SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JUICE WRLD – DEATH RACE FOR LOVE

Juice WRLD
Death Race For Love
Interscope/Grade A Productions, LLC

If Goodbye and Good Riddance was Juice WRLD’s collection of emotional ballads and WRLD ON DRUGS was his collaborative collection of energetic celebratory melodies, Death Race for Love is the perfect combination of both. The album extols Juice WRLD’s versatility, but, does have some eye-rolling lyrics.

Juice WRLD is both a pioneer and expert in emo rap – an iteration of trap music that joins hip hop production with melodic rifts akin to those used by pop-punk bands. This results in catchy hooks and harmonious bridges which make tracks like “Empty” and “HeMotions” have great replay value. This album then refreshingly throws in energetic bangers such as “ON GOD” with Young Thug. The true triumph in this album, however, is the sheer versatility Juice WRLD expresses with it. This is shown in “Hear Me Calling” – an energetic nod to dancehall, “Syphilis” – an aggressive screamo infused hard-hitter, and “10 Feet” – slow bars over a Daniel Caesar sample. Contemporary albums often have more filler tracks than actual good songs, however, Juice WRLD’s versatility impressively makes each of the 22 tracks feel relevant and necessary.

Instances of weak lyrics such as “My world revolves around a black hole / the same black hole that’s in place of my soul” are the only notable flaw to this project. However, said songs with these lyrics are still ultimately earworms. Perhaps these critiques would be less noticeable if Juice WRLD wasn’t an amazing freestyle rapper, frequently showing his ability to come up with clever bars on the spot.

Death Race for Love is overall Juice WRLD’s greatest work and easily cements his longevity as one of hip-hop’s greatest hitmakers.

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