Tory Lanez tries so damn hard at everything he does—just take a look at his painful jump shot. His second studio album of the year, LoVE me NOw, is Tory attempting to cement his place in R&B’s upper echelon, but even before the first song is clicked, the album is drenched with head-scratching ideas: the tracklist is printed like a ransom note written with magazine letter cut outs (“IF iT Ain’T rIGHt”) and it features an album cover in the style of “The Brady Bunch” with a muppet version of Tory. There is absolutely no reason for any of this—unless Tory is secretly a Jim Henson head—it’s the Toronto-bred singer/rapper desperately trying to be different. Instead, he creates some of the most generic hip-hop and R&B music of the year.
In the intro to Tory’s “DrIP DrIp Drip” music video, a reporter walks up to him and says, “Rumor has it that after you release this LoVE me NOw album you will be the greatest artist of all time,” to which Tory responds, “I am the greatest artist of all time,” right before diving into an Auto-Tune sing-rap style that half of the guest artists on his own album do better than he does. His singing is mediocre, his use of Auto-Tune isn’t creative, and as a rapper he’s forgettable. He doesn’t know if he wants to be a rockstar like Lil Uzi Vert or make throw-your-panties-onto-the-stage R&B like Trey Songz.
The glaring issue with LoVE me NOw is how uninteresting and generic the album sounds. For a project that is supposed to be Tory Lanez’s moment, much of the best moments come from his guests, a who’s who of Hot 97 heavy hitters. On “IF iT Ain’T rIGHt,” A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie upstages Tory by spitting a soft, melodic verse about failed murders: “Hit him in the stomach and he still did not die.” On “DrIP DrIp Drip” Meek Mill channels Young Thug with newfound melody. On “KeeP IN tOUcH,” Tory’s lack of R&B chops get exposed next to Bryson Tiller, who shows him what lovestruck and horny slow jams are supposed to sound like: “Kiss right in the street, fuck if anybody sees/Just friends/I don’t think anybody believes.”
There isn’t anything new LoVE me NOw will teach you about Tory Lanez. He still craves respect and wants to be recognized by his peers and fans alike as the hip-hop and R&B savant that he thinks he is. And while at times he can crank out catchy tracks destined for the charts, most of the time, after all of the big talk, we’re left with an artist who doesn’t live up to the expectations he set for himself.
