BLAME IT ON BABY by DaBaby - ALBUM REVIEW

The DaBaby backlash is real. If you go on RYM, there is a steep drop-off between DaBaby's albums in rating, this one clocking in at just under two stars. Now, why is that? Have DaBaby's albums gotten progressively worse? Or have we all just gotten sick of him in record time?

It wouldn't be hard to argue the latter. This is his third studio album put out in just over a year. And with complaints that DaBaby doesn't really have a lot of tricks up his sleeve, yeah, it can get boring to hear the same thing over and over. But is this album really that bad? I'd actually argue it's more good than bad, but only slightly, and make no mistake, there are stinkers on this album that probably either could have used another run through or just been scrapped altogether. Though with this album's runtime of just over 30 minutes, maybe you need every scrap you can get.

Let's get this out of the way: DaBaby can't sing. I'm sorry, it's the truth. And the fact that he's trying to use his singing in a legitimately emotional way is just laughable in the worst possible way. What the hell is a song like "SAD SHIT" doing on a DaBaby album? It's not like he can't handle serious subject matter ("INTRO" is in many ways his best single), but I cannot take this seriously for the life of me. The only song where his singing sounds good is "ROCKSTAR", and that's only because he's clearly not trying.

Also, try as he might to differentiate himself, it all just ends up sounding mostly the same anyway. Which, for me, is mostly fine: I like DaBaby! I like his scattered stop-and-start flow. But if you're looking for any huge departures in his sound, you're mostly going to get disappointing snippets. There are a few highlights, though. "JUMP" is the most energetic and fun song on this album, and "NASTY" brings an always welcome feature from Megan Thee Stallion, as well as an interesting flip of an old Ashanti song, with her coming back to add some more lyrics. So no, I don't think this is as bad as the ratings signify, but all the same I can understand why some might be disappointed. Maybe it's time for DaBaby to take a break; it's not like he can go and tour for new albums right now anyway. I don't want to see his star burn out too soon; this is the type of guy you like to have around. But still, it's possible to have too much of a good thing.

6/10

Best Tracks: "ROCKSTAR" (ft. Roddy Ricch), "JUMP" (ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again), "DROP" (ft. A Boogie wit da Hoodie & London On Da Track), "NASTY" (ft. Ashanti & Megan Thee Stallion)