Album Review: Logic - Everybody

This week I asked my wife to pick the album and she chose Everybody, the third album by US rapper and singer Logic, which was released in 2017 and increased his popularity around the world. I was already becoming a fan of Logic before the release of this album but as each single from it was released I became even more of a fan and then the full album cemented it all for me and I continue to love everything from him. Everybody was a turning point for Logic in terms of chart success throughout the world, it peaked at number 20 in the UK becoming his first top 40 album, he has since charted another two albums and one mixtape within the UK top 20. In the US Everybody became Logic's third top 5 album and first number 1 confirming him as a big hip-hop star over there, he has since gained another three top 2 entries with two of them going to number 1. In Australia Everybody became Logic's first top 40 album peaking at number 25 with another three to follow, two of which went top 10. In Canada it became his third top 10 but first top 5 peaking at number 4, another three top 5's have followed with one number 1 being among them. Everybody was Logic's first of four top 20's in New Zealand and first charting album in Sweden he has now had four top 40's there. Everybody spawned one hit single, 1-800-273-8255 featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid, it went top 10 in six countries and top 20 in one other, peaking at number 9 in the UK, number 3 in the US and number 5 in Australia.

Something that sets Logic apart from a lot of other rappers is that he has very frank and honest lyrics, plus he doesn't use auto tune where a lot of others use it and make themselves sound like a robot. This album is no exception to those points as Logic goes into his lineage in a lot of detail here, with him having a white mother and an African-American father but he is white and his siblings are black, he identifies as mixed race and has suffered a lot of abuse for it. He also covers aspects of his upbringing like his father being absent when he was young and being a drug addict, his mother being an alcoholic and a racist, plus his brothers producing and selling drugs. This album also run a bit like a story with the added dialogue between the characters of God and Atom between some songs giving another overall view of the world. Everybody contains several collaborations as is the case with the majority of American rappers, the collaborating artist include fellow rappers Juicy J, Killer Mike, J Cole, Black Thought, Chuck D, BIG LENBO and No I.D., singers Alessia Cara, Khalid and Lucy Rose and actors Ansel Elgort and Damian Lemar Hudson. Plus astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson voicing God and radio personality Big Von voicing Atom. All of these collaborators bring something different and mix with Logic's style really well while also providing their own style making every son on the album different.
My favourite song on the Everybody is 1-800-273-8255 featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid, this is such a powerful song and it is easy to see why it got so popular. Firstly the song title, it is the phone number for the American National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL), this tells you what the song is about immediately however it is the way it is done that makes it so powerful. The song opens with Logic singing a pre-chorus and chorus from the point of view of someone calling the hotline and saying they want to die, Logic then raps a verse explaining why he feels this way with no one caring about him. Next Logic flips the chorus and it becomes the response from the operator saying I want you to be alive, Alessia Cara then has a verse essentially convincing the caller why they should stay alive, then Logic continuing as the operator flips his earlier verse saying they care. We then have Logic back as the caller singing the chorus as wanting to be alive, Khalid the finishes with a verse as how the caller feels now finishing with 'I don't even wanna die anymore'. The layout of the song really makes the lyrics stand out and hit hard with each artist putting everything into it giving so much emotion, the style of the song is also a brilliant blend of each artist styles playing to the strengths of each one and blending to keep the solid feel of the same song. Adding to this, I watched a live performance of this and it was even more powerful then because you could see the emotions as they were singing in a way you can't in a music video. Everything about this song works incredibly and gets the message across perfectly, meaning it does two jobs in one.
Honourable mentions for this album go to Confess featuring Killer Mike and Black SpiderMan featuring Damian Lemar Hudson. Firstly Confess, this song has a great flow with Logic bringing his rapid style rapping which fit perfectly with the faster tempo of the song and the hard hitting lyrics that are a confession of sorts taking on the perspective of a man from the streets who isn't a good guy but is better than some others. The song closes with a monologue from Killer Mike which is almost a prayer to God asking him to help, this fits really well with the overall concept of the album. Then there is Black SpiderMan which is very much a celebration of Logic's identity, he raps at a more leisurely pace over a fairly chilled and upbeat melody with Damian's soulful vocals taking a backseat during the middle of the song but taking centre stage towards the end. The song contains celebrations of Logic's black and white heritage and his thoughts on equality plus related aspects.

Now for my ratings of each song;

1. Hallelujah ft Neil deGrasse Tyson & Big Von - 8/10
2. Everybody - 8/10
3. Confess ft Killer Mike - 8.5/10
4. Killing Spree ft Ansel Elgort - 8/10
5. Take It Back - 8.5/10
6. America ft Black Thought, Chuck D, BIG LENBO & No I.D. - 8/10
7. Ink Blot ft Juicy J - 7.5/10
8. Mos Definitely - 8/10
9. Waiting Room ft Neil deGrasse Tyson & Big Von - 7/10
10. 1-800-273-8255 ft Alessia Cara and Khalid - 9.5/10
11. Anziety ft Lucy Rose - 8.5/10
12. Black SpiderMan ft Damian Lemar Hudson - 8.5/10
13. AfricAryaN ft Neil deGrasse Tyson and J Cole - 8.5/10


I would be interested to know what you think of this album.