''Karma 3'' is the fifteenth mixtape by American rapper

Dave East David Lawrence Brewster Jr. (born June 3, 1988), better known by his stage name Dave East, is an American rapper. East began his career in 2010, and gained attention in 2014 from his eighth mixtape, ''Black Rose''. Its release garnered the attent ...

. It was released on August 14, 2020, via Mass Appeal,

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

and From the Dirt. Production was handled by several record producers, including AraabMuzik, Mike & Keys,

DJ Paul Paul Duane Beauregard (born January 12, 1977), better known by his stage name DJ Paul, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of hip hop group Three 6 Mafia and uncle of the late rapper ...

, Dougie On The Beat, G Koop, Jake One, MP808, OGTha3, and

Sap Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...

. It features guest appearances from Jozzy, A Boogie wit da Hoodie,

Benny the Butcher Jeremie Damon Pennick (born November 27, 1984), known professionally as Benny the Butcher or simply Benny, is an American rapper. He is part of the hip hop collective Griselda with frequent collaborators and first-cousins Westside Gunn and Co ...

, Bino Rideaux, Doe Boy,

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

Popcaan Andrae Hugh Sutherland (born 19 July 1988), known professionally as Popcaan, is a Jamaican singer. In 2008, Popcaan joined Vybz Kartel's Gaza Music Empire. In 2010, he released his breakthrough international hit "Clarks" with Kartel, an ode ...

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day' ...

, Trouble and

Young Dolph Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (July 27, 1985 – November 17, 2021), better known by his stage name Young Dolph, was an American rapper. In 2016, he released his debut studio album, '' King of Memphis'', which peaked at number 49 on the ''Billboar ...

. The album debuted at number 36 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and received acclaim from critics. A deluxe version of the mixtape followed on October 23, 2020, with features from Dej Loaf, Junior Reid, Chris Brown and

G Herbo Herbert Randall Wright III (born October 8, 1995), better known by his stage name G Herbo (formerly Lil Herb), is an American rapper from Chicago. G Herbo is signed to Machine Entertainment Group. He has released the mixtapes '' Welcome to Faz ...

, as well as the "Handsome" remix featuring Jeezy.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, ''Karma 3'' received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 82 based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Neil Z. Yeung said, "the album is very much substance over style, showcasing East's deft wordplay and storytelling talents without too many flashy distractions. On that end, ''Karma 3''s production is robust and straightforward, evoking another time and place with old-school samples and head-nodding beats". Eero Holi of '' Clash'' said, "The tough guy act only gets you so far, though. And that is why 'Karma 3' really comes alive when East exposes his character's soft underbelly. ... Memories tainted by regret and guilt – the flip side of nostalgia – resonate in Motown-style acoustic instrumentation and chunky Golden Era beats combined with a supreme cast of vocalists". Will Lavin of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' said, "A charged effort with dynamic results, 'Karma 3' may not be as flawless a spectacle as ''

Survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

'', but it's not all that far off. And it's definitely the best entry in the 'Karma' series. East remains consistent, unapologetically flying the flag for New York hip-hop". Eric Diep 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. ...

'' said, "While ''Karma 3'' isn't the show-stopping follow-up to ''Survival'', East is still going to outwork any MC, dropping album after album until he's good and ready to hang up the mic".

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Dave East Sequel albums Dave East albums 2020 mixtape albums Albums produced by DJ Paul Albums produced by Jake One Albums produced by AraabMuzik Albums produced by Sap (producer) Mass Appeal Records albums