With The Release Of "!" Trippie Redd Hopes For A Strong 2019

Trippie Redd looks to come off his impressive 2018, with the 2019 release of “!” which serves as his sophomore album. Trippie Redd’s stock has certainly risen after the release of his 2018 debut album, “LIFE’S A TRIP” in early August as well as the release of his third mixtape “A Love Letter To You 3,” released in early November. Trippie Redd’s debut album “LIFE’S A TRIP” was one of the most impressive projects of 2018 in my opinion simply because of the versatility shown throughout the album. This versatility can be likened to the versatility shown on deceased XXXTENTACION’s first two albums “17” and “?.”On the individual debut albums of XXX and Trippie Redd, both artists displayed their ability to rap as well as tap into other genres such as rock and country. With the title “!” Trippie Redd seems to be using the title of his second album to pay tribute to XXX’s second album “?” which both are punctuation marks. This is also significant because Trippie Redd was on XXX’s “Fuck Love” which came on XXX’s debut “17” in 2017. The tracklist for Trippie Redd’s “!” will have three singles, the first being “Under Enemy Arms” which comes off to me like the single for “LIFE’S A TRIP,” titled “Wish – Trippie Mix” featuring Diplo and the single for “A Love Letter To You 3” titled “Topanga” due to their focus on the vocal ability of Trippie Redd. Trippie Redd has also released two more singles, “Mac 10” featuring Lil Baby and Lil Duke and “!.” The full tracklist is made up of fourteen tracks which add up to a little more than 38 minutes of music. Playboi Carti, The Game, Lil Baby, Lil Duke, and Coi Leray all appear as features throughout the album. Will Trippie Redd maintain his rise from 2018? Without further ado, let’s get to the review!

Categories

The songs on this album divided into four lanes that are prevalent throughout the project and scored on a 1.5 scale. (0 = trash, .5 = not for me, 1 = good, 1.5 = a standout)

Upbeat Trippie

Trippie demonstrates his vocal range on bassline heavy beats that set an upbeat to neutral vibe

· “!” (1)

· “Everything BoZ” ft. Coi Leray (.5)

· “Lil Wayne” (1)

· “Signing Off” (1)

Dark Redd

On these songs, Trippie shows off his vocal range on beats that set a dark vibe

· “Snake Skin” (1)

· “I Try” (1)

· “Immortal” ft. The Game (.5)

· “Throw It Away” (.5)

· “Under Enemy Arms” (1.5)

Trippie Rapp

On these songs, Trippie focuses more on his rapping ability while still showing off his vocal ability.

· “Be Yourself” (1)

· “Keep Your Head Up” (1)

· “RIOT” (1.5)

The Features Shine

On these songs, Trippie only performs a hook while he takes a back seat to the featured artist.

· “They Afraid of You” ft. Playboi Carti (.5)

· “Mac 10” ft. Lil Duke & Lil Baby (.5)

Must Listen Songs

The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that stand out for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.

“!”

The intro track for Trippie Redd’s sophomore album “!” is essentially a pop song produced by Jr. Blender and Diplo. The song has a strong string instrument presence with a bass that sends a ripple effect, typical to the EDM genre. Trippie’s repetitive singing of “I can’t keep focusing on anybody, I have to focus on myself” on the hook is typical of the catchy lyrics of a pop song. On the single song that stands alone out of the box Trippie Redd’s “!” establishes throughout, Trippie is still able to show his versatility.

“RIOT”

Produced by Kyle Stemberger and Kd33, track nine on Trippie Redd’s sophomore album comes with the catchy repetitiveness of the lyrics “a riot” throughout the hook with Trippie Redd flowing with his rap skills on the verses. The beat has a quick high hat with a slower bass and a faint electric guitar in the background of the acoustic guitar at the forefront of the beat. Because of the catchiness of the hook, “RIOT” stands as one of the stand out songs on Trippie Redd’s “!”

“Signing Off”

The appropriately named final track on Trippie Redd’s “!” is produced by Staccato, is a baseline driven beat, with a snapping and another more traditional bass over it. Here Trippie shows his rapping and vocal ability to ability to close out his sophomore album.

Final Review

Trippie Redd’s “!” is a mixed bag of songs, where some lead to disappointment, while others remind you of why you like Trippie Redd’s music. The biggest difference between this album and the previous four Trippie Redd projects is the vocals range demonstrated. With this album, Trippie goes for a smoother sound with his vocals with can be disappointing to fans like me who became fans because of his yelling, raspy cadences that could make a song feel like a rock song just as much as a rap song. With the disappearance of this vibe from “!” we end up with a less versatile album, compared to his debut “LIFE’S A TRIP” and a project that shifts his musical identity a tad compared to his “A Love Letter To You” mixtape series. However, Trippie is to be applauded for searching for the next evolution in his sound, despite taking a step back. The features on this album were underwhelming, many of them like Playboi Carti and The Game not fitting well into the construct of each song. However, the beat selection from Trippie Redd was on par from the beats from his previous project once again emphasizing his desire to experiment with his sound. Overall, “!” is a mediocre follow up to “LIFE’S A TRIP” from Trippie Redd, leaving listeners with anticipation of a bounce-back on his next project.

Scoring

Raw Score: The number of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a 1 or above to be counted.

Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.

Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.

Raw Score: 9/14

Quality Score: 12.5/14

Playback Value: 2/5

Go out and listen to Trippie Redd’s “!” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) and Twitter (@OLDMLKDOTCOM) for updates on OLDMLK.COM: The Most Essential Hip Hop Blog, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more! Don’t Know it? Oldmlk Does!