2017 was undoubtedly the year of Migos. It was Childish Gambino’s speech at the Golden Globes which propelled Bad n Boujee into the mainstream realm. Whether it was their appearance on Calvin Hariss’ Funk Wave Bounce Volume 1, Quavo doing verses for Katy Perry and Post Malone or the romance between Offset and Cardi B – it was simply impossible to escape Migos.

Culture II is perhaps one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year and I personally couldn’t wait to hear it. Last year, I saw Migos at the Made in America festival and at the end of their fantastic set they began freestyling;

Quavo: “Culture 2 on the way, we in Philidelphia”

Takeoff: “Delphia”

And Takeoff’s perfectly timed ad-lib still rings in my head!

Despite all the hype and my excitement, I was gravely disappointed. The sheer length of the album is ludicrous – it is just too long.  I’ve listened to the album a total of 5 times straight through. Listening to the 24 tracks often felt like I was running on a treadmill with high speed and ankle weights. This analogy sounds quite dramatic but just shows that listening to this album was arduous and felt somewhat never-ending. A massive round of applause to all of you who managed to listen to the album straight through!

Culture II felt rushed and lazy. On their most recent Breakfast Club interview, Quavo said that they were still making changes to the album three days prior to its release. Every track on Culture felt like a new experience whereas the tracks on Culture II are very monotonous. The songs sound as if minimal effort were put into them. DJ Durrel, who executive produced the album along side Quavo, revealed that they spent no longer than 45 minutes on each song and this is certainly heard in the quality of each track.

“Takeoff saved Migos on this album”

Takeoff has frequently been described as the best member of Migos but is ironically underrated. I found myself listening and waiting for Takeoff’s skippy and punchy flow to come in and save the song. Without him, the album would have been dire.

Despite there being copious amounts of things which I didn’t like, I did enjoy some aspects of this album; Culture II gave you that typical trap vibe. I’m positive some of the songs will played in clubs and parties and people will still vibes to them!

One of my favourite songs is Narcos and it sounded as if I was listening to a backing track on an episode of El Chapo or Narcos. The Spanish influenced melody coupled with the content of what Migos were rapping about, sounded as if they were doing their own rendition of a Narco-corrido (Drug Ballad). Narco-corrido is a sub-genre of Mexian ballad music which pays homage and reverence to a region’s biggest Drugs Lords.

Walk It Talk It ,Work Hard , Made Men and Too Playa are amongst the small cohort of decent tracks. Walk It, Talk It is the Gucci Gang (Lil Pump) of Culture II – very repetitive and simplistic lyrics yet somehow it’s a bop!  Production wise, Work Hard is one of the strongest tracks, Too Playa features a soothing saxophone accompanist and Made Men sounded like sophisticated trap (once you hear it you’ll understand!) If Culture II was a garden, these songs would be the roses amongst many thorns.

Despite features from the likes of Drake, 21 Savage and producers such as Metro Boomin’, Culture II failed to match Culture, lacks longevity and fell short of its anticipation. However scathing it may sound, the album is subpar. One of the album’s few saving graces is Motorsport but this can only be attributed to Cardi B‘s and Nicki Minaj’s electrifying verses. Culture gave us Bad and Boujee, Get Right Witcha and T-Shirt but Culture II’s best tracks simply don’t compare.

Is the album worth listening to?

Not in the slightest. 

Did we need it?

No.

Let’s hope that “Culture III” is better!