Any Logic fan will tell you how exciting the wait for "The Incredible True Story" was, released just one year after Logic's gritty and impressively lyrical debut album "Under Pressure". It's probably safe to say that none of us were expecting new music from him so soon. In regards to Logic's sophomore album I didn't know what to expect. The entire story that he created around the album seemed epic, and the preview for the album made it appear that it was going to be another hard lyrical album based off how the Maryland rapper has always spit and made music. Well, that's what I thought we were going to get. But we got something somewhere in the middle with some aspects popping and some dropping the ball.
With "The Incredible True Story", I got caught up in the lush production and how much of a fan I am of Logic when I did my initial listen through. I listened to the album a total of six times the day it dropped. Initially, I was mesmerized. The intro track "Contact" is so grandiose and beautifully done. The song produced by Logic and Stefan Ponce use these very heavy Taiko drums that are reminiscent of the drums used in Kanye West's "Amazing" (almost to a T). There is live instrumentation of violins along with the influence of Quentin Tarantino shining through, with whistles heard that Tarantino had used in the musical score for a lot of his movies. It all sounds phenomenal and sets up the adventure for the story very well, but I began to ask myself what and where is Logic's sound within this intro and eventually the entire album. I know Logic doesn't shy away from his influences. He puts who and what he listens to in his music and that's fine, but I believe he infused so much from other people into this album that there is no definitive sound that the lyricist can call his own. Just like with "Contact", the production is great, but Logic isn't the first artist who comes to mind when I hear it. Kanye West is the artist that comes to mind and that is a continuing trend as the album plays on.
Logic's songs "Stainless", "Like Woah", "Paradise" and "Innermission" fall victim as well. They are all good songs that show how skilled Logic is as a rapper, present on all of his songs through different emotions, really clever punchlines and of course the outstanding production. But again, it reminds me too much of other artists. "Stainless" sounded very similar to Kendrick Lamar's "The Recipe" with the kicks and even the vocals done by Dria on "Stainless". "Like Woah" didn't use any samples (according to Logic and 6ix) but the vocals and the horns (that are sped up in "Like Woah") match the angelic vocals and soft remorseful horns in John Cameron's "Liquid Sunshine". It's all a re-hash of his contemporaries' music and forgotten gems from older artists that the songs display no subtlety in the way they're done. "Paradise" was almost the exception, for I didn't hear any similarities with other artists at first, but after some time I realized that I heard the baseline in "Paradise" before. It is very close to the baseline in Kendrick's "Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter's Daughter". So once again it loses a lot of Logic's personality and is associated with another artist. That association shadows the person you're listening to rap on the track right then and there, in this case being Logic. With "Innermission", it's the same thing. The really relaxed sound the beat gives off immediately made me think of A Tribe Called Quest and a little bit of J Dilla. "Innermission" wasn't as blatant and distracting from what Logic is doing on the song as the other tracks were, but the influences still overpower him a bit.
Stepping away from the music, there is still an entire story that was created to go along with the music. I honestly thought the music itself would be the story. Instead, "The Incredible True Story" is an album from the past Thomas and Kai are listening to on their journey to the planet Paradise. The duo want to find out if it's inhabitable for humans since we basically destroyed the Earth. The story created by Logic really created a fun universe that's different conceptually for a rap album. The story and involvement of Steve Blum (voice of Spike from Cowboy Bebop) was very cool and kept things exciting. But I don't think the story will hold up along with the music. I personally don't want to keep listening to the scenes. It was more of an "in the moment" thing, but Logic made it so one can skip over the story since it has no direct affect on the music or their listening experience. So it works out.
"The Incredible True Story" is an album I did like. Despite the many similarities to other artists, it is still very good music that I enjoyed through and through (despite y'all probably thinking the contrary right about now). I was just expecting more and I wanted more once I was done listening to it. "T.I.T.S." is a very technical LP and I appreciate all that went into it. The influences, art work, bars, beats, story and everything else. I just think this album hasn't truly given us Logic yet. Until he starts making music that immediately doesn't take you to other artists, we never will. "Under Pressure", "The Incredible True Story" and even his mixtapes are all great but they haven't established his identity yet. Yes, Logic is a spectacular lyricist with a wonderful message that I love, but as I said, musically we don't know him yet. I know the day will come when we all will. Until then, I guess I'll be stuck on the planet Paradise.
Listen to "The Incredible True Story" below.
Lead Photo Cred: imgur.com
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