For the first review of the new year, I'm gonna take on Culture, the hot new album by Atlanta rap trio Migos. Comprised of Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff, Migos have been making waves lately with some very successful singles, topping the charts and becoming known on a more global scale. I've always enjoyed these guys when they hop on a track as a feature, as their high-energy flows are incredibly infectious and fun. Migos, and Quavo in particular, have honestly had some of the best features on hit songs over the past few years. Their solo work, however, hasn't made nearly the same impact for me. I was never really impressed by any of their mixtapes, and their 2015 debut album, while decent, didn't wow me either. I actually loved the singles that Migos was dropping in anticipation for this new album, so my expectations are a little higher here. Did Migos come through with Culture?
An extremely momentum based albums, Culture provided a very inconsistent listening experience. It was a tale of two halves for me, as the difference of how I felt about each half was actually quite drastic. When an album pops off with DJ Khaled shouting his own name and bringing a ton of energy, you get pumped up. The Khaled element combined with some slick verses from Migos makes the intro track a memorable one. Following this, the album hits its apex with the three most successful singles from Culture coming back to back to back. I found all three of these tracks to be awesomely catchy, and dynamic bangers that show the Migos as an infectiously fun group.T-Shirt creeps in with a steady, slow vibe that builds up into a fantastic trap melody, and this is absolutely my favorite song from the album. Call Casting is full of catchy bounciness, while Bad and Boujee is eerily compelling and memorable. These three singles coming in a row makes the beginning of the album incredibly fun, and shows Migos knows which tracks to put out as singles.Get Right Witcha, which comes right after the trio of singles, is pretty solid, but unfortunately from this point on, I think the album fails to reach the bar of hype and entertainment that these three songs set.
In terms of the production and sound of this record, I really do enjoy the general vibe of what Migos does. They seem to separate themselves pretty effortlessly from your average Atlanta trap sound and go for something a little more nuanced, dark, and subtle. On some of the best tracks from this album, Migos is working with beats that can be described as quiet and minimalistic, at least compared to a lot of what we hear in mainstream hip hop today. On tracks like Bad and Boujee and Get Right Witcha, things flow on by with beats that don't have much going on, and they do a good job of letting Migos take the stage. This is a good direction to go in because I think these guys can spit for days. All three of the Migos know their way around a track and do a really great job of grabbing attention with their quick, fiery flows. Quavo in particular stands out in this group for having very good and consistent performances. The guy has a memorable voice, has some great little inflections on certain lines he says, and just has some confident presence on the mic. He's the star of this trio, and I think it shows in how well he does on songs like T-Shirt, an example of him killing the entire track with an excellent verse.
While I do like the production and style Migos went for on this album, I have to admit it started to go downhill rather quickly as the album went on. A number of these songs, such as Big on Big, Slippery, and Kelly Price were long but really didn't have the fun hooks or memorable verses to keep them interesting and justify their length. This made songs like these dull, and they aren't songs I want to keep coming back to. The style is similar enough to the stellar singles, but it is just not done nearly as well. A decent song would come on here and there, such as Brown Paper Bag and the album closer Out Yo Way, but a majority of the tracks that come after the beginning of the project were nothing special to me. A low light came on the song Deadz, where the hook sounded very lazy and these guys weren't rapping with the great flows and energy that I usually hear from them. Even a good 2 Chainz verse couldn't save this track from being my least favorite on the album. It was disappointing that Culture couldn't keep up its incredible momentum, but I still can't be mad at Migos for this album. They did a good job of coming out firing and showing lots of potential. I am still a fan of their sound at the end of the day, even if this album had its inconsistency.
Wrap Up
+Amazingly dynamic and energized start to the album
+Very, very good singles
+Great rap flows and overall sound
-Didn't switch up their style very much at all throughout
-Album really runs out of steam in the second half
Favorite Songs: T-Shirt, Call Casting, Bad and Boujee
Least Favorite Song: Deadz
6.5/10
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