“Artist 2.0”

On his self-titled third studio album, Artist 2.0, Bronx rapper Artist Dubose, better known as A Boogie wit da Hoodie, focuses largely on women. However, it is unclear throughout the album what kind of relationship he has with women, as his lyrics shift jarringly between multiple perspectives and spout seemingly contradictory ideas: on songs like “Stain,” A Boogie raps about how desirable he is to other men’s girlfriends, while songs like “Luv is Art” describe the profound love he has for his girl, while on other songs like “Good Girls Gone Bad” he laments his failure in finding meaningful love and the heartbreak he feels as a result. This lack of identity causes Artist 2.0 to feel more like a lyrically disjointed collection of songs than an actual album. 

However, many songs on the album show promise. A Boogie wit da Hoodie has a fair deal of talent as a rapper and singer, and many individual songs are quite successful, such as his melancholy track “Me and My Guitar,” where A Boogie raps about heartbreak and music over a relaxed beat, and the more upbeat “Numbers,” which features Gunna, Roddy Ricch and London on da Track on a boisterous song about money and status. Overall, the features included on the album are a positive inclusion, with well-known artists like DaBaby, Lil Uzi Vert, Khalid and Young Thug all contributing strong verses that complement the album well. 

This being said, the album is not particularly original, as most of the songs sound quite similar to A Boogie’s previous hits, and at 20 songs, it is probably too long given how similar many of the songs sound. In addition to the previously mentioned lack of lyrical coherence, these factors make Artist 2.0 an overall unsuccessfully realized album, in spite of its positive elements.