College Park is an amalgamation of Logic’s previous sagas; Bobby Tarantino, Under Pressure’ and Young Sinatra, rolled into one cohesive and eccentric narrative journey. Played across seventeen-tracks that delve into the origins of how Logic came to be, it’s a truly star-studded project. With verses from RZA, Joey Bada$$, Seth MacFarlane, Norah Jones, Redman and many others, the record has built itself up to be the strongest project released by Logic to date.
College Park traverses the life of now-father as he reflects on his start in the music industry and his subsequent trajectory. Opening track Cruisin’ Through the Universe Feat. RZA is a warm acoustic rendition of traditional Hip-Hop, that allows Logic and RZA to convey their respective verses in an open-galactic atmosphere, a common theme throughout the musical stratosphere of Logic’s universe. The track ends with a small skit; a seemingly young Logic wakes up from a dream, breaking the conventional album paradigm is something the 1-800 star is accustomed to. He excitedly tells his friend that he was just on a song with RZA from Wu-Tang Clan, and he shares his dream of having a song with the whole collective one-day (which he does on his 2018 album YSIV – Wu Tang Forever). This ending lends into his third track with C Dot Castro as he ‘prepares for the show’.
Wake Up (Feat. Lucy Rose) plays as the state of intermission. Having just woken up from the dream and preparing for the show, Logic reflects on his environment and current state of mind as a simple production by long-time collaborator 6ix ebbs and flows with warm synths, bass-lines and muted choirs. It allows Logic to share his message; ‘Everyday I wake up’. No matter the struggles that surround his/your environment, you need to wake up; the phrase being multi-faceted, as it comprises the physical act of waking up, the metaphorical awakening to realisation of the truth in situations, and the hope of another day, that not all has gone to waste. Another long-time collaborator, Lucy Rose closes the track with her soothing voice (familiar to those who have heard the song ‘Anziety’ From Logic’s critically-acclaimed album Everybody. She narrates – what is to be – the story of Logic; ‘And on a beautiful Autumn day in 2011/Logic and his best friends drive through the slums of College/ Park in a Chevy Impala’.
Fourth track Clone Wars III is an honest and vulnerable open-letter to the thoughts that ran through the Maryland rapper’s consciousness as he pursued his career. ‘There was days when I wished I was Cole, wished I was Kendrick/Days when I wished I was Lupe, hella eccentric/ Days when I wished I was Jay and had the blueprint’
An appreciation that doubles-down as a self-defeat in the face of his contemporaries. The production, that is authentic to the core of Hip-Hop, stages the inner-battle as a looping drum-track and a warm Brooklyn-esque atmosphere, giving Logic time and space to speak his mind unapologetically; ‘Doin’ everythin’ I could to try be who they be/’Til a couple albums back, when I was finally set free/By the realization, all I gotta do is be me, be me’.
Ending with the weaved storyline through skits, as Logic and his friends are on their way to the show.
Further down the track-list, stand-out song Insipio centres the stage on deep-conscious thought. As Logic sits in the backroom of a show and throws his thoughts and realisations around on an eerie yet playful piano ballad that never seems to cut the edge; a solitary moment of confidential confinement of the soul. ‘Say if you was me, you would do it differently/But you don’t got my POV/Talking ’bout one in the same, only one of me to blame’. Lucy Rose closes the track on a 1920s Noir-esque atmospheric beat switch – she speaks with introspection of maturity and the longing for childhood memories. A warranted interlude from the heaviness of previous thematic exploration within the realms of, self-doubt, environmental pressures and artistic development.
Shimmy (Feat. Joey Bada$$) is the anthem of raw Hip-Hop. The contemporary prodigy of conscious Hip-Hop, Joey Bada$$, with his lyrical prowess and delivery combined with the gun-shot speed of Logic’s word-play delivery creates a display of lyrical minds and instrumental dominance by 6ix & Soundtrakk. The track sitting as an unprovoked beast amidst a field of warm and mellow tracks, awakens a moment of rejuvenation as it ushers in a titanic-proportion change to the mood and aesthetic of the latter half.
College Park continues to narrate the monumental events of a young Logic and his journey to the artist who he is destined to become. This album is a staple in the proven veteran’s repertoire, a cohesive journey filled with musical mastery, philosophical and introspective revelations that will be appreciated by long-time fans and new ones alike. He has created a universe that anyone can inhibit, a feat not easily-achievable by an avant-garde rapper.