Culture (ft. DJ Khaled): This song features DJ Khaled doing…ehh, you already know. Just yelling and stuff. Nothing out of his comfort zone. And the song itself is nothing out of the group’s comfort zone, and DJ Khaled’s random yelling does get annoying on this one since he’s ad-libbing a bit more, but otherwise, this is a pretty decent track. I like the vocal performances from all of the boys and, even if they drown themselves in autotune, they still sound pretty good. It’s fun enough, it’s catchy, and while it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, it’s pretty solid.
T-Shirt: The heavily staccato flow on this track is honestly a bit annoying to me. And again, I do like the vocal performances on this track, but I can’t get past how jarring the flow sounds to me. And honestly, it sounds like the song goes on much longer than it actually does. Maybe it’s the fact that the flow on this one bothers me, but it felt like I was checking my watch for when the song was gonna end. I know a lot of people love this song, but I just can’t get past the Migos boys’ flow throughout this track. Maybe it just needs to grow on me? I don’t know, but for now, not all that crazy about it.
Call Casting: Takeoff’s hook on this one is pretty fun, and as I’ve been saying quite a bit so far, the vocal performances throughout this song are pretty solid, but I can’t help but feel kinda bored by this. It literally just feels like it meshes together with some of these early songs. It’s definitely not a bad song, there are definitely worse places to go on this album, but for now, Migos just remains pretty firm in their comfort zone, which is fine if you like their style. Me? So far, it’s not winning me over.
Bad and Boujee (ft. Lil Uzi Vert): The big single that catapulted this group to popularity, and also meme-success (“rain drop, drop top”) even though Takeoff isn’t all that prominent here (“do it look like I’m left off Bad and Boujee?”), this track, honestly, just doesn’t do it for me. I see the appeal of it, and it’s got a reasonably fun hook, but otherwise, this song just kind of bores me. Neither Quavo nor Offset’s verses really do anything meaningful for me, and Lil Uzi Vert’s verse is not all that strong on this one. I’ve heard Uzi do far better (trust me, I’ve reviewed his latest album), and honestly, right when you hear “YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH,” you can kinda tell that it’s not gonna be great. It’s a song I thought wasn’t all bad at first, but I’ve definitely grown away from it with repeat listens.
Get Right Witcha: Instrumentally, I like the way this one really starts off. It’s quaint, but it definitely feels like it could build up to something interesting. Unfortunately, it builds up to what essentially feels like everything else the group has done. There are some pretty fun vocal performances and flows on this track, though, and I feel like there’s definitely more charm to this track than some of the earlier tracks. Probably nothing I’ll come back to, but it’s not too bad overall.
Slippery (ft. Gucci Mane): The instrumental on this one is pretty fun overall, and I definitely think the vocal performances remain pretty charismatic and fun on this one. The hook is where the song really shines: it’s really memorable, fun, and I like Quavo’s flow and vocals on the song. Gucci Mane is also featured on this track, and while he didn’t turn me into a fan, I do like his flow on his verse. Solid track overall.
Big On Big: A brighter, more piano-driven song from Migos, this one takes some interesting new directions in comparison to some of the other tracks on this record, but it still honestly bores me. Same thing that I’ve said about a lot of the other tracks on here can apply to this song: fun vocal performances, but standard Migos flow, nothing overly special to me. And, maybe it’s just me, but I again feel like this song feels way longer than it actually is. It’s not bad, and I appreciate it for taking a few slightly different routes compared to other Migos songs, but it still just bores me.
What The Price: Once again, we have a pretty cool, rather different sounding intro that feels more synth-guitar based, but then, right as I was starting to get into the song, it just turned into another generic-sounding track that doesn’t differentiate itself from other Migos tracks whatsoever. Honestly, it sounds like a slightly more melodic, more sing-y version of “Bad and Boujee.” Sure, the vocal performances are fun, but they don’t make up for the song feeling like a complete bore.
Brown Paper Bag: Soon as this started, my first thought was “didn’t I just hear this earlier? Is this ‘T-Shirt 2’ or something like that?” I’m sorry, I know a lot of people love these guys, but I just feel like these songs are starting to mesh together for me and just sounding exactly the same. And while it’s nice that the group at least understands their own sound (and has some interesting vocal performances), it feels like they’re not doing enough with it by making so many wallpaper songs that just feel like attempts to recreate some of their bigger singles.
Deadz (ft. 2 Chainz): This song feels a bit more grand and majestic than some of the others on this album, and again, it takes some interesting different directions instrumentally. It does start to feel repetitive and boring after a while, but I do think it’s a bit better than some of the other tracks on here. It’s definitely a bit more energetic, and the more grand feel keeps things a bit more interesting for me. The hook is a bit boring and repetitive for me, but I think the song is saved entirely by the guest performance from 2 Chainz. All in all, though, not a great song, but better than some of the others on here.
All Ass: Once again, it just feels like Migos is trying to capitalize on the success they had with previous singles by just following the same formula that made those big singles so successful. Once again, though, what saves this would-be wallpaper trap song from being complete garbage is the fun vocal performances from the Migos boys. Despite the heavy use of autotune, these guys have really interesting, nice-sounding voices that add a layer of excitement to these songs. Not all great, but not one of the worst of the album.
Kelly Price (ft. Travis Scott): This one started in a way that sounded a bit darker than some of the other songs on the album, but slowly, it ended up becoming much brighter. And, for the better, because I feel it’s definitely one of the most infectious and genuinely fun songs on this album. It’s upbeat, it’s energetic, I love the vocal performances on this one, Travis Scott’s guest verse is really fun, and it actually feels like, for as repetitive as the trap beat is on this one, there are some decent attempts to make this one sound a bit different from the others. On top of that, despite being the longest song on the record (just over 6 minutes), it actually feels breezy and nicely-paced. Definitely one of the better songs on this record.
Out Yo Way: The final track on this album, this one started off a bit more R&B-flavored, and while it did end up sounding a bit similar to other songs on the album, it’s still very bright, fun, and energetic, and it’s a nice enough change of pace from some of the other songs on here. I think the hook is one of the strongest on the album, the vocal performances are typically quite strong, and the subject matter (the Migos talk about the women that have stuck with them throughout their music careers, which is a kinda different view on women that isn’t seen as often in rap music today) is actually really interesting. While it didn’t change my opinion on the album or save it or anything like that, I do think it was a nice way to end things off.
Overall, I feel like this album was definitely not for me. Though it features some pretty fun vocal performances throughout, a lot of the tracks just feel like they mesh together to me. I couldn’t really find myself really enjoying it, and while I tried to nod my head along and turn-up to this stuff, it was really hard to when I felt like I was listening to the same two songs spread across a 13-track album. And when every single song talks about drugs, money, and women, there’s not really all that many interesting stories to hear on this one. It’s meant to be turn-up stuff, and while that, in theory, isn’t a bad thing, the turn-up stuff on this album just doesn’t feel all that fun, and it can be a bit tiring. If you’re a fan of the Migos style of music, or you liked the singles and want to hear the rest, by all means, go ahead, you’ll probably have a better time than I did, but if you’re like me and looking for a casual listen, “Culture” might not be it.
I’ll give them a second chance with “Culture II” though.
Favorite tracks: Culture, Slippery, Kelly Price, Out Yo Way
Least favorite tracks: T-Shirt, Bad and Boujee, What The Price, Brown Paper Bag
Rating: Bad
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