Logic — College Park — Album Review
Hip Hop | Rap
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
College Park is the newest album from Maryland rapper Robert Bryson Hall II, widely known as Logic, is officially the first ever commercial album I have written a review for as a result from a reader request; after all, I’m certainly glad I was able to end March by just about meeting that target I set myself of doing at least 25 album reviews every three months.
Given that I’m doing this review mainly out of obligation, it suggests that I have shied away from listening to much of Logic’s material. And while that assumption would’ve been correct, Logic’s popularity, for better or for worse, hadn’t escaped my attention. That being said, I at least knew a little bit of what to expect when going into College Park, the eighth studio album in the rapper’s discography. However, I heard nothing that circulated this new album cycle, so I was still excited to find out what was in store.
I knew that Logic was not a stranger to keeping things as real as possible in his bars. And in the case of College Park, it is no exception. The premise of a success story is something that has showed up at least once in pretty much any discography from an artist in the hip-hop/rap sphere. However, despite all the saturation within that focal point, Logic does manage to keep things interesting with that aforementioned sense of engaging realism. It almost kind of feels like listening to someone you once knew personally make it in music. And given that I have never met Logic in my life (hell, I hadn’t even really listened to him until now), that was a pretty impressive thing to have achieved.
Another thing I appreciated from this album was the versatility of its production. There’s a good mix of commercially appealing banging beats, along with more jazzy ones to keep eclectic listeners like myself vibing out.
However, given all this praise I have spilled into this review already, I must admit that everything feels a little hollowed out by the lyrics themselves (as well as a few other elements, which I’ll get into later). I know that Logic still champions that family man/rap extraordinaire aesthetic, but it is still a little tricky for me to slap myself out of the idea that Logic is another one of those “spiritual lyrical miracle individual” rappers (if you know, you know). I’m still trying to grasp how one takes such a unique take on the tried and tested success story with some great beats, and still have College Park stand as an album with such a slippery grip on memorability.
There’s also the presence of a lot of soundbites (whose humour is distasteful at best). These are often tacked on to otherwise good songs, adding another unnecessary minute or two on, and ultimately just putting me off the track as a whole.
In short, I feel like a lot of my less positive criticisms may still be coming from a place of personal bias (and hell, I may even wind up enjoying the album a lot more as the year goes on). But College Park is one of those albums that would’ve stood as a pleasant surprise and a well-rounded experience, if not for the almost forced flavour of unfunny humor that was sprinkled across both soundbites and Logic’s lyrics. Looking back on it, it was definitely the more serious moments I preferred.
Favourite Tracks: Lightsabers | Redpill VII
Least Favourite Tracks: Highlife | Ayo
Three Oh One Productions | BMG
