In July of 2020, rapper Logic announced he'd be retiring from music with the release of his sixth album, No Pressure. The record was one of his more fully formed statements, and it was a commercial success as well, debuting at number two on the Billboard charts. Less than a year after retiring (and not including various spin-off projects and music made in that time under different aliases), Logic announced his return to music and began releasing new singles. Bobby Tarantino III is his seventh mixtape, and the third and final installment of his ongoing Bobby Tarantino series. The previously released single "Vaccine" is an exciting rush of fast rapping, a sinister chorus, and a spacy, synth-heavy beat. Jazzy trap track "Inside" is another invigorating moment on BT3, with Logic delivering lyrics about anxiety and insecurity about how his music is received, the song bolstered by a gorgeous sung chorus from Cynthia Erivo, the tape's only featured guest. Many of the 12 tracks take slightly different approaches, to varying degrees of success. Both the throwback beat and hooky bass line of "Theme for the People" and the upbeat, sample-driven "God Might Judge" are energetic standout tracks. Forays into pop are less interesting, like the plodding "Get Up" or '90s-tinged "Call Me." Songs like these and several others on BT3 take a while to get started and add to the overall disjointed flow of the project. Where No Pressure felt like a fitting note for Logic to go out on, Bobby Tarantino III feels a lot less like an enthusiastic comeback, and more like a few tracks that gathered in the interim between the retirement announcement and the coming-out-of-retirement announcement.
© Fred Thomas /TiVo