Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
by Big Boi
  • Record Label: Def Jam
  • Release Date: Dec 11, 2012
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
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  1. AllMusic
    Dec 10, 2012
    50
    Big Boi adapts to the unfamiliar surroundings with little effort and often sounds comfortable, but the fusions are short on power.
  2. BBC Music
    Dec 20, 2012
    60
    It feels rushed, like it needed more time for its many ingredients to blend.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Dec 11, 2012
    50
    In his quest to impress, Big Boi short-changes the street-level swagger that always kept his partner Andre 3000 here on Earth.
  5. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jan 7, 2013
    60
    Big Boi is the best thing about the album--and double props for staying true to his entire career's quest of never making the same album twice. But Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors as a whole? It's all over the place.
  6. NOW Magazine
    Dec 13, 2012
    60
    The disparate guest list means the record lacks some cohesion, but Big Boi--ambitious, effusive and still a remarkably lithe rapper--holds it all together.
  7. Paste Magazine
    Dec 11, 2012
    52
    Everything about this record is a shame: it explores new creative territory, the rhyming is solid and syntactically delightful (Big Boi's pronunciations are always more quotable than his lines), and it's a deserving outcast trying to make good as one-record-every-two-years lifer. And it simply does not work.
  8. PopMatters
    Dec 13, 2012
    60
    Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors is much more compilation than album album, more than any of Big Boi's solo efforts to date.
  9. Q Magazine
    Jan 24, 2013
    60
    While My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was anchored by Kanye's galactic ego, Big Boi often gets lost in the crowd. [Feb 2013, p.102]
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  10. The Guardian
    Jan 3, 2013
    60
    While Killer Mike, Jai Paul and Big KRIT all earn their places, Kelly Rowland, Kid Cudi and Bosco are unnecessary decoration, and contribute to the overall sensation that this is a good album in need of a brutal trim.
  11. The Observer (UK)
    Jan 7, 2013
    60
    Curiously, it gets better as it goes on.
  12. The Quietus
    Jan 8, 2013
    50
    Without a single in sight, even by Outkast's loosey-goosey standards, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors feels like three or four different records surgically stitched together illicitly by some cross-eyed back alley quack.

Awards & Rankings

98
#98 Most Discussed Album of 2012

User Reviews

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User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 53 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 53
  3. Negative: 3 out of 53
  1. monstymonst85
    Dec 12, 2012
    10
    Once again General Patton proves that not only is he the most fun man in music, he is also the most open-minded. Big Boi is willing to playOnce again General Patton proves that not only is he the most fun man in music, he is also the most open-minded. Big Boi is willing to play with any sounds, old or new, and it shows. From the Princesque pop ditty 'Mama Told Me' (featuring a sexy-sounding Kelly Rowland) to the straight-up Dirty South banger 'In the A', and more the more electronic numbers 'Objectum Sexuality' and 'Lines' - both featuring Phantogram - there's something for everyone here. But rather than catering to all tastes with three or four songs, Patton succeeds in making a mockery of genres and scenes. Which is to say that this album is just as approachable for a tight-jeaned indie scenester as it is an 80s funk or hip-hop diehard, or a present-day pop and R'n'B devotee.

    There is absolutely no filler here whatsoever, but perhaps the most intriguing cut of all is 'Shoes for Running', a collaboration with Wavves and the oft-derided B.o.B, who rides the choppy guitars which separate the anthemic, chanty-indie verses with ease. As any hip-hop-head will tell you, Big Boi's 2010 effort 'Sir Lucious Left Foot' was easily the album of its year, and 'Vicious Lies' is mounting a serious if last-ditch challenge for this year's award. Stunning stuff.    … Full Review »
  2. QuintonB
    Jan 4, 2013
    7
    VL&DR is an uneven hipster rap album that attempts to achieve above and beyond Big Boi's capabilities. While his partner Andre 3000 may beVL&DR is an uneven hipster rap album that attempts to achieve above and beyond Big Boi's capabilities. While his partner Andre 3000 may be able to pull off weirdness well, Big Boi, unfortunately, cannot and often fails to leave a lasting impression with songs that seem almost amateurish. Thankfully, the highs outweigh the lows, with songs like, "The Thickets", the Janelle Monae-esque jam, "Apple of My Eye", "She Hates Me", "CPU", "Mama Told Me", "Lines", and "Tremendous Damage," being standouts.… Full Review »
  3. Lumburjak
    Dec 12, 2012
    9
    Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors takes you to many places
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