After the release of Based on a T.R.U. Story in 2012, 2 Chainz fans have been anxiously awaiting the release of the album’s sequel, B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time. The new album has a hard act to follow, considering the previous album had myriad well-known hip-hop artists featured within, including Lil Wayne, Drake, Kanye West, The-Dream, Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj and Mike Posner.
B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time unveils 2 Chainz’s emotional battle as he lets his walls down throughout the 17-track album. “Fork,” the album’s first track, begins with the rapper’s conscious fear about life outside of the rap game. 2 Chainz opens, “I had a dream that rap wouldn’t work,” while flashing back to a scene in which he “woke up on the block/ had to hit it with a four,” referring to his past as a drug dealer. In the song, he describes his life story and how his career path changed his life; music gave him a chance to make something of his life, proving that anyone’s dreams can come true. The new album divulges the rapper’s history with sex and drugs in a creative manner that keeps his material relevant to not only his life but also to the lives of his listeners.
Even though 2 Chainz excels in relating with his audience, he tends to use recycled themes within his music: money, sex and drugs. In the track “Where U Been?,” he appears boisterous as well as repetitive when rapping about money and women. This repetition causes the songs to become progressively less interesting. Seeing that each line has already been heard multiple times, the songs become easy to skip through. He also glorifies himself by bragging about sex, degrading women and boasting about his rampant materialism, dropping references to pricey name brands. These themes tend to get old after a while, despite the fact that many successful rappers continuously recycle these same themes. Although some tracks appear monotonous, 2 Chainz manages to spice up the album in other ways.
2 Chainz thrives in countless musical styles with the help of features from Drake, Lil Wayne, Pharrell, T-Pain, Lloyd, Pusha T and Fergie. These artists help make his music cross genres and appeal to different audiences. T-Pain brings in an R&B crowd while Fergie attracts those who enjoy pop. Mainstream rap artists like Lil Wayne and Drake attract an even larger demographic. Besides collaborating with well-known featured artists, 2 Chainz also experiments with various sounds. On “Mainstream Ratchet,” 2 Chainz introduces an interesting dubstep vibe and, later, a gospel feel on “Black Unicorn.” Despite these positives, B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time remains somewhat repetitive — much like other albums within the trap-rap genre — but overall its inventiveness and various musical styles will keep fans engaged.
3.5 out of 5 stars
