In anticipation of Tha Truth, Pt.2's release, Trae Tha Truth told fans to expect a heavy dose of reality. He should have spared them the preface.
To begin with, the Houston vet doesn't dive into the raw substance he promised until nearly halfway into the 17-track LP. Early cuts like "Takers" and "Slugs" are ill-fitting forewords to raw gems "Mama" and "World Needs You." His flow is consistent and airtight, but as effortlessly as he rides every one of his beats, Trae is also prone to lyrical flubs like "I'm sick, I should've been a fever" ("Slugs"). The Screwed Up Clik member is at his best when he abandons the trap-inspired beats and gun bars and unburdens his conscience in the last few cuts, on which his raw, metaphor-free honesty is fondly reminiscent of the style fellow Texans UGK and Scarface pioneered in the early '90s, with Trae bringing it home on a sombre yet hopeful note with "I Will Survive." In other words, despite flashes of textbook Texas rhyming and moving moments of authenticity, Trae takes much too long to establish, let alone explore, the point of it all.
While The Truth, Pt.2 does see Triple T bare his soul at times, the album is cluttered with filler and lacklustre collabs, and might have functioned better as a tighter, more focused EP.
(ABN Entertainment/Empire Distribution)To begin with, the Houston vet doesn't dive into the raw substance he promised until nearly halfway into the 17-track LP. Early cuts like "Takers" and "Slugs" are ill-fitting forewords to raw gems "Mama" and "World Needs You." His flow is consistent and airtight, but as effortlessly as he rides every one of his beats, Trae is also prone to lyrical flubs like "I'm sick, I should've been a fever" ("Slugs"). The Screwed Up Clik member is at his best when he abandons the trap-inspired beats and gun bars and unburdens his conscience in the last few cuts, on which his raw, metaphor-free honesty is fondly reminiscent of the style fellow Texans UGK and Scarface pioneered in the early '90s, with Trae bringing it home on a sombre yet hopeful note with "I Will Survive." In other words, despite flashes of textbook Texas rhyming and moving moments of authenticity, Trae takes much too long to establish, let alone explore, the point of it all.
While The Truth, Pt.2 does see Triple T bare his soul at times, the album is cluttered with filler and lacklustre collabs, and might have functioned better as a tighter, more focused EP.