Lyte Returns After 2 & a Half Years with “Full Force” (Album Review)

This is the sophomore effort from Flint, Michigan emcee Lyte. Emerging a decade ago off his debut mixtape Follow the Lyte, he later signed to the Insane Clown Posse’s very own Psychopathic Records on New Year’s Day 2017 & put out his debut EP Psychopathic MonStar that summer following the 18th annual Gathering of the Juggalos in Oklahoma. He amicably departed couple years later in order to focus on building his own label MonStar Entertainment & becoming a father, returning over 2 & a half years ago for the debut album Metamorphosis demonstrating his personal & artistic growth. MonStar has since evolved into a roster of its own, coming off a showcase EP to return Full Force.

“Dying Breed” starts with this wavy trap instrumental from Str8jaket talking about his kind shrinking near to the point of extinction whereas “Feel the Way I Do” works in some pianos & strings asking if there’s anyone who feels the exact same way as he does. “Time Will Tell” featuring Ant G finds the 2 over a trap instrumental reassuring everyone that they’re nowhere near close to being done leading into “Made a Lot” talking about the money, sacrifices & mistakes he’s made.

Meanwhile on “Back in My Head”, we have Lyte showing off a speedier flow over another trap beat fighting back until they bury him just before “Full Deck” featuring Skitzo brings the pair together so they can talk about everyone fuckin’ with the wrong ones. “This Us” fuses electronic dance music & trap giving 0 fucks whatsoever, but then “Brand New” featuring Project Born aggressively talking about people acting that exact way.

“It’s Our Time” hooks up some pianos & hi-harts discussing that it’s MonStar Entertainment’s time to shine now while “OMG” featuring Str8jaket talks about needing God in their lives at the moment even if they’re not the praying type. The song “Disarray” featuring Stray grimly promises God certain things won’t happen again if He helps them & “Memories” featuring Str8jaket is a 6-minute closer breaking down the way he wants to be remembered.

Metamorphosis was a solid debut giving the underground a look at how much Lyte has changed on all fronts ever since signing to Psychopathic for a year & a half, which Full Force surpasses in terms of quality. The production almost entirely handled by Str8jaket elevates the trap sounds from 2 & a half years ago, the guests are reduced to MonStar’s current roster other than a couple outside collaborators & Lyte himself sounds hungrier.

Score: 8/10

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