Monthly Archives: December 2023

“Intention” Album Review | Consummate Professionalism, Volume 5

Welcome to my music review series, Consummate Professionalism. This is Volume #5; in it, I’ll be reviewing “Intention” by Watsky. The end of an era for an amazing musical artist, this album is one that I had a lot of fun reviewing. I hope you’ll have a good time reading it!

Intention
By Watsky

Produced by Watsky, Camila Recchio, Kush Mody, et al.

Genre: Rap
Subgenre(s): Pop Rap, Rock Rap, Spoken Word
Record Type: Album

Summary

Whew. I have a lot to say about this album. Full disclosure, I have indeed heard of and listened to Watsky long before listening to this, and am quite familiar with some of his other works. Know, though, that I will be just as honest and impartial in my criticism as I would be with any other artist. Part of that means that I’ve reviewed this album as if I’d never heard of him before, and this is the first of his works that I’ve ever listened to. Keep this in mind, for it comes into play later.

“Intention” is one wild ride of an album. It’s the musical equivalent of going on a cross-country road trip with a group of your best friends since childhood. It takes you on a journey of sorts; the raw passion and emotion displayed throughout truly makes you feel like it’s become your friend in a way. Some of the songs just go hard, and you can actually feel Watsky’s passion through the speakers. It’s something that’s hard for me to express to you in words, but rather would be best understood through experiencing it yourself.

This album also contains an array of features and collaborations with other great artists. Most notably, T-pain and Rachel Zegler make bold appearances on two different tracks, an ensemble that’d be outstanding for just about any artist able to make it happen. But what makes it special is that Watsky is able to hold his own with such big names in music on the record. The cynical layperson would be led to believe that Watsky hired on more popular artists for the clout, letting them do all the heavy lifting, but the exact opposite is true. This is Watsky’s album, and he is the one that makes it as great as it is.

Another defining feature is the audio. Watsky and his producers appear to have gone through great lengths to make the songs as high-quality as possible, and it goes above and beyond in some of the ways it does this. I’ve seen chart-topping hits with instrumentals that weren’t nearly as well-polished as these songs have. From the audio panning effects to the eclectic mix of guitar, drums, and saxophone; all of its elements come together in a most remarkable way.

This record is not without its faults though, to put it lightly. The first one, surely to be the most noticeable for most listeners, is Watsky’s vocal skills, or lack thereof. I don’t want to say he’s a bad singer, but his narrow vocal range leaves a lot to be desired at times; he’s a rapper, first and foremost, and that definitely shows. If he was a little bit more careful on how he sings some of those melodies, or perhaps let someone else hop on the track in certain places, then this album would be a lot more appealing.

The second is that the album starts off strong, but then wanes quite a bit in the second half. There’s a reason for this, I think. Remember how I said that I’ve made a note to review this album as it stands, without the context of being a fan of his? That’s especially important here, because he relies way too heavily on fan service to carry the album through its faults. The first nine tracks were released as a standalone album, the second half originally only discovered through a series of puzzles on his website. That shows, because there is a stark contrast between the two. The first half is a great standalone work, worthy of a world of praise, while the second half is mostly fan service and filler. Those songs aren’t bad, per se, but most are quite forgettable, only memorable through callbacks and references that only decade-long fans of his would understand. If I were to only review the first nine songs—which I very nearly did, mind you—it would get top marks. But it’s my artistic duty to review the entire album, so as a whole, this could’ve been much better.

All in all, for all its faults, this is a solid piece of music, definitely worth a good listening to. Though it sort of dips in quality toward the end, the quality of the stronger tracks is enough to make up for it. This isn’t the type of album that you should just throw on in the background. If you can, put on some good headphones, relax, and let the music move you. That’s Watsky’s intention, after all.

Rating

Overall Rating:

69/100

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This is a good album, worthy of a healthy amount of respect and admiration. Great bars, great melodies, great features, and great production value make for a repeat-worthy album. I can’t express in words how these songs make me feel. Even if you don’t like the genre, I think it’s worth a good shot, as this is a very unique album stylistically.
Though I’ll admit, I was conflicted trying to figure out what to rate this. A good record is supposed to be more than the sum of its parts, but the opposite appears to be true. Split the album into two halves, and the first one becomes a certified hit, while the second half becomes coffee shop fodder. For a die-hard fan of his, this might be considered a masterpiece, as it appears to be intended as a swan song album, paying homage to his dedicated and steadfast fan base.This isn’t bad, but it feels like he forgot that he needs to make it a good album too.
If he’d paid more attention to that, perhaps leaving the deep cuts for a standalone mixtape, and also worked on his vocals and vocal range a bit more, I suspect this score would be somewhere in the 80s or 90s. But as a whole, this is the score I feel it deserves.

Song Quality:

8/10

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The individual tracks on this album range from “eh, it’s alright” to “this is amazing, why hasn’t this hit the charts yet?”. But the quality of the better tracks is more than enough to offset the quality of the weaker tracks. Even the more forgettable ones aren’t bad, by any means; they definitely have their place, they just don’t compare to any of the others.

Flow/Transition:

5/10

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The lyrics and the poetic meaning stays consistent and cohesive throughout, which is one of the more commendable features of this record. On the other hand, while the sound and style of the songs are pretty consistent as well, a few errant songs are placed in rather awkward spots in the track list. Most notably, this happens with the song “SO FAMOUS”; while it’s undoubtedly one of the best songs on the whole album, it’s placed in between two songs that are quite different stylistically from it. I feel like a well-placed skit or two would be good to fix this discrepancy, but alas, there are none to be found. It could be a lot worse, though, and most of the album flows smoothly except for those few tracks.

Technical Quality:

7/10

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The production quality of this album is not quickly forgotten. The audio panning and beautifully mixed and mastered instrumentals make for a powerful listening experience. The only substantial fault is Watsky’s vocals. He strains to hit the notes in higher octaves like he was intending, and it might be considered off-putting to some listeners. 

Lyrics:

9/10

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The lyrics are powerful and meaningful throughout, even in those less memorable tracks. They’re so good that they could stand alone as their own work of poetry. A heartfelt and prosaic series of carefully strung together bars makes for a great experience for those listeners that look for the deeper meanings to songs.

Bonus Scores

Tell-a-friend:

2.5/5

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This is an album that’s quite likely to come up in conversation at some point after having listened to it. The high production quality and skillfully-crafted instrumentals make this an album that you just want to vibe out with your friends to. But on the other hand, some might say it gets boring as it goes along, which might make them reluctant to present it to others.

Replay Value:

4.5/5

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This album is meant to be played on loop. I’m not the kind of person who listens to things on repeat a lot, but I’ve listened to this album probably four times since I started with this review, and some of the more memorable singles even more than that. Additionally, this is one of those things where you might not “get it” at first, but grows on you once you let it sit and you give it another shot. Every time you listen to it, it gets a little bit better, I think.

Originality:

5/5

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In terms of uniqueness, I don’t think I’ve ever heard an album that was quite like this one. I struggled to find some genres and subgenres that I could put at the head of this Volume, because there’s nothing else I can really compare it to. The way the lyrics, the melodies, and the beats are strung together makes for a really distinct piece of music.

Best Track:

AWW SHiT (#4)

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This song is a banger if I’ve ever seen one. The beat and the flow are solid, and the lyrics on top of that create a sort of synergy to make this not only the best song on the album, but one of the best new songs I’ve heard in a while. This one is a shoo-in for the Top 100, for sure.

Comparable to:

Childish Gambino, Dumbfoundead, Logic

Vibes:

Goes hard, Cult classic music

Stats

Runtime:

 00:56:16.00

Average Track Length:

 00:03:07.56

Content Warning(s):

Strong language

Number of Tracks:

18

Maturity:

14+

A late-year update post.

It has been just over 200 days since my last post. Very regrettable, though sadly not unusual for me. I always attempt to find a consistent posting schedule and stick to it, but it never works out for long. I’m in a much better mental state now, though, so hopefully this time around, I’ll be able to provide more frequent articles and posts for you all.

I actually have a lot to say, and I understand that some of you may not be here to read all of it. So I’ll split it up into sections. Click on one of the sections from the list below to skip right to it. (Or just scroll down and read the whole thing!)

Where I’ve been
What’s to come
Conclusion

Where I’ve been

This is a question I ask even myself sometimes. This time around, it has to do with my mental health. Due to some unfortunate circumstances in my personal life, I was in a horrible mental state from around the time I made my last post, to around late July; the entire summer basically. Then after that, I got a second job on top of the one I already have in order to cover more of my expenses. So I’ve been juggling the two different jobs for the past few months, only this new one is in the medical field. That’s taken a lot out of me; monitoring high schoolers one day and then taking people’s blood the next can take up a lot of mental energy, as you might imagine. I’m starting to loosen up my schedule though, so I can hopefully start working on making more content for you guys, among other things.

As I write this, I realize that it’s been a while since I’ve written a proper update post involving my personal life. A long while. I’ve privatized some for privacy reasons, but the last one that I can see that is still active was made in late 2018. I didn’t even realize that it’s been nearly as long! I think an update post is in order, one that describes everything that’s been going on in my life. Maybe I’ll write it in a book/play format to spice it up a little. Additionally, I think I might start writing update posts quarterly, if not monthly. No promises though; I tend to keep things a little more private these days, not to mention that that’s a lot to keep up with. Either way, I think it’s important to show a little bit of transparency with my readers. You can’t trust someone you know nothing about, right? That starts today, on my quarter-of-a-century birthday.

What’s to come

I’ve got a lot of stuff in the works right now. Allow me to discuss some of them now:

First, I plan to do some much-needed formatting changes/site updates. The former is particularly long overdue, as some of you have probably noticed; dead links, watermarks, font errors, etc. I also want to update my About page, as well as add some sections to the header and the main menu. I might even un-privatize some of my old posts, or at least revamp them and publish them again.

Second, I want to start posting poems and short stories again. The reason I stopped was because I wanted to save up a whole bunch of them and publish them as an anthology one day. But I don’t want money to prevent anyone from seeing my best work. Producing good literature and writing things that bring joy and evoke emotions has always been the priority. Though, there are some bigger writing projects that I have yet to announce. I’ll do so when the time is right, i.e. when I’ve gotten a foothold and have solidly committed to a single one.

Third, I want to start writing more reviews as soon as possible. The hardest part about it has been finding people’s books and albums to review in the first place, which is something I didn’t anticipate. One of my stipulations is that I have to get permission from the author or artist in question, which has complicated things a bit. I don’t want to dish out unsolicited opinions, so it’s quite necessary; but for some reason, creators have not been answering my requests, even if they usually accept feedback and criticism. There have been some plans that have fallen through, so I might try to revive those before anything else. I also take requests, if anyone reading this is wondering!

I do have one really big review planned for a more notable name in music. I normally only review works from smaller creators, but the plan has always been to include lesser-known works from more notable people as well. I’m not leaving you guys any time soon; I’m still gonna continue reviewing indie creators just as frequently, if not more! Know also that my review will be just as honest and impartial as any other.

I’m thinking of creating a name for my fans and followers. I’m thinking “the Loyal Few”, because though there aren’t a whole lot of you, you’ve remained faithful and kind! I also want to increase my social media following, because what I have so far has been so poorly neglected that it also makes me look unprofessional and amateurish.

Though I haven’t been as visible lately, I’ve remained as active and ambitious as ever. I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things and hear your feedback, which is truly valuable.

Conclusion

That’s about it for now. I have to get an early start tomorrow, so I’ll head off to bed. There might be minor grammar/formatting errors; if I find any I’ll fix them soon, and if I do, I’ll list them all below. I’m so glad to be back into the swing of things, and I thank all of you for sticking with me!

Dec. 15, 2023, 9:41 EST: Made minor punctuation changes, added some clarification to the “Where I’ve been” section. I also removed the paragraph where I talked about the notable artist in question, in order stick to my “don’t reveal the creator until the review is posted” rule of thumb.