Logic, No Pressure | Album Review 💿

Announcing his retirement from rap, with No Pressure, Logic bows out with one of the very best albums of career.

For Logic, the pressure is off, or so the title of his purported final studio album, No Pressure, informs us. If No Pressure is indeed the last we hear from Sir Robert Bryson Hall II as a musician, then it is a fitting closing.  Hall, who has accomplished plenty on his platform, began his discography of studio albums with Under Pressure in 2014, probably his best album overall.  That said, following a lackadaisical showing in 2019 with the likes of Supermarket (Soundtrack) 🤮 and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (average, mediocre at best), No Pressure serves as a reminder of just how good the rapper is when he’s at his best.

“No Pressure” 

✓ “No Pressure” sets the tone perfectly.  Featuring narration via an Orson Welles sample introducing No Pressure, Logic drops one verse chocked-full of bars. Here, over old-school, lush production from No I.D and Like, he manages revisits his rough and tumble past, yet also exhibits ample ‘big dick energy’ with lines like, “Logic fallin’ off is an obscenity / Top five I better be, steadily / Doggin’ these bitches like I’m a Pedigree.”

If “No Pressure” was merely the intro – the appetizer if you will – then ✓ “Hit My Line” is the main course.  Produced by 6ix, there’s a fine balance of classic/old-school and contemporary/fresh. Three specific instruments that stand out are the heavily syncopated, dusty drums, the keyboard chords, and the low, bassy synth. While Logic serves up un-pitched bullets the majority of the record, we do hear him singing the chorus, which happens to be among the catchiest, ‘poppy’ moments of No Pressure. A surefire lyrical gem commences his sole verse: “Now I ain’t sayin’ this my ‘Jesus Walks’ / I’m just sayin’, God, I need to talk.”

For the third straight song on No Pressure, there is only one verse.✓ “GP4” (“Growing Pains 4”) features more compelling production, combining the talents of both No I.D and 6ix. Worth noting, “Growing Pains III” appeared as the seventh track on Under Pressure. There are a number of samples and interpolations that help to construct another compelling backdrop that’s classic yet refreshing. Logic continues to be in beast mode, supercharged by the backdrop and dropping plenty of colorful bars.  Again, we get a pretty sweet, melodic chorus out of it.

“Celebration”

With only one lengthy verse in the opening trio of songs, ✓ “Celebration” brings a more standard form, to the tune of three verses.  Two of those verses – the first and third – belong to Logic, while the second comes courtesy of rapper Silas. Silas gets a full verse, but concludes his bars mid-phrase, allowing Logic to segue into a briefer third verse. The transition is pretty smooth mind you and definitely a cool effect. Indeed a ‘celebration,’ the record is a flex-fest in just about every way, including agile, exuberant rhymes, and sample-laden, old-school production.

The verses keep coming on “Open Mic\\Aquarius III” – four to be precise – over the course of five minutes.  As “Open Mic” suggests, Logic gives off the air that he’s stepped into a club and is just dropping bars, period.  On the fourth verse, it could be summed by saying he simply doesn’t give a fuck about a number of things (there’s no shortage of f-bombs, for the record). Bobby gives us many lyrical gems, including “I’m like Leo in Revenant, bear with me / You could tear me apart / But that won’t change the fact I wrote this shit from the heart.”

“Me and my team is finally reaping / What we been sowing like a seamstress…” Word! ✓ “Soul Food II” directly follows up “Soul Food”, one off the gems from Under Pressure, not to mention its status among the best songs of Logic’s career.  There are two verses with each representing one of two distinct parts.  The aforementioned quote graces the first part, which focuses on his life, the industry, and such.  As for the second, we drift back to some nerdier 🤓  The Incredible True Story, space concept territory – “Accompanied by a girl inside their ear, her name was Thalia / Made of noes and zeros, she was a program.” Interesting to say the least!

“Perfect” 

Need a brief, fun joint packed with ample confidence and swagger? ✓ “Perfect” is definitely ‘perfect’ for you. Lite on duration but big on personality, we get the gist of Logic well under a two-minute runtime.  The production is beastly, featuring contributions from Keanu Beats, FNZ, and 6ix.  Also, worth noting is an interpolation of the 2010 Drake hit, “Headlines” (Take Care).

The smooth ✓ “Man I Is” keeps the momentum rolling, finding Logic accepting the man that he is an has become.  He acknowledges and admits the hardships and things that he’s done in the past. “I ain’t perfect, I got problems, I got issues like People magazine,” he asserts on the second verse.  Don’t we all have our imperfections?

On a song title I’m not ever sure I expected, despite the popularity of the topic, “DadBod” is more about the rapper’s current lifestyle than his body.  I mean, did you see how jacked Logic looked in the “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” video – just saying.  Regardless, it’s not about the size of his pecs, it’s about a new vibe of sorts. “And I love my wife like I am Chance,” he raps on the first verse, continuing, “I bet you’d rap about the shit me and him rap about / If you had ever made it out, but you ain’t never had the chance.” Facts! 💯

“5 Hooks”

“Five hooks, man / Ayo, this shit only got like five hooks on it, dawg / All lyricism, ho.” “5 Hooks” speaks to the lack of hooks or choruses that grace No Pressure.  An album that places emphasis on bars and often times, extended verses, that’s what “5 Hooks” is all about. This song itself is, fittingly, hook-less. One of the biggest selling points is the beat switch.  The bars are given FYI. 

“Dark Place” is true to its title as well, finding Logic reflecting on his ‘unpopularity’ you might say. “Depression, anxiety got a hold of me / ‘Cause people say they want the older me,” he raps on the extended verse.  He goes on to say, “Not black enough, not hood enough / Not rich enough, not poor enough,” fully representing criticisms and self-deprecation that can lead you to that dark place, particularly as a celebrity.  Knowing he’s wallowing in the darkness, at the end of his verse, preceding the Alan Watts outro, he states:

“Shit, I’d love to end this no some positive shit
Hit you with punchlines instead of some derogative shit
But it’s okay to be sad sometimes and tired of shit, I guess.” 

On ✓ “A2Z,” we see a glimpse into Logic the father, teaching little Bobby the alphabet. Of course, it’s not your stand “ABC Song,” it’s straight lyrical fire.  The first part of the song is the most potent, but the second part is distinct in its own right.  Logic plays his first demo from 2005, which feels right considering this is the final album.

“Heard Em Say” 

Yes, in case you are wondering, “Heard Em Say” does indeed interpolate the Kanye West,  Late Registration classic.  This is also one of the few records from Under Pressure with a chorus, performed by Chris Thompson, via another sample, “Lies (Through the 80s)” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.  Again, it’s impressive how the many samples are broken down and rebuilt throughout the album. Logic remains on autopilot, period. As the official closer of No Pressure (per Thalia), the final two cuts are part of Ultra 85.

The penultimate “Amen” puts a cap on an illustrious career and concludes The Incredible True Story in the process. Amen! The lengthy closing cut, “Obediently Yours,” is one big interlude – an extension of the Orson Welles sample from “No Pressure.” It makes sense, particularly if you’ve followed the rapper’s career and albums closely.

Final Thoughts 

To reiterate what was asserted early on, No Pressure serves as a reminder of just how good Logic is when he’s truly ‘on’ – at his best.  No Pressure is a representation of the Logic we’ve missed the last couple of albums, particularly given his 2019 duds. Throughout this project, it successfully recaptures the glory of Under Pressure, as well as his best moments from other projects (The Incredible True Story comes to mind).  While there’s no big ‘pop’ moment like Everybody yielded with the Grammy-nominated “1-800-273-8255”, the rapper was never ‘pop’ to begin with.  All in all, this is a perfect way to close this chapter of the rapper’s life.

✓ Gems: “No Pressure,” “Hit My Line,” “GP4,” “Celebration,” “Soul Food II,” “Perfect,” “Man I is” & “A2Z”

Logic • No Pressure • Def Jam • Release: 7.24.20

Photo Credit: Def Jam