2021 has been anything other than an exciting year for music. With Lil Skies announcing his new album, it sounded like this could either be the beginning of a great year of music or the start of another year of disappointing music.
Lil Skies has been an extremely shaky artist since his debut album Life of a Dark Rose. This first album was a successful debut for any young rapper. His catchy lyrics and solid melodies pushed him toward stardom. Hits such as “Red Roses” and “Lust” were played in the car, at sports games, and around school- Lil Skies was making his mark in pop culture.
With that being said, he had a lot expected from him when it came to new music. After a year, Lil Skies released his next album, “Shelby” in February 2019. Surprisingly, it seemed as if he had stayed up to par with his last hit album. With even more songs than Life of a Dark Rose, hopeful listeners were satisfied by yet another catchy album for this young artist.
From here on out is where Lil Skies began to fall off. Only releasing singles every once in a while, his hype completely died out. On top of that, it seemed he had lost his “charm” in his music. Listeners began to become bored and stopped listening to the mediocre and uninteresting songs he was putting out.
Finally, after a two-year wait, he dropped a new album, called Unbothered. Fortunately, it was a step in the right direction. His flows are catchy throughout the album, and the songs have good melodies, even though they are not quite what they used to be.
This album has multiple hit-potential songs. One song that has been stuck in my head is “Sky High”. However, this song surprisingly seems underrated. Another popular song is “Take 5”. This song has glimpses of old Lil Skies and his fast beat. There are a couple of popular songs that also show his bright future, such as “Think Deep Don’t Sink” and “Dead Broke”.
Listening to this album gave me music nostalgia and had me listening to a ton of Lil Skies songs. Going back through the years, I discovered even more good songs, and I realized how much I enjoyed Lil Skies. I continued listening and listening until I was on his first album. Overall, this new album gave me really good vibes. One thing he has to do is release music more frequently. However, this does not mean I want him to be a rapid-fire mediocre artist. If it takes him six months to release a hit song, I would rather that instead of him releasing ten unplayable songs.
Overall, Lil Skies has potential. What seemed to be a career that had lost its following has, in my eyes, been redeemed. I enjoy his songs just as much as I did three years ago, and all actual listeners would agree with me. I would rate this album a 7.5/10, far better than any recent songs he has released.