Migos Bring the Hype With Culture II

The Georgia-made rap trio, Migos, has returned and they brought back their standard, hype-inducing sound to their third major album.

Culture II is the sequel to their sophomore LP, Culture, which has been teased since 2017 with singles such as Motorsport and Stir Fry dropping toward the end of the year. Migos has seen a spike in their popularity with Quavo featuring on hit pop songs, Donald Glover shouting out the group at the Golden Globes and Offset’s engagement to rapper Cardi B,

Even with these pop sensibilities, fans eagerly awaited the Jan. 26 release date. When the album finally dropped at midnight, many people stayed up to mow through the 24-song hulk of an album.

Fans usually know what to expect from a Migos album: blaring 808s, perpetual energy and countless references to their jewelry.

Those elements are all there and heavily get their due alongside a new sound showing a growth in the pack.

A prime example of this growth is the DJ Durel and Quavo produced Narcos. Sampling Espoir by Les Difficiles de Pétion Ville, Migos delivers their most complete performance on the album.

Drawing clear inspiration from the Netflix hit and namesake, Narcos, the trio create a beautiful piece of transitional art—mixing both elements of their past selves’ tendency for bass-infused rhythm while looking into the future with melodic undertones.

The song represents the album as a whole—energy-filled beats and melodies from Quavo (who is getting comfortable in the producer’s chair), Offset showing off complimentary choruses and verses that leave listeners with neck pains from its head-bopping hooks and Takeoff delivering as the top lyricist and performer in the group.

If three is company, then this ring of producers, writers and features is a full-out block party.

Showcasing the mastery of the Migos collaboration skills, BBO featuring 21 Savage, Walk It Talk It featuring Drake, CC featuring Gucci Mane and White Sands featuring Big Sean, Travis Scott and Ty Dolla $ign highlight that Migos garners the respect of the entire spectrum of the rap game.

This is seen further in their illustrious list of producers, which reads like a rolodex of the best in the business. The likes of Kanye West, Metro Boomin, Pharrell Williams, Zaytoven and many others offer their hand in the album’s production.

For as long as the collaborators list is, the only length that is a problem is the amount of songs (24). In comparison, Culture only had 13 songs—nearly half of its successor.

Migos could have benefited from trimming out the fat of filler songs like they successfully did on Culture.

Even with its faults, Culture II is a wonderful answer to the question of whether Migos can produce another smash hit of an album. That answer being, yes.

Culture II isn’t the college sociology course that Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. is. It’s the nightly weekend drive with friends on the way to a party.

I wouldn’t want Migos any other way.