I had my hopes high for this one. I really did. Starting at the end of 2014, Royce was on a winning streak I don't think we've ever seen before. From the incredible PRhyme to the fantastic Trust The Shooter, there was no questioning that all of Royce's talents were being used the way they should be, and he was making all the right decisions in his music to maximize on his very high potential. As Layers came closer and closer, I had no reason at all to expect nothing but another great album... but the further into the album I got, the quicker my hopes were falling.
Don't get me wrong - Layers isn't terrible. It's alright. But that's probably one of the few positive words I can say about this album, given the mediocrity of many tracks here. It starts off decently enough, with the familiar 'Tabernacle'. I've already discussed this track in my last review, and it works about as decently as an opener as it does for a ending on Trust The Shooter. However, it transitions into a much better song than it did last time; instead of the lazy 'Trust The Shooter' from the EP, it's now continued by the stunning 'Pray'. This track is an astonishing high-point on this album, and one of the best solo songs of Royce's career. Produced by Mr. Porter, the track begins with what sounds like an 8-bit Gameboy Advanced-esque tune, with a child's voice praying over it. It slowly descends in pitch, and changes into the track's true beat. Lead by some great looping keyboards and very crisp snare drumming, it's low-key and beautiful. Royce pleads with the listeners, asking us not to pray for just one person, but pray for everybody. Don't pray for just him - pray for everybody. It's quite a touching sentiment, and the most down-to-earth you'll hear Royce on this album. But it's about here the album takes a nose-dive that it never truly recovers from. The very next track after 'Pray' is 'Hard' which has a chorus that goes like this; "I guess fuckin' the baddest bitches around wasn't as hard as I thought! Man, what the fuck was I thinkin'? (Get Money!!)". It's got a 30 second intro where he's recruited a woman's voice to complain about how life is hard, and then 30 seconds of himself claiming he's different from everyone else and deserves better. The instrumental doesn't do much for me either - it's pretty much just drums, bass, and a peppy trumpet that isn't that creative. There is one moment on this track that deserves credit though,; during the middle of the song, there's a short interlude, and Royce arrives at his son's school for career day. When he speaks to the children, he says "Hello children! How was your day? I'm Royce Da 5'9" and over the years I've been blackballed, I've been in jail, I've seen lies turned. But guess what I've learned? I learned that fuckin' the baddest bitches around wasn't as hard as I thought!" Despite the cringe-inducing chorus, that's a hilarious line. Sadly, most tracks follow in the same vein as this one. None even begin to approach the quality of the first two tracks, except for the title track, which features two great guest verses from Pusha T and Rick Ross. The theme of the song is about creative thinking, and also how Americans have no idea they're being dumbed down, by their country being only 26th in education despite being 1st in science, technology and wealth. The instrumental is daunting and ominous. The drum break is vicious, and the choir that layers the backdrop to the track is great. Royce starts his verse with a great line, too: "Them niggas wanna see me runnin', they know I wont / they say misery loves company, no I don't." Now that I've mentioned this track, I've already mentioned all 3 songs worth listening to. None of the skits are that great, especially the 'Lincoln' one. It introduces a character to the album, who's obnoxiously full of himself. All he does is talk about "blowing that good" and treats his Uber driver like crap. Once this character appears, the album takes a dip even lower than it already was, that lasts for a very testing five more tracks. Once the title track restores some of the quality to the project, it fortunately stays consistent until the end. 'Quiet' features Mr. Porter and Tiara, and is a much better version of the track the three made for Trust The Shooter. 'Off' is a good closer, but I still have a problem with it - right when Royce's bars are finally starting to pick up, and reach levels we know he's capable of, his voice starts slowly fading away into the distance, and the track ends right in the middle of nowhere. It's frustrating, knowing what music Royce Da 5'9" has the ability to make, and hearing him choose this direction for his first solo album after his sobriety. I'm now even more frightened for PRhyme 2. If this is what Royce will be doing for it, I'm relying on DJ Premier more than ever. In interviews, Royce has stated that their main source of music (I assume he means samples, like Adrian Younge was the source of samples for the original PRhyme) is a producer named Antman Wonder. Looking at the producer list, the only track he produced for Layers is 'Hard'. Which is another bland beat in a series of bland beats. If he ruins PRhyme 2, I'll be even more disappointed than I am with this album. 6.0/10 |
201820162015Scores0-30 = Bad
31-49 = Sub-par 50-60 = Average 61-70 = Decent 71-80 = Good 81-89 = Great 90-99 = Incredible 100 = Perfect Archives
September 2018
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