The collaboration between these two artists on a full-length album has been incredibly intriguing to me since it was first announced. Metro Boomin is personally one of my favorite producers of all time. He is outstanding at creating woozy, hypnotic trap soundscapes to compliment some of my favorite artists like Future, Young Thug, and Travi$ Scott. Over the course of the last few years, his beats have grown to define mainstream hip hop today. It is a rarity to turn on the radio and take a drive without hearing his signature “Metro Boomin want some more!” at least once. 21 Savage, on the other hand, is an artist whose style has always intrigued me, but never panned out into a project I particularly enjoyed. He has a thick southern drawl and very slow, monotone, distinctive flow. You could say it sounds like your town’s local trash SoundCloud rapper, but something about it is a bit more artistic. Despite a seemingly amateurish flow, he does have a lot of quotables and rides a beat very well. I’ve been waiting for this project for a long time and I listened to it the second I could.

“No Advance” – This is a very slow, almost sleepy song. 21’s vocals are mixed very well – his voice is loud and you can hear every tone in it very clearly. The beat stays out of the way for the most part – it is very simple and basic, but sets the mood well. It is probably the most barebones Metro beat I have ever heard, and while it works here, I do wish there was a little more going on. Savage talks about drugs a lot here with some lines that stand out, “Bitch I’m on them percs, got me twitchin’ and itchin’/ Drinking all the syrup I’m about to fuck up my kidneys.” Not a bad start, but I hope the rest of the album picks up a little.

“No Heart” (Prod. w/CuBeatz & Southside) – The beat follows a similar tone to the previous track, except with slightly louder and more interesting drums by 808 Mafia frontman Southside. 21’s rapping on this track is probably at its strongest on the entire album. While still somewhat monotone, he is rapping much faster and a little more traditionally than usual. His first verse is one that even a hip hop traditionalist would probably respect. He raps about why he traps so hard and how he grew up in the streets with no heart. “They say crack kills n**** my crack sells.” Pretty solid and lyrically impressive song.

“X (feat. Future)” – The beat on this song is very, very nice. There are several melodic elements, including what sounds like a mallet, a flute, and a pluck synth that builds a beautiful soundscape. 21 and Future perform a duet on this track that takes influence from Rae Sremmurd’s “My X”. They both essentially talk about how they don’t care about their old girls and have new, better ones now. Future is a nice change in pace from 21’s monotony, and they work together reasonably well. This is a good song – more so for the beat than the lyrical performance.

“Savage Mode” – The beat on this track is simple and nocturnal, but works better than previous beats on the album due to a much more complex and interesting melody. 21 is rapping about what turned him to a savage, which was his lack of opportunities and need to progress however he could. He sleepily flows his way through the song much like he usually does. There isn’t a whole lot else to say about this track – 21 Savage is doing the usual here, and it works reasonably well if you like that style.

“Bad Guy” – 21 comes with a little more energy than usual on this song. It’s interesting how the slightest change in vocal delivery is very noticeable on this album. He essentially embraces his character, which is a bad guy who does bad things. At one point 21 completely changes his voice to high-pitched yelling, which is so jarringly different that I’m still not sure if it’s a different artist or not. The beat is alright with what sounds like a unique sequence stab, but I wish it was a little stronger considering 21 brings it a little more than usual here.

“Real N****” – This song is perhaps the best example of simplicity and 21’s signature style working perfectly with Metro’s woozy trap sound. The beat is fairly barebones and sleepy, with an occasional very smooth synth coming in. The focus of the song is appropriately on 21 Savage, who is rapping about his life. You can hear legitimate pain in his voice about midway through both verses, which suggests that the life he lives is very hard and scary, even if he doesn’t like to show it. By the end of the verse his regular, emotionless flow returns, but the moment of vulnerability is intriguing. This is how a good 21 Savage song should sound.

“Mad High” – This is undoubtedly the biggest banger on the album, and while it isn’t a sound that 21 Savage typically attempts, it’s a refreshing change of pace that works quite well. The beat is layered, dark, and hard. 21 raps faster than normal on this song with a little more vocal inflection. Not his usual sound, but he’s letting it be known that he can make bangers. The hook, “I be mad high! Mad high!” sounds right at home at a party or a live performance. Definitely one of the stronger songs on the album.

“Feel It” – 21 switches it up completely on this song to talk about a girl he loves. He says that he would always be loyal and gentle to her, even if his lifestyle is very rough and hardcore. It’s another very interesting moment of vulnerability, and the southern beat works quite well with it. However even for this girl, 21 would never quit drinking lean, going so far as to say he would “put a ring around codeine.” Unfortunately, the repetitive hook saying “I can feel it in the air” 18 times gets old after about six. Eventually it just sounds like noise coming out of his throat, and sadly takes away from the song a good bit.

“Ocean Drive” – This song has easily the best hook on the entire album, and it’s one of the best I’ve heard all year. His voice is heavily edited on the hook, which is very uncharacteristic of him, with autotune and other vocal effects. The result is an almost radio-friendly trap ballad hook that easily gets stuck in your head. The beat is great as well with what is either a sample or heavily layered synth creating a beautiful backdrop. 21 raps about living a new life because of the money he’s acquired, but still not giving up his old hood habits like drinking lean and taking pills. This is probably the most well-rounded song on the album musically and an excellent closer.

Not everyone is going to enjoy this album. You need to listen to this project differently than you would normally listen to a hip hop album. 21 Savage is not a deep nor particularly impressive lyricist. While he has moments of lyrical prowess, like on “No Heart”, he brings a lot of struggle bars to the table and is, from a traditional perspective, not a strong lyricist. But that does not mean he’s a bad rapper, as he does ride a beat quite well and his slow style works a lot of the time. The vocal production on this album is excellent, with some crystal clear vocals and very solid mixing. Engineer Alex Tumay, one of my favorite engineers, did an excellent job as always.

This album is incredibly cohesive. While nothing here is an enormous venture from the normal, he does have several moments where he tries something different. At the same time, however, he still sounds comfortable and in his own sound. Metro Boomin’s production is not as grand and layered as a lot of his other work, but it is effective paired with 21’s style. Your enjoyment is going to come down to whether or not you like this style. Personally, I really enjoy this album. It does a lot of different things reasonably well while still building on 21’s signature style. Metro Boomin did a solid job on production even if it wasn’t quite what I expected. This is easily 21 Savage’s strongest project and shows a lot of growth.

BEST SONGS: Ocean Drive, Mad High, Real N****, No Heart, X

WORST SONGS: Feel It, No Advance

OVERALL: 7.4/10