Legends Never Die lives up to its name.
Legends Never Die is a lot like Kobe Bryant’s last game.
Neither Bryant nor Juice WRLD's performance was perfect, but both gave fans exactly what they needed—one last patented performance to remember their legacy by.
In his iconic last game, Bryant shot 22-for-50 and showed ugly stretches of fatigue that highlighted his reasons for retirement, but by the buzzer, none of that mattered because he finished with 60 points and a win. He gave fans across the world one last reason to passionately chant “Kobe”, and much like most of his career, he delivered in the clutch.
Juice WRLD did the same with Legends Never Die.
His popularized, vulnerable emo trap rap sound served as constant reminders of the special emotional connection Juice Wrld has with a generation that's proud of coming off as emotionless.
This week and the album's massive projected first-week sales have given fans one more chance to champion a young legend.
Just as hard as it is to imagine another basketball player sparking generations to scream “Kobe” with every shot, it’s equally difficult to imagine another artist emotionally connecting to their fanbase at the level Juice WRLD did, making his posthumous album that much more important.
The album is a constant back-and-forth between being too eerie for enjoyment and being peaceful enough for solace.
"Righteous" is the most prominent example of this feeling, as Juice WRLD serenely flows through details of his addiction with lines like, "Five or six pills in my right hand, Codeine runneth over on my nightstand, taking medicine to fix all of the damage, my anxiety the size of a planet."
Given the circumstances of his death, the song is troubling, but his tranquil vocal performance masks this lyrically dark song as a beautiful standout.
Like an emotional alchemist, Juice WRLD's vocals routinely create an outer illusion of bliss only for the lyrics to reveal cries for help and vivid descriptions of addiction.
It's like Juice WRLD knew this himself and decided to illustrate it through song, singing "This is the part where I tell you I'm fine, but I'm lying, I just don't want you to worry, this is the part where I take all my feelings and hide 'em, 'cause I don't want nobody to hurt me," on "Wishing Well".
Another highlight of the album was Juice WRLD's development through his ability to reflect his life's current situation rather than reiterating past hits.
Despite creating one of the most popular heartbreak projects in recent memory, Juice WRLD didn't rely on that subject formula on this project. Instead, he sounds in love for much of the album. Tracks like "I Want It", "Life's a Mess", "Come & Go" and "Tell Me U Love Me" all serve as examples of Juice Wrld's creative development and content versatility.
The album also shows examples of his artistic versatility through his underrated rapping ability on tracks like "Conversations" and "Blood On My Jeans".
Juice Wrld effortlessly bounces from melodic hooks to bouncy, melodic verses on these two unheralded standouts.
For 55 seconds, "Come & Go" was one of the standouts of the album.
The simple production allowed Juice WRLD to confess his love while simultaneously revealing his insecurities about the aforementioned love, but then out of nowhere, High School Musical claps and a guitar turned the gripping love song into a feel-good, end credits Disney single.
"Man of the Year" is a similar production outlier, but its placement at the end of the album fits better than "Come & Go" since it's not disrupting the momentum of the project by being in between two of the album's best love songs.
Another case of questionable production and sequencing shows through "Tell Me U Love Me".
Neither Juice WRLD nor Trippie Redd ever sounds natural over the beat, and the placement of the track after "Blood On My Jeans" and "Hate the Other Side" only highlights the track's awkwardness. Also, Trippie Redd's feature coming before The Kid LAROI's standout feature on the next track further stresses the complementary sound that "Tell Me U Love Me" wasted.
Final Score: Mid 7/10
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