Boogie is in good hands, being signed to Eminem's Shady Records in 2017. Boogie, being from Detroit like Eminem, has not certainly made as much noise as other Detroit artists like Big Sean or even Danny Brown, but with this first project sets a solid foundation for the future. Eminem and other artists on his label have grown this trend of only being able to have long rhyme schemes and say a lot of words, but ultimately not say much of significance. These type of rappers are called "spiritual miracle" rappers, derived from an Internet meme a while ago of a YouTuber repeating the words "spiritual miracle lyrical individual". Artists like the former group Slaughterhouse, consisting of artists like Joe Budden and Royce Da 5'9", and even some of Eminem's newer content fall into this category. But Boogie is a break from that, as his style is very laid back and sounds similar to some of Kendrick Lamar's earlier stuff, Isaiah Rashad, etc. His delivery is very mellow and easy to listen to. When he sings, it's a little bit nasaly and has a little rasp to it; he kind of sounds like Chance the Rapper. It's funny the last album I reviewed was To Pimp A Butterfly, which had some jazz instrumentation on it. A lot of the tracks on Everythings For Sale have laid-back trap beats, with minimal bass and lush instrumentation over it. But there are some jazzy elements to it, like on the "Lolsmh" interlude and some trumpet at the end of "Whose Fault" by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. And a lot like that record, there's a lot of dark subject matter on here: reflecting on his troubled relationship, how people can often stereotype him as a black artist, being criticized or teased for being emotional, and just trying to be a good dad. (Man, I need to listen to some more positive music.) I like how when he sticks with a topic, he can really go in depth about it and paint a good story. Like on the track "Whose Fault", where Boogie is arguing with an ex-girlfriend that he has a kid with. He goes into the perspective of both people and how some of their actions are a little stereotypical. Like in the verse from his perspective, he has an opportunity to see the kid at his sporting event, but he makes a sarcastic remark and tells her new man to go see him. So even though he wants to see the kid, due to spite, he's turning into the stereotype of a deadbeat dad. And the song ends with him suggesting they share the blame and just try to work through it. It's surprisingly vivid storytelling. The project isn't all positives, though. Some of the songs are barely two minutes, or two and a half minutes. I feel like extra length would give him time to go more in depth, especially on tracks like "Silent Ride" and "No Warning". The features are really hit or miss; 6LACK is one of the better new R&B artists and his delivery fits very well over the acoustic of the track. JID's verse has a good start and spits some truth, but it ended before it barely even started. And Eminem's verse on "Rainy Days" made the Internet going crazy with his line "I left my legacy hurt? F---in' absurd / Like a shepherd having sex with his sheep, f--- what you herd." I know he's not really saying he has sex with sheep, and it's a play on "herd" and "heard", but I feel like you don't have to resort to bestiality punchlines in 2019. The rest of the verse is solid, though, addressing people who apparently want him to start using drugs again, responding to getting knocked down, and concerning people who get offended by what he says. Also, his singing is not bad, but he doesn't have a wide range and his delivery is very mellow. There are a couple songs where he is mainly singing, and it can get boring. I think he should focus a little more on his rapping. But this isn't a bad place to build from. He shows some emotion, an ability to really paint these pictures, and a capacity (albeit somewhat limited) to expand his music a little bit into the R&B genre. If he finds a way to build on the good ideas he has going here, he could make a name for himself. Final score: 6
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