Stanisland Magazine

The Philly rapper unveils fresh music with stagnant vibes.

Will Smith has been hyping this release to a point we were expecting something extraordinary. So where is it?

The artist formerly known as Fresh Prince said he sought counsel from rappers Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar prior to embracing a proposed comeback. They told him ‘not to lie’ and to be true to himself, which is where he said the title of this album came from. Personally, I think he should have lied.

Don’t feel let down, we kind of expected this scenario given his entire rap career appeases the FCC.

What Based on a True Story Sounds Like

From the inception of his career, he’s dispatched rhyme schemes that were suited to the 90s. But as time progressed, he failed to outgrow a bygone style to the point it’s quite simply, uncle rap.

What did we expect from this new drop? An evolution of sorts that would at least keep up with contemporary music. Not that that he has to put in any effort, because, the bar—at present—is very low. But something else happened.

After dropping a track that was average at best with Joyner Lucas, where he at least delivered a modernised flow, he backtracks, and gives us Willennium 2.0.

He’s had twenty years to cook; two decades of opportunity, but the only extraordinary thing here is how astonishingly flat he falls.

Verdict

Aside from TANTRUM, the rest of this album is a hard pass and feels like a collection of ‘maybes’ left over from earlier releases. It’s so bad, it’s hip-hop you’d play for your mum. And as for the last hit Big Willy had…well, you know.

The most perplexing thing about this new release, is that he is a phenomenal talent. His early freestyles showed much promise, but for some reason he’s taken the road of commercialised hip-hop and never looked back, stifling his potential in the process.

Where to Stream

You can listen to Based on a True Story on all major streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music. The album is distributed by his own label, Rave in the Wasteland.