Fourth mixtape and, originally, last part of the "Young Sinatra" trilogy by Maryland rapper Robert Bryson Hall II aka Logic. Behind the keyboards alternate C-Sick, 6ix, Kevin Randolph, Swiff D, Don Cannon, Arthur McArthur, Key Wane and No ID, while among the guests stand out Kid Ink, Trinidad James, Jhené Aiko and John Pops Witherspoon (protagonist, among many shows, in "The Boondocks").
It was difficult to maintain the very high quality imposed by the first chapter, a task that Logic had not succeeded in the sequel and that continues to escape even in "Welcome to Forever". In this effort he's getting closer to much more pop rap sounds than before, recording more commercial tones, which actually reward him: the mixtape is his most listened to on Datpiff with over a million users and gets the attention of HipHopDX, which particularly praises the project considering it to the level of a studio album. The warm welcome is deserved, but the tape isn't as good as the previous ones, paradoxically. And personally, I don't like it.
Lyrically, Logic is starting to get lost. He's strong on the contracts he signed and has practically stopped writing new lyrics and bars. And to find good rhythms. These almost seem to be discarded cuts from the other mixtape sessions, even if that is not the case. He's preparing for the mainstream landing and practically chooses pop rap productions: the boom bap is often there, the samples are there, but don't be fooled by what you might read, they're not the best he has ever had. Those remain scattered between the first two chapters, here instead, Logic keeps artists it has already sampled previously such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest, Barry White, Frank Sinatra and Adele, and adds little really original ones, such as George Clinton, Isley Brothers, Dionne Warwick (always "Walk on By"), KRS, Kendrick and Ice Cube (always "It Was a Good Day").
To conclude, there's never anything truly memorable. There's no "Growing Pains", "Dead Presidents", "Young Sinatra", "Let Me Go" nor a "No Biggie", there's not a classic or a banger, or something even vaguely memorable. The closest thing to a great track is "Walk on By", where the guy doesn't even bother to change the title of Warwick's signature song and finds one of his best rap performances of this effort on a brilliant rhythm of C-Sick. The rest, years later my first plays, disappointed me, in any case it could still be an interesting tape for listeners looking for "old school Logic" or ish like that, the album is too bloated, long and at times infernally mediocre to really dig it.
Rating: 6.5/10.
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