NO HArD FEELINGS

Listen 1: Love this dudes music. Never fully understood why he fizzled out of popularity. Probably due to going independent which I respect and understand that decision but this guys voice is too good to not be on more hit songs. My critical opinions of him have always been the lyric matter as they are often questionable if not outright disrespectful towards women or other groups of people (not racist or anything, but just one of lines like on Change My Ways when he references bipolar disorder). Just sometimes in poor taste. This album has some more of that, which was to be expected. Specifically the woman talking throughout the album. You just know Marc or Nic Nac had her say that shit which is just always silly to me. Like it's so constructed and inauthentic it feels kind of gross to have someone say stuff like that. I'm not a prude but it has always seemed off to me how Marc writes about women. Anyways, the album overall has some unique R&B styling to it, thanks to Nic Nac. Good for a little mix up from his usual style but still in the vein that made him popular to begin with. A good portion of the songs on here did miss the mark with the melodies. A bit aimless with no resolution. The latter half of the album is a bit better in that regard. Listen 2: There was a few moments on here where I would say Marc has gotten a bit lazy. The melodies aren't as smooth, his singing can get slightly whiney even though I've heard him hit these note better in the past. I was hoping a collab with a producer might ignite some new inspiration but the only thing new here is the style of production and even that is just a slight change up from Marc's usual style. 1 Week Later: Marc's a man that can put out multiple duds and then drop 2 or 3 bangers back to back so I'm not truly let down by this as my expectations are usually pretty low to begin with. A low floor but a high ceiling. I'm hoping whatever isn't working with this project is just a bump in the road and not a sign of laziness to come as some of the songs on here show a pretty lackluster amount of effort on Marc's part. Specifically in the first half of the album which caught me a bit off guard.