REVIEW: Logic – Under Pressure

“Living life like this is so crazy, this world is amazing/ one day you’re on top and the next she’s having your baby” –I’m Gone

Based on the Billboard charts, mainstream hip-hop fans seem to be all over this album. As a hardcore hip-hop fan, I was slow to get to this because the new Army of the Pharaohs and Run The Jewels albums came out around the same time, and mainstream rap just has a reputation for being wack more often than dope (I’ve never regretted missing out on YG, Future and Young Thug’s albums).  I’ve heard a lot of great things about Logic though, and his verse on the BET Hip Hop Awards Cyphers impressed me, so I decided to check out his debut album.

This album was my first time hearing anything from Logic, and my initial thought after the first couple minutes of the album were “God dammit, not another Drake clone”.  The intro to the album has Logic using a similar melodic, sung-rap flow that Drake is known for, but then he showed a lot more versatility by switching up his flows even within the same song.  There are already a bunch of rappers that borrow Drake’s melodic style (like J. Cole and Childish Gambino), but do it better by rapping better, and my first impression of Logic was that we could box him into this category of interchangeable rappers with that style.  To sum up Logic’s style, he sounds like a Drake/J.Cole/Childish Gambino that has Kendrick Lamar’s taste for beats and melodies.

Logic’s unoriginal style isn’t a deal breaker though, as he showcases so much talent and creativity throughout the album. The breath-control he uses to constantly switch up his flow shows that he’s put in years of practice to master this skill, and I think he even exceeds some of his aforementioned peers in this regard.  He also proves to be a great songwriter, with catchy choruses that flow effortlessly with his verses.  The production on this album is great too, as it sounds really musical with many different instruments used to create a larger sound.  If you can get past the overall sound being similar to other, more established artists, you’ll see that Logic definitely has the talent to make a name for himself.

Lyrically, Logic is able to win with honesty and relatability. His wordplay can range from mediocre to good, but I think his main appeal is being able to tell his life story in such a clear, straightforward, yet entertaining way.  I especially find the idea of constantly feeling “under pressure” from trying to have the best career while maintaining relationships with family and friends to be very relatable.  Logic bites/borrows elements from many other artists, even naming a bunch in his lyrics and skits as his influences, but his down-to-earth lyricism keeps me from hating on it.  Examples of his biting include MF DOOM’s lyrical concept on “My Favorite Ladies” revisited on Logic’s “Nikki”, and A Tribe Called Quest’s tour guide from their Midnight Marauders album used throughout this one.

Overall, I think Logic is a hip-hop head who knows the history and culture behind the music he’s making. I think his biting other artists’ styles is just his way of appealing to the mainstream audience the major labels want him to appeal to, but he has the talent to adapt as the landscape changes.  For a mainstream rap album, this is really dope, although the general sound of some of these songs sounds like other styles I’ve heard a million times.  Other songs show Logic doing other artists’ styles better than them, showing that he can stand tall among the Drakes, Kendrick Lamars, J. Coles and Childish Gambinos.  It’s also a rare thing in this day and age to see an artist carry an album by themselves without any guest features – something Logic pulled off very well.  I can see this being considered a classic by mainstream heads, and decent-mediocre by hardcore hip-hop heads; I’m somewhere in the middle of all that.  If Logic can develop his own unique style, as opposed to following other popular styles, he’ll definitely be a force to be reckoned with in hip-hop.