On the cover of R&B rapper 6LACK’s sophomore album East Atlanta Love Letter, the artist is standing in front of a mic while wearing a baby carrier holding his child. As he juggles his roles of artist and father, he looks solemn and anxious. It’s rare for an album cover to visually capture a project’s themes so well. After a successful debut album in 2016, 6LACK became a father and went on a tour with The Weeknd. East Atlanta Love Letter explores how fame, fatherhood, and love troubles have pushed him to reassess himself.
Drawing from a palette of moody production and minimal beats, 6LACK has created a stunning, cohesive album that conveys his trials and tribulations.
The “love letter” starts off with “Unfair,” a slow-tempo song about his issues with his partner. On the chorus, he conveys his tormented feelings through a vocal effect and sings. “I don’t wanna fight a big war, With you, but you, Gotta want the same things.” “Unfair” bleeds into “Loaded” — a Cardiak and Bizness Boi-produced track that’s layered with spacey vocals and synths. 6LACK’s sing-rap flow smoothly bounces off Cardiak’s atmospheric snare drums. The singer also echoes these themes of relationship struggles on the subtle, catchy highlights “Let Her Go” and “Sorry.”
A-List artists like Future, J. Cole, Offset, Ty Dolla $ign, and Khalid all lend their talents. The title track “East Atlanta Love Letter” has 6LACK and Future singing over a minimal beat. Future accentuates every word, serving up his best performance in the past year. Though 6LACK leans into The Weeknd’s vocal playbook, he makes sure to add his own texture and spin. Meanwhile, “Pretty Little Fears,” proves why J. Cole is one of Hip Hop’s most skilled lyricists with verses like: “You plant a seed to grow some roots, a branch and leaves, Becomes a tree of life until our nights are filled, With peace from stress and strife, And that’s the blessing that I get from wifing you.” The lead single “Switch” has the artist beautifully harmonizing with Ty Dolla $ign’s signature raspiness. And on “Summer,” 6LACK and Khalid collaborate on a warm, vibey track that plays into both of their strengths.
In addition to these masterful collaborations, 6LACK also peppers his album with spoken-word monologues from the highly creative, up-and-coming artist Tierra Whack, rapper LightSkinKeisha, and model and mother of his daughter Jaycina Almond. These outros and intros provide the female perspective on relationship issues. While Tierra Whack and LightSkinKeisha are defiant, Almond ends her monologue on “Seasons” by pondering “what might this life be like if we put our pride to the side and let love lead the way.” These moments enrich the project with a sense of balance, underscoring the sincerity of 6LACK’s efforts.
Some of the best moments of the album are when the singer experiments with communicating his stream of consciousness. “Thugger Interlude” is a hypnotic hazy song about drowning sorrows with substances and trap music. On “Nonchalant,” the artist lyrically free-associates as he packs verses with pop culture references ranging from Sisqó to Issa Rae. The album concludes with “Stan,” a stellar song that reconciles his romantic struggles with his newfound fame. 6LACK promises his mate that despite all of their problems, they will love one another like a stan loves their favorite artist. The song repurposes fervorous fan culture into something endearing and aspirational, demonstrating his ability to communicate complexity with his tranquil voice.
In an era where artists hype up projects that turn out to be nothing but half-baked playlists, 6LACK’s thoughtful embrace of the album format is refreshing. East Atlanta Love Letter is a moody masterpiece that may very well take the artist’s career to new heights.
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Def one of my fav rnb albums of the year, pretty little fears is by far the best song on the album, and the j cole feature on it is placed perfectly
Great album
This was the best album I’ve heard all year, 6LACK is so inspiring and underrated and he truly deserves to be noticed and get every bit of attention. This album without a doubt should win R&B album of the year! Thank you 6LACK
lol i wonder how much this bozo paid for this review and the comments on here
Not feeling this one as much as his last album but still great project! 5/5
Ya’ll gave this a 4.5 and Kamikaze only got a 3.9…
Whoever doing these ratings must have selective hearing.
Not saying this dude ain’t good, but cmon
Damn Stans even hating on a R and B acts to worship their rap god smh….LMAO
Kamikaze is pretty good, but its got a few really weak moments.
IMO the only “really weak moment” is Nice Guy. That should of NEVER made it onto the album. Normal grew on me some at first I didn’t like it, but I like the beat switch ups and weird flows so it’s still decent def not “Really weak moment”. Venom I wasn’t feeling at first either but it actually grew on me especially when I read the lyrics along with it. Kamikaze (especially pre beat switch up and scratching by Scram Jones) is actually for me the 2nd weakest track behind Nice Guy. Kamikaze should of been over some fire boom bap beat (Apollo Brown and Black Milk in your own hometown Em! If not them how about ALCHEMIST who you have ties to as he is/was your tour DJ for ever…Maybe Madlib, Pete Rock, Primo, Statik Selektah, Nottz, Jake One, 9th Wonder, Beatminerz, Buckwild, Q-Tip, Cardiak (did the Groundhog Day beat for him on MMLP2 bonus which I thought was dope dark gem), Mr Green, KNO, Stoupe, Exile, or someone like this……Em clearly needs to rhyme/flow over some more classic HipHiop beats. I don’t mind him killing some trap beats and different new age stuff but mix in some CLASSIC HipHop type sounding beats be it dark or funky samples.
The Ringer (fire)
Greatest (fire)
Lucky You (fire)
Normal (decent)
Stepping Stone (solid minus final singing part in final verse that went on to long)
Not Alike (fire)
Fall (fire)
Nice Guy (trash…Em needs a much better editor to make sure track like Nice Guy, Stronger then I was, Remind Me/Heat/Need Me…You take those 5 tracks off of Eminem’s last 3 albums from 2013, 2017, and 2018 and either replace them with 5 dope tracks or just make all those albums 1/1/3 songs less and they become better for sure. Ppl focus on how trash some of these songs are and I agree they certainly are horrid and then dismiss everything else on the albums. Revival def his worst album of his last 3 and actually I personally like MMLP2, Relapse Refill, Kamikaze better then BOTH Recovery and Revival…Recovery was too poppy and too much screaming/yelling but not in a dope natural way…some gems on there also but Recovery is a bottom 3 Eminem album for me with Revival & Encore)
Good Guy (Fire just wish it was longer with another great Em verse and didn’t follow the horrid Nice Guy…Em is poetic AF on here while saying some real ish about women/relationships over a dope melodic unique sample beat that is one of the best on the album imo)
Venom (decent…wasn’t feeling it at first but it’s actually a good work out track and grows on you).
Actually thought both skits were pretty funny also (Eminem was funnier on this album then any since SSEP/SSLP/MMLP days which are obv his prime along with 01, 02/03…He’s not as funny as he used to be in general but I personally loved all the tracks I said were fire).
Would say the album is 8.8-9.2 range. B+/A- range. Def not an A or A+ or A+++ but also not a C+-B either imo. Solid release if we are being unbiased. Would of been dope if KillShot was somehow on there also.
NEXT ALBUM get at least a few great vintage boom bap hiphop beats (whole album would be amazing but I won’t hold my breath…Bad Meets Evil project over that type of production with Elzhi, Black Thought, BENNY, Conway, Pharoahe Monch also featured would be ILL b-c in 2011 Eminem wasn’t rapping nearly as good as he is now. Him and Royce both iller now then 2011 imo. That was a 7/10 EP to me not as great as some ppl made it out to be, but that’s also b-c I compared it to classic 97-98 BME tracks and know how ill Royce and Em are at their best).
Similar to Miguel, 6LACK almost can’t make a bad song but more often than desired his music can be a lil bland. I actually give it a 2.5 but I’ll round up
Can’t stop pronouncing his name Six-lack
4/5 i like this album a lot the vibe is great chill relaxing and the lyrics hit hard
4.5 but Drogas Waves get 3.8 who does these reviews lol
I was in my bag the whole time and that’s all I needed. Great project. Great vibe for night time reflecting. Still plenty of room to grow, but there was cohesion and apparent improvement that I can appreciate.
Can’t pronounce his name. Dude looks like a square Imma sleep on this.
Album is weak especially in the second half with the horrible nonchalant and thugger interlude. 2.5 for me. I think the first half is pretty listenable but the second half is a trainwreck. He makes no efforts to put any emotion in his voice.
Listening to Secret Garden, with James Ingram, El Debarge, Barry white, and Al B. Sure….classic. and you give this 4.5 stars….smh
Not a dead spot on here. I wanted to give it a 4.5 but they dont have that option so 5 it is
Best album 2018 no joke