New Amerykah Part One

This grew on me a lot. First listen I thought it was good, not great. By the fifth listen I was completely hooked. The subtlety of the arrangements really rewards patience and close attention.

Perfectly serviceable album that I enjoy in the moment but forget about as soon as it's over. That's not necessarily a criticism — sometimes you just want something pleasant on in the background. It fills that role well.

I want to like this more than I do. There are three or four tracks here that are genuinely excellent — inventive, well-produced, emotionally resonant. But the album as a whole doesn't sustain that level. The middle section in particular feels like it's treading water, and the closing track, while ambitious, goes on too long. That said, I do think this is worth hearing. At its best, it shows real creative vision, and even the weaker tracks have interesting ideas in them. It just needed a more ruthless editing pass to trim the good from the great.

A few incredible songs surrounded by more forgettable material.