Lil B, God’s Father

There may not be a rapper around who produces more content than Lil B. Between the way he churns out his up-close-with-the-camera music videos and his tendency to drop mixtapes with a seemingly effortless regularity, Based God won't quit. Unfortunately, his quantity has trumped the quality of late, and with his latest, God's Father, Lil B is unable to make his case as a musical deity.

For some reason, God's Father comes in at 34 tracks. It's overwhelming, to say the least, and highlights what was once Based God's endearing characteristic that now seems to be working to his detriment: he puts out so much that there's no filter, and even bright flashes are clouded by curious moments. The slow flow found on cuts like “God Help Me” and “Deep Ass Thoughts” exhibits the at times awkward-sounding style that the California native has become known for, but he also switches his flow early on with, “I Own Swag.” His quick delivery is impressive and B shows that he actually owns the technical skills to properly ride a beat—even though he doesn't often choose to employ them. Per usual, B's content sprawls from swag to guns to motivation on the release.

As is typically the case with the 2011 XXL Freshman, his ear for smooth, melodic beats makes the project easy to vibe to in stages, but its length ultimately holds the tape back from becoming an offering worth riding with from start to finish. On the cover of God's Father, Lil B quotes himself (as he often does), saying, “Lil B is one of the most revolutionary artists in music, all he has to do its walk and they follow.” How long his self-professed revolution lasts and in which direction the quality heads remains to be seen, but there's no doubt that Lil B won't be slowing down any time soon. —Adam Fleischer