Migos’ “Culture II” worth the year’s wait

Whether you want to admit it or not, Migos have transformed the trap game, and in the year between “Culture” and “Culture II,” the trio have evolved and taken risks no one anticipated.

One such risk is the length of their third studio album “Culture II” which is 24 songs long and clocks in at an hour and 45 minutes. The length of the album doesn’t really work in their favor; because there are so many tracks, it tends to get repetitive. It makes me happy to see the amount of fame Migos have achieved in the past year, but I cannot stomach anymore music about their elusive lifestyles.

Despite the repetitive lyrics, “Culture II” boasts a new Migos sound, something they’d been hinting at with tracks like “Stir Fry.” Some of the best tracks on the album are a little funkier, but don’t stray far from what the trio are good at. The bouncy yet melancholic “Gang Gang,” the Latin-sounding “Narcos” and the laidback “Made Men” are just some of the songs on the album that prove how far the trio have come from some of their laughable mumble trap on “Culture.”

They have an elite variety of producers on the album, including Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Metro Boomin and Huncho himself, aka Quavo. This shows a variety of sounds on their album but despite the magnitude of these production credits, the album is lazily constructed, and it gets to be a little monotonous in the middle, but “MotorSport,” the leading single off the album, comes to the rescue and the last third of the album picks up again. (Dishonorable mention to “Emoji A Chain,” a song I could not even finish listening to.)

Migos are at a point in their career where they have the power to pick and choose their collaborations, and the proof is in tracks with Drake, 21 Savage, Post Malone, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, just to name a few. This is one of the biggest takeaways from the album. “Walk It Talk It,” which features Drake, is a highlight.

One of the other big takeaways is the significance of Takeoff, the third and grossly underrated member of Migos. He has a lot more song time this time around and some of his lyrics are the best on the album. For too long Quavo and Offset have dominated, but a prevailing opinion that is evident on “Culture II” is that Takeoff carried his better-known counterparts on his shoulders for a good part of the album, especially on one of the final tracks, “Made Men.”

A lot has changed for Migos in the past year, but “Culture II” has just proved that the sun isn’t setting on the Atlanta trio yet.

Album: “Culture II”

Artist: Migos

Release: Jan. 26

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars