Logic (27) – Under Pressure

It's a great album, but WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND releases a double LP in a single-sleeve album cover and not gatefold? the outer sleeve had burst open right at the seams by the time I received my copy.

(to clarify: my review is specifically for the vinyl press)

After a series of mixtapes this is Logic's highly anticipated debut album after g to legendary record label DefJam. The concept of this album is simple: Hip Hop. It's just pure Hip Hop. Logic breathes the soul of Hip Hop through every single syllable he spits and takes the listener on a journey through his mind and life. It really is a joy to listen to. He has charisma, bars and flows for days. It really shows that he is a student of the game but with the release of this album he also becomes a participater in it. And a worthy one too. As has later been proofen through his huge commercial success. Even though later albums unfortunately were rushed and for the exception of No Pressure and Vinyl Days pretty mediocre. This album though is Logic in rare form at his absolute peak. Killer modern mostly sample driven production with slight Boom Bap and Soul elements mostly done by 6ix (most criminally underrated producer in the game) and executive produced by no one less than No ID. Logic even handled a huge portion of the production himself. The title track for example an lengthy rap monster with many samples and beat switches is entirely produced by him. Productionwise this is easily on par with a Good Kid Maad City. The production really shines through the fantastic vinyl pressing although I can also recommend the CD version. Logic always cares about the quality of his physical releases. Kudos for that! As for the songs: An all killer no filler album with only really one "low" for me. But even that low is like a 3/5 track. The rest is really one fantastic song after another. I'm convinced that every single track on here has the quality to be considered by someone as their favorite Logic track. That's how good the material on this debut is. Especially Soul Food, Gang Related, Growing Pains III, Metropolis, the title track and Till The End are absolutely insane. The added tracks of the Deluxe Version are also a nice extra (except for Now. Not really feeling this one) though nothing I return to all that often. Overall one of the best modern rap albums in my opinion. Worth checking out for any fan of the culture.

I wish they released the standard version on vinyl. I like its cover art much better than the deluxe version.