“Culture II” is an attempt to recapture the perfection of “Culture.” Backed by a weaker single (“Stir Fry”) than the one on Culture (“Bad and Boujee”), the album seems like two separate projects meshed together. On one side is the more experimental project, and on the other the raw trap project. The experimental side shines above the rest. “Narcos,” the album’s best song, transports us to a druggy Latin paradise as the guitar strings cascade the listener throughout the song. The experimental production on songs like “Too Playa” with a transcendent saxophone, “Notice Me” with a light-hearted piano complimented by strong kicks, and “Stir Fry” with its 2000-esque feel is spectacular. Despite the success of the experimentation, the raw side, reminiscent of Migos circa 2015, still delivers. Songs like “Too Much Jewelry” and “Crown The Kings” have an aggressiveness and hard-hitting sound thought to have been lost by Migos.
However, songs like “White Sand” and “CC” stand out as attempts to let big names such as Gucci Mane and Travis Scott do all the work. Migos should have been playing on their own ability as rappers which Takeoff embraced fully for the first time since the Migos mixtape days. Although underwhelming, this album does do one thing for Migos fans: it confirms the suspicions that Takeoff might be the best of the Migos.
