Now, I covered “Beach House 3” right around its release back in October (in fact, it was the last review I wrote and posted exclusively to my Facebook before I opened this blog and moved all of those reviews over here), and while there were several songs I took away from it and really enjoyed, like “Famous,” “Don’t Judge Me” and “Love U Better,” among several others, I found the album to be just too long, too inconsistent, and a bit too cluttered with unnecessary interludes to be anything more than “okay.” However, much like I did with Lil Uzi Vert’s “Luv is Rage 2” back in November, I wanted to take a look at these new bonus tracks that released with the “Deluxe Edition” of the album to see if it was a good or bad idea keeping them off the record. So, let’s take a look:
Pineapple (ft. Gucci Mane and Quavo): Wasting no time bringing some huge features into the fold on this one, Ty Dolla $ign brings in Gucci Mane and Quavo (the latter of Migos’ fame) to create this somewhat dark-sounding turn-up song (I know, interesting juxtaposition there). Admittedly, as standard as it sounds, I actually dig this track, because even if it doesn’t sound too unfamiliar, I can commend the song for its charismatic vocal performances from all three artists. Ty Dolla $ign and Quavo provide their typical smooth autotune-assisted crooning on this one, and even Gucci Mane’s performance is pretty fun (honestly, it might be one of the better of Gucci Mane’s features). I dig this one a bit.
Clout (ft. 21 Savage): Another somewhat darker-sounding but far more uptempo track, this one just feels very standard to me, and it unfortunately doesn’t really play to Ty’s vocal strengths all that well. Sure, his vocals still sound nice enough, but I feel like he’s at his best when he’s on brighter, less “wallpaper trap” kind of instrumentals. On top of that, as nice as his vocals sound, you know the song is doing something wrong when I find 21 Savage to be more of a highlight than Ty. Sorry, I’m not digging this one as much.
Number: One of the few bonus tracks that don’t have a feature, this one has another more upbeat instrumental, but in some ways, it still feels a bit atmospheric. Ty croons about how he got a girl’s number right despite being completely wasted. Interesting stuff, Ty. Either way, while the trap beat on this one is rather standard, I do think Ty’s vocals are very nice, and the hook is relatively fun. As upbeat as the production is, it again feels oddly relaxed, and I definitely enjoy it.
Drugs (ft. Wiz Khalifa): It’s an “Or Nah” reunion! Well, minus The Weeknd, but eh, beggars can’t be choosers. Anyway, this one features yet another rather standard trap-flavored beat, and while Ty’s vocals remain pretty smooth, it is kind of getting to the point where a number of the tracks just feel the same. The one thing that keeps this song from really being one of the worst on the Deluxe Edition is Wiz Khalifa’s really solid verse. I like his flow quite a bit on this one, and he really makes the song better. Without him, it’s just a rather standard trap song that ends far too quickly.
South Beach (ft. Quavo and French Montana): A song with not one, but two pretty big features, French Montana leads off this somewhat bright but still rather standard trap song with some slightly autotune-assisted singing on his verse, and while his verse is fine, it’s just nothing too special. Same goes for Ty and Quavo’s verses (though, points to Quavo because he has some decent flows on his verse), though I did think Ty’s hook was relatively fun here. Enough to make the song great? No, not really, but it’s serviceable enough.
Simple: Ending things off, we have a track that doesn’t credit its feature, Yo Gotti. Strange. Anyway, in this song, Ty talks with his girl about wanting to keep things simple. I love it when the subject matter of the song is laid out so perfectly in the title…no, seriously, I didn’t mean that sarcastically, I’m actually totally okay with it. Ugh, I’m rambling, sorry. Anyway, this one has yet another rather standard 808-driven beat and somewhat nocturnal instrumentals, but I do commend the track for featuring a pretty fun vocal performance and solid hook from Ty himself, along with a decent verse from Yo Gotti. It’s nothing wholly new, but it’s definitely a decent song and a solid end to the Deluxe Edition of the album.
Overall, the story behind the set of bonus tracks in the Deluxe Edition of “Beach House 3” is essentially the same as the story behind the base album itself: it’s fine, it’s decent, but it’s not super consistent, and it’s not the best material Ty’s ever created. There are a few fun vocal performances, but the songs as a whole are just okay, and I was kind of disappointed that, for an album called “Beach House 3,” Ty didn’t play with that idea of making the songs a bit more beachy, and instead stuck to some more nocturnal, trap-inspired cuts instead of pushing some more bright songs in the style of, say, “So Am I” from the base album. Still, they aren’t really bad listens at all, and Ty’s big fans probably won’t be too disappointed by any of them.
Now, if this “Deluxe Edition” came out with the album back in October and I reviewed it then with these songs, would they have swayed my opinion in either direction? Meh, probably not too much. If anything, including them with the base album would’ve felt a bit excessive, given that it was already 20 songs and a number of those were unnecessary interludes. On top of that, given that these six songs were mostly just “fine,” I don’t see how they would’ve made the album any better or worse outside of increasing the length a bit too much. As it is, though, “Beach House 3” was an “okay” album back then, and these new tracks didn’t really do anything to move that in either direction. It’s still just “okay,” nothing more, nothing less.
By the way, this obviously doesn’t count as my 95th review, since it’s a mini-review. The 95th will be coming soon. Keep on the lookout!
Favorite tracks: Pineapple, Number, Simple
Least favorite tracks: Clout
Rating: This is a mini-review, so I’m not giving it a rating
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