Whether you’re finessin’ to or blowing on KK, you’ve probably heard one of these albums that’s dropped last week. Wiz Khalifa released his highly anticipated third album Black Hollywood, following Grand Hustle signee and GOOD Beats producer Travi$ Scott’s free album Days Before Rodeo. Both projects have been sought out by fans and music lovers alike, but which one is better? Does Blacc Hollywood highlight the best of Wiz’s beloved sound? Or, does Days Before Rodeo upsets as the underdog? We’ll give you the characteristics of both projects and our conclusion, but it’s up to you to decide which is better.
Production: There’s two types of sounds being heard in Blacc Hollywood. There’s the hard-hitting beats from songs like “Hope”, “Raw”, and “No Gain”, and then there’s “Staying Out All Night”.Wiz brought in a smaller number of producers for Blacc Hollywood, including I.D. Labs, Sledgren, Jim Jonson, and Stargate to name a few. The Pittsburg rapper has a more aggressive sound this time around, but you get the glimpses of pop within tracks like the Nicki Minaj featured song “Staying Out All Night”, and “So High”. Though the beats are aggressive, Blacc Hollywood’s is a bit light-hearted. Days Before Rodeo on the other hand, gives you are darker vibe along with it’s raw southern sound. The production crew behind Scott’s album features a solid list of the hottest producers in the south, including Metro Boomin, Lex Luger, FKi, and legendary producer, Mike Dean. Canadian producers Wondagurl and DJ Dahl also have their hand on the project with songs “Mamacita” and “Days Before Rodeo: The Prayer”. The beats on this album are cold, and with Travi$ Scott’s odd and sinister vibe through the lyrics and beats, it takes the music on Days Before Rodeo to another level.
Lyrics: Due to Travi$ Scott’s flow, which fits a lot better in his production than Wiz’s, Days Before Rodeo is better in the rap realm then Blacc Hollywood. Let’s get this out the way, both of these rappers aren’t giving you metaphors and similes. However, Wiz and Scott’s style rapping their verses are the key factor in their projects. If you’ve heard Wiz, you know that he has dope flows with the vocals to back it up. Unfortunately, it feels a bit played out halfway through his new album. By the time you get to Travi$ edges out Wiz by with his style of mixing his charisma with auto-tune vocals in his raps. Sure, this has been done before, but it sounds great. The single off of Days Before Rodeo “Don’t Play” is a solid example of the strength in Scott’s raps. It sounds a bit familiar to his previous project Owl Pharaoh, but still delivers.
Replayability: Blacc Hollywood has its fair set of jams, but when comparing replayability with Days Before Rodeo, it doesn’t stack up. Wiz’s album starts out hard with “Hope” feat. Ty$ with popular radio hit “We Dem Boyz” following up. However, it gets played out and redundant hallway through the album. With Day Before Rodeo, Travis Scott has a solid track list to keep the album on replay. Though a lot of the songs shows a more darker side of southern raps, songs like “Backyard” and “Grey” slows the vibe down to end the project. Both artists’ set features were solid. Wiz brought in different members of Taylor Gang (i.e. Juicy J, Chevy Woods, etc.) and even teamed up with Nicki Minaj. Travi$ Scott, on the other hand, recruited the hottest rappers in the south, including Migos, Young Thug, and Rich Homie Quan. The production of songs like Mamacita gives off a different vibe to Travi$’style of music.
All in All, Days Before Rodeo beat out Blacc Hollywood. Wiz Khalifa might have the more popular album, when it came to the quality and sound of his music, it seemed way too different from the sound he had reached superstardom with. With insane production and a southern flow, Days Before Rodeo was put on far more than Blacc Hollywood. Travi$ Scott wins this by a land slide by us. Which album did you think was better, vote below and see what the people thought.
Blacc Hollywood
Production: 7/10
Lyrics: 6/10
Flow: 7/10
Originality: 5/10
Replay Value: 6/10
Overall: 6/10
Days Before Rodeo
Production: 9/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Flow: 8/10
Originality: 9/10
Replay Value: 8/10
Overall: 8/10