''Angels Exodus'' is the third studio album by American rapper
Lil B
Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, i ...
. It was released digitally on January 18, 2011 through BasedWorld Records and
Amalgam Digital
Amalgam Digital is an independent record label based in East Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2006 by Anyextee, the privately owned label had been home to a variety of artists throughout the decade before significantly downsizing in its later ye ...
. It serves as a prelude to Lil B's 2012 mixtape, ''Glassface''.
Music and lyrics
''Angels Exodus'' is based on a loose theme of "Lil B against the undead: zombies and vampires."
The first track "Exhibit 6" features "a shout out to
Jay Electronica
Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford; September 19, 1976), known professionally as Jay Electronica (stylized as J A Y E L E C T R O N I C A), is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in New Orleans, he ...
and
rhyming
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...
over a slow-paced, dark instrumental."
The track "Motivation", which features a
Tim Hecker
Tim Hecker is a Canadian electronic musician, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning atmospheric ambient albums such as ''Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006), ''Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) and ''Virgins'' (2013), has been widely cr ...
sample in the background,
is about "Lil B looking back on when people were criticizing him, and observing how now they’re all 'on his dick'."
"Cold War, Pt. 2" features a sample from
Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Monà ...
's "
Cold War." The track "More Silence More Coffins" features a sample from
Evanescence
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut ...
's "
Bring Me to Life
"Bring Me to Life" is the debut single by American rock band Evanescence from their debut studio album, ''Fallen'' (2003). Wind-up released it as the album's lead single on April 7, 2003. The song was written by Amy Lee when she was 19, after ...
."
Critical reception
The album generally received mixed-to-positive reviews from music critics. ''
Fact'' magazine critic Chris Campbell stated: "''Angels Exodus'' gives Lil B the chance to indulge his significant conceptual side with some confines" and further wrote: "The only fair way to evaluate a Lil B album is against other Lil B albums/mixtapes, and in terms of quality, he’s certainly released better."
Amanda Bassa of ''
HipHopDX
''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group.
...
'' wrote: "In some ways, ''Angels Exodus'' is impressive for the sheer fact that Lil B seems to have shown some sort of artistic and mental growth since his initial
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
blitz." Nevertheless, Bassa also criticized the album, stating: "Even mass amounts of hype can’t cover up Lil B’s poorly mixed vocals, off-kilter methods of blending rapping with simply speaking, skewed perspective on life, and utter knack for taking what makes Rap great, and doing the exact opposite."
Track listing
Personnel
*
Lil B
Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, i ...
— vocals, lyrics
*Bobby Music — production
*Vanx — production
*
Clams Casino — production
*Lou Pocus — production
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2011 albums
Lil B albums
Amalgam Digital albums
Zombies and revenants in popular culture