Lil Baby — My Turn

About two years after its release, I return with the fifth listen to the second studio album by Atlanta rapper Dominique "Lil Baby" Jones, released by Capitol, Motown and Quality Control.

Its frightening and compelling commercial strength is inversely proportional to the quality of the product. The album starts well, I think, for the first five minutes Lil Baby does what he has to do, but he can't go on for an hour like this. The production isn't even too bad, the rhythms are typical trap without too much inventiveness and without color, without soul, everything is bland, tasteless, safe. Sometimes, those hi-hat loops bother me more than usual, but it's something I can handle. It doesn't happen as often as in other trap disks. These production choices, provided by eighteen different people for twenty tracks, are combined with a weak and elementary lyricism, the young rapper is saying practically nothing.

I don't even care that much, unlike his delivery style, which is worryingly devoid of personality, gaunt, effortlessly, he has an autopilot flow which, coupled with a beige production, no longer manages to engage the listener from a certain point on the record onwards. The second part is dull, slow and soporific, both due to the fact that music, lyrics and performance drop in quality, and due to the fact that there are no longer as many guests providing decent material as before. I think Lil Baby has an acceptable and decent voice, I can hold it for a quarter of an hour, but maybe no longer: his choice to deliver most of the time with the help of the autotune, leads his voice to become less bearable and more annoying for my ears. The guests add little, on the one hand, the author seems to imitate someone, on the other hand, it seems that some guests are imitating him. Only Lil Wayne clearly stands out.

Basically it's a forgettable tape and one of the most tiring of the year, excessively long in order to support its ambitious desire to be the most consumed product of 2020, an operation accomplished thanks to tens of millions of streams. First on the Billboard 200 for five non-consecutive weeks, certified multi-platinum, second best-selling record of the year behind Post Malone, album of the year for a couple of music magazines and for Complex, Lil Baby is the rapper of the year with this album, with two singles nominated for the Grammy. A great season for him.

Rating: 4/10.