''Injury Reserve'' is the debut studio album by American rap group Injury Reserve, released on May 17, 2019, through

Loma Vista Recordings Loma Vista Recordings is a record label founded by Tom Whalley, former chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records and Executive of A&R at Interscope Records. The label was initially a joint venture with Republic Records and is based in Beverly Hill ...

. This is their only release under Loma Vista, before departing shortly after the death of bandmate, Stepa J. Groggs. It follows several

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

s by the group, including ''Live from the Dentist Office'', 2016's ''Floss'' and 2017's

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

''Drive It Like It's Stolen''. The album features artists such as A-Trak,

Rico Nasty Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly (born May 7, 1997), known professionally as Rico Nasty, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Maryland. She rose to prominence in 2018 with singles such as "Smack a Bitch" and "Poppin". While in high schoo ...

Aminé Adam Aminé Daniel (born April 18, 1994) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He first gained notability for his commercial debut single, "Caroline", which peaked at number 11 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Aminé released hi ...

DRAM Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxid ...

, Freddie Gibbs,

Cakes da Killa Rashard Bradshaw, better known as Cakes da Killa, is an American rap artist who fuses genres of hip hop, house, and electronic dance music. He came to prominence in the " queer explosion" of hip hop music stemming from New York in 2012 and i ...

, Dylan Brady, Pro Teens, Tony Velour, and JPEGMafia.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the album earned a score of 75 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Much of the praise was directed at Corey's production. In a positive review for the album, Chris Dart of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' called him "Injury Reserve's real driving force", and Kyle Kohner of '' The 405'' wrote that Corey "mix sthings up with some of the most wonky-sounding production you will hear outside of Death Grips". Sheldon Pearce was more reserved in his assessment for '' Pitchfork'', giving the album a 6.8/10, and wrote that while the album feels "remarkably fresh and singular" when Corey is at his best, "neither Ritchie nor Stepa are particularly groundbreaking

MCs Music * Motion City Soundtrack, a pop punk / rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota Science and technology * Matrix cable system, submarine communications cable connecting Indonesia and Singapore * Megawatt Charging System, electric vehicle cha ...

" and that they are both "regularly shown up by their guests". He concluded that Injury Reserve "gets stuck between its experimental urges and its pop ambitions" too often, calling the album "never quite noisy enough or quite catchy enough".

Track listing

* "What a Year It's Been" contains samples of "13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed." by Silver Mt. Zion.

References

{{Authority control 2019 debut albums Injury Reserve albums Loma Vista Recordings albums Albums produced by Dylan Brady