They say a rapper spends their entire life writing their first album and even though Toronto’s Tory Lanez’ has released 15 mixtapes and one EP since 2009, his official studio debut I Told You is clearly his life’s work. There was a time not too long ago when Daystar Peterson was really good at being a rapper except for the actual “rap” part. Shooting countless videos for every song, campaigning his way onto every music blog on the Internet, passing out mixtapes in Toronto malls, performing at the smallest venues and basically completing any other hustle that would help promote his music was what Tory was all about. However, the music he was promoting was never strong enough to set his career ablaze. Seven years since his emergence and the hustle has stayed the same but the music has only gotten marginally better.
I Told You serves as Lanez’ autobiography but more so as a big “F YOU” to those who maybe turned down taking his CD in the mall a half of dozen years ago. The title itself proves that he’s been aiming for this level of success since the day he decided he was going to rap. The intro skit’s opening line — “My name is Daystar Peterson and one day I’m gonna be the biggest artist in the world” — just might have caused a shoulder dislocation with such an enormous reach, but according to Lanez, this is the destiny he deserves.
When listening to this mega-28 song origin story, listeners (even already fans) will find it hard to stomach all the stops and starts. There is essentially a plot advancing skit every other song and by the 10th track, you’re unsure how much more of the saga you need to hear. Removing the 14 skits and playing through it that way would have drastically change the listening experience as there is some quality music to engage.
The Brownstone-redux “Say It”, Summer ’16 smash and panty-soaking “LUV” and “Flex” are all previously released singles have done well on their own and also bode well on an otherwise unoriginal concept album. There isn’t much on here that sets Tory apart from a lot of other artists making waves in today’s game. For instance, “4am Flex” takes a giant bite out of Kendrick Lamar’s “The Art of Peer Pressure” as the detailing about a home invasion gone wrong almost verbatim. He has even managed to adopt the increasingly popular rap/sing Drakkardnoir flow on a handful of cuts, basically resulting in moody beats with Tory’s raspy adlibs. The recurring producers on this album like Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat and Play Picasso get top marks for crafting engagingly contemporary beats but unfortunately Tory doesn’t do much with them.
Ironically enough, I Told You doesn’t actually tell us much other than that Tory is really proud to be famous. He sounds torn between a street dude from the States, a humble guy from Canada and some kid from the middle of nowhere with immeasurable aspirations to be a popular rapper. His sound is stretched way too thin and even though he gets a little wood on the ball with some of the bigger singles, the remaining two dozen songs on here are strikeouts.
Nah fam, this album solid at least a 3.8/5!
Ya nigz crazy.. Gave manz a 4
Without thE skits.. For it to be his production and his writing. Ill give it a 4. Its good music.
I love DX, visit the site multiple times a day. This review sounds like a “OVO” D**k Rider. This is definitely one of the best albums of 2016. I respectfully disagree with the clown who wrote this article!!!!
You can’t say you can’t say you respectfully disagree and call the person a clown in the same sentence lol you sound like Donald Trump. Just sayin.
Sounds like Donald trump wrote this review!!!!!
Gonna disagree this album is solid you guys are buggin
Whoa, ive been waiting on DX to review this one. Y’all really let me down. This album is definitely a 4 outta 5 bruh!. The skits and sequencing give it a hiphop movie soundtrack feel. Yall bugging. It’s missing some stuff, that classic hip-hop anthem, but it goes, and it goes to his come up theme. And you ain’t heard production and theme like dis in a while bruh. St8 tripping, and i ain’t even a tory fan like that, I’m just getting hip.
The album is straight fire. Solid and amazing job for the first album…
I’d like a version without skits as well, and they’re a bit too much, 2 less would’ve been better. but some still belong in there, they add up to the tracks well, and give it a movie like and autobiographic like feel.
every song is pure quality, from production, to lyrics, to singing and rapping, the only thing i missed out on is a song that matched up ‘Diego’. Hoped for some Rap but R&B has definitely taken over the album. That’s why I’d say atleast a 3.8 from a critic side. a 4 from a fan.
“street dude from the States, a humble guy from Canada and some kid from the middle of nowhere with immeasurable aspirations to be a popular rapper. His sound is stretched way too thin and even though he gets a little wood on the ball with some of the bigger singles, the remaining two dozen songs on here are strikeouts.”
–Drake?
Solid album 2.8 like somebody needs o put on shookones and sleep.
Drake didn’t need Frank Ocean to drop the same day, this L was earned all by itself.
had no idea he was a rapper
Fuck skits and talking on records shit played out …just rap
What’s dumb about this review is most people have phones that allow you to delete the skits. You judged and album off of the fact that it has skits and that’s the dumbest shit ever. I swear I’m going back to rapradar and allhiphop
But that’s the version that was put out so it that would be “dumb” not to judge that in the review…
You guys love Drake THIS much????? That you kill an albums potenrial based on skits? Lmao wow
The thing literally has 14 skits. The album has 28 songs and half of them are skits, it’s literally comprised of 50% skits. So yes, it is absolutely fair to bash this album on its skits. It’s the talking head of albums, it’s lazy.
Settle down, they gave Views pretty much the same rating, and they tore him apart in the review. Both albums are wack.
Desiigner’s New English scored 3.2 according to DX… I’m just gonna leave it here
This shit bump
Over hyped Torey still over you
This was a hating ass article. Strictly opinionated, no substance whatsoever. You guys are atleast consistent on getting worse on every review thats not a Drake album. Views was Drakes worst album by the way.
What did Views get rated again?
Better than this.. which is absolutely not true lol.
I don’t get it. We hate Drake albums, and Tory makes a similar sounding album. Considering the editor is from Toronto, I’m co-signing the review. I’m disappointed in Tory, I wanted to hear more song like his “Godfather” song. Instead I was left with an album from an artist that shows room for improvement. Feel free to review me one day:
soundcloud.com/dre-rich/dre-rich-even-kings-dreams
Tory Lanez is a ho nigga but Drake is still his bottom boy.
Who writes this shit???
I liked it to dream and question is are two of the best hip-hop tracks I’ve heard in a while but the gangsta persona coming from the safest city in North America isn’t believable to me 4/5
This review is laughable. The album was better conceptually and sonically than the majority of the albums released in 2016.
“I Told You doesn’t actually tell us much other than that Tory is really proud to be famous. He sounds torn between a street dude from the States, a humble guy from Canada and some kid from the middle of nowhere with immeasurable aspirations to be a popular rapper.”
This is so far from the truth that I question how you’ve been given the responsibility of reviewing an album. It honestly sounds like you just don’t like who you think Tory Lanez is and didn’t give the music a chance. What I find ironic is how its .1 less than this sites rating for Views. Probably a subtle shot at Tory but whether you like/dislike Drake OR Tory, I Told You was hands down a superior album in every aspect.
album is actually a great pice of work for his first. he did not use any features which most artist do to boost their ratings.
piece*
I never had listened to any of his projects so this was my first, the first thing that actually impressed me was the skits… the songs felt connected and it was like i was watching a movie not just listening to some random songs thrown together called an album. No matter how good the music is, an album needs skits and interludes to feel alive, this guy was just painting a picture and telling his life story, of course he could just tell it through rapping and singing but this one is way more creative and nice. GKMC had a skit at the ending of each song and yall praised the hell out of it. Btw i dont even like trap and autotune singing, but this guy, his album and the effort he put into it deserves a lot more than this, maybe it just went over your heads lol… yall aint reviewers, yall just ride the wave, i bet you dipshits will review Frank Oceans’s Blond and give it at least a 4…
There’s a huge difference between being seamless transitions & skits. I’m a Tory fan & I was pissed that there were so many skits. The music also didn’t match most of the skits. He tried to tell his life story through the skits but basically gave us mostly records about bitches & bullshit. Good music…horribly crafted album from an artist that can & has done better.
Completely agree with the review. Tory Lanez does not bring anything new to the table. In the album he bites Kendrick’s and Drake’s flow and his lyrics are average.
I don’t know why people give him this much attention.
this review is terrible, not insightful at all…obvious that the writer not a tory fan but fuck of be a journalist that’s what you call yourself right
how can we take dx seriously anymore 3.9 for a rae sremmurd album wtf. 21 savage 3.7 and roy woods 3.6 gtfo with that nonsense
Tory Lanez 2.8 hmmmmm something doesn’t add up here. none of those are even close to what tory did here. mr Scott where can i get that good kush cause you must be on something epic fail dx . This album is def a 3.5 to a 4. not a 2.8 . The skits are there to tell a story which he did that. Also not like the quality of music is lacking due to skits. still 14 tracks on disc 1. seriously dx get your crap together yall are better then this
21 21 21 !
A solid album loaded with hit records and a timeless theme of the human struggle. This is a poorly worded, amateurish review from a one time respectable hip-hop website that has apparently resorted to Drake stanning. How do these idiots get hired to do reviews in the first place?
What human struggle? Do your research. Tory Lanez is as privileged as Drake. Both them boys come from money. Let HipHopDX pick up my story if you want that real. Bar for bar I shouldn’t be here:
soundcloud.com/dre-rich/dre-rich-even-kings-dreams
What human struggle? Do your research. Tory Lanez is as privileged as Drake. Both them boys come from money. Let HipHopDX pick up my story if you want that real. Bar for bar I shouldn’t be here: soundcloud.com/dre-rich/dre-rich-even-kings-dream
The the kits weren’t even that bad. SEPARATE TRACKS. remove the skits from your queue and stfu. Yall just Drakes nut guzzlers.
HHDX = Drake STANS !!!!!!!!
Not even close to reality…the album is great and Fargo is a music genius. I would like a new “Diego” type song into but the album is still fyah!!!!
Fuck outta my face.. Not that i care what you think about some music projects, your ratings affect his sales. And he deserves way better than 2.8. The songs are really good, some of them go hard AF, and just ‘All the girls’ is trash to me. This album tells a story and is well connected. The only problem i have with this album is that he used a little too much autotune and that’s sad, because he can sing wayyy fucking better than drake etc. Go listen to Views and jerk off. This album is amazing. 4/5
Actually Tory said the streaming companies like Spotify broke up the album with skits to get more streams. His album only had 14 songs.
their entire life writing their first album..” This statement is deep on so many levels. Check me out: soundcloud.com/Dre-Rich/LikeMe …. Tell me what y’all think
You rap on beat or the vocals synced right
You CANT rap on beat or the vocals AREN’T synced right
You gotta be intoxcated then it’ll start making sense. When you’re twisted and hanging on to every word, it’s gonna trip you out the rhythm is off. You pay attention to different rhythms when you’re twisted. I wanted that EDM effect a little.
They must’ve told him a million times
“Campaigning his way onto every music blog on the Internet..”- so that’s how it works HipHopDX, check me out: soundcloud.com/Dre-Rich/LikeMe
Tbh, this review sounds on point but I didnt even listen to the project. When i asked people about it tho, this article sounds like everything they said that they heard & everything I assumed the album would be. He’s trying to do what kendrick, drake & j. Cole are doing but he has already added himself to the list of artists that wont last long by switching his style from when he was only rapping. As a fan of T-Lanez, its very hard to transition to Tory Lanez when we’ve already had so many artists use that exact style & those same flows to make it in the industry. He cant be the best rapper if all 2 of his hit singles are r&b tracks…..
He is not a rapper hes a Music Artist
The people defending him must be tone Def I’m from Toronto and don’t like this guys his music sucks and is boring and his rap skill are hardly mediocre. anybody defend him on this comment section Should listen to Bryson Tiller because he kills this guy. regardless of the that Drake gets he’s way better than Tory Lanez, he can say what he wants he’ll never ever achieve Drake’s status. That style will die out by the time Drake falls off.
So Drake makes marginal music. And Tory makes a crappy wannabe Drake album. Sooo….. this is straight trash can music. The only fire it lights is in the damn dumpster. 1 star.
I am fan of both Drake and Tory Lanez, but I think ‘I Told You’ deserves better than a 2.8/5, sometimes people can be really quick to judge.
I actually agree with the review. It didn’t flow right. It took to long to get into a groove and a few songs I did like kept being interrupted….just not the greatest practice to have that type of of flow on your debut album and, the skits weren’t all that either. I’m still checking for the kid but I didn’t luv this one that much.
I’d give it a 3.5, but there is no mid rating. The album is decent. Definitely listening to a few tracks over and over, which tells me that its good for listening. I would a agree, too many skits. I’m about to delete all those tracks. I have to agree, he sounds like a handful of people in the game (Drake of course, Bryson, Kendrick, Trigga). But other than that, I don’t mind listening every now and then.
This Is The Perfect Review!!!
U have to get the real album or on itune…the skits arent actually indivdually tracked out there at the end of the songs. He tell a story…and sonically its sounds dope he actually raps and sings well
So bad. Auto-Tuning ZERO emotion. He can keep this weed plate.
This writer clearly didn’t listen to the actual music. The album was solid af to me. If you don’t like the skits, you can literally delete them, so I don’t see the issue. The production was good, the sequencing flowed nicely and Tory is talented, he can actually sing well and rap his ass off. The only negative I have with the album is that there are moments where he sounds like other people (Fetty Wap, Travis Scott, Chris Brown, the Weeknd and that one verse that sounds like Kendrick) but Tory is a talented songwriter who does write songs and shop them around, it would make sense that he sounds a bit like other ppl he may have written the song for in the first place. So I can take a point for that factor but the music itself sounds good and deserves a much better rating than this. The album is a solid 3.5-4 if you ask me.
Yeah, I think – wait, his name is Daystar?
For the drake stans and those who like to chew Aubrey dick this album was way better then Views and displayed Tory skills as an Artist.Tory skits were dope and songs went hard.
Very true. This album is less shitty than Views. Both shitty tho.
Ride Tory dick fuck boy.. Tory lames
This guys name is Daystar…a built in rap name….and decides to have the same name as a posrnstar (almost). His music is ALWAYS boring. Boy needa give it up.
? ? ?
This review is savage, mostly agree but the album it’s not trash. Thought skits were cool , Helped the narrative. Good album. It’s basically a big FU to all his haters. Sure people could relate. Not sure it needed whole album.
Terribly biased review. The actual songs are dope.
Fuck this nigga. Didn’t even read the review. Fuck this nigga
Wish there was a version without the skits but the music is ???
Good album
Ha…I knew this nigga was garbage.
Well, he sounds more like Trey Songz than Drake, afterall. Not a fan of spreading hate but he doesn’t bring anything new to the game.
this album isnt bad,
This album is a testament to the evolution of Tory lanez artistry and progression. Believe it or not but he ‘told you so’ that one day he would move from obscure rapper who’s name you kept passing up on blogs to a ‘shitty’ review on hiphop dx which still doesnt in the least take away from his sizzling run of 2016. i will say however that this album is like walking into an interesting conversation midway, those who followed his career from jump would understand more the direction of this offering.
Its a very entertaining debut with interesting hooks and melodic beats but there are many problems with this album, Too many skits not everything needs a skit some things are better without. Also some songs end up sounding like Drake music like LUV. but overall its a really good album and I’m excited to see where he goes next with his next release.
I agree with the skit part, too many of them and not all are needed but I disagree with the music side of it. I thought this offering was pretty solid.
This dude isn’t tryna be Drake, and if you actually listened to the album, you’d know he doesn’t sound like drake either. This album was dope
Dont ever review anan RnB album again. This album is a solid 4. Tory is unique and brings in sumthing fresh to the scene