Probability doesn’t appear relaxed placing all of it on the market, which, in a twisted method, solely makes me need it extra. Together with his normal mixture of sun-kissed melodies and squawking ad-libs, inoffensively sweeping soul beats with gospel touches by his normal manufacturing braintrust, he opens up simply sufficient to get the web off his again. “Some days I simply ghost her, some days I’m imagined to/The crib really feel like a gunfight, however them strollers, that’s the holster,” he raps on “The Highs & Lows,” the easygoing piano-led beat permits his phrases to breathe. He sounds slightly lonely and unhappy, like he’s skipping rocks on the lake on “Again to the Go,” as he thinks in regards to the impact his relationship falling aside can have on his children and having to spend his days in a bachelor pad. It’s his most direct writing and, sadly, it’s completed over a rock-rap instrumental that sounds prefer it was ripped from a 2DopeBoyz weblog put up.
There’s a suggestion that his vanity has taken successful on “Fairly,” the place, over a vocal pattern pitched-up to Heatmakerz ranges, he works via his insecurities in actual time: “My mother instructed me I’m a pleasant particular person/I bought left however perhaps I ain’t discover the precise particular person/I bought clear, perhaps I ain’t get the precise model.” There are a couple of hanging moments like these the place Probability permits himself to really feel unconsciously uncovered. However more often than not, it feels such as you’re listening to Probability’s feelings as soon as they’ve already been self-consciously processed, which is much less private and fascinating. For instance, “House & Time,” a bland and distant ballad the place he builds up the maturity to face the crib the place he thought he’d increase a household, sounds straight off the Lion King soundtrack.
It’s human to be tentative when writing about intimate experiences, however Probability not often lets these bits of pure feeling slip via the cracks. His writing feels closely combed over, and although he calls himself an “emotional rollercoaster,” I solely get that as a result of he stated so. In any other case he doesn’t enable himself to be probably picked aside or embarrassed, like on Acid Rap when he downplays his Blackness to ladies in an try to get laid. Probability would fairly cloak his emotions in his dependable wordplay (“You recognize it’s soiled when the sink soiled,” he raps on “Negro Drawback”) or shift the main target away from his relationship fully. “No Extra Previous Males,” with longtime collaborator Jamila Woods, is his candy spot, vividly describing childhood reminiscences (the familial vibe of the barbershop; his uncles on the block consuming beers and betting on boxing matches) as a method of messaging the dearth of male mentors in his hometown these days. In addition to “Letters,” the place he calls out the unholy actions of each his native parish and Joel Osteen-style megachurches. Each are strong and impassioned Probability the Rapper songs—he’s bending his voice, toggling between moods—that present the totality of what’s on his thoughts, however I really feel his message greater than I truly need to hearken to him on the identical frictionless, loungey beats that haven’t sounded recent in a decade.
It’s irritating that the primary purpose of Star Line appears to be for Probability to reset the board with out getting shit on. That’s an uninspired mission that largely depends on Probability reverting again to his corny writing workouts (the greek mythology bit on “House & Time”), trusted lighthearted stoner anthems (“Tree”), and knack for bringing a cross-generational forged of likable characters into his world like he did on Coloring Guide: Some work (DJ Pharris’ drop on the intro; BabyChiefDoit’s foul-mouthed drill punchlines; Do or Die’s welcomed nostalgia tour) and a few don’t (Lil Wayne in 2025; stale BJ the Chicago Child components; a Jay Electronica verse that sounds prefer it was recorded in a Rothschild household dungeon). It’s not often unhealthy, simply secure, doing extra to remind us of the previous days than to embrace the musical crossroads he’s at. That looks like a missed alternative to fill within the blanks which might be nonetheless there.
