Duke Deuce's 'Duke Nukem' - From Satisfying Destruction to a Mind-Numbing End

Stream Duke Deuce's Hard-Stomping New Crunk Revival Album Duke Nukem 

 At first, a thunderous blood rush through bombastic beats and Duke Deuce's explosive energy, 'Duke Nukem' cripples into inconsistency where its downfalls stimulate symptoms of a caffeine crash.

"INTRO: COMING OUR HARD" is a fitting track name, as an exhilarated Duke Deuce delivers a catchy hook and an earworm of his 'What The Fuck? Ay Ay" catchphrase over a punchy bassline. "SOLDIER STEPPIN" is a solid crunk anthem that follows. Duke Deuce is entertainingly more explosive as the production is fiercely trap-flavoured. Deuce continues his explosiveness in the roof-raising 'FELL UP IN THE CLUB' where he sprinkles a flavourful machine gun ad-lib and a decent guest appearance from A$AP Ferg.

Following the satisfactory 'ARMY' and the Offset featured 'GANGSTA PARTY', 'Duke Nukem' does begin to lose its momentum at 'TOOT TOOT', where Duke Deuce's hook is quite obnoxious. In "SPIN", poor choruses continue as the chorus performed by Foogiano drags on. After finding a slight recovery on 'DUKE SKYWALKER', Duke Deuce recalls Duke Nukem's quality start in 'BACK 2 BACK.' A favourably braggadocious Duke Deuce corresponds with a murky trap production as he delivers the album's most humourous hook, especially with the line 'Like Batman, I'm robbin back ( I robbed him back).' Fine reference.

Following a barely passable 'BUSY', where Lil Keed seemingly attempts a Young Thug impression, and a mediocre 'KIRK', Duke Nukem reaches its worst at both 'MOVE' and 'GRRR.' In both songs, the ad-libs was unnecessarily excessive where it just provoked headaches. 'OUTRO: GO 2 HELL' is a satisfactory conclusion to 'Duke Nukem' as Duke Deuce croons his brags while preaching of having a fitting circle of friends and perseverance to a tad extent.

While there is almost no limit to Duke Deuce's charismatic energy throughout 'Duke Nukem', some questionable decisions in features and lyricism, especially in the album's second half, hindered enjoyment. Hopefully, that improves in the Memphis rapper's next project.

5/10 

Favourite Tracks: FELL UP IN THE CLUB, BACK 2 BACK, SOLDIER STEPPIN, INTRO: COMING OUT HARD

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DJ Khaled - Khaled Khaled

Image
  It is a decent start for DJ Khaled's new album, 'Khaled Khaled', with 'THANKFUL.' Jeremih and Lil Wayne are satisfactory in their performances over inspiring horns, guitar riffs and with a blissful choir. However, 'THANKFUL' is too long with its 5 minutes and 38 seconds runtime. In 'EVERY CHANCE I GET', both Lil Durk and Lil Baby deliver satisfying, braggadocious verses over Tay Keith's nocturnal trap instrumental. Unfortunately, the track's hook, delivered by Lil Baby, is underwhelmingly drab. Another poor hook appears in 'BIG PAPER'. Cardi B is frustratingly off-beat as she phones in the hook. Fortunately, the album does somewhat immediately recover with 'WE GOING CRAZY'. The parade of horns within the track's instrumental is enjoyable, likewise for Migos' triplet flow verse. Additionally, H.E.R's vocal performance here is satisfactory. In 'I DID IT,' the sampling of the guitar riff from Derek and The D
Read more

Fred Again... - Actual Life (April 14 - December 17 2020)

Image
  'Fred Again...', the British producer, has crafted the instrumentals of some of the highlights of Stormzy's 'Heavy is the Head' album, such as 'Own It' and 'Pop Boy.' Additionally, he has worked with the likes of Headie One, notably through the collaborative mixtape, 'Gang,' and Ed Sheeran. So, how does Fred deliver here with this solo debut effort? After the short and sweet opener 'April 14th 2020,' Fred delivers the pleasant love ballad with 'Kyle (I Found You)'. Interestingly, FRED samples the spoken word poem 'Love in the Time of Undeath' by Kyle Tran Myhre. A fruitful practice, as the sample corresponds well with the track's satisfyingly euphoric production. In 'Dermot (See Yourself in My Eyes)', the revving percussion, broken piano pattern and the sampling of Dermot Kennedy's 'Lost' is a sonically compelling combination. Following the relaxing 'Yasminah (See Your Face Again)' and
Read more

J.Cole - The Off-Season

Image
  'The Off-Season', the sixth studio album from J.Cole, begins decently with the opening '95. South.' Over a serviceable instrumental, sampling Jay-z's 'U Don't Know,' J.Cole is humorously braggadocious. Anyone that tries to 'fuck with Cole' would be 'impeding on their health', as the North Carolina rapper 'could put an M right' on their heads, making them feel like 'Luigi.' Furthermore, the sampling of Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz' 'Put Yo Hood Up' in the track's outro is a hyping force. After the short and satisfactory track in 'Amari', J.Cole calls upon 21 Savage and Morray to deliver a sonically pleasant beam of perseverance in 'my. life.' Over a soulful vocal sampled instrumental, J.Cole is satisfyingly intense and passionate in his flow as he is 'spiralling up like a rich person's staircase,' rising from a family tree with a 'history of users that struggle with demons
Read more