Logic had his biggest year yet in 2017.
Everybody entered the Billboard 200 at number one, was certified gold within a month, and its "1-800-273-8255" went Top Five pop and led to the rapper's first Grammy nominations. On the heels of those triumphs,
Logic issued the commercial mixtape
Bobby Tarantino II the following March -- just before
Everybody went platinum -- and in six months struck again with the concluding fourth volume of his Young Sinatra series. Whereas the first three Sinatra releases were tapes, this one is designated an album, coincidentally the rapper's fourth.
YSIV ties up the series with
Logic sounding busier than ever. That goes for his rapid-fire flow as much as his lack of free time, utilized and referenced early in "Everybody Dies," where he asserts his evident all-purpose approach with "I do it for the boom-bap, the trap, and the radio," and brags about having five albums and a book in the chamber. At the same time, he acknowledges the "catastrophe"-to-"masterpiece" transition of his life from his humble beginning to stardom. His hard-fought ascent and dream fulfillment inform much more than that track, most poignant when he zeroes in on his absent-turned-nagging father and vows to break the cycle by being an engaged provider for his future children. Just as much emotion is felt in "Legacy," in which he portrays the father, child, and mother of a broken family, and in "Street Dreams II," an action-packed adventure that owes more to
Kool G Rap than to
Nas -- albeit with a twist, and with undervalued producer 6ix as his sidekick. What comes through most is
Logic's self-acknowledged eminence, an abundance of lyrical and sonic references to what he calls "real rap," and an insatiable eagerness. The proficiency and fervor are indisputable. ~ Andy Kellman