Last week rapper Logic released his sophomore album and self-styled “motion picture sci-fi epic” The Incredible True Story, and it is an enjoyable but singularly divided trip.
The 25-year-old rapper from Maryland first released his first full length studio album last year under Def Jam titled Under Pressure, which was received very well by fans and had some big name features like Big Sean and Childish Gambino. Logic has released many other mixtapes like Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever. With Logic’s new album many were expecting a new style change switch up with the addition of a cohesive narrative to try and follow and connect throughout the album, but instead it feels rather scattered.
The album’s story is about two partners Quentin Thomas (voiced by Steve Blum) and William Kai (Kevin Randolph) on a spaceship called the Aquarius III (the ship’s control navigator voiced by Anna Elyse Palchikoff as Thalia, who was also on Logic’s last album) whose quest is to travel from the space station they were born on too see if they can find a life sustaining planet called “Paradise.” Throughout the album there are skits between the two characters about what they may find on this new planet, looking back on the mistakes made on earth, talking about hopes and dreams, and one involving a Rubik’s Cube and acquiring females. Even though the album’s story is rather laid out for you in these skits most of the songs seem to lack any relation to the space journey and are rather individual.
Before the album was out Logic dropped three singles from the album, “Young Jesus,” “Like Woah,” and “Fade Away.” With these drops nothing was really revealing what was to come from the album because it sounded very much like you could’ve just put these songs on his last album and they would’ve fit just fine with the same type of feeling.
In the beginning of The Incredible True Story you are brought in very well with the song “Contact” that sounds similar to a sci-fi space discovery soundtrack you may hear in a movie mixed in with a few background vocals from Logic and radio signals going in and out really trying to develop the whole ‘space odyssey’ background. The next song “Fade Away” quickly throws this out of the way though as Logic, much like he did on his last album, talks about his come up as a rapper and the constant ‘grind’ to get better with a few terms that attempt to relate towards the fact that he is still in space on a mission but vaguely even relates or brings back the feeling from the first song.
After the second song the it continues back on track with the characters adding in lines at the end of songs to further progress the story. Once you reach the song “Intermission” the album takes a strange turn from sci-fi adventure back to real life issues like drug abuse, family issues, racism, and the daily struggle to maintain the stress of life. Now the song isn’t bad and as a matter of fact most of the songs that end up going off topic or changing the tone of the album alone aren’t bad and in fact are enjoyable to listen to but just with the story doesn’t mix well and seems forced in. At the end of the song you will hear what sounds like a conversation between Logic and a child talking about what he knows about space and planets. The rest of the album seems to pretty much repeat itself along the same cycle.
The album continues to try and bounce back and forth between the sci-fi story and the growing pains that Logic went through growing up sounding rather similar to Under Pressure which was the main focus of the last album. The songs that are stray away from the ‘space odyssey’ feel though have great production from Logic (who is also labeled as a producer on the album), and long-time friend of his “6six” who has been producing and writing songs for him since 2011. The samples in most songs on the album have jazz, soul, and rock influences in them creating a different atmosphere from his previous Under Pressure album and depending on how you take it could show a look back on different styles of music through the time as the characters progress to this new unknown future.
This album is full of variety and in some sense you could take that in a good or bad way. Some may like the symbolic feel of the retro-esque samples and look back on time of songs and others may feel it throws the album’s rhythm off. Either way the songs on this album, from production value to lyrics and vocals, all have something to offer and are worth a listen. This may not be the best full piece album that Logic’s released but there are some top notch singles on here that you can pick out and enjoy.
7/10
