Songs on the Album
Real Spill - 9/10 Being the starting song of the album, Baby has to set the tone and mood for what to expect further in the album. This song is absolutely perfect for an intro and sets off with a majestic beat to heavy bars from Baby.
Stand On It - 7/10
Pop Out (ft. Nardo Wick) - 8/10
Heyy - 4/10 Being a lead single for the album, the song greatly disappoints with a generic Lil Baby beat, and seems like not much effort was put into the song, despite being one of the headliners for the album.
California Breeze - 6/10
Perfect Timing - 8/10
Never Hating (ft. Young Thug) - 8/10 The song brings an electric beat, with a great feature from Young Thug. Only thing it misses is versatility as Young Thug usually brings a special reggae style, but here it feels like a filler song for the album.
Forever (ft. Fridayy) - 7/10
Not Finished - 8/10 The song delivers on all levels through lyrics, trap heavy beat, and great flow. Only problem is it delivers as it doesn’t set itself as its own song aside from the rest of the album.
In A Minute - 9/10 Being one of the lead singles for the album, it is easy to understand why it is. The song delivers with heavy bars and the background vocals could only be described with one word; majestic.
Waterfall Flow - 6/10
It's Only Me
By Lil Baby
Sam's Star Rating: 7/10 stars!
Sam's Review:
Lil Baby’s rise to fame in little time since his first album Too Hard in 2017 is nothing short of impressive. The rapper is one of the biggest artists on Earth at the moment with Billboard topping hits Do we Have a Problem?, In A Minute, Right On, Frozen and Detox all being released in 2022; Baby has proven that he is a true superstar. His fourth studio Album It’s Only Me proves once again that no matter what he drops, he will release sure hits.
Though, once again Lil Baby shows his weaknesses in the rap game. The number one charting album has strong lyrics (as all Lil Baby songs do), strong trap production, and great first half of the album. When getting to the last half of the album, the album becomes what seems like one long song and doesn’t branch out like what we see on Baby’s 2020 Album ‘My Turn.’
The album proves that Lil Baby still is a major part of the Rap game still, but proves that he still lacks versatility and the album is a struggle to listen to fully in one sitting. The album simply has too many songs in order to work as an independent album and in some ways feels like a cash grab for more streams. The features from artists; EST Gee, Future, Young Thug, Pooh Shiesty and others bring certain aspects to the song but feel like a missed opportunity when Lil Baby has previously collaborated with major artists Drake, Lil Durk and Gunna.
Overall, the album holds its own but at the same time doesn’t differentiate itself from Lil Baby’s previous albums My Turn & Collab album with Lil Durk from last year's Voice of the Heroes. The aspect of the album sounding like one long song doesn’t hurt the aspect of the album, but still takes away the aspect of the album with all the hype we originally thought it would be.
Rich Flex - 9/10 Featuring 3 beat switches, the song works as 3 separate songs and is almost impossible to not like as a rap fan as it features 21’s gang rap flow, Drake’s R&B verse, along with Drake’s disses to notable celebrities.
Major Distribution - 8/10 Starting off with the flow of something you hear in an elevator, there is an entire flow and tone switch when the beat flows into a more bass heavy background which adds a whole new aspect to the song.
On BS - 9/10
BackOutsideBoyz - 10/10 The vibe, the tone, the beat, the whole song is perfect from the start. The cherry on top being Lil Yachty’s ad-libs in the background.
Privileged Rappers - 7/10
Spin Bout U - 6/10
Hours In Silence - 5/10 The start of the song is one of the better parts of the album, but the song being 6 minutes long, it feels stretched out and doesn’t have much replay value.
Circo Loco - 6/10
. . . Millions (ft. Travis Scott) - 10/10 The song is incredible from Drake and 21 Savage, but once Travis Scott jumps in the song, it feels like we have witnessed a revolution in music.
Broke Boys - 8/10
Middle of the Ocean - 9/10 The song is another Drake classic as it starts with a slowed R&B flow, then switches into a rap classic.
Jumbotron . . . Poppin - 8/10 Featuring more energy than typical Drake, the song is a refreshing energetic Play*oi Carti type of song, also being ghostwritten by Iggy Azalea’s ex.
More M’s - 7/10
3AM on Glenwood - 7/10
I Guess It’s . . . Me - 5/10
Her Loss
By Drake and 21 Savage
Sam's Star Rating: 8/10 stars!
Sam's Review:
Drake has been a powerhouse in the music industry for more than a decade now and with the release of Her Loss, he shows that he has not regressed at all. Drake & 21 Savage have had multiple hits in the past with CLB’s song Knife Talk & Jimmy Cooks from Honestly Never Mind which went #1 on Billboard. The duo mixes a gang rap style with R&B which in a lot of ways should not work, but with great production and chemistry between the two; it works incredibly well. This album proves that the two have an unlimited versatility filled with incredible beat switches and obscure flows.
The 2022 album starts off very strong with Rich Flex which includes 3 beats switches along with solid verses from both parts of the duo. The album has already massed hundreds of millions of streams, which is no surprise when Drake is the head of the album as the rapper has the most Billboard Top 100 songs in music history, which he states in collaboration with Meek Mill in Going Bad from the album Championships released in 2018 with the line “got more slaps than the Beatles.” Drake, in multiple songs on Her Loss acknowledges old heads’ negligence to his success by reiterating his world breaking numbers. In marketing for the album, 21 Savage stated in a podcast that he told Drake to just say what’s on his mind and it is very evident in the album. Drake’s clever lyrics diss multiple people in the music industry & beyond from “you thought I was feeling you?” girl Ice Spice to Megan Thee Stallion, calling her out for her false allegations of getting shot by fellow rapper Tory Lanez.
The past three albums from Drake before Her Loss have been very disappointing for music fans from the questionable album covers to the boring, seeming as timid Drake songs which riddled the albums. Not only is this album a big statement for Drake and flashes of his old fiery self are back, and he has gotten rid of his corny lines from previous releases. The album fulfills all you could ask for from a 21 and Drake release, but did miss out on more Savage verses as he only shared 26% of the music share, while Drake had 66% of the time. Of the other 8% music share, we saw a possible verse of the year candidate with Travis Scott’s verse on . . .Millions.
So far in the album’s life span, it has received better reception than any other Drake release in years and it is not hard to see why this is. Overall, while listening to the album, I never felt myself lose interest or skip songs, even with some songs lasting up to 5+ minutes. I hope to see more Drake in the near future through features, such as Travis Scott’s release of UTOPIA (hopefully) where many expect to see the music sensation. Lastly, from my listen I rate the exciting collaboration album a high 8/10 as it delivers from both artists greatly and I recommend songs Middle of the Ocean, Treacherous Twins, and BackOutsideBoyz in order to get a quick taste in album in order to decide if you wish to hear more.