This past week, rapper Trippie Redd treated his fans to the release of his album “A Love Letter To You 3,” the third project of his famous “Love Letter To You” album series. It comes fresh off the release of “Life’s A Trip,” which was released in August and drew a lot of attention in the rap community.
Redd burst into the scene in 2017 with “A Love Letter To You,” which turned the eighteen-year-old Ohio rapper into a star instantaneously. The album gained popularity for its reminiscent theme, one that reflects Redd’s longing for his past love and regrets over his relationship turning sour. Redd dresses this theme with his unique sound: a singing voice that could be mistaken for yelling and a raspy voice.
As expected, Redd kept this style for this album. Seeing that the inaugural album received so much success, a sequel was a must for his fans. Yet, “A Love Letter To You 2” paled in comparison to its predecessor, and by the time the third album came out, the theme of heartbreak and yearning for a loved one was a bit played out.
His broken-hearted perspective did not change at all as he continued the project series. This led to most of the forgettable songs on the album sounding whiny and similar to each other, a problem magnified by the fact that “A Love Letter To You 2” experienced the same problem that ultimately led to the album doing significantly worse than the first.
The album is not a complete waste; in fact, there are some playlist worthy songs scattered throughout the tracklist. Redd’s “1400/999 Freestyle” with Juice WRLD immediately stands out upon first listen. The beat and WRLD’s verse resemble the style of trap songs, which are popular in today’s music scene and more universally accepted than Redd’s long, melodic yelling and depressed lyrics.
Other tracks such as “Love Scars 3,” “Elevate & Motivate” with NBA Youngboy and “Diamond Minds” with Tory Lanez provide a glimpse of Redd’s high musical upside and ensure that this album will not tarnish his reputation despite its sub-par quality compared to his previous works.
Redd has popularized a sound that rap has never truly seen before. A part of his challenge with standing out is trying to recreate the sound that made him so famous to begin with. Although he has cemented himself in the upper echelon of contemporary rap, this album has parts that reveal the downside of daring to be different.
Redd uses a very hit or miss style that unfortunately brought more misses on this album. However, by no means is Redd a one-hit wonder, and, while he may have reached a peak early, expect him to return with more quality music in the near future.
