The long-awaited sequel to Lil Tecca’s 2019 platinum LP ‘We Love You Tecca’ came out on Friday and fans of the Queen’s born rapper are more than pleased with the release.
The project titled ‘We Love You Tecca 2’ is Lil Tecca’s 3rd studio album and comes on the back of a slightly less chaotic year for the up-and-coming 18-year-old. The pandemic took its toll on Tecca’s career – like it did for many – and arguably stunted the hype around his name following his 2019 smash hit ‘Ransom’. Despite this he was still able to put out an album titled ‘Virgo World’ which sold 35,000 units in its first week and debuted at number 10 on the billboard charts.
Already 2021 is proving to be a more active year for Lil Tecca following the release of the anticipated single ‘NEVER LEFT’ which blew up after a snippet was leaked onto the social media platform TikTok. The song now has over 75 million streams and is proving to be standout on Tecca’s discography. Two more singles followed suit in the lead up to the album including ‘MONEY ON ME’ and ‘REPEAT IT’ with the latter also seeing a lot of commercial success, perhaps due to the Gunna feature.
Flaunting his unique style of flow and voice, Lil Tecca has continued to develop what made him popular two years ago. While some fans are calling for a lack of creativity, others are enjoying the music and the good vibes that come with it. However, this brings along a danger of disengagement from listeners as the songs all begin to sound similar and the lyrics are drowned out by the repetitive beats. For me, this is apparent throughout tracks 6, 7 and 8 as Tecca leaves it until track 9 to break up the monotony. Lil Tecca is no conventional rap star, in fact when he burst onto the scene people highlighted his lack of enthusiasm in Open Mic sessions that he did for Genius. However, it is clear to see that he has become a lot more confident in not only himself but in his music as well and this comes across throughout the album. He targets his audience through relatability and touches on issues that younger generations can understand, such as heartbreak and aiming high.
Unlike his previous projects, Lil Tecca has called upon a few fellow artists to help him put this album together. These include Gunna, Iann Dior, Trippie Redd, Chief Keef, NAV and Lil Yachty. Perhaps the reasoning behind the sudden inclusion of big names such as these is the idea that all previous albums have been used as a way to prove to others and himself that he can support his own sound and can pave his own path through the industry.
All the features on the track list were very clearly thought out and planned in an effort to try and match Lil Tecca’s energy on a song. Gunna uses sleek flows and a mumble tone which satisfies the ears as listeners don’t have to think about the words, instead they can dance along. Iann Dior, arguably the biggest name in the pop/rap space at the moment, is no stranger to songs about women and love and so blends perfectly well on the track ‘SEASIDE’ as they discuss dating spots and adventures. One of the most surprising collaborations for me was Chief Keef linking up with Trippie Redd and Lil Tecca on the track ‘CHOPPA SHOOT THE LOUDEST’. It’s evident to see that the song was tailored for the features as the synth style beat has become synonymous with Trippie Redd ever since ‘Miss the Rage’ and is perhaps out of Lil Tecca’s comfort zone. Trippie Redd sounds so relaxed on the beat and provide a catchy hook which people can bop their head to and Chief Keef comes through with a well-paced verse which adds another level of diversity to the track. Overall a very good song. NAV has become a big name within the industry especially after his feature on Internet Money’s ‘Lemonade’ which has over 800 million streams to date. The heavy use of auto tune, however, is a little too much on this track and takes away from the overall context and meaning behind the song. His lyrics become meaningless and listeners are can’t help but want to skip past the track. A rare occurrence in music these days is the back-to-back technique when another artist is featured on a track. We’ve seen Trippie Redd and DaBaby use it in the past but here is the turn of Tecca. Lil Yachty is another artist with a very unique voice, and as mentioned before has clearly been picked to match Lil Tecca’s vibe. The back-to-back works well and while typically Lil Yachty is no lyricist on ‘BANK TELLER’ he’s able to come into his own and provide a well-rounded feature for the album.
‘We Love You Tecca 2’ is definitely one of Tecca’s better projects. He has outclassed himself from his 2020 flop ‘Virgo World’ and has continues to move further out of his comfort zone (which is good). However, at parts the album did get a bit repetitive and somewhat mundane. I think some more varied beats would have been a welcome inclusion and even a flow switch up here and there. I think that is why ‘CHOPPA SHOOT THE LOUDEST’ is my favourite song. It stands out, it makes people look up from what they are doing and really listen to the story these artists are telling. Despite my criticism, we have to remember that Lil Tecca is only 18 and has an abundance of time to find some more styles that fit him.
Overall, I would give this album a 7/10.
Written by Joe Bell