Content Warning: This review features explicit language
Sharing his most personal experiences, Lil Durk’s newest album named after his beloved grandmother’s home address, 7220, portrays deep messages about his family and friends that he’s outlived.
The album has songs like “Shootout @ My Crib” which explains a real life home invasion he experienced, while “Love Dior Banks” reminds listeners that tomorrow isn’t promised. Durkio is by far one of the hottest rappers but this album could have done better with the beat production. The third song on the album “AHHH HA” serves as a response diss track to NBA YoungBoy, with the beat sounding the same as most of Durk’s previous tracks. Even though the verse is catchy and has a free flow, the beat is generic.
On the contrary, “Headtaps” has a variety of sounds and there are different levels to it which helps the track’s overall production. It starts off slow as Durk raps, “7220, that’s where I went through it, like my first life experience,” and continues by rapping about the disbelief of his cousin’s death and how he wishes he could have been with his kids when he was locked up. With the claps of the beat and slow guitar at certain aspects of the song when he says, “Lost my cousin that’s not okay, lost my brother that’s not okay,” it serves emotion and brings the listener to a state of mind where they feel Lil Durk’s pain.
Durkio is known for rapping about the pain he has dealt with, remembering the family and friends he has lost in the past in his work. With artists like Gunna and Future featured in the album, he has this aura of toxicity that comes into play, but it is overpowered by the hardcore beat of each track. On “Petty Too” with Future, Durk has a steady flow from start to finish and the song is upbeat and has a catchy tune. The chorus where Durk repeats “Bitch you petty, bitch I’m petty too,” goes hard but he kept it going for too long, saying the phrase too many times where he could have gone straight into the second verse. The record is an outstanding one, especially with a Future feature.
The album includes many upbeat songs and most of them deeply explain Lil Durk’s experiences he went through with his friendships, relationships and family. This album brings a different aspect to Durk and a listener will admire that. “Barbarian” and “Blocklist” are more intense songs while “Difference is” featuring Summer Walker is a song that people in a healthy relationship can relate to. Although the album could have been better with some of the sound production and lyrics, Lil Durk didn’t fail to impress.
