Rating: B
Keeping under the radar for most of his career, G-Eazy has recently found mainstream success in his most recent mixtapes and EPs, which have helped him perform on the main stages at notable music festivals, such as Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. Now with the release of his second studio album, “When It’s Dark Out,” G-Eazy takes a lot of inner frustration out and relinquishes it into a beautifully dark album.
The album starts out with an intro track which sets the tone for the rest of the album: funeral-esque. It’s almost as if G-Eazy is reciting a eulogy. “Do not go gentle into that good night,” is recited over and over, continuing with the lyrics, “wise men at their end know dark is right.” With the elements of this first track, original fans recognize that this isn’t the same G-Eazy with the fun beats we heard in previous songs like “Mad,” and “Tumblr Girls.”
G-Eazy further continues this dark aggression in the track, “Random.” G-Eazy’s rapping style in the track can be compared to Drake’s or even Lil Wayne’s. There are some awkward pacing in parts of the song, but it just further adds to the frustrated tone of the lyrics.
Things begin to change with “Me, Myself, & I” and “Drifting.” These two songs show a lot of substance and blending of styles. “Me, Myself, and I” features singer, Bebe Rexha and blends G-Eazy’s raps with Rexha’s poppy vocals. “Drifting,” is unique as it features more than a minute of soothing vocals by Chris Brown and Tory Lanez. Instead of immediately going into a rap verse, listeners are allowed to feel the strong emotions of the song, which illustrates the complications of a long-distance relationship.
Although G-Eazy has shown a shift to a more hardcore rap sound with “When It’s Dark Out,” he still shows his pop-rap roots with the track, “Some Kind of Drug.” Here, the use of synthesizers makes the song break away from the tone of the earlier tracks and gives the track a fun sound overall.
G-Eazy put out a solid album with “When It’s Dark Out.” Featuring many other artists on this album helps bring a unique style with the integration of different vocals, which work to enhance G-Eazy’s rap styles. It also helps center the aggressive nature of the album, creating conversations between the artists, showing how the young rapper is not afraid to reveal what is on his mind.
The downfall of “When It’s Dark Out,” is the length of the album. The album has 17 songs. Although all the songs are good, the album does start to get worn out and it’s hard to reflect on each song individually.
G-Eazy will be heading out on tour after the New Year starts to help promote the release of “When It’s Dark Out.”
