LOOKING FOR THE NEAREST EXIT

Amir floated around the hype of Drake and PND throughout the 2010s but never really broke out despite it seeming inevitable. It's pure speculation from the public's part on what happened considering that he did have some decent success with some of his work during that time. Fast forward several years and he has released two albums in back to back years. Technically his debut, "after." released in 2024 which I wasn't a huge fan of. Now "LOOKING FOR THE NEAREST EXIT" has arrived and I think Amir is stuck a bit in the past. When he was supposed to find his success. Some of the songs here are downright forgettable or generic but I don't think that those summarize the project as a whole. "CRASH" has an addictive melody while paying homage to some of vocal styles of the 2010s melodic rap scene. Meanwhile, "LAST TIME" slows down a bit for a softer ride that you don't often see within the genre. "SOS" also serves as a nice outro, really emphasizing on the use of processed vocals to the point where you can't quite understand him but I see this in a way similar to Kanye's humming at the end of "Runaway". The dullness of the rest of the album combined with these highlights balances out quite heavily. I'm not sure if it's rust or just living a bit in the past, but Amir seems to be slowly tinkering away at creating some good songs, just a decade too late.