Five albums deep in the game are you a clear veteran, at
this point in their career artist are usually trying to solidify their place in
hip hop history, define their style and refine their skills and make albums
that are sonically better each time out. This is where Rick Ross stands as he
gears up for another highly anticipated album.
He has made huge improvements since his first album, he has stepped
it up majorly on the lyric side.
Consistency is Rick Ross strength and weakness. He’s good
but has made not made continued improvements, nothing new, nothing undone,
nothing creatively different to set him apart from just being an above average
trap rapper. He’s been living by if it aint broke don’t fix it by giving more
of the same, in both quantity and quality.
Consistently however he’s popular, anticipated, in the
public eye and relevant, and his album sales have been consistent.
I don’t like to box artist in, Rozay may have boxed himself
in creatively however. He’s spent so much time building the mob boss, drug king
pin persona that you don’t expect anything else from him, and he doesn’t sound
as confident, skilled or comfortable delivering a diverse array of songs or
subjects. Give him respect for trying to use a diverse array of beats and
subjects and be versatile in his types of songs, but when he’s not doing
typical stereotypical Rick Ross songs, he sounds clearly out of his lane.
God Forgives I Don’t is heavy on collaborations, which can
be a gift or a curse depending on the artist. On this album the collaborations
sound forced though, rather than him making his type of song and using a track
that best suits him, he seems as if he’s trying to make the guest artist type
of song and adjust to them, rather than let them adjust to him. Most of the collabos should have been highlights
but end up being the holes in the album in stead.
3 Kings ft. Jay-z and Dr. Dre, instead of being a possible
classic, features below average bars form all 3 artist. An Awkward verse from
Jay, and a verse from Dre that sounds just like Ross in flow, style and delivery.
It comes out sounding and looking like a power move just to show his industry
connections.
The woes continue for Ross, though not as bad on Sixteen
ft. Andre 3000. Sixteen sound like an Andre 3000 song that Ross invades
and sounds out of place on. The same can be said for Diced Pineapples ft. Wale and Drake,
the track and concept is perfect for Wale and Drake, but its not Ross’ lane. All tracks that should have been highlights
but fall slightly short; if it weren’t for the features they’d be complete
failures.
Although he has made a successful R&B/ Hiphop songs, (Aston
Martin Music, Here I am) he fails to come close to matching those, or even
seeming to have much needed chemistry on songs with Neyo, Usher or Omarion. "On Touch ‘N You" it sounds awkward to
hear Ross attempt to be gangsta and borderline erotic at the same time. He gets
close to form on a bonus track Rich Forever with John Legend.
The strong parts of the album are when Ross operates in his
normal territory, with movie scen sounding beats, check Pirates, Amsterdam, and Triple Beam Dreams ft Nas
Overall it’s a solid album; it just didn’t live up to hype
surrounding but worth checking. Lyrically its average for Rick Ross, he doesn’t
show anything new, make any improvements, he just maintains current level. The
production is good, just at times it’s too musical, experimental and complex
for Rick Ross’ lane, comfort and success.
Originality, and subject range get low marks, as its standard operating
procedure, and expected. No new ground broke. Versatility is medium, mostly due
to feature performances, no new techniques or different flows from Ross himself,
and diversity he doesn’t quite excel at. Replay value med, while far from
classic, or best of the year you’ll find a few songs you’ll like and few others
depending on your mood worth listening too. I give God Forgives, I Don’t 3 ½ stars out of 6 .
Slin_K
@slin_k_polymath
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