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Oct 4, 2022Individual songs can be seductive but his singing can lull you into a peaceful state over such a long stretch. Yeah it’s not much of a complaint at all is it? Don’t buy this album if you don’t want to chill out too much.
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Sep 27, 2022Rod Wave’s brush with legal danger gives Beautiful Mind’s its structure as well as a sense that he’s charting new territory, and not just the themes of success and alienation that fueled past hits like Ghetto Gospel and Pray 4 Love. Some listeners might be wary of this chastened figure who nevertheless doggedly sticks to the “trenches” and complains on “Better,” “I thought it’d be smiles on they faces, tears coming out they eyes, hearing congratulations/But they make it no better.”
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Sep 27, 2022Wave's formula of recounting painful memories and reflecting on how far he's come on the road to stardom starts to wear a little thin midway through Beautiful Mind, but he switches things up enough with the unexpected R&B vocal samples of "No Deal" and the booming, anthemic arrangement of "Mafia" to keep things moving along.
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Sep 27, 2022Those who are less dedicated to the soul-trap genre might find the hour-long, 24-track album a test of their aural endurance. Beautiful Mind shows every element that contributed to Wave’s rapid ascent to the top of his genre: the interplay between his vocals and verse; the bitter honesty with which he describes his early life experiences; and his skill for turning any sample – no matter how well-known – into his own anthemic trap-soul style.
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Sep 27, 2022The glimmers of a brighter future that dot Beautiful Mind—or, failing that, newer bits of pain and suffering inspired by the slog of fame—are its best moments, pushing Rod Wave just a little bit closer to peace.