In 2023, every rapper sings and every singer raps, but 6LACK is one of the few who truly stands in the middle. Growing up in Atlanta’s infamous Zone 6, the artist born Ricardo Valentine was obsessed with battle rap. He started rhyming when he was a small child, and by middle school, he was taking on challengers in the lunchroom (including a pre-fame Young Thug). His voice felt metallic back then, but somewhere along the way, it became more melodic, more nonchalant: He wasn’t quite singing, but he wasn’t quite rapping, either.
He signed a predatory deal with Flo Rida’s International Music Group in 2011, which forced him to live out of the studio for a time. It was his transition to Interscope and his triple-platinum hit “PRBLMS” that solidified his place in a new generation of high-fashion, ain’t-shit crooners who wear their bleeding hearts on their sleeves. He’s made a habit of bouncing between breakup songs that suck the air out of the room, or stunting on one-night stands for kicks. But Since I Have a Lover, 6LACK’s third album and first full-length in five years, considers what it’d be like to leave the player lifestyle behind for good. It’s a question with no easy answers, and one that occasionally gets lost in a sea of uncharacteristically dull songs.
Lover is far from the first record to explore what happens when a wounded lothario grapples with the urge to settle down, but for 6LACK, it marks a slight change in direction. Much of his writing draws on heartbreaks and missed connections—what does it sound like when he’s locked in on new love? On “Inwood Hill Park,” he contemplates marriage before digging a bit deeper into his romantic obsession: “Can’t you see that I’ve been hostile for weeks?/Don’t you know you change the patterns of my sleep?” There’s talk of unpacking trauma and of him “gambling on paradise” in spite of himself. It isn’t exactly wife-guy R&B, but it’s new territory for a man who once compared his penis to a loaded gun. In his delivery, you can feel the excitement of building a new life with someone; his voice darts through nostalgic bars about being with his partner since they were cozy on her mother’s couch. He’s not immune to the occasional bout of backhanded honesty about past relationships (“Update your life on some iOS shit/Came three times, ain’t gotta buy yo’ ass shit,” he hisses on “Fatal Attraction”), but a more reflective stance is a good look on him.
The first third of the album is its strongest, but halfway through, its grip starts to weaken. And it’s not just because some of his bars feel like they came from the Cassidy playbook he so reveres (“Never let your mouth get that diarrhea,” he sings on “Talkback”). His vocals never strain, but songs like the bubbly late album highlight “B4L,” or his collabs with now-girlfriend QUIN, are few and far between, with the writing slipping into bland—and occasionally creepy—romantic posturing. On “Decatur,” he takes credit for helping a woman see “the brighter side of things,” only to follow that up with “You mine every day, don’t try to file no restraint.” It’s a completely unromantic gesture that kills the vibe immediately. “Rent Free” revolves around the ubiquitous meme, but leaves the actual reason a person lives in your head unclear. There’s tension, but the emotional distance makes it hard to invest. At its worst, 6LACK’s songwriting here reads like ChatGPT trying to recreate a steamy text thread from memory, lines AI-generated for maximum I-feel-you-zaddy moods.
Production-wise, Lover slightly elevates the Noah “40” Shebib school of aqueous, lo-fi R&B; producers Sounwave, Kill September, longtime collaborator Fwdslxsh, and EarthGang’s Olu center guitars and shimmering piano keys more than ever before in 6LACK’s music. Crisp kick drums and guitar strums add a casual spring air to the new love of the title track. “Talkback” features a fast-paced interpolation of Sting’s 1993 ballad “Shape of My Heart,” offering some much-needed vitality to the middle of the album. The skittering drums of “Temporary” bring 6LACK and Don Toliver’s generic “you’re not like other girls” platitudes to a cinematic level. But like a handful of the lyrics, some of these beats blur together, dissolving into a stream of playlist fodder.
It’s unfortunate, because 6LACK is usually a fantastic mood curator. Previous projects, like Free 6LACK, East Atlanta Love Letter, and 6pc Hot, hit hard because of their brooding atmospheres and deliciously petty relationship drama. With mixed results, Lover tries to bring that eye and ear to a brighter musical palette and greener romantic pastures. To paraphrase the great Roy Kent, real love should make you feel like you’ve been struck by lightning. 6LACK manages some sparks here and there, but the tingles fade fast.
