On seventh studio album
7220, Chicago rapper
Lil Durk continues the formula of searingly honest lyricism, melodic rap-singing delivery, and mournful piano loop-based instrumentals that's consistently taken him to the upper reaches of chart success. While the repetitive production moves can make the beats feel somewhat interchangeable,
Durk's hyper-personalized stories of loss, betrayal, grief, and street struggles usually rise above the album's occasionally monotonous sound.
7220 is at its best when
Durk is alone in the booth sharing intimate details from his life, as with the pained examination of family, lost friends, and lost innocence on "Headtaps" or the solitary "No Interviews." The record has a few interesting outlier songs, like the R&B-leaning
Summer Walker duet "Difference Is" or the questionable country-trap experiment "Broadway Girls" with raspy hooks and twangy ad-libs by
Morgan Wallen. For the most part, however,
Lil Durk commands the flow of
7220 with emotionally complex lyrics that feel confessional and raw on more melancholic tracks like the
Gunna-featuring "What Happened to Virgil" and out for blood on charged, confrontational moments like "AHHH HA." ~ TiVo Staff