Legendary producer TM88 teams up with new school trap producer Pi’erre to deliver an underwhelming project.
Pi’erre Bourne has taken his rap career a lot more seriously over the last few years. While rap was always his main goal, his production is what brought him into limelight with tracks like “Gummo” & “Magnolia.” While his production career has been one held in high regard, his rap career has been seen as lackluster to many. This seems to be an acquired taste for many, some listeners seem to find Pi’erre raps derivative of many other artists. Other listeners seem to find Pi’erre as one of the more interesting artists out today, as his ear for layering melodies and pockets within his own production is extremely unique as on songs like “Guillotine.”
This project seems to be one that’ll fall into the acquired taste category, however. While Pi’erre isn’t offensively bad by any stretch, his abilities are so clearly lacking compared to his peers. The only features on this project are Wiz Khalifa & Young Nudy, and each they come on its a breath of fresh air. Wiz raps with a fire under his belt that he didn’t even bring to his very own TM88 collab. Young Nudy comes through with perfected flow elevated by TM88’s production.
Speaking of which, TM88’s production is the clear winner here. Pi’erre takes a backseat to let TM88 take up production, and he delivers in a way he never has before. While he always had a unique sound, this is the producer that brought us “XO Tour Llif3” & “Codeine Crazy” after all, nothing comes close in his discography like the intro on “OMS.” The beat sounds like being delivered off a spaceship with aggressively futuristic bassline, complete with an electric guitar. The production on this album has so many little details that make it his best produced in quite a long time.
Despite such incredible production, Pi’erre never steps up to the plate in the way he should have. A project like this was prime to prove everyone wrong, but this is not the case. While it is possible this album is more of a grower, it’s impossible to look at it as a work that could’ve been elevated by a more evolved rapper. Pi’erre doesn’t explore new sounds here, he instead opts for the tired sound he’s worn on multiple loosies and his own mixtape series. A series that now spans five mixtapes and a deluxe edition. If Pi’erre’s goal is to make these average auto-crooning, that’s fine but it should stay on his own production.