Now co-signed by
Eminem and added to the Shady Records roster, Compton's dreary emcee
Boogie followed several years of mixtapes that established his bummed-out rap style with
Everything's for Sale, a studio debut that polishes both his melancholic expressions and technical abilities. Dark, emotional, and even somewhat self-conscious,
Boogie reflects on insecurities and general weariness over richly produced beats. Nowhere does his bright glumness come through as well as on the restlessly beautiful "Silent Ride," a beautifully loping track in which flute samples and a hooky chorus underpin the rapper's frustrated verses. The entire album maintains a similarly overcast tone, with the multi-parted interlude "Lolsmh" bemoaning relationship issues and the dreamy acoustic guitar of "Skydive" and its counterpart, "Skydive II," featuring
6lack drifting through a sad dream. Atlanta's
JID adds some of his fluid lyricism to "Soho" and
Drake-sampled vocalist
Snoh Aalegra shows up on album closer "Time," her hook adding even more emotional gravity to an already weighty album. The weakest moment of
Everything's for Sale ironically comes on the
Eminem-featuring cookie-cutter trap dirge "Rainy Days."
Boogie's rhymes are at their most basic here and
Eminem's hammy shouted verses are as overbearing and out of touch as much of his late 2010s material. Despite a couple of duds, the gloomy groove of the album is musically vivid and lyrically vulnerable. Taking cues from some of his era of rap's most boundary-pushing figures,
Boogie's debut sets the scene for even greater things to come. ~ Fred Thomas