Written Before Listen
Migos are one of the most known trios in hip hop today. Quavo, Offset and Takeoff have been known for their unparalleled chemistry, ear-catching hooks and iconic flows. Personally, like many others, I think the first Culture is their best album but not like many others, I only think its average. I always saw the appeal in Migos but never saw them as one for me. With that being said, let’s hope that the last installment of the Culture series is a banging sendoff.
Features
In the span of 19 tracks, 8 of them have features. I will say that the feature list is slightly better than Culture II. Cardi B goes off on her verse, having Juice WRLD and Pop smoke on the same album sounds disrespectful but both artists perform with their usual style. NBA Youngboy delivers one of the best verses on the album which is one hell of a surprise. On the other hand, there are some underwhelming features on here. Justin Bieber on a Migos song isn’t the best combination and after listening to it, I was right. I just feel like Drake and Migos should never make music again after hearing “Having Our Way” and Polo G sounds off-key and off-beat at the same time. Overall, the features might be the best part of the album.
Performance
As performance goes, the trio rarely changed their style. The Migos continue with the autotune heavy triplet flows. Unlike the features though, this is somehow a decline from Culture II. Every member sounds like they didn’t want to make this album. Like honestly, they copy and paste the same flows on nearly every track. There are some instances where Offset comes with a nice flow or two but thats about it.
Production
As guest producers go, there are still a frequent amount. The song “Type Shit” have credits from Murda Beatz, Tay Keith and Pooh Beatz. Pooh Beatz even returns on the follow up “Malibu” but unfortunately, the beat is trash…even in Polo G standards. Murda Beatz also returns with some pretty good beats this time as the three other beats he contributes to are all solid. Tay Keith also returns alongside Carnage and CuBeats on “Jane” but despite the stacked lineup, the beat falls miserably short. OG Parker comes in for “Birthday” but there’s really nothing special I can say about it. Buddha Bless contributes another instance of one bad beat and one good one as “Vaccine” is the bad and “Need It” is the good. Zaytoven comes out of the shadows here for “Roadrunner” but unfortunately the beat itself remains in the shadows. The best contribution easily goes to 808 Melo by far. The beat for “Light It Up” is a full out drill beat as Migos and Pop smoke flow over this effortlessly. Similar to Culture II, the beats itself are kind of mixed but mostly leaning towards the negative here.
Chemistry
As you know the chemistry that made Migos popular in the first place make people interested in the album. Unfortunately, the chemistry has completely vanished. Quavo, Offset and Takeoff sound more individual than ever on this album. What made Culture so accessible is the distinct chemistry the Migos had but the three sound like they recorded their verses on separate days. The trade off verses and adlibs have completely dissappeared…a god damn shame.
Favorite Tracks
Unlike Culture II, I will say that there is no standout track. There is literally no “Stir Fry”. I guess “Mahomes” wasn’t terrible and the song with Pop Smoke was definitely interesting. Other than that….I mean….at least it’s better than Culture II
Verdict
With the dynamic of Culture and Culture II, this album in my opinion stands right in the middle. It’s still pretty bad but it’s surely an improvement than what I consider the awful Culture II.
Comments