Fame on the Internet, particularly at the nexus where music and memes are consumed, accelerates in dog years. It’s been fewer than two calendar years since "Tuesday," but the once-ubiquitous summer 2014 jam feels positively ancient in a world full of Lil Yachtys, Lil Uzi Verts, and Kodak Blacks. Particularly troubling is the shuffling pace of iLoveMakonnen’s output since then—following up his solid eponymous debut EP with a mixtape, Drink More Water 5, that, while slight, was just enough to float interested parties. (It helped that it was free.) November’s iLoveMakonnen2 was good, but it wasn’t hard to squint and wonder if the appeal was fading just a tad.
This is a standard dilemma for an artist like Makonnen at this crossroads, but he exacerbates the problem by frequently flipping between wildly different personalities—brash trap-rapper, which feels a little hollow; emotional rap singer, which suits him better; and an off-key pop artist, which might actually be his best mode ("Tuesday" was neither rap or R&B, after all, but essentially a pop song).
He refined the balance of all of these elements on Drink More Water 5, but it seemed unlikely to connect with anyone not already into what he’s doing. The sixth installment straddles a frustrating line between straight-up mixtape (which would temper fan expectations, somewhat) and an official album (because it is for sale on iTunes). Like everything else he's done since 2014, it feels inherently insecure, the movement of someone unsure how to keep pushing forward. All of the Makonnen sounds are here, but they are a little thinner, and more grating.
Constant experimentation doesn’t mean an artist is getting better, and consistency is not a crime. But the trap-rap songs have grown tiring, and the songs of that stripe here, like "Big Gucci" and "Sellin," are more chores than bangers. When Makonnen decides to stretch and aim for an alchemy of pop songwriting and emotive singing, he’s still more than capable of producing something that can be direct and moving. The best song here is the one that nails this dynamic the sharpest, the Sonny Digital-produced "Want You," which rides a beat not entirely unlike "Tuesday" for a good two-and-a-half minutes. (Speaking of biting yourself, "Uwonteva" is nothing more than a way-worse retread of the fun "Trust Me Danny.")
The mild psych touches on the ballad "Turn Off the Lies" (geez that title) punch up the track, but it can’t help but feel a little staid, a too-late seasoning on a dry piece of meat already turning rubbery. At 11 tracks, it's longer than 2 and lacks the experimentation of Drink More Water 5, and it drags. The tape just kinda ends, with no resolution. And that damning lack of resolution is something that's haunted Makonnen for these two long years—sure he can put together memorable hooks and a sometimes head-turning lyric ("I take you to the movie and I treat you like a groupie—and you don’t mind"), but it's starting to feel one-dimensional.
