At the age of just 30, Logic announced he was done with the music industry and retired. A year later he was back with his seventh album ‘Vinyl Days’, cranking it out in 12 days before severing ties with his long-time label Def Jam. Now, the Maryland rapper returns to the fold as an independent artist with ‘College Park’. And he sounds even better for it.
Having only announced the album in January, Logic went into promo overdrive, releasing four of the LP’s 17 tracks as singles, most recently Lightsabers. It became immediately clear that his always-impressive production is in full flow here—you’ll be hard pressed to find a better sounding album than ‘College Park’ in 2023.
The instrumentals are elite front to back, whether they’re all-out East Coast boom-bap, or laid back conscious beats to vibe to, and the mixing and transitions make for a phenomenally cohesive and textured listen.
And he’s not slacking on the rapping front either. Tracks like Red Pill VII and Insipio stand out as some of the best in Logic’s back catalogue. On both occasions, he takes the safety off and lets loose with his tongue-twisting rapid-fire delivery, his diction clearer than we’ve ever heard from him before.
Elsewhere, he’s enlisted the help of a plethora of talents for guest features. Ranging from RZA and Redman to singer-songwriter Norah Jones and Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane, the guest spots are never wasted and add to each of the 11 tracks that Logic has teamed up on.
But for all the greatness on offer, there is one issue that casts a pall over ‘College Park’: the skits. Skits are nothing new in hip-hop and when done right, they can add more of a story or lore to a record. But here they are tacked onto the ends of tracks rather than being presented as standalone, skippable entities. It reaches a point where the immaculate Playwright is long forgotten and you need to be built back up going into the following song.
When it comes to the music, though, ‘College Park’ continues a rich vein of form dating back to 2020’s ‘No Pressure’. Logic is a man on a mission and there’s nothing holding him back. If he can keep up this level in the future, there’s no telling how high he can climb. So far, the moonshot is going smoothly.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
