'Bobby Tarantino II'

Logic’s fifth mixtape, Bobby Tarantino II, dropped this past Friday on the coattails of its three singles: “44 More,” "Overnight," and “Everyday” featuring Marshmello. To judge the project's overall hotness, or lack of, we're going to look at every aspect of it, from production to lyrics to overall listening experience. We'll also be looking into a few specific tracks to talk about certain things, both good and bad.

A 'Rick and Morty' Intro

Usually when any project starts off with a skit, I usually cringe. Call me an old head, but I like when hip hop projects start with solid rapping. A good example of this is CyHi the Pynce's album, No Dope On Sundays. But this particular skit actually worked for the project as a whole for a couple reasons. First, anyone who is a fan of Rick and Morty knows that Logic is a big fan of the show. He appeared on the the season three episode "Vindicators 3," so this is kind of like a returned favor. Second, there's a point brought up during this skit that, to my knowledge, Logic has never addressed before, which is that mixtape Logic and album logic are almost two different people. And honestly, this is a point I can agree with.

When you listen to Logic's five mixtapes released before Under Pressure, there are a lot of very different sounds going on. His songs typically lack structure. That doesn't mean they're bad. Far from it. They're just him rapping very well over solid beats. It reminds me a lot of Joe Budden. Under Pressure still had very hip hop moments, but he began to develop a more commercialized sound. This trend continued into The Incredible True Story and even more so with Everybody. Again, that doesn't mean these projects are bad, but they're vastly different from the sound he was making back when he was releasing mixtapes.

The Singles

There were three singles that dropped as the roll-out for the project. The first was "44 More," which dropped on February 23rd. The second, "Overnight," dropped the 28th, and "Everyday" feat. Marshmello dropped March 2nd. Of the three, "44 More" is easily the best one. The production is phenomenal, and Logic's flow throughout fits perfectly in the pocket into the beat flip. The lowest point of the record is when he repeats the word "ring" 11 times. But outside of that, the record as a whole is pretty complete. "Everyday" is definitely the worst. It sounds really commercialized, and Logic is singing almost the entire song. I would even go as far as to say this is one of Logic's worst songs period. The last single, "Overnight" is great on production, but there's still a little too much singing in my opinion.

A Slow Start

The best way to go at this project is to break it up into two parts. The first part starts at the beginning of the project and ends at "BoomTrap Protocol." I don't have a clever name to call it, so we'll just call it an extended intro. The production is as great as we expect from the 6ix/Logic duo. But honestly, I wasn't really feeling it. "Contra" stood out more so than the others, but going from its aggressive sound to "BoomTrap Protocol," which is definitely more laid back, was a weird transition. If they had been flipped, there would've been a great lead up into "Yuck," which begins the second part of the project.

Throwing Subs

Before we get too into the second part, I'd like to take a minute to deep dive into "Yuck," specifically the subs he threw at Joyner Lucas. For those that don't know, this beef started on Tech N9ne's record, "Sriracha." I don't want to get to into the exact specifics of the beef since Joyner talked about it on Everyday Struggle extensively, so if you want to watch that, click here.

Since then, Joyner has thrown subs at Logic multiple times. But he's never directly responded until now. The sub takes up most of the verse:

"Talkin' shit 'bout Logic, I never respond

I'll let success talk, 'cause a word of advice:

More achievements for yourself and less talk

Cats beef with Logic, yeah, they prayin' I respond

If I ever did I dead you in this game with no respawn

Peace, Love, and Positivity that's all I want with you

But you push the issue 'cause I give you more press than your publicist could ever get you

Hell nah, fuck rap, fuck beef, anyone that hate me, I wish you success

I wish you look in the mirror and ask yourself why you surpressed

If feelings of self-hatred that you wan' project on me

Bet if I never picked up the mic then we might be homies

But you jealous, you look at my life and you feel envy

Constantly comparing yourself to me and feel empty

Most people that don't fuck with me ain't ever shook my hand

I'm a good man, yeah, I love myself

I know who I am, yeah, I love myself

They don't understand, but no matter what happen you know that-"

Pretty self-explanatory. There's also the Elton John voicemail at the end, which could be another jab at Joyner, who mentions Elton John on his verse on "Sriracha" verse and had voicemails as outros on his last album, 508-507-2209.

A Strong Finish

From "Yuck" to the end, with a few exceptions, the project lives up to its Bobby Tarantino successor as a turn up tape. "Indica Badu" had one of the best Wiz Khalifa verses in recent memory. It did have a few corny moments, but this is Logic, so that's to be expected. "Midnight" had too much singing, but the beat flip blindsided me in the best way. It might be one of my favorite flips I've heard in a minute. I loved the return of the Young Sinatra moniker on "Warm It Up." I feel like it was long overdue, and I hope we see more of him soon, though it's definitely not likely. "Wizard of Oz" was my favorite song production-wise. I loved the sound and the dark vibe it gave off as a whole. The 2 Chainz feature was caught me off guard at first. He's not someone I would think of to put with Logic on a track, but it definitely worked well. The Big Sean feature on "Wassup" was solid, but I think I would've liked it a lot more if his verse came after Logic's verse. I also liked the "Mercy" sample that was used. A lot of people didn't care for it, but I always love when producer upcycle samples like that. After that we have "Everyday" and "44 More," which I already talked about earlier.

The Wrap-Up

Overall, I enjoyed the project. It had its low points, but the high points definitely made up for it. The production was top notch, which is exactly what we expect from Logic at this point. I would definitely say the tape is hot.