Boomiverse

Boomiverse
Studio album by Big Boi
Released	June 16, 2017 (2017-06-16)
Recorded	2016–2017
Genre	Hip hop, trap
Label	Epic
Producer	Big Boi (exec.) Organized Noize (co-exec.)[1] Beat Butcha Cory Mo Cirkut Diego Ave DJ Dahi DJ Khalil Griffin Oskar Ian Kirkpatrick Jake Troth Mannie Fresh Scott Storch Siege Monstrosity TM88 Young Cali of The Inkkwell
Big Boi chronology
Big Grams (2015)Big Grams2015 Boomiverse (2017)
Singles from Boomiverse
"Mic Jack" Released: April 21, 2017 "Kill Jill" Released: April 21, 2017

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Clash Magazine	7/10[4]
Courier Journal	[5]
Exclaim!	8/10[6]
The Guardian	[7]
Paste Magazine	8.4/10[8]
Pitchfork	7.4/10[9]

Boomiverse is the third studio album by American rapper and Outkast member Big Boi, released on June 16, 2017, through Epic Records. It serves as a follow-up to the rapper's sophomore studio album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors (2012). The album features guest appearances from Adam Levine, Jeezy, Killer Mike, Gucci Mane, and Curren$y. It contains production from frequent collaborators Organized Noise, DJ Dahi, Dr. Luke, Scott Storch, among others. It was supported by the release of two singles – "Mic Jack" featuring Adam Levine, Scar and Sleepy Brown and "Kill Jill" featuring Killer Mike and Jeezy.

Background

After the release of Big Grams (2015), a collaborative extended play (EP) from rapper Big Boi and rock band Phantogram, Big Boi began writing for his upcoming third solo studio album. On April 19, 2017, he revealed the title for the album and released the first two singles, "Mic Jack" featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and "Kill Jill" featuring Jeezy and Killer Mike of Run the Jewels two days later.^[10]

On May 16, 2017, he revealed that Boomiverse was scheduled for release on June 16, 2017, and includes guest appearances from Gucci Mane, Janelle Monáe, among others.^[11]

Critical reception

Boomiverse received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 12 reviews.^[2] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork commented: "Boomiverse doesn’t have the same freewheeling, blitzkrieg energy as Sir Lucious, but it reestablishes Big Boi as a dependable record maker who will always make music worth checking for, no matter what else is going on around him. He’s not really in a position to be competing against Migos on rap radio, and he doesn’t want to, at all."^[9] Alex Macpherson of The Guardian stated: " A sprinkling of electro bleeps throws Boomiverse back to the 1980s and on irresistible highlight Chocolate, Big Boi morphs into Missy Elliott in her house-dabbling phase. He’s careful to drop a Future reference here and borrow Kendrick Lamar’s cadence there to root it in the present, but Boomiverse’s self-conscious stylistic plurality is the new old-school. "All Night", simultaneously too wacky and too obvious, is a moment to cringe at, but for the most part this is dad rap that can hold its head high."^[7]

Nastia Voynovskaya of Paste Magazine commented: "Boomiverse is an exuberant record that dabbles in different subgenres of hip-hop to emerge with a crisp, cohesive final product that stays true to Big Boi’s roots while cultivating an up-to-date sound. With Outkast collaborators Organized Noize handling the majority of the album’s production, Boomiverse is steeped in the classic Southern sound that predated what we know as trap music today. The album is far from the work of a legend resting on his laurels; instead, its inventive and genuinely fun sound makes a compelling case for why, 20 years after his debut, we should still be paying attention to Big Boi."^[8]

Will Lavin of Clash Magazine praised Big Boi's lyricism and production style: "Laced with complex rhyme styles and diverse lyrical content Boomiverse is a welcomed return for Daddy Fat Sack. Walking a thin line between pretty much every musical genre known to mankind, don’t be surprised when on Boomiverse one minute you’re breaking your neck on a bed of 808s, electro drum patterns and screaming synths and the next you’re kicking back to a selection of funky rhythms, sax solos and acoustic guitars."^[4]

Exclaim! critic Erin Lowers commented that "Big Boi continues to reinvent himself, and the Boomiverse signifies something of a new start. And while new beginnings aren't without their flaws, Big Boi's lyrical prowess and effortless delivery provide the thread that link the old Big Boi universe to this, the Boomiverse."

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[12][13]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• "Kill Jill" features background vocals from Rock D the Legend and Hatsune Miku.
• "Mic Jack" and "In the South" features background vocals from Miss C.C. LaFlor
• "Order of Operations" features background vocals from Eric Bellinger.
• "Get Wit It" features background vocals from Scar and Miss C.C. LaFlor.
• "Freakanomics" features background vocals from Sleepy Brown, Ian Kirkpatrick, Scar and Sean Douglas.

Charts

References