Need more from Bas.

This project failed as a follow up to his last project "Too High,Too Riot" at a very massive scale. This came at a very bad time for Bas because he seemed to be the leading front runner to carry the torch for the Dreamville camp outside of the founder and CEO J Cole. The real problem is that this project is not bad sonically or lacks creativity, it's just that he went backwards in his development.

I really enjoyed the fact that Bas is driving himself to be more artistic. Nothing is more disturbing than when commercial artists forget the fact that they are still artists. And as much as I appreciate that, I still as a commercial fan want the product to be better than the last.

Now, I must be honest and say that this is a tall trivial task that I ask of all artists but it must be met. If not, then I feel less driven and compelled to stay interested in that artist. Even with knowing that art is left to the highs and lows of subjectivity there still needs to be a consensus that the current art piece is better than the least one. In offering his rhyme poetry mosaic this time around it falls short of hitting home.

This project lacked the same level of cohesion I grew accustomed to from Bas. There were opportunities to make ties but it just did not happen. And ultimately I think this project fell victim to a stray from being in the Drake Era. A lot of rappers to compete in the commercial arts for recording are being forced to infuse their music with more R&B sounds than just sticking to murdering the microphone with bars and flows. This apparent attempt is where Bas falls short, because he has not found his voice for that.

Now by no means am I saying this to limit or stifle his future attempts, but more so proclaiming that I would have rather had Bas use mixtapes to introduce this and perfect it before he put out this project. It is clear that he has great ideas for melodies but fall short on being able to personally carry those harmonies and notes, making this project lackluster. However, the bright side is that when Bas decides he will just spazz on the beat, he shows that he still can get in his bag, which is the most encouraging thing about this project. To couple that with the fact that Bas is giving great messages in his music about the trials of trying to love, being honest about your role in making relationships work and being appreciative of all the lessons and outcomes that his relationships and trials bring, I still leave this project not as impressed as I wanted to be.

Blame expectations, possibly, or maybe I just want artists to give me their best work at that time as much as possible. And if this is Bas best, then I will be left disappointed.

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Bas "Milky Way"