Album Review: A New Offset

In his debut album, Offset steps out of his comfort zone and gets a little more intimate with his fans.

Written by Mark Yoder

Photo courtesy of Quality Control Music and Motown Records

If there is one football position considered the most important to team performance, it’s the quarterback. In high school, Quavo was the quarterback on the football team, and he plays a similar role for the Atlanta rap trio Migos through his leadership of the group and his facilitation of the success of his partners. Fans have always doubted how well Offset and Takeoff would do if the group ever parted ways and thought that Quavo was the best poised to find solo success — he has an undeniable charisma and a talent for crooning autotune hooks. Offset, however, plays a bigger role in the trio than fans may realize. He balances out Quavo’s carefree euphoria with the very cold and cutthroat energy he brings to Migos songs, attributed to his life experiences.

From going to jail multiple times to getting into a life-threatening crash only a year ago, Offset has arguably had the most tumultuous life of the three Migos. He usually keeps a low profile and doesn’t say much in interviews, letting Quavo do most of the talking. Despite all of this, he has proven his many doubters and Quavo enthusiasts wrong by having the most solo success thus far. He has had several features on smash hits like “Taste” by Tyga and “Met Gala” by Gucci Mane and made a successful collab album with 21 Savage with Without Warning. The whole album was highly praised by fans, but the most popular song on the album, “Ric Flair Drip,” was done entirely by Offset without any features. The dark production paired with cold-blooded deliveries and snappy ad libs displayed Offset at his best. Neither of the other Migos solo albums have done extremely well and now, with Father of 4, it is Offset’s turn to begin his reign as the most commercially popular Migo.

Offset delves into his personal life more than he usually does on a normal Migos project, but how successful he is in approaching these topics is debatable. The first song and title track, “Father of 4,” is probably the most successful with Offset delivering somber raps about his four kids. In the song, Offset is calling them and apologizing for his shortcomings as a father with remorseful lines like “Jordan, sorry I wasn't there for all your birthdays / I tried to hit, I wasn't rich, and had no workplace.”

But from this bittersweet moment Offset quickly jumps into a fast flow with many loosely connected lyrics about his life on the song “How Did I Get Here.” Offset generally operates in a small range of tones and flows so tracks can get somewhat monotonous and guest spots like J. Cole serve to add some needed flavor. But Offset still brings plenty of energy to most of the tracks, and it is definitely fun to hear him play his own hype man, emphasizing every line with a boisterous ad lib. “Tats on My Face” and “Wild West” are both album high points and great, rare examples of Offset switching up his flow. He raps with conviction under a solid production effort from Icey Boyz and Metro Boomin.

It seems as though Offset builds his verses line by line and mainly looks at the rhyme scheme, which creates an odd experience. In “After Dark,” he has emotional and personal lines like “Whole lot of pain, black in my heart / I know she ashamed, I broke her heart.” But not more than a few lines later, there are braggadocious lyrics like “Macbook Pro, how I bend over your hoe.”This phenomenon is found on most of the tracks and this lack of lyrical focus hurts the impact of the more personal lines. This isn’t usually a problem for the Migos, as they run off of pure energy and rhythm instead of lyrical content. But when Offset is rapping about personal issues, the listener wants to engage with the lyrics more deeply, just for Offset to default to the same rap cliches. Despite these shortcomings, the album ends on a high note with “Came A Long Way.” Metro Boomin creates a solemn organ beat with subtle lightsaber sound effects, and Offset reminisces on some of the harder times he experienced before his rap career blew up.

Although Father of 4 is inconsistent overall, it is a strong effort from Offset and the most vulnerable we have heard a Migo to date.