Perpetual Hater

wasn’t Jay-Z saying “i don’t need no hook for this shit” KIND OF the hook?

Big K.R.I.T. is not the savior of hip-hop. He’s not the best young rapper in the game, he’s not the Jesus of the south, or any such hyperbole. Let’s get that out of the way early.

Sure, he’s a fantastic producer with a great sound. K.R.I.T.’s buzz has steadily been growing since the release of K.R.I.T. Wuz Here a couple years ago, and with good reason. The soul samples and knocking bass in his music are reminiscent of classic southern hip-hop artists like the obvious forebear OutKast.

With his latest release, 4 Eva N A Day, K.R.I.T. had a lot of hype to live up to. His previous mixtape, Returnof4eva, was a stroke of genius, a slow burn of deep fried Southern hip-hop that made dozens of year-end best music lists, and with good reason.

Rather than become more ambitious or grandiose with his sound, K.R.I.T. delivers mostly more of the same on his newest tape, for better or for worse. At times, the production sounds more lush, K.R.I.T. interpolating some live guitar or saxophone a la Ski Beatz. It’s a very cohesive work, one that sounds really good during a straight playthrough. However it’s hard not to want more.

It’s easy to get lost throughout the tape as so many of the songs sound alike. K.R.I.T.’s rapping skills leave a lot to be desired; in fact his writing could be best described as “workmanlike”. There’s some straight forward preachiness, there’s rhymes about his car,  and there’s a fairly basic flow that permeates every song. Upon first listen, very few songs immediately stand out, a fact punctuated by the lack of guests. Where are the melancholy piano loops of “Free My Soul” or the speaker-crushing claps & bass of “Country Shit”? Hell, where’s the UGK-like funk K.R.I.T. was progressing toward on “Money on the Floor”?

Don’t be discouraged by the criticism. 4 Eva N A Day is a solid work that sounds smooth and rides clean. Unfortunately it’s tough not to be hard on K.R.I.T. because he has such potential as an artist that he doesn’t live up to on this release. 4 Eva N A Day feels a lot like stalling, K.R.I.T. spinning his (chrome) wheels while refusing to progress his sound or rap ability.

Final grade: B