Big Boi needs no introduction. This man is responsible for some of the most influential and all-around fire songs ever. It didn’t matter if he was with Outkast or by himself Big Boi has always made it a point to distinct himself from his counterparts. His flow is very unique as in it changes from triple-time to a more slowed down calm speed in a split second. This comes out in full force on Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors. I know I say this a lot, but this album is amazing. It sees Big Boi at his most triumphant, his most depressed, and his most horny (and I mean horny.) It’s fire nevertheless. Also, it features almost everybody that was popping in 2012 and a few surprises.

This album is full of surprises. From the lyrical content, to the production, to the features. Big Boi is not known for getting introspective, well not as much as he gets on this project. Before his released the  project before this one Big lost his father. While still going through the grieving process Big decided to put pen to pad and just go. The song Tremendous Damage sees this process come to fruition. When you listen to the track you can hear the sadness in Big’s voice as he raps over this very somber piano, but tucked in between that is Big Boi’s inspiring optimism. It’s beautiful to hear because we’re basically hearing him going through the motions of grief in an audio form. Around 4:13 the beat switches from the piano driven beat to this 808s-driven slow tempo beat which creates a great transition into Descending. This track sees Big looking back at the losses in his life and being happy that lived through them to see brighter days. Fuck man his voice is cracking while he sings, but he’s fighting through it. The fact that these songs aren’t trash is astonishing because usually when an artist that’s usually known for having these larger-than-life lyrics tries to sing it’s really fucking bad, but for Big it works.

There’s some features on here where if you saw it on paper you’d be very confused. Wavves. Phantogram, Jai Paul, and Little Dragon all make appearances and they all kill their features. Little Dragon is on here a lot and that’s not bad. Thom Pettie, Descending, and Higher Res are all so fire man. The beat on Thom Pettie is so fire, it’s like you’re listening to a bassline through blown out speakers, but combined with those hi-hats and Yukimi’s vocals it’s amazing. Every time Yukimi contributes to a song on here it’s like the icing on top of the cake. Kid Cudi the God is on this album sounding as amazing as ever on She Hates Me. Humming over these Kanye sounding strings and vocal chops. Shoes For Running is without a doubt a song for the white man. Like, there’s no wondering about it. Somehow it works though, I’m not joking either. This shit is good. Noah Breakfast, (the white guy from Chiddy Bang. Remember them? Me neither.) and Wavves come together to create this upbeat, smile-inducing track that sees Big and B.O.B rapping about mortality and poverty. It’s quite nice. Big liked the tracks with Phantogram so much that they came together for a project named Big Grams in 2015. Wild that he found out about them by shazaming a song from a pop-up ad on youporn (no lie.)

This album is all-around good. There’s a song on here for any moment. Chilling? Throw on Higher Res. Sad? Descending. Turning Up? Thom Pettie. It’s those Hours? Throw on She Said OK. I’m not joking when I say this is one of the horniest songs ever I’ve heard in my life. Literally, the first line of the song is “Let me see ya titties,” like c’mon man.  But I digress. This album is so solid. It has something for everyone and shows off why Big Boi is one of the greatest.

Listen to Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors Here

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