One of the most anticipated music drops that I can assure many students at Westfield High School are excited about is Destroy Lonely’s sophomore album, LOVE LASTS FOREVER. A prevalent artist grown from the subgenre of Atlanta rage rap, the artist Destroy Lonely (Bobby Wardell Sandimanie III) mounted the trendy wave of rage rap which is very popular amongst his label. The album contains solely two features from Lil Uzi Vert and Ken Carson, two artists that have also taken similar directions with the modern genre. This album is the follow-up to his 2023 album If Looks Could Kill.
With a whopping 23 songs, the album seems bloated on paper. Although changes in production are observable, the juxtaposition is not enough to embed with Destroy Lonely’s autotuned vocalizations. Due to a wide variety of inconsistencies, from the mixing to the vocal/lyrical deliveries, the album presents the listener with a subpar project.
The album starts with the song “FOREVER,” striking first with a sample from All Saints’ single “Love Lasts Forever,” corresponding to the album title, theme, and aesthetic. The sample itself functions as a build-up to the chorus, but it feels like forever before the silence finally drops, with the chorus summarized as Destroy Lonely repeating the album theme and message through his vocalizations.
Once you’ve continued the musical journey, you encounter songs like “LOVE HURTS.” One of the seldom strong highlights on the album, besides Destroy Lonely’s basic deliveries, is his songwriting upgrades here. Lil Uzi Vert, featured on the backend of the track, utilizes his experience with emo rap lyricism, which was very prevalent in his previous work such as his 2017 hit song “XO Tour Llif3.” He effectively correlates with the song theme, where he raps, “I can have my eyes closed and I know love hurts / I can travel seven seas and I know love hurts / You wanna cry now, put down your face, diamonds have no flaws.”
After the already released single “LUV 4 YA,” the next eight songs follow the boring formula of stereotypical trap lyrics and unnatural delivery, filtered throughout complex production that increasingly gets stale the more you push through the intermission of a different song… until you reach “DOUBT IT.” A cleaner instrumental free of claustrophobic reverb with more intelligible vocals, a lyrical focus, and an overall improvement from the previous elongated drought that the listener will encounter through listening to this album. Afterward, this album does continue out with a clutter of subpar, repetitive songs, such as “CADILLAC,” “HONESTLY,” and “EXTRA HIGH.” The final song Ken Carson features, has good lyrical delivery, but poor mixing from the 808 basses disintegrated the autotune that gives trap artists such as Destroy Lonely their distinct sound. The mistake ruined the psychedelic experience for a basic heavy bass beat which strays away from the intended album concept. The album transitions through stiff methods, from sharp and sudden cuts to regular fadeaways. The inconsistency in the mixing ruins the album experience and feels more like a shuffled playlist. Ultimately, I am scoring this album a 42/100.
