“Bumps & Bruises" is simply too little, too late for Ugly God

After making waves in 2016 with his breakout hit “Water,” Ugly God looks to reclaim his momentum with the release of his 2019 debut album titled, “Bumps & Bruises.” Ugly God, who became known for his nice flow and trolling lyrics as well as his quality beat production dropped his debut project in 2017, “The Booty Tape” featuring songs like “Stop Smoking Black & Milds” and “Fuck Ugly God.” With Ugly God’s ability to make a great beat as well as produce catchy lyrics, I expect Ugly God’s album to be similar to Pi’erre Bourne’s “The Life Of Pi’erre 4” which was entirely produced and rapped on by Pi’erre Bourne. With “Bumps & Bruises” Ugly God has production credits on at least 13 of the songs on this album hinting at an album with his creativity on the main aspects of every song. Taking a look at the tracklist, the original album has 14 songs which add to 31 minutes of music. However, the version being reviewed will be the deluxe album with 16 songs that add to about 36 minutes of music. The two songs added to the deluxe are the loose singles dropped in the first half of the year, “Hello” featuring Lil Pump and “Lost In The Sauce.” Along with Lil Pump, Takeoff and Wintertime also serve as features throughout “Bumps & Bruises.” It’s time to get into Ugly God’s debut, so without further ado, let’s get to the review.

Categories

The songs on this album divided into three 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)

The Ugly Flow

Songs where Ugly God focuses on his flow and cadence

· “One Two” (.5)

· “Back to the Basics” (1)

· “HAHAHA!” (.5)

· “Bumps & Bruises (Interlude)” (1)

· “Hold Up” ft. Takeoff (1)

· “History” (.5)

· “Tell Me How You Feel” ft. Wintertime (.5)

· “Hello” ft. Lil Pump (1)

Thanks Ugly God

Bass driven beats produced by Ugly God that prove to be the story of the song

· “Jaguar” (1)

· “For Real” (.5)

· “What’s Up?” (.5)

· “Batman” (1)

· “Outer Space” (1)

· “Leave a Tip” (1)

· “Lost In The Sauce” (1)

The Cadence God

Ugly God experiments with his cadence

· “Right Now” (.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.

“Jaguar”

The second track on Ugly God’s debut album, “Bumps & Bruises” is a bass-driven beat produced by Ugly God and ReeseyGotIt. Ugly God does a great job of flowing on the beat most notably on the hook where his flow and rhyme scheme is catchy enough to stick in the heads of listeners.

Final Review

Overall, “Bumps & Bruises by Ugly God is simply too little, too late for Ugly God to regain the status he achieved in 2017 with his hit song “Water.” Coming far removed from Ugly God’s rise and containing same quality of music that Ugly God has become known for, this project disappoints because of the lack of growth demonstrated in the span between his debut project and this album. “The album is very one dimensional for a debut album, with every song seemingly at the same pace with very few changes from song to song. However, while every song is similar in vibe, there’s still a lack of cohesion that makes this album less enjoyable. The production throughout the album is done well, and Ugly God does a good job of flowing from song to song, however, this effort still comes off as average to me, which doesn’t sit well when you factor in the two-year gap between his first project and his first album. Many of the songs on this album aren’t as effective as I think they would have been in 2018. There can be many factors that influenced the two-year gap between Ugly God projects, however, something better than this project has to be dropped to gather some momentum for the future.

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: 9/16

Quality Score: 12.5/16

Playback Value: 0/5

Go out and listen to Ugly God’s “Bumps & Bruises” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) and Twitter (@OLDMLKDOTCOM) for more Hip-Hop Album Reviews, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more! Don’t Know it? Oldmlk Does!