For those eagerly awaiting the forthcoming of the hot new trend within hip hop, or even a fresh sound within the current pocket that dominates the airwaves, expect to be disappointed. The most recent release of Atlanta rapper Lil Baby, My Turn is an album that not only encapsulates essentially every common trope and stereotype within modern-day rap but fails to progress Lil Baby artistically in any way, shape or form. One must credit Lil Baby for spacing out his alum cycles, given it has been just over a year since his last full-length album Street Gossip was released, Lil Baby shows restraint in areas in which so many of his contemporaries find the need to continually flood the market. Despite this, Lil Baby has had no shortage of time away from the limelight, given his extremely active 2019 in terms of features, alongside a now 20 track new release, Lil Baby seeks to kick off 2020, staying true to the nature of his peers, as the unlikely restraint is finally unleashed with the release of the album.
The album kicks off with the title track “Get Ugly,” which establishes false expectations that aren’t maintained throughout the album. Built upon a foundation of glossy synths that wubb in and out of focus bringing a psychedelic flavour to the track, the song stands out amongst a collection of painfully generic cuts that are all so blandly derivative from the standard Lil Baby and co formula. With such a unique and interesting flair built up in the instrumental of the track, one would hope vocalist Lil Baby would match the sheer wonder and dreaminess that influence the opening moments of the album. Instead, the contrary ensues, as vocally he stains the track with his muddy, malfunctioned sounding artificial voice, this is conjunction with his stock standard flow leads to an ultimately forgettable and uninspired performance. This aspect of the opener is more aligned with the themes that remain consistent throughout the listen, not so much the glossy and spacey instrumental that promises so much, only to be let down by the evident lack of integral creative input from Baby himself.
Continuing the trend and tone Lil Baby sets for himself and the rest of the album, a majority of the tracks that have made the final cut feel so lifeless and unimaginative that it almost feels as if Baby never had intentions of crafting a legitimately sound album. The track “How” which, from all musical aspects, is an extremely lazy attempt of a song is a perfect example of this. With its bassy origins only being relevant until Lil Baby’s nasally and monotone crooning enters the equation as he inaudibly raps about the usual subject matter of his position in the rap game and his unlikely come up through the trials and tribulations thrown out him from the mean streets. Nothing about this track feels like it has value, nor does it feel like its origins came from a place of genuine emotion of gratifying perspective. Even more, is the lack of musical creativity evident in the song “Can’t Explain.” Where “How” at least had some streak of character from an, albeit relatively weak and redundant bass line, “Can’t Explain” is the most formulaic and creatively deprived song on the album. Produced by Quay Global, the lifeless instrumental which is driven by skittering hi-hats is the essential bassline product for any trap song. An artist of Lil Baby’s stature, especially in collaboration with another predominant name within the producer community should by all accounts be avoiding such a blatantly boring and thin instrumental. Baby’s equally as stripped back and boring delivery adds nothing to the song. Sticking with his typical muttered droning, Baby fails to differentiate his sound whilst attempting to detail, yet again, his come up from the streets and his position now.
Despite the sheer amount of the bad and bland the album makes listeners wade through, as one would imagine an album spanning 20 songs would have, there are a few highpoints. For instance, the track “Commercial” with Lil Uzi Vert is an energetic cut that champions the bouncy, bass-heavy beat, crafting a sound in which Lil Baby excels in. Whilst his flow is nothing out of the ordinary on the track, the productions bounce and movement compliments his efforts on the track. Even more at home on the track is Lil Uzi. Whilst this isn’t his typical production style by any means his verse fits perfectly into the track and matches Baby’s energy and cadence, highlighting the collaborative strengths of the two artists. Whilst “Commercial” is a stand out track it still feels very Lil Baby, all aspects of the music are within the expected realms of the Lil Baby brand, just done well. ‘Forever’ on the other hand, is perhaps the best song on the album, and surprisingly, is just about the only cut outside of the traditional Lil Baby scope. The production is built upon a foundation of low primal choral singing that gives the track a grandiose nature. This low chanting alongside the church bells that sporadically chime in throughout the song makes the track feel as if it were part of some greater religiously-themed purpose. Lil Baby’s energetic flow does the track wonders. He sounds alive, and holds his end of the bargain in order to do this all so unique instrumental justice. Lil Baby brings some of his most colourful flows on the track as he discusses his unwillingness to change despite the changing nature of hip hop. Alongside him on the track, Lil Wayne, does much the same, playing the perfect partner for Lil Baby as the two strut their talents. It seems fitting Lil Wayne feels so at home on this track as it easily could’ve been something to make the cut on his recent album ‘Funeral’. This track more than any other on the album forces Lil Baby to step out of his comfort zone and adapt, in doing so bringing another dimension to his artistic form.
The features that have been laced throughout the album, in which there are far fewer than one would assume for a Lil Baby album, add to the overall inconsistency and blandness of the record. Whilst all the usual suspects make their appearances on the album, it is Gunna’s appearance on the track “Heatin Up” that stands out as a misconducted collaboration. The two sound to vocally similar to the point where Gunna’s inclusion feels more like an extension of Lil Baby’s verse rather than being another presence. On a song in which the production does nothing in the way of establishing a complex sound, the vocalists do much the same, failing to differentiate themselves enough in order to even sound like separate entities. Whilst “Heatin Up” experiences its issues from the extreme similarities of the vocalists, the track “Grace,” with 42 Dugg, is incoherent for all the opposite reasons. Lil Baby and 42 Dugg have no vocal chemistry, moreso 42 Dugg is just such a graining and straining presence regardless of the other vocalist. The rough, unpolished and muddy vocals that usher the track into motion is just such a harsh and off-putting sound that no matter how incredible Baby’s contribution to the track would’ve been the song was already doomed. With that being said, Baby’s contribution is in fact far from incredible itself, this is stock standard, feature prepped Lil Baby at its finest, no soul, no true inspiration, just monotone, and serviceable background white noise. Additionally, on the track “We Should” Lil Baby enlists the help of an evident mentor and role model Young Thug. Whilst this track has it’s production-related scaffolding in the right place, with its hypnotic piano melody, Thugs presence greatly overshadows the efforts of Baby and exposes just how crucial he is to the sound Baby had become accustomed to. In every aspect, Thug takes the lead on this song, rendering Baby to a position in which he is forced to copy and follow his dictation. It is during these segments that Baby as the protege demonstrates his inferiority to an artist that he has taken so much influence from as his performance pales in comparison, so much so that he feels unnecessary to his own song.
The conclusive track on the album, “Solid” feels as if it wholely represents the inherent issues with the record. The song is ushered in by bouncy, wubbing synths that envelop listeners in a blanket of complex melodies only for it to completely unravel upon the arrival of Lil Baby. As is what feels like second nature to the album, an external musical element that originates outside of Lil Baby’s dictation becomes irrelevant and drowned out by the sheer uncharismatic nature of Baby himself. It seems fitting the album ends exactly as it starts, with such promise being maintained by the foundation of the tracks, whilst the creative director, Lil Baby, sitting at the helm of the project seemingly does everything within his power to undo all the potential.
So much of the album feels as if inspiration was never part of the process, in theory, execution, or otherwise. An extreme portion of the tracks that made the final cut of the album haven’t received the necessary attention or creative process to warrant a wealth of comments. This is filler on filler at it’s finest. Rather than this being Lil Baby’s aspired claim to goat status, ‘My Turn’ is instead a body of work that solidifies the rappers unnerving intentions to continue down an artistic path so devoid of any direction or creative influence that he continues to blend into the sea of auto crooners, that much like him are solely derivative of the likes of Young Thug and Lil Wayne. More than anything, the album feels like tangible evidence of a precedented mentality ingrained within Baby. Under the guise of a very unfortunate trend within today’s albums, Lil Baby adds to the ever-growing market for quantity over quality, delivering a project spanning 20 tracks and an hour in length, it’s no surprise that Lil Baby wouldn’t have the chops or technical capabilities to warrant the creation of such a bloated project.
My Turn – Lil Baby – 3/10
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