Iamsu! – Kilt 3

Where Iamsu!’s 2014 debut Sincerely Yours attempted to bridge the gap between hit-chasing and introspective rap, his second studio album, Kilt 3, reverts back to the roots of its namesake mixtape series. Which, ultimately, makes it a glorified mixtape itself. Gone are the asides about beating the odds and the underdog vibe his debut flourished in, and with them any guise of a multifaceted release. Rather than expand on his narrative, Kilt 3 feels like a premature victory lap of sorts. But that may be for the better. While Sincerely Yours tried to touch all its bases, from squad-love to self-love, Kilt 3 drops the pretense. It’s pure hit-chasing, and it’s not half bad.

The Bay Area native is a lot more prolific than you’d expect (having also released a widely slept on collaboration with aka Frank last year titled Biggie Smalls), but through this increased output comes a loss of identity. Introspective raps fit in between the 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa features on his debut because it was 2014—the J Cole’s and Logic’s were fighting for their place amongst the Future’s and Rich Homie Quan’s. So Iamsu! tried to cut a lane right down the middle. Now that it’s 2016 and the ATL takeover has been cemented and certified, his sound has, naturally, taken a few cues from the current hitmaker extraordinaires.

Thankfully, Su’s lively production and knack for melodies shine through as usual. Each beat is crafted to be a hit, with big bouncing basslines and strip-club ready claps at every turn. Although many of the records fill the same creative space, Su’s focus on his aesthetic is what elevates “Aura” from lazy braggadocious rap, makes “Dum Dum Dum” a melodic standout, and closer, “The Feel,” ride as smoothly as it does. The attention to detail is there for everything other than the rapping (just listen to the fleeting, but mood-setting ad-libs during the hook on “Phone & a Gmail”).

Su simply embraces the freedom a mixtape-cum-album brings and manages to deliver a concise, adrenaline filled effort. He’s no longer “bumpin’ College Dropout” trying to rap like his idol, Kanye West. He’s bumpin’ Future trying to replicate hits like “Magic.” His drawl on “Gucci,” is a dead giveaway. It’s a double-edged sword, but sidestepping the burden of having to forge a lasting narrative allows Su to search for hits back to back to back, covering as much topical ground as possible. And he takes full advantage of this opportunity. “Up All Night” is menacing in its urgency, “Gucci” is admittedly icy in its swagger, and “So High” is a carefully crafted stoner ballad. Su finds his groove with tracks like “So High,” where he skips past his usually verbose approach of rapping and manages to add his own imprint to the worn lane he’s chosen.

For an album that opens with a crowd chanting “Iamsu!,” the context of Su as an artist is oddly never a talking point. His knack for melody is bogged down by blatant swagger-jacking and not redeemed by the equally mundane writing. The irony of spitting “we comin up in an era where everybody generic/these niggas ain’t got no soul/their lyrics don’t got no spirit,” is lost on him. On “Aura” he claims “Frank Sinatra of this shit, I did it my way,” and it’s executed well enough on the surface, but without enough anecdotal support, it’s ultimately inconsequential. And this is a recurring theme with Su’s writing. At the end of Kilt 3, Iamsu! still feels faceless, but as long as he’s with his squad, and they’re feeling “hella good (hella good hella good),” how can we hate?