As Migos and Lil Yachty maintain Atlanta’s reputation as a hotbed of rap talent, one of its pioneers is stalling. Following 2015’s collaboration album with Phantogram comes a new solo record that throws bold flavours into the pot but ends up absent of subtlety and distinction. The 80s funk jam Mic Jack folds Maroon 5’s Adam Levine into the mix, conjuring images of Cameo’s red codpiece and side-stepping on a sticky club floor. Glitzy banger Chocolate is a tad tacky. Freakonomics is lyrically lazy (“Every girl I see got a PhD in Freakonomics”).
Big Boi is at his best on In the South, an anthem featuring Gucci Mane and Pimp C designed to score a lowrider bouncing down a street at sunset, and Kill Jill, which features Killer Mike and Jeezy and fuses a hyper-masculine energy with a bewitching sample of the holographic pop star Hatsune Miku.
