Azalea’s sophomore studio release is an impressive demonstration of her rap and compositional abilities. The album is composed of mostly solid standalone tracks. Azalea delivers lyrically and pairs most of her raps with impressive backing melodies. Further, her use of guest artists is on point throughout the album, and the collaborations often foreshadow new chart toppers.
The album begins with “Walk The Line,” a haunting rap track. Azalea’s lyrical abilities are well demonstrated and the chorus melody is catchy and flows into the verses impeccably. “100” with WatchTheDuck pairs an extremely catchy guitar melody with Azalea’s rap. The acoustic, almost Spanish guitar style creates track that seems to be meant for a sunset drive above the Valley. Next, “Change Your Life feat. T.I.” is likely the next chart topper by Azalea. While the track is not a personal favorite, it is absolutely something you’ll be listening to on a top 40 radio station in the next few weeks. T.I. compliments an already well-done composition by Azalea.
Towards the middle of the album you can find “Fancy feat. Charli XCX.” This track has already graced the charts and gotten media attention for its music video, a play on the 90’s movie “Clueless.” The music video made it a personal favorite, but the track itself is an excellent composition and features some impressive rapping from Azalea. For instance, the line “And I’m still in the Murda Bizness/I can hold you down, like I’m givin’ lessons in physics” is somehow an instant favorite.
The next notable track is “Impossible Is Nothing,” the typical rags to riches song that motivates listeners to work for success. Regardless of how many times we’ve heard that message from artists, Azaela somehow makes it her own with great lyrics like, “My prayer for you is that you hit all them goals you tryna’ reach/I even hope at one point that you take it further that me”. There’s something simple and honest about the lyrics that take the track to a really impressive level when accompanied by the dramatic underlying melody.
On a lighter note is the track “F*** Love,” which I can guarantee will be playing in every frat house and house party within the next few months. The melody is modeled or copied from every other drunk dance party song that exists, but the raps are best explained as what a female Kanye would sound like. “Goddess”, “Black Widow feat. Rita Ora,” “Lady Patra feat. Mavado,” “Bounce” and “Rolex,” a great breakup song, are other excellent tracks on the album.
Overall, Azaela’s sophomore attempt in a complete success. She manages to keep the rapping complex, playful and honest while producing melodically appealing compositions, which is often a real challenge for rappers. My favorite thing about this album is that my favorite tracks were often standalone compositions rather than collaborations. To me, this shows how talented Azaela is, and how much she is coming into her own as an artist. This album is likely to gain serious momentum after her successful singles, and, like the title suggests, become a new classic.