On October 30th of 2020, Trippie Redd released the most controversial album of his career. Overall, Trippie’s lovesick tone, over-sampled beats, a large number of features, and an astounding 26 songs led to this album being loved by about half of its listeners and hated by the other half.
Trippie has overall continued his path away from intense rap and more into singing about his love and feelings. However, this is where his main problem comes in. Most of his features have amazing voices, such as Myiah Lynnae, who appears in both the opener song, “Let it out” and the closer “Sun God”, while Trippie’s raspy voice contradicts the light tones and melodies. With such a diverse rapper such as Trippie, problems occur with his large audience. Half of his listeners enjoy the type of music with singing, and a slower tempo, while the other half of his listeners despise his singing and prefer his rapping and fast-paced beats. In Pegasus, Trippie does a little bit of both, but instead of satisfying both audiences, it causes the people who prefer his rap to hate most of his album.
On the other hand, people who enjoy Trippie’s diversity (such as myself) have a lot to look forward to and enjoy in this album. In songs such as “Moonlight,” Trippie’s vocals over an amazing melody and beat lead to a perfect song about searching for someone to love. In addition, Chris Brown, who is featured in “Mood,” did a great job of switching back and forth rapping/singing perfectly. Other songs such as “Spaceships”, include a feature from Young Thug and “Never Change” with popular rapper Future show Trippie’s ability to slow rap and switch up his tempo to collaborate with different artists. Overall, Trippie has proven his adaptability based on who he is working with, and his many features show this.
Overall, Pegasus can be seen from two completely different perspectives. Looking at the album from a technical perspective shows only disappointment, and both Trippie Redd’s production and his flow are to blame. With random sound effects and songs that almost sound like a joke, some great songs are ruined. For example, “Weeeeee” is currently one of the most popular songs from the album, despite the ending of the song having high-pitched sound effects ruin the ending. In addition, his flow in many of the songs sounds offbeat. In general, offbeat rapping is sometimes popular and can actually result in some hit songs, such as “Kevin’s Heart” from the album KOD by J Cole. However, Trippie does this in about half of his songs, and it almost seems lazy. Songs such as “So Stressed” sound almost like hit songs, as if they have the potential, but the offbeat lazy vocals absolutely ruin its chances at being enjoyed by most of his listeners.
In addition to the songs I’ve talked about so far, there are a few questionable songs that should not have found their way onto the album. For example, the track “Pegasus” was expected to be a top song, since it has the same title as the album. This track is instead a slap to the face of all listeners. It had no flow, and the offbeat lyrics this song sounds lazy and boring. Another song similar to this is “Take One.” This song only has one interesting part where Trippie starts singing. However, the rest is just offbeat talking with no flow.
On the other hand, somebody who appreciates his diversity will enjoy most of these songs and will continue listening to these offbeat songs. The more you listen to these offbeat songs, the better the songs sound, and you enjoy these songs even more. When I first listened to this album, I was not happy that Trippie did not rap on beat, but after the second time around, it sounded even better. For example, “The Nether” is one of my favorite tracks from the album, as its production, background vocals, and lyrics add up to an amazing offbeat song.
Trippie’s album has been torn apart by the media and by most of its average listeners. This is understandable due to the many reasons stated earlier, but in my opinion, people should not be as harsh. Just because Trippie changed up his style to be more diverse does not mean the album is bad. Instead, it means that certain people will like different songs, and true Trippie fans who listen to the album more than once will enjoy it. An open mind is important when it comes to diverse artists, especially when their album is 26 songs. Overall, Pegasus felt like a mid-tier Trippie album, and Trippie Redd fans were just grateful to have more songs. Following his last album, A Love Letter to You 4, there was a lot of pressure and expectations from the fans. While he did not live up to the excitement of his last album, Pegasus was still an interesting album, with many unforgettable tracks.