Review of Culture 2 by Migos
A rundown of biggest issues with the brand new Migos album
Lack of a compelling narrative
With the first Culture album, the main storyline of the album and everything surrounding the album, was that this was three guys coming out from North Atlanta and crashing the mainstream.
With Culture 2 obviously, this was their party. A celebration of sorts for their mainstream success garnered in 2017. Only problem with this narrative regarding the album and the promotion surrounding it, is that this is never going to be as compelling as the underdog success story.
We, as spectators love the underdog story. Think back to classics such as Rocky, or even the last two presidents. We come to see ourselves in their narratives despite us having very little in common. This unifying effect is very powerful, and its power is the reason why music labels keep mining that well constantly.
Put simply, the sense of unity that we felt in listening to the Migos when they were scrappy underdogs produced such a powerful emotional bond. This bond was so strong that we, as spectators seemed to neglect all their bad behaviour and somewhat formulaic approach to making music.
Guests
Second biggest problem, is that the guests themselves outside of Cardi B, are all at the stage where their fans have committed to them long ago. Drake rapping below his best wont change the opinions of fans, and Nicki Minaj’s fans will stubbornly believe she had the best verse on Motorsport no matter what.
With this kind of built in loyalty from the fans, and the fact that this album is more of a celebration rather than a fight for rap legitimacy, means forgettable perfomances from rap superstars is inevitable. This mediocrity is contagious leading to disappointing performances from everyone involved.
The one person who should have featured on the album, was Pharrell Williams. His production on Stir Fry was beautiful and showcased the hidden diversity that Migos can offer to the culture. They have shown this before, most notably on Calvin Harris’ superb project, where they stole the show on a sound far from their own.
However, Migos choose to ride the wave of the mainstream success. One thing for sure is, if you could have predicted in 2014 that these guys would have been at the Grammys, nominated for a Best Rap Album, alongside the likes Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar, it would have been seen as ridiculous. But recent world events have showed that the ridiculous is really not that far fetched and probably more common that even imagined.
