Juice Wrld, a popular hip-hop and trap artist of the 21st century, sadly passed away at the end of 2019. Fans were shocked, as his death was unexpected and his huge fanbase thought the artist was done releasing new music. In a sense, they were right, but ultimately his label would release his music. This was regarded as a large scandal because the albums released after his death were declining in quality.
Juice Wrld’s new album, “The Party Never Ends 2.0”, has attracted a lot of attention, but not for the right reason. The fans wanted a true continuation of the rapper’s legacy. Instead, the album feels like an attempt by his record company to exploit his name, and while that’s hard to swallow for lovers of Juice Wrld’s talent and personal voice, the project doesn’t do him justice.
Posthumous albums like this are always difficult. When an artist passes suddenly, record labels typically release unfinished songs to make money. “The Party Never Ends 2.0” feels like a more business oriented releases than one of Juice Wrld’s past projects. Instead of giving fans a new and meaningful project, his label just went through old unreleased music, and put it out under his name for their own benefits.
The album’s biggest flaw is that it lacks the emotional power that made Juice Wrld so special. His earlier music was filled with deep, conceptual lyrics about mental health, love and how to deal with life. His fans were able to relate to the heavy themes and deep topics he would write about. Unfortunately, “The Party Never Ends 2.0” fails to capture the same raw emotion. The songs feel more like unfinished demos than fully produced and well-written tracks, and aren’t nearly as high in quality as his past projects.
The production on this album is also disappointing. Juice Wrld is known for blending various genres such as hip hop, rock and emo to create a unique sound, but on “The Party Never Ends 2.0”, the beats seem recycled and generic, and the production feels more like a collection of the same sounds throughout each song. The album as a whole seems bland when it comes to production, and doesn’t have that special sound exclusive to Juice Wrld’s other albums. There’s nothing new or exciting here, and it feels like the label is trying to capitalize on their signature sound without doing anything new or special.
To make matters worse, the album is missing any kind of story or meaning. While Juice Wrld’s music often speaks about grief, mental health issues and his life problems, with each song feels like a part of his personal journey, there’s nothing like that on “The Party Never Ends 2.0”. The album feels confusing and rushed, with no real flow or connection between the songs. It doesn’t feel like a complete album. Songs like “Cuffed” , “Empty Out Your Pockets” and “KTM Drip” all string together and can be easily forgotten.
In conclusion, this piece of work from Juice Wrld was not what fans had hoped for. Leaving fans highly disappointed, this album was bland, shallow and not well thought out. Personally, I would give this album a 2/10.
