A Review of Offset's "FATHER OF 4"
OFFSET! WOO WOO WOO WOO! The last album in the Migos solo album trilogy is here with Offset dropping off his solo album titled “FATHER OF 4.” This album has been the album I have been most excited for because of Offset’s work on his collab project with 21 Savage and Metro Boomin, titled “Without Warning” which came out on Halloween of 2017. From “Ghostface Killers,” to “Mad Stalkers” to “Ric Flair Drip,” the number of cadences and flows used by Offset on the project really pushed me to imagine an Offset solo project. Fast forward to 2018, and Offset has become one of the biggest features in the rap game, appearing on hits like “Taste” by Tyga, and “ZEZE” by Kodak Black just to name a few. Now with Offset’s impressive single “Red Room” we get a turn from the traditional turn up Offset we are accustomed to. I’m excited to see how much Offset shows off his versatility as we look at this tracklist. On “FATHER OF 4” Offset drops off a collection of sixteen songs equating to a total of 57 minutes of music. Big Rube, J. Cole, Gunna, CeeLo Green, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Cardi B, Quavo, and Gucci Mane all appear as features on the album over the course of eight songs. Some of these features are obvious while others are unexpected, there’s no in between leading the ear to salivate over the thought of how some of these songs sound. So, without further ado, let’s get to the review!
Categories
The songs on this album divided into three lanes that are prevalent throughout the project
Melodies
“Father of 4” ft. Big Rube (1), “North Star” ft. CeeLo Green (1.5), “Don’t Lose Me” (1), “On Fleek” ft. Quavo (1)
These songs involve a large amount of autotuned Offset. These songs also have a direct message, which encourages the listener to be involved with the lyrics.
Calm Turn Up
“How Did I Get Here” ft. J. Cole (1.5), “Made Men” (1), Wild Wild West ft. Gunna (1.5), “After Dark” (1), Underrated (1), “Clout” ft. Cardi B (1.5) “Quarter Milli” ft. Gucci Mane (1), “Red Room” (1)
These songs have a particular chill vibe to them, while at the same time hyping you up with the various cadences, flows, and features.
Hype Turn Up
“Lick” (1.5) “Tats on My Face” (1.5), “Legacy” ft. Travis Scott and 21 Savage (1.5), “Came A Long Way” (1.5)
These are the true turn up songs on the album. Each song has upbeat production as well as infectious cadences and flows from Offset.
Must Listen Songs
The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that stand out for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.
“Lick”
Produced by Wavy and Dre Moon, the third song on Offset’s project starts off with a flute before the Offset starts his autotuned hook. The bass gives off the same vibe as Offset and Metro Boomin’s hit song “Ric Flair Drip.” While the hook on this song is long, it isn’t tiring because of the calm slow cadence of Offset’s delivery. Offset’s autotuned voice sounds amazing over this flute driven slow beat.
“Wild Wild West” ft. Gunna
The sixth song on this project is a calm bass-driven beat with the sound of a French horn in the background. The different basses and high-hat tempos on this beat create a beautiful backdrop for Offset and Gunna to rap on. Metro Boomin and Allen Ritter do a good job of establishing the pace of flow with this beat. Offset’s hook is a long one, however, he changes his cadence and flows throughout to keep the listener invested. Gunna slides on his verse, as he effortlessly remains on pace and vibe with the beat put forth.
“North Star” ft. CeeLo Green
The seventh song on this project once again produced by Metro Boomin and Allen Ritter is another calm beat with a brass instrument, Mexican guitar, and harmonizing which, along with the bass and high hats make a beautiful beat. Offset flows between a calm autotuned cadence and a calm rapping cadence with well-timed pauses throughout his first two verses. CeeLo Green comes in the middle of the song to take us home, increasing the overall beauty of this song. With his cadence and flow, as well as his changes from just singing to exclaiming his vocals, the value of this song is lifted. This is the most impressive song on the project.
“Legacy” ft. Travis Scott & 21 Savage
The eleventh song, produced by Southside and CuBeatz, this heavy bass-driven beat, with what sounds like altered flutes and fast-paced high hats is a simple beat that gives each artist the space they need for their unique cadences and flows. Starting off with Offset on the hook before Travis Scott’s verse where midway through the beat transitions to a dark mostly bass-driven beat that is typical with a Travis Scott verse before the original beat is brought back and Offset comes in rapping his great cadence and flow. Before the 21 Savage verse, we get a Travis Scott bridge with the same dark bass driven beat mentioned before. 21 Savage then proceeds to kill the beat on his verse before the song ends with the Offset hook. Every artist’s main strengths are on display on this song, making this song a masterpiece.
Final Review
This is a great project from Offset that lived up to the hype I had for it. One thing that stands out to me is the momentum built by the hooks he had on some songs. Usually, rappers need to have a catchy hook that repeats a catchy phrase, but on this album, Offset gave us a catchy hook by giving us an infectious flow instead. The use of the features on this project were well timed from the standpoint of which songs these featured artists belonged on as well as when they should come in the song. This is represented best by “North Star” featuring CeeLo Green, where it could have easily been a standard, Offset verse, CeeLo hook, but instead what we get is a beautiful last part of the song where CeeLo Green gets his time to show us what he can do while taking us to the next song. While it’s not always good for an artist to have a large number of songs fitting in one lane, Offset does a good job of making sure every song has its own unique sound while still allowing the project to flow with mostly the same vibe. Out of the three Migos solo projects, I enjoyed this one the most.
Scoring
Raw Score: The amount of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a +1 or above to be counted.
Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.
Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.
Raw Score: 16/16
Quality Score: 20/16
Playback Value:5/5
Go out and listen to Offset’s “FATHER OF 4” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) and Twitter (@OLDMLKDOTCOM) for updates on OLDMLK.COM: The Most Essential Hip Hop Blog, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more!
