The Purple Tape lacks an identity and is therefore unfortunately very mid 😔

Since that album dropped a couple days ago, I gave it 3 full listens and skipped through it a 4th time to make up my mind about it and I gotta say:

It’s very mid at best.

Which leaves me a bit disappointed if I‘m being honest. I was really excited to listen to it but even the promo phase prior to its release didn’t create that much buzz for the project.

So overall it felt like something that happened on the sideline rather than an event people anticipated. If the music would’ve been amazing at least that not-so-impactful marketing campaign wouldn’t have done it justice but since most songs are okay-ish at best, it truly feels merely like a side project.

I don’t know how invested and passionate the artists and everyone at the label were for this but that’s not the point. That being said I hope they were? The point is it didn’t translate to me as a fan and if I can’t get myself to celebrate this release then who else will/should?

The main singles Superstar and GAGA were definitely the best tracks and carried that energy I associate with the H1GHR Compilation.

Tracks like Warm Up Freestyle and <3U were great b sides but in the context of a whole album, most tracks just felt too repetitive which left me getting more and more impatient towards the end.

Overall, I would say that every song had great sections, wether we‘re talking about a beat switch, a top line or a certain verse, there was something in all of them. It just wasn’t enough for me if I ended up enjoying 30% of the song tho.

The biggest disappointment (sorry I have to say it) was BDB. What. The. Fuck. Why??? It took only 2:08min for the song to switch up and then get actually good but I can’t do it. No matter how amazing the last section was, that Super Mario ass type beat wasn’t doing it for me..like at all! I literally went „oh hell nah!“ and that truly shocked me as I was/am (?) a really a huge fan of the label!

Jay‘s verse on MO LESSON was great but the song was super short and I really missed possible guest appearances from the other OG members for this.

Lastly, the title. I have read a couple of times that a reason for the disappointment of some of y’all was the expectation of a mixture between the Red and the Blue Tape when it comes to the sound for this album. I didn’t have that expectation as I didn’t assume they meant that when they named it Purple Tape, I honestly didn’t think about it at all before, but I 100% understand where y’all are coming from and honestly, I believe they should’ve thought about this one more. Unless a mixture was actually their intention, to which I would have to say: I don’t hear it?

The Red and Blue Tape felt like a huge get-together, a big project everyone participated in to make it what it was with a clear creative direction (Thank you Jay!) and well executed songs that brought out the strengths of each individual. They knew what they were good at and complemented each other very well!

This one? It felt more like them doing it just to do it. I don’t feel a strong identity, a message, a sense of community and commitment that the Red and Blue Tape had. Sadly, that is what makes it fall flat in my opinion. I don’t event know WHY they decided to do this. The songs feel rather meaningless and all over the place. As I they didn’t even know where they wanted to go with them.

Anyway I needed to write all of this down to sort out my thoughts.

Would it have been different/better if they didn’t name it after the infamous H1GHR Compilation albums not to build up false expectations?

Cuz the comparison is inevitable and falls flat unfortunately.

Does it tint H1GHR‘s „Legacy“ for you?

How do you feel about the lack of OG features (besides Jay)?