of listening.

Highlights: "Soul Food", "Growing Pains III", "Never Enough".

Rating: 8/10.