Shelby by Lil Skies Review

Best 3 songs

1) I

Standout Lyric:

“Remember those times no horoscope”

“I”, is the intro track to Lil Skies’ 2019 album, Shelby. On this track, Skies reminisces on his past memories with love and personal struggles. “I” is filled with down-to-earth lyrics in which Skies talks about how he deals with that pain from his everyday life. The lyrics are refreshing in the modern rap genre where many artists don’t like to deal with their real emotions. Besides the great lyrics, the production on “I” by CuBeatz, Otxhello, and Danny Wolf is some of the best on the album. This song, from the production to the lyrics, excelled in pretty much every aspect and was a great way to show the listener that Skies has made leaps and bounds from his last album.

2) Nowadays, Pt. 2 ft. Landon Cube 

Standout Lyric:

“She tell me that she love me ’cause I am a dark rose”

In general sequels are never better than the originals, but Skies’ “Nowadays, Pt. 2” is an exception to this common saying. The lyrics show Skies’ new state of mind after his success, turning his attention from girls, the theme on the original “Nowadays”, to his aspirations of success. Skies’ ability to complexify the theme shown in “Nowadays” Pt. 1 is what allowed for “Nowadays, Pt. 2” to surpass the level of quality on the original and made it the 2nd best song of the album.

3) Stop the Madness ft. Gunna

Standout Lyric:

“I just poured some Easter pink, no, this ain’t no nouveau”

Lil Skies and Gunna on “Stop the Madness” boast about their success while at the same time looking down on their haters. Featuring boastful lyrics by Gunna and Skies with great production by Based1 this song undoubtedly makes a great radio hit, but it still lacks the sophistication of “I” and “Nowadays, Pt. 2”. Because of this lack of sophistication, it comes in as the 3rd best song on this album.

Overall Album Rating 75/100

Lil Skies’ first album “Life of a Dark Rose” was a major success, but many didn’t know what his long term potential could be. Lil Skies on Shelby shows that he is here to stay demonstrating the considerable leaps he’s made in his music. While still showing his uncanny ability for hooks, Skies on Shelby clearly has started to focus more on his verses which comes across in the quality of the album. The only thing that holds this album back from getting an 80 or 90 is lack of album theme complexity. The theme of reminiscing at ones’ past and looking at success has been used in numerous albums in the past few years. If Skies can improve on this then he could potentially become one of the best in the game. Shelby, which showed major growth, clearly only scratches the potential of Skies which should excite many because he is only going to improve from here. Overall this album gets a 75 for including standout songs like “I” and “Nowadays, Pt. 2”, but doesn’t crack the 80s due to the lack of album theme complexity.