27-year-old Maryland rapper Logic dropped his third studio album on May 5. The album, Everybody, has already received its fair share of criticism and praise, mostly criticism at the moment. Logic is currently known as one of the most naturally talented rappers in this modern game, with his relatable storytelling and his unmatchable flow. He managed to bring both of these qualities, along with some brilliant bars. What he fails to do, and what he tries so hard to do, is send a message about the everlasting racial tensions in the United States. Instead of taking a more Kendrick Lamar approach that incorporates an entire community behind his lyrics, Logic focuses on just his own problems and tries to send a message with this. This message did not resonate with listeners, and at times even felt suffocating.

That said, Logic does have some irresistible tracks on this 13 song album. The album named track, “Everybody,” is one of the few times Logic’s true message is conveyed in this album. Speaking to the idea that everybody shares the same inner values and that everybody shares the same needs, it is one of the few tracks that any listener could not only relate to but also to possibly change their thinking. Ironically, the few other great tracks on this album don’t surround race. “1-800-273-8255” is undoubtedly a hit. This song delves more into stardom and a popular recurring theme for rappers of wanting to live their own life, and to not be controlled by anyone. This track uses a fast-paced, emotional beat that perfectly binds the message this song is sending. The true greatness of this song are the two up and coming featured artists, Khalid and Alessia Cara. The way these two artists weaves in and out of the emotional lyrics with Logic creates an astonishingly heartbreaking track.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn’t come close to these two songs in either quality or message sent.

There are just too many technical problems with rest of the album. Seven out of the thirteen songs are longer than five and a half minutes. This wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but it is a problem that all of these songs contain multiple minutes of plain conversation. Not often listeners want to hear just talking in over half the songs on the album. If these overly long repetitive spiels were cut out, this album would be improved drastically.

On a less technical note, Logic just needed to change his approach. Instead of focusing on personal problems and speaking in a complaining manner, it was imperative that he reached out and sparked change. This is definitely not to say that speaking on experience with social issues and his own culture is bad in any form, but he does it in such a way that the listener hears the lyrics and think, “Okay. Now what?”

This album was an attempt at tackling one of the biggest issues in the United States right now, but it just wasn’t the correct approach. Logic took a huge risk by surrounding nearly his entire album with just this one topic, and unfortunately, it didn’t work out.

Everybody can be listened to through all major media outlets.

Rating:

⭐⭐∙ ∙ ∙

2 out of 5 stars