When Collegrove first released in 2016—as any hip-hop fan would be (at the time)—the hype was considerably high because these rappers float within their peak, so you know more than half the songs would be bangers. They delivered, and as they return with a follow-up to it with Welcome 2 Collegrove, that expectancy stays the same; the outcome is the same, but it gets done differently. Welcome 2 Collegrove is more of a concept album that envelops itself in narrating the journey through interludes, balancing between tracks that offer little as it’s oddly constructed and lacks real presence. Though It’s an engaging ride with slick metaphors and overall verses, the quality of the production shines. It’s a prototypical rappity rap album that takes different directions that are apropos to 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne—fortunately, at least they keep it interesting with how they deliver the content. One example of this is “Crazy Thick,” but as it progresses from beginning to end, you notice there is a good album here; unfortunately, it has some fat that could get trimmed.

Welcome 2 Collegrove starts as expected—2 Chainz and Lil Wayne flexing and bolstering their dominance in rap through slick rhyme schemes and flows—from there, it starts to waver as they remain loose in content despite having scenes to steer the concept. The concept here is about creating an establishment of their duo where they talk about their lavish excess and more, all while trying to bring contrasting ideas to add dimensions. Unfortunately, it doesn’t truly let loose, and the vocal interludes set up the wave for a thematic perception you just heard and will hear after, and it becomes more of an afterthought you’d wish wasn’t there to let the music come and go with ease. I say this because these vocals regurgitate the content that is very apropos for them, especially as they flex so effervescently throughout the album; it’s unfortunate, as it isn’t as inventive as these artists have forged an identity throughout their 30+ collective years in the music industry. It feels panderish and unnecessary because it’s something that doesn’t need a concept for it to have meaning and semblance. More so, not every track within each subsection retains a connection to it, almost forgetting the focus and trying too hard to be something they are not.

Now, that isn’t a significant detriment as it’s something one can easily remove and then just listen through all 16 songs in succession with gusto, feeling every bit of confidence and swagger they imbue from the start to near the end as they balance a bunch of unique flexes and raunchiness, like on “Crazy Thick,” where Lil Wayne raps about the varying sizes he’d have sex with, pushing away the superficiality of rappers and playing coy with this notion of them not pulling out(do so depending on how you feel first hand as the album got constructed as such, I feel one should listen to it as such the first time or two.) Similarly, “P.P.A” with Fabolous plays around with the risque and provocativeness of the music getting delivered. Provocativeness breathes through Hip-Hop, and this elevates it further, allowing fans to get a grasp of what is being said. As it flows through these variations, you get sucked into what they say because of the connectivity in themes. After a while, you start to understand how it’s constructed and how it easily whiffs on it. These scenes I’ve been talking about get intercut between sequences of songs that have some relation to each other, and it starts to feel like a try-hard attempt to be different when the expectancy isn’t as high.

Welcome 2 Collegrove excels primarily from the production, which blends sounds from a varied collection that would infatuate old heads as much, if not more, than what modern twists they bring into the fray, like the trap cadences of “Crown Snatcher” from Murda Beatz and Jordan Fox. Though this example isn’t one of the strongest, compared to “Transparency,” which oozes the influence of early 2000s Hip-Hop/R&B hybrids where the focus on the crooning hook is exponentially high compared to the sobering tone the rappers flow with. In contrast to these beats, there are wide-ranging ones that build character to have some semblance of identity beyond the fray. Some notables include Havoc, Mike Dean, DJ Toomp, Bangladesh, and Mannie Fresh, bringing some fire to round out what is getting delivered to you with tracks like “Presha” (Bangladesh), “Shame” (Havoc),” or “Gayle & Oprah” (DJ Toomp), it’s an explosive remedy to keep the music bumping. It benefits them since it creates room to flesh out their thoughts and gives us the uniqueness that comes packaged here. In particular, it allows the transitions between segments or songs to feel more fluid. Though one could do without the scene-setting interludes, there is to enjoy here.

Welcome 2 Collegrove is your “ordinary” rap album that deals with and checks off much of the thematic content you get per usual, like the flexing, the contrasting sentiments between love and going ham just f***in bitches, introspections on life, etc, but when it comes to the former two, they get very creative. I’ve noted the raunchiness of the two songs, which stand out due to the quality in “PPY” and the zaniness that exhumes all levels of oomph in “Crazy Thick,” I’m left in awe of what they can accomplish. I’m a big fan of what we got, even if I had some words to say about the construction, but hey, everything isn’t perfect. I’d say do give the album a few spins, and let me know your thoughts below.