Busta Rhymes - Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God ALBUM REVIEW

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Busta Rhymes has been a staple of rap for the duration of his career, but the 2010s had a bit of a lull in his career. His last album, 2012’s Year of the Dragon, was a massive disappointment and nearly derailed his career. Now, nearly six years after its announcement, the anticipated sequel to his iconic album Extinction Level Event, titled The Wrath of God, is here. With some high profile features and a couple catchy singles, it was already better than Year of the Dragon. We just have to see how much better it is, so let’s do that right now.

Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God is a hip-hop album. Not much to it, I guess. I can say right now that Busta is back in his bag when it comes to his performances. No matter how good or bad the lyrics are, his delivery and overall flow is consistently good, and that’s very impressive to me. Now, when it comes to the songs, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There are 22 tracks on this thing, and it becomes a bit of a slog to listen to it. Yes, there are standout moments, but there’s a lot of filler here too. Most of the features here are pretty great too. Some features are definitely better than others like Kendrick Lamar, Rapsody, and Anderson .Paak’s respective contributions. The production here is top-notch too, with multiple songs having very creative samples. “The Purge,” which might be my favorite beat here, is built on nearly all emergency signals like the Amber Alert alarm and the iconic Purge siren that make up this sinister vibe that’s fit for rioting. The Kendrick-assisted “Look Over Your Shoulders” has a young Michael Jackson sample that gives the song a lot of character, along with just a great verse from Lamar. Yes, the big problem with this album is just how long it is. It’s not as bad as, say, Trippie Redd’s recent album simply because there’s something enjoyable about most of these songs, but aren’t that great in the grand scheme of the album.

Busta Rhymes has a great project in Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God somewhere, but it’s just bogged down by its runtime. The high points on here are pretty great, and “Look Over Your Shoulders” is definitely one of my favorite songs this year, but there’s too much filler in here. It could honestly be cut in half and keep its message, and it’d have a much bigger impact. I’ll be coming back to the highlights here, but I don’t think I’ll ever come back to the full album.


6/10


Stream Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God here

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