i'll paste over my thoughts from HHH to see what yall think:

90% of the lines on this album are earl mumbling a bit, hard emphasizing the last word, then jumping straight into the next monotonous line. yeah, it fits in with the depressed mood, but that just makes the music sound shitty and uninteresting. same with the garbage mixing on the whole project. intentionally blowing chode isn't better because it's intentional. i hate all the DOOM and madvillainy comparisons; those records have actual highs and lows, variety, comedy, energy. this project is earl sadly delivering lines over loops for 20 minutes, which just means every song is flat and sad.

i like sad music, but it needs some actual music to be good. xiu xiu - fabulous muscles is depressing, but it has a ton going on instrumentally and vocally. this tape is the same formula on 15 different samples. production and lyricism is killer, but the flows are so fucking bad this is like a 6/10 for me.

it might seem like im hating excessively, partially because im writing in reaction to everyone (imho) overrating the record. i love the beats all across the album, i definitely get a mix of dilla/madlib vibe, i think there's lots of emotion in the writing, and the lyricism is good, i just strongly dislike how that lyricism is presented. for example, melon's line about how many quotables there are is totally true, but i wish that they were delivered with more variety. too much of the album is interchangeable imho, you could take all the lyrics from one song and put them over another song's beat and you wouldn't ruin the album's sonic direction too much. you can't do that with something like madvillainy, every song is much more compact and self-contained

riot! is good af tho