The dream collaboration album that all trap-rap fans have waited for has arrived to us, and it came out on the perfect day, Halloween. This was a great timing with the horrific vibe and content that the three young talents have put out on “Without Warning.”
21 Savage is one in which we found out of his grimness yet impressive style in his hit EP “Savage Mode,” where we also got a taste of Metro Boomin’s top shelf beats. The project was a success and showed that when you pair a stellar producer like Metro and a gruesome minded emcee, you get a wonderful-terrifying album.
Offset, fellow Atlantan, also showcases his tight flow and choppy, yet ominous vocal style on the tape. Despite being one-third of the trio, “Migos” Offset shows his dominance and embraces his ability to do without his other two companions. After the huge single “Bad and Boujee” came out from the group, no one has doubted Offset’s ability to completely body a track. Clocking in under 35 minutes this, tape flies through a murky trap trend.
The project starts off with my personal favorite track, “Ghostface Killers” featuring Travis Scott. The song starts off with a lengthy hook that overflows the track very nicely, in addition with a 21 verse that is one of my favorites from the artist. Travis Scott comes in with his guest verse and explains how “Nike boys we don’t do three stripes.” Which was a great oxymoron that was applied.
One of the predictable “Chart-ready” performances come from a solo track from Offset in “Ric Flair Drip” where we get a small salute to former WWE star Ric Flair. I feel that this was a very good and also a comedic fit to throw in a wrestler that most of the albums audience will look back on from our early days of watching.
The energy of this project didn’t really seem to slow down. I feel that we get dashes of the two rappers, and it seems to make a perfect blend back to back. One of the most impressive beats I have come across is on the 21 solo track “Run up the Racks,” where Metro provides a spooky bell sounding intro, then drops into a complex beat that 21 shoves an extremely wavy verse that fit perfectly into the grieving background shunned on to the listener. “That’s a trophy, balling like I’m Kobe, shoot you like Ginobili, sitting on the courtside, never in the nose bleeds.” Shows us what kind of life Savage has been on in the past year or two since blowing up.
When asking fellow EMU students about this project, most reactions were similar to mine. Sophomore Javon Felix said, “I never would have expected these three to be on a tape together. The two rappers are at the top of the game right now, and I already knew it would be amazing. Metro Boomin has to be my favorite aspect of the entire thing. This is one of his finest productions in my opinion.”
To say this album is flawless would be wrong to do. There are a couple things I found negative. Some tracks would’ve been nicer if both 21 and Offset were on them together. For it to be a collaborative album, I feel that every song should have both of the emcees on them. Even though almost every song was decent at worst, it would’ve been great to see all 10 tracks with both 21 Savage and Offset. I also found myself missing the other two Migos on some of the tracks, just knowing that Offset is by himself, yet both of these complaints could just be personal preferences.
“Without Warning” was such a hot, new piece. I loved the horror movie-esque feeling I got throughout the whole thing. This tape really shows much potential of all three artists and just shows how much more they could accomplish together. If you are looking for a new sounding hip-hop album with plenty of bangers on it, I would totally recommend this for you. “Without Warning” gets a solid 7/10 for me.
