5/7
Maryland-based rapper Logic first emerged on the rap scene in late 2010 with the first of his series of mixtapes under the “Young Sinatra” mantra. Now with four mixtapes and a debut album behind him, Logic is back with his second full length project The Incredible True Story. With his supposed underfunded debut album under his belt, Logic looks to his second album to be the one that “Changed Everything” which, according to Kai (One of the three narrators of the album) does exactly that.
The project starts off with a spiral of intense and dramatic sound effects that almost make you feel like you mistakenly turned the channel to the newest space cowboy sitcom followed by the introduction of the three main characters of the background story of the album: Kai, Thomas and also the return of Thalia from Under Pressure. This is no surprise to any follower of Logic's past projects as he is no stranger to throwing in dialogue and skits.
The Incredible True Story really begins on the second track of the album, titled “Fade Away." The track brings back the similar Logic style we've heard time and time again through the mixtapes and his first album throwing in a varied and multi-layered production backing logics smooth and masterful flow as he spits about his newfound success and how he just barely escaped the troubles that haunts most of his peers from back home. The next few tracks are more or less the same with logic spitting bars about how he is here to stay and brings up issues about his past album including being underfunded and how this new project is an “upgrade” of his music.
While the increased budget and added experience provide this album with a solid backing, the more and more one listens to this album the more and more the you will find the same problems that existed on his first project carry over on to his sophomore record.
Logic is an ambassador of hip-hop and knows good rap when he sees it… to a fault. There are multiple moments on this project where I need to remind myself that I am indeed listening to Logic and not one of his peers. Tracks like “City of Stars” sound like a bonus track off of Kanye Wests’ My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy while track 15, “Never Been,” sounds like a lost G-Eazy single. Keep in mind these are not bad songs; I just can’t help but feel like I've heard them before.
Were Logic falls short in this album in creativity, he makes up for in his continued dedication and hustle. Logic brings up important issues in music such as on “City of Stars” as he throws some shade at 2Pac legacy with the constant criticisms of young rappers for the heavy usage of money, girls, and drugs in music while the older emcees have been doing the same thing, but are praised just because they are already established in the scene.
While Logic does an excellent job of presenting important themes and giving solid anecdotes from his own personal life, I expected just a little bit more out of his sophomore album and ended up feeling like a part 2 of his freshman album. in terms of originality. With all that considered, I am excited for what he brings us in the future.
If you can only pick out a few tracks, listen to these:
“City of Stars”
“Fade Away”
“I Am The Greatest”
