REASON - New Beginnings ALBUM REVIEW

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I honestly have no reason why I felt so compelled to check this album out. REASON is a rapper that is one of the newest artists on Top Dawg Entertainment, the empire that includes artists like Kendrick Lamar, SZA, and ScHoolboy Q, among many talented others. While the eyes of the world are focused on Lamar and SZA’s forthcoming projects, TDE has started to push their other artists to the spotlight. While ScHoolboy Q’s latest album CrasH Talk underwhelmed and SiR’s Chasing Summer flew under the radar, TDE didn’t have the best 2019. With REASON, though, they’re looking to change that. New Beginnings is his TDE debut, after his first mixtape There You Have It was re-released by the label in the fall of 2018. As I said, I had no clue why I decided to take the time out of my day to listen to it, and let me tell you if New Beginnings was worth it or not.

New Beginnings is a hip-hop album with jazz rap influences. When an album is released in TDE’s label, you can expect there to be a lot of TDE members to be there in some capacity. ScHoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, and Ab-Soul all make credited appearances here. Kendrick Lamar and Zacari both have uncredited cameos too. Of course, there are other artists here too. Rapsody, J.I.D., Vince Staples, Mereba, and Alemeda are here as well. Why did I list everyone featured here? Well, they all outshine REASON to some degree. It isn’t REASON’s fault, and let me tell you why: He hasn’t exactly found his identity yet. Sure, “Show Stop” proves that REASON and Kendrick can make a great banger, but could it work as a whole project? I don’t think it would. The same goes with the woozy-R&B track “Westside.” He did this song well, but can he hold it out on an entire album? That’s the biggest question here, and honestly, it fits the title of New Beginnings. Throughout the whole album, REASON is testing the waters, seeing what he can make to see what sticks. Personally, the tracks that work best for me are his introspective and thoughtful ones. Both “Slow Down” and “Fall” are pretty impressive tracks for a debut album, and they suit his flow and overall style very well.

Overall, I think New Beginnings is a very solid debut. It’s a lot more mature than I thought it was going to be, and while most of the features were better than his contributions, that’s okay. REASON is still a burgeoning young rapper, and with the support he’s getting from his TDE labelmates, I’m excited to see which direction his career moves to.


7/10


Stream New Beginnings here

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