Trippie Redd released his newest LP and third commercial album, “Pegasus,” Oct. 30, proving Redd continues to endure in the rap scene with his style of pop punk-influenced emo rap and unique, rocky vocal delivery. 

“Pegasus” shows the former Soundcloud rapper attempting to reconnect with his emo trap origins with tracks made to convey a sentimental, sensual and even romantic response from the listener. 

Let me first clarify my thoughts on Trippie Redd before delving further into this album. While I am not a staunch Trippie Redd “stan” in any capacity, I can confidently say that I am continually growing to like his music and can appreciate the talent there. Although I have not listened to the entirety of his discography, the songs recommended to me by diehard fans are not only impressive but have encouraged me to seek out other tracks from his discography on my own accord. I entered “Pegasus” with high, but realistic, expectations—willing to accept whatever Redd had to display. 

Discovering that the album was not only 26 tracks in length but also 74 minutes in runtime left my jaw hanging open as I stared at my Spotify page. I tried to convince myself that perhaps this plethora of tracks and the lengthy runtime would be justified as part of this powerful and emotional journey into the mind of Trippie Redd. Yet, after I finished the album (in what seemed like hours), many powerful emotions fired off in my brain. These were probably not the ones intended by Redd, as I was left severely perplexed and moderately frustrated. 

“Pegasus” seems to have a consistent feel-good focus, as many tracks on the record (at least make an attempt to) convey a consistent theme of romance through various sentimental and sensual cuts on the album. However, Trippie Redd’s execution on many of these tracks fall flat as his minimalistic lyricism does very little service to his slightly developed concepts. I didn’t think the production was terrible on first listen, but after running through the setlist again I realized that the production is quite lacking as most of the tracks either have bland production with generic trap beats or even poor sound mixing. “Kid that Kidd” features Future’s vocals sounding muffled to the point of talking on a mic through a P.A. system. 

With a runtime of almost 75 minutes, I expected the album to be more multifaceted on the songwriting end as well. Much of “Pegasus” consists of lyrical refrains that made me roll my eyes in annoyance. On the track “Personal Favorite,” an obviously emotional song addressed to a loved one, Redd’s language is just too childish for the subject. The chorus reads, “Tell me where to go, tell me where to go, I know you mad, but let it go, gotta let it go,” where Redd quite literally rhymes the word “go” with “go.” And the track “Excitement” makes a pretty underwhelming connection between the sea god Poseidon and himself, announcing his partner “loving his trident” as the song continues with this chorus for approximately five minutes too long. So many verses on this album seem to just saunter on by, not one of them sticking with me by the end of my listening period.

The features on this album serve the same purpose as wallpaper in a room does. The wallpaper is there and you might admire it for the first minute you enter the room, but the wallpaper will eventually shift to your periphery as if it didn’t exist at all. Rich the Kid had virtually no interesting aspects to his performance on “Personal Favorite,” with barely any charisma, eccentricity or style to grasp onto. On the track “Kid that Kidd,” the ad libs from Doe Boy are so awkwardly placed that my ears became genuinely irritated. Even the legendary Busta Rhymes’ verse on “I Got You” isn’t that memorable, as the beat doesn’t even last a whole minute on the overall three-minute duration of the track. Although usually Young Thug’s eccentricity shines off of most of his features, he, too, seems to be too lowkey to give a compelling performance on this album.

With 26 tracks and 74 minutes of runtime, it’s surprising how little I can come up with to take away from this album. Most songs really struggle to resonate, as they lack structure and development with an average runtime of less than three minutes per song (not as if the lyrics were really worth developing). The experience felt as if I was experiencing severe deja-vu for the entirety of the album, with most tracks blending together back-to-back.

I even listened to the entire album a second time as I almost fell asleep on my initial listen, but I still grew increasingly fatigued as the album progressed. While the track had few instances of solid production and some choruses that were not entirely rough, the length is too much for any person to handle and “Pegasus” is just a mess at its core. 

I know it to be a definitive fact that Trippie Redd can construct solid melodies and rap bangers, so I hope he spends more time trimming and perfecting his tracks on his projects instead of feeling the need to release an hour-long project with an excessive tracklist, especially in such proximity to his previous album.

★☆☆☆☆