Offset- Father of 4 Album Review

Offset- Father of 4 Album Review
(By: Tommy Rodriguez)

Offset releases what is probably the best Migos solo effort…but that isn’t exactly saying much.

Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has debated and fought over what they truly find to be the best things that our great blue Earth has to offer. Monotheism vs. Polytheism. Marvel vs. DC. Waffles vs. Pancakes. Spotify vs. Apple Music. While many of these are indeed important topics, the most fiery debate of recorded human history has penetrated the minds and hearts of all within the spectrum of human communication: Who is the best Migo?

To several, the husky voice and pure rap power of Takeoff gives him the edge over the other members of the Atlanta trio. To others, Quavo’s melodic hooks and iconic look gives him the clout boost needed to announce him as the best. Further still, the last member of the trio, Offset, is considered the most versatile and capable as a solo act, proven by his ability to craft some of the memorable verses and collaborations within the past few years (Without Warning being a prime example of Offset’s great songwriting and rapping talent). Father of 4 is the long awaited solo album from Offset, following Takeoff and Quavo’s respective (and very forgettable) solo efforts: The Last Rocket and Quavo Huncho. With the release of Father of 4, Offset has aimed to peel back the layers of his personal life, including his relationship with his children and wife Cardi B; it easily has the most effort put into a Migos solo album, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a stellar listen all the way through.

Right off the bat, Offset wears his ambition on his sleeve as the album opens on its title track, “Father of 4”. Its moody keys, ethereal trap percussion, and vintage Big Rube feature paint Offset’s rise to success and fatherhood as something more than the usual Migos shtick we’ve been spoon fed since last year’s Culture II. For once, I felt like a modern Migos album sounded different enough to be palpable and stand out amongst the crowd. Offset’s subdued delivery and auto tune sound richer than usual on the first few tracks of Father of 4, whether it be over the exotic flutework on “Lick” or the rags to riches biography of “How Did I Get Here” (featuring a solid J. Cole verse). While Offset didn’t exactly bring some truly fiery passion in his volume on these couple of tracks, he makes up for it with some solid hooks, flows, and writing that passed the stale standard of Migos’ simple trap flexing. The album had me hooked line and sinker to see where the desperately needed ambition would take me, but as soon as Offset sets off, Father of 4 falls off.

And it falls hard.

There admittedly isn’t much wrong with the rest of Father of 4 (beside its incredibly corny cover art); it’s a fully listenable trap record produced by some of the biggest talents in the game, ala Metro Boomin and Southside. The beats are normally nocturnal, bass heavy, and skeletal with a few lavish helpings of beautiful strings (like on the simultaneously pretty and eerily constructed “After Dark”), and they get the ball rolling well enough. Barely any of the beats truly stand out as excellent, however, and when they do stand out as such they often get mismatched with some corny writing or a completely miscast CeeLo Green on “North Star”. The sliding, shifty synths on “Wild Wild West” are a nostalgiac reminder of some of the darkee beats found on the first Culture album, but despite a decent hook from Offset, the track offers nothing but terrible punchlines being spouted by Gunna on one of his worst features period.

“Gunna worldwide, I be drippin’ hot sauce, I done put my balls in the hole like golf”

~ Our Lord and Savior, Gunna

Speaking of further features, the rest of the album is a mixed bag: Travis Scott and 21 Savage are okay on the utterly forgettable “Legacy”, Quavo is just there in “On Fleek”, Cardi B does a decent job on “Clout”, and Gucci Mane saves the back end of the album with his East Atlanta energized verse on “Quarter Milli”.

The main crutch on which all of these songs lean on is the Main Migo himself; for all the mixed bags of features and somewhat decent beats, Offset’s personal stories and usually frantic performance dexterity could turn Father of 4 into something salvageable. Unfortunately, Offset seemingly associated more introspective writing with sounding completely dead on the mic. Tracks like “Don’t Lose Me”, while startlingly emotional and revealing for the Atlanta trapper as an apology to his wife, doesn’t have any impact because of its basic flows and zombified delivery. It’s a complete slog to get through, and makes a perfect case that good lyrics about racism and rising to the top do not equate a good song. “Tats on My Face” and “Made Man” are just two more fish in the ever growing school of indistinguishable Migos flexes, and even after multiple relistens I cannot remember a single moment from “Underrated”. Offset isn’t exactly deep when he brings up his success, but usually makes a track succeed simply based off his crazy triplet flows and good rhyme schemes. Offset never hits the accelerator on his vocals, however; he just cruises in a mid tempo slog that gets boring without a great beat or good feature. “Red Room” brings back the good beats and detail that the first few tracks had, but it’s too little, too late; most of the album was spent in a haze of little errors that just added up over time.

Again, Father of 4 isn’t bad. It’s actually a listenable effort, and had much more heart behind its creation than other Migos solo projects. But heart and more personal lyrics can only get you so far when you don’t have the great beats, performances, or features to back it up. As it is, Father of 4 is just…okay.

5.5/10

Tracks to Save: “Father of 4”, “How Did I Get Here”, “Lick”, “Red Room”, “Quarter Milli”

Tracks to Skip: “Tats on My Face”, “Wild Wild West”, “Legacy”, “On Fleek”, “Underrated”

What did you think about this album? Great, or absolutely terrible? What about my review? Any comments or criticism? How are YOU? Say what’s on your mind in the comments below!