By Jose Hernandez, March 14, 2023
In a project reminiscent of Logic’s 2011 mixtape era, “College Park,” his latest release showcasing a total of 18 songs and his first release as an independent artist, hit the streaming platforms Feb. 24. After the artist’s recent release of his 30-track album “Vinyl Days” in June 2022, the highly anticipated follow up had fans anxiously waiting for only a season.
The wordplay Logic exemplifies is a demonstration of hard-spitting verses from other features such as “Under Pressure” and “The Incredible True Story.” The album art represents the room he lived inside of in his friend Big Lenbo’s basement beginning in 2011. College Park, Maryland, was the town the RattPack lived in, holding the weight of the album’s name. The ensemble of a cast demonstrates notable artists such as Joey Bada$$, Redman, Logic’s musical crew The RattPack, creator of “Family Guy” Seth MacFarlane, The RZA and Bun B to name a few.
The originality and lyrical ability Logic presents is unignorable and the sound production on this album stands out from other creative ventures.
By implementing themes of comedy and sarcasm shed light on the various creative styles Logic is able to assemble and voice as a steady theme in the album.
“Redpill VII” mentions themes of addiction, relapsing and therapy seeking counsel. Braggadocious verses throughout exemplify the way rappers tend to distract themselves through sedation with substances in everyday life. The lyrics tend to be a tremble of concoction of words mixing together, traveling at the speed of light and not making any contextual sense. This is the type of effort Logic’s known for but can tend to be a bit overwhelming and hard to keep up with.
“Playwright” with Andy Hull is a refreshing type of song that has you wondering if this is Justin Timberlake on the track. Logic has said that the way he writes is like how a playwright writes play storylines.
“Gaithersburg Freestyle” represents the comradery that RattPack, has developed as a rap group across the span of 13 years or so since their inception in 2010. The unique collection of these different artists’ efforts comes together as a homage to their city of Gaithersburg, Maryland, where Logic is originally from and the rest of the RattPack crew.
“Self-Medication” presents the return of Seth MacFarlane in a Logic feature, along with the unexpected verse from Redman, who delivers an unexpected appearance on a Logic album. Another unforeseen collaboration on this track is none other than Seth MacFarlane, who is more notably recognized for his shows “Family Guy” and “American Dad.”Although MacFarlane is known for his comedic ventures, his singing abilities shine as he channels his inner Frank Sinatra.
“Shimmy” features an unexpected Joey Bada$$ verse, bringing a refreshing sense to the album but also manages to certify an old school vibe to the album, since Joey Bada$$ is known to exemplify his native Brooklyn inspired flows along with charismatic style. This song’s title also pays homage to the Wu-Tang Clan’s late member, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s hit single, “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”
“Paradise II” features Norah Jones who is a frequent collaborator with Logic. He repeats many themes of self-reassurance and using music as a means of therapy to help him become more content with himself.
“Come on Down,” featuring Jordan Harris, is one of the shorter songs on the album, less than three minutes of speedy raps mentioning “I want to be anybody that I’m not,” showing an identity crisis being a rap artist. He touches on the hustle mentality that’s taken Logic on this lyrical road of a truly remarkable rap catalog.
“Village Slum,” has a similar opening sound of one of Logic’s past songs on the album, “Supermarket.” Yet this song pushes the listener to take a dive into the reality of being a “AA kid,” where Logic confesses that alcoholism and drug addiction is a part of his genes.
“Highlife” is one of the more fun songs on the album, giving listeners a sense of relaxation reaching an elevated state of mind. Personally, I thought the song threw off the theme of the album sounded like a pop record rather than sounding like an underground mixtape.
“38.9897 N, 76.9378 W” features members of The RattPack, C Dot Castro and Big Lenbo. Hearing this song, one would assume it’s called “Overnight” since it’s repeated over and over again. Logic uses his platform for his group, helping them gain relevance on his first independent album.
“Ayo” features Bun B & Lil Keke, a legendary feature highlighting Logic being inspired by the true Texas-southern rap legend. To have him record a separate verse on top of the sample is unmatched. `
“Lightyear” concludes the project, sitting at eight minutes and 19 seconds. This marks the longest record on “College Park,” giving a glimpse of Logic’s justification for creating pop centric records which streamed on radio in order to feed his family.
This album is for the diehard fans who remember the earlier days of Logic’s career and decide to return into a time capsule of sound, learning to embrace the stylistic evolution. There is a little bit of everything to be grateful for in Logic’s return from retirement, so give yourself the opportunity to play this album and vibe along and understand why Logic belongs in the conversation as one of the most influential lyricists of our era.
Feature image by Lauren Wong.