In his review of 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne’s Welcome 2 Collegrove, Slant’s Charles Lyons-Burt noted that the album’s main flaw was one “endemic to many sequels: It tries to be bigger and better but just ends up feeling lumbering and belabored.” Pinball II, the second collaborative album from Brooklyn rapper MIKE and producer Tony Seltzer, manages to sidestep that pitfall. It’s both bigger and, if not outright better, about as good as its predecessor, without sacrificing any of the breezy charm that made that album so captivating.
Pinball is one of MIKE’s most laidback albums, as well as one of his boldest, tightest, and most cohesive to date. It swaps out his usual hazy, sample-heavy loops for Seltzer’s crisp trap beats, which carry subtle touches of plugg and cloud rap. Pinball II follows suit, consisting of 17 straight-to-the-point jams, packed with sharp production and carefree flows.
The album’s lead single, “Prezzy,” opens with chopped and pitch-warped vocals, the sounds of shattering glass, and wailing sirens before abruptly shifting into a calmer groove. It’s anchored by woozy synths courtesy of Clams Casino, and a choice verse that makes reference to Shakira, Ciara, and Nelly. The same smash-cut bait-and-switch returns on “Amiri,” which pairs distorted bass jabs with a repeated mantra: “I get on every list/Cuz I’m it.”
Like Showbiz! before it, Pinball II finds MIKE baring his soul, albeit in a more playful and freer way. He references “all those clouds above me again” on “Money & Power,” how things are “moving way too fast” on “Angsty,” and how it’s hard to “see the blessings” unless they’re in 4K on “#71,” but he zips through these lines with little of the emotional weight that his shaggy-dog flow typically carries. He drops clever bars and genuinely funny lines without trying to stack layers of meaning onto every verse, and his energy is infectious as he raps over a wave of thundering 808s and roaring horns on the triumphant “Sin City.”
On “Shaq & Kobe,” Brooklyn MC Niontay likens his collaboration with MIKE to one between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Never mind that the titular duo famously hated each other; the song is serving up a metaphor for two elite talents working in sync. With that in mind, Earl Sweatshirt, whose guest spot on “Jumanji” is a standout here, makes for an even stronger Kobe to MIKE’s Shaq. These comparisons capture the spirit of Pinball II as a whole: From beginning to end, MIKE and Seltzer are in total lockstep.
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