21 Savage & Metro Boomin - Savage Mode II
are a pairing of some of contemporary hip hops most prominent voices and producers in the current game. The two originally connected on a full length project in 2016 when 21 Savage was an up and coming voice in the Atlanta hip hop scene and Metro Boomin was one of the most in demand producers after working with Kanye West and Drake. Since then they have both grown even further in notoriety and achieved commercial and critical success with projects of their own. For many trap fans Savage Mode II was one of the most anticipated rap records of the year.
Review By Lavender:
Balancing the tone of this review is going to be a little bit difficult. Because of how much I've enjoyed 21 Savage's music in recent years Savage Mode II was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. While ultimately the album lives up the veteran caliber of its primary artists, that is all it does. The lack of many true standout moments here as well as some painfully generic performances on both their parts, means that Savage Mode II is a decent album but one that I hoped would be amazing.
Thankfully there are a few great tracks on here and after an honest to god Morgan Freeman intro we get into one. Runnin is exactly what this project promised at its peak with a hard-hitting muddy trap beat and a relentless assault of fire flows from 21 Savage. While the subject matter is pretty trap standard there are a few highlights and hilarious moments. The hook is simple but to the point and effective, overall I can't think of a way the track could get the record off to a better start. Rich N**** Shit is pretty good with a smooth ass beat and 21 Savage totally handling the hook. It's no surprise that the highlight for me is a personality filled Young Thug feature that perfectly completes the song, the track just has the veteran polish and charisma of all the great artists involved. My favorite song on the entire record is the golden era rap flavored Steppin On N****s. The track has a killer beat and 21 Savage is sounding straight out of the 80's with one fun creative flow after another. This is easily the best song on the record and I'm not exaggerating when I say it may be one of the best things either of these artists have ever done. Finally RIP Luv is the records most emotional moment and it sees 21 Savage genuinely wearing his heart on his sleeve lyrically. He goes into detail on some of the emotional struggles he and the people around him are having and about how he has often had to hide that side of himself from the world.
No Opp Left Behind is mostly pretty good with another solid 21 Savage hook and a pretty great tightly thematic first verse. The second verse is a pretty big miss however from the start with a rehashing of the pogo yo-yo bar from earlier on the record and never picks it up from there. Similarly the closing track Said N Done has a pretty catchy hook and a message of at least pseudo-unity. The only issue I have with the track is some more absolutely laugh out loud lyrics in the second verse that I can't believe made it onto a track that this many people were going to hear. Mr. Right Now is just okay with decent performances from Drake and 21 Savage but nothing all that memorable for either rapper. For some reason even though this is meant to be one of the records slower more romantic tracks there are some annoying ass synths squelching away in the background during the hook. There are similar synth issues on the track Many Men. Despite the annoying instrumental I think the 50 Cent sample is cool but the song turns out pretty average when 21 Savage repeats the same exact flows over and over again until they are completely dead.
Glock In My Lap gets off to a weird start with 21 Savage really uncomfortably whispering the word pussy over and over again during the long winded adlib filled intro. I'm certainly not afraid of raunchy music but I can't imagine him actually recording this in a studio, listening to it and then going yeah that's good we should release it. Aside from that 21 Savage is pretty sharp is you can excuse the terrible Chuck E. Cheese bar on the hook. Slidin is decent and has one of my favorite beats on the record bt 21 Savage turns out to be the let down as he repeats really uninspired refrains over and over again. The song needed some better writing or just anything other than the really incessant and annoying extended syllables.
My Dawg is a weird one because 21 Savage genuinely loses the beat in the start of his verse to the point where it sounds like he isn't rapping over any kind of beat at all. Even once it does pick up it's one of the most boring and low impact songs here. The only thing that really grabs me is when 21 Savage addresses his British past and reputation for being one of the most street rappers in the game. If you took a shot every time Savage says "pussy" on the track Brand New Draco you would definitely die of alcohol poisoning. I've given a lot of thought as to whether I think the Beyblade bar on the track is good or not but what I know for absolutely sure is that the end of the song is flat out embarrassing. It's a shame because he is decent if uninspired on the rest of the track. Once again 21 Savage lends a pretty good verse to what I would consider the worst song on the record Snitches & Rats. This is supposed to be the true street anthem where everyone takes shots at 6in9ine for snitching to send some kind of message of authenticity, but there are NUMEROUS problems with that. The hook is definitely the worst on the entire album and the beat sounds like it may have been hard in the summer of 2016 but is just lame not. Finally the last person on earth you would expect to be good on a track like this shows up for one of the weakest features I've heard all year from Young Nudy. Like I said Savage has a good verse on the track but literally everything around it is a mess.
Savage Mode II is decent but I really wanted it to be great. There are some highlights and some tracks I can imagine will be big hits but when it's all said and done I'm not sure this collection of songs is any more impactful or innovative than the last time the pair collaborated 4 years ago. The record is better than your average trap affair but not by much and that is safely below my expectations for such established artists. 6/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson: (Whose dorky views do not represent the views of the mega cool management of Music Corner)
I really dislike this cover, Tell me where the taste level or theme is bc I can't find either. I really believe it could've been good without the filler shit in the middle. No one cares about the sword with the villa and cars in the background. If they had just stuck with the portraits and the really dynamic text which I actually like, then it would have been so much better and less cringe. 3/10
For more trap check out my review of Juice WRLD's Legends Never Die here
