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Hi everyone, Forthony Mattano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Quavo album, QRÖMELIFE.

Rapper, songwriter, and one-third of the legendary Atlanta rap trio Migos, it's Quavo. Dropping his third album here, which is the follow-up to 2023's Rocket Power, which I was looking forward to, not only because Quavo has long been my favorite voice among the Migos, but also, interestingly, he teamed up with one of my favorite all-time producers on this record, Mr. Pharrell Williams, who, in my opinion, has been on a bit of a creative streak as of late.

Look no further than the amazing slate of instrumentals he provided for the clip's comeback album, Let God Sort Him Out, and apparently him and Quavo have been grinding on this record for a year and a half now, with sessions not only taking place at the Louis Vuitton headquarters, where Pharrell has been a creative director for years now, but also on a yacht in Miami, which I think technically makes this Yacht Rap.

It's also said that Pharrell wanted to make some music that was really gonna push Quavo outside of his comfort zone on this one and experiment a bit. So it's clear that P wasn't merely just playing a supportive role on this project, as QRÖMELIFE is packed with beats that I don't think Quavo would be rapping on top of if he were left completely to his own devices.

Not to mention some of the chorus and melody lines that pop up on a few of these tracks that feel very Pharrell-coded. As far as the vision and tone of this record, Quavo has said that QRÖMELIFE is supposed to be a reflection of his lifestyle, which I think we have a pretty clear and lavish view of, given his many verses over the years.

Plus, the singles in the lead-up to this project most definitely forecast a fun, carefree summer set of ass-shakers in this tracklist, and in a nutshell, it's pretty much that with a few surprisingly weird and strange moments here and there, too.

Overall, it sounds noticeably different from any record Quavo has put out so far, but QRÖMELIFE also represents a new chapter for him in some challenging ways, too. The mainstream trap wave he originally rode in on years ago has pretty much disappeared from the charts at this point, and many of his Atlanta contemporaries have been struggling to maintain buzz and relevance with their latest projects.

Mind you, I'm not saying there isn't hip-hop out there right now that has commercial motion. For sure, there is. But stylistically, Quavo doesn't really fit into any of the underground lanes that seem to be holding fans' attention at the moment. Nor is he dropping a dramatic, vengeful set of screeds as Drake did on ICEMAN.

On QRÖMELIFE, there's actually very little room made for any kind of introspection. Even though Quavo is pretty much at veteran status at this point. And there's even a track here where he links up with fellow Migos member Offset, but the vibes are kinda business as usual.

I guess my ultimate question going into QRÖMELIFE was, will Quavo fade away like a relic of a bygone Atlanta 2010s renaissance? Or will he work out a way to legitimately stay relevant in the 2020s?

And I think the potential is there, especially given the virality of that color show performance that he did with his late nephew and fellow Migos member, Takeoff. Which has been making the rounds on the internet. Not only because of how cool the original video is, but there's all sorts of offshoots and parodies and AI versions.

Quavo even put the audio of that color show performance on this album to buoy the overall sales, too. However, with me kinda getting this review out a little late, we can see that the first-week sales for this thing right now. Are, landing around 13k, and the critical reception is tepid at best.

So in terms of what this album will mean for Quavo going forward, we may already have our answer. But still, I think there could be some demand for Quavo on some level, but it's just possible this album is bringing a vibe that people were not necessarily looking for or wanted right now. A casual summer fun record in October, helmed by the same guy who wrote: "Happy."

Look, for what it is, I do think QRÖMELIFE does have some slick, upbeat, zany highlights. That classic Atlanta Ritz and Glam with a very specific Pharrell twist. Case in point: the opening track "Backwards", which features T.I. and is Atlanta from head to toe. From the grooves coming out of the production, to the lemon pepper wings, to the stripper poles. This thing is a good time with money flying in every direction.

But even stronger than that, track is "BA" Featuring Future, which not only has, instrumentally, those classic Pharrell trademarks, the quirky synth lines, the crisp percussion, those kind of rippling 808s, but interestingly, Future and Quavo forge an almost Migos-style chemistry between their flows and shouty ad-libs. And honestly, the track is the better for it. They both sound youthful and invigorated on this one, in terms of the performance. Weirdly, there isn't quite as much chemistry between Quavo and Offset on the song "Away," but it's still kind of cool to hear them together right now.

Again, it's fine, but it definitely does get overshadowed by the track "Baby Breath." A track that not only has a Pharrell hook on it, but also features verses from Tyler, The Creator, and A$AP Rocky. And it's a track that is packed with so much raw, kinetic energy that it sounds like Pharrell forgot to properly mix it. Between the booming 808s, hissing ride cymbals, and blaring synth horns, it's one of the weirdest and gaudiest instrumentals on the entire thing, and it seems to bring out this energy between Tyler, A$AP, and Quavo to where they're just trying to out-goof each other. I would say Tyler handily wins, though.

The song "Trance (Walk It Down)" is a very likable single to the record, a stripper anthem, if you will. Again, I think it would be a fitting summer jam had it dropped maybe a bit earlier in the year, or maybe just years before this point, because I don't know, this just really hasn't been the year for ass-shaking summer rap jams.

And look, even though the first half of this record is maybe just a little bit choppy in terms of consistency and songwriting, I think it's pretty solid. It's the second half where I think QRÖMELIFE really starts to trail off.

We have Quavo and Pharrell teaming up on "Factory Trim," as well as "Sweep," and on both of these tracks, they fail to forge any new ground or even a memorable hook. And despite Pharrell's very clear, heavy influence on this project, he can't seem to encourage Quavo at all on the songcraft front, because once again, the writing continues to be very hit-or-miss in terms of memorability.

And then, following this, we have a one-two punch of dreadful, boring features from Yung Miami, as well as Lil Baby, on the two tracks after that, but what's even worse is "House Music", featuring Justin Timberlake, which not only has one of the laziest, and most mind-numbing choruses on the entire album but the track also kind of sounds like Pharrell heard Fenix Flexin's "RUBBERZ" on the charts and decided to see if he could kind of make a 80s pop rap song on his own, but do it organically, without AI making it for him.

The final moments of the record are pretty unimpressive as well. The song "Destined" is kind of really being that album's parting words. Where Quavo, once again, is set up for, I think, an opportunity to bring a little bit of introspection to the table, but he just kind of rejects it entirely, and says, in so many words, that I am completely unapologetic for my success, for my money, for my this, for my that, and I see all of these things as blessings, I guess from God, and I'm just going to accept them because they're being given to me for some divine reason. Amen. Which I mean, even if he does genuinely feel that way, it doesn't really lead to much food for thought or room for comment.

And look, I'm not saying QRÖMELIFE had to be that album in order to be good. Audience and state of the world be damned, I think a really fun, super catchy, wild summer jam ride from Pharrell and Quavo would have actually been a great experience musically. The problem is, they're only able to maintain that energy for so long. Quavo isn't strong enough of a songwriter or a lyricist to carry a record on his own, sadly, which he has proven to us for yet another album, even though he has Pharrell right there at his side.

And then, in addition to that, the features that were brought on to help sort of fill the record out were very hit-or-miss. And as much as I like the appearances from A$AP Rocky and Tyler on "Baby Breath," the appeal of that track, it being as weird as it is, is gonna be pretty niche.

So while, in one breath, I can really admire that Quavo and Pharrell made, vibes-wise, the record that I feel like they wanted to make on this one and didn't really care about what the weather was looking like outside when they dropped it. Still, it's pretty clear they didn't put the focus into this one that they could have, which is why I'm feeling about a light five on this thing.

Anthony Fantano. Quavo. Forever.