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Forever Image
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

  • Summary: Phife Dawg's posthumous release features guest appearances from Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Darien Brockington, Busta Rhymes, Dwele, Illa J, Lyric Jones, Little Brother, Maseo of De La Soul, Renée Neufville, Pos of De La Soul, Q-Tip, Rapsody, Redman, V.Rich, and Angela Winbush.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Apr 7, 2022
    80
    Released six years to the day after Phife's death, Forever serves as both the final realization of his artistic statement, and a loving tribute to the memory of the artist himself.
  2. Mar 23, 2022
    80
    In Forever, we hear both a middle-aged man looking back on his successes and failures both personally and professionally, and an artist unknowingly confronting mortality and trying to make peace at the end.
  3. Apr 4, 2022
    78
    Forever grants a mirror into Phife’s soul in the post-ATCQ breakup years. His musings on the importance of family and dedication to those around him, draped in a tight cloak of agile raps that could act as the standard for any era, exist as a timeless sendoff fitting for a legend.
  4. Mar 23, 2022
    70
    Forever misses some of Ventilation’s bite, even if the gentler tones are fitting given the new album’s themes.
  5. Mar 30, 2022
    70
    It's rare for a posthumous release to not only live up up to the artist's previous work, but properly capture their aura and spirit in the way that Forever manages to.
  6. Mar 23, 2022
    70
    While not without fault, ultimately ‘Forever’ emerges as a tender salute to Phife Dawg. Six years on, he remains a key aspect of the rap firmament – a light that has not dimmed.
  7. Mar 24, 2022
    67
    While Forever has moments from the artist as good as anything he’s done, it also has a lot of posthumous eulogizing and after-the-fact assembly, all riven through with a heavy dose of sentimentality.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of