Disclaimer: I judge albums based on how enjoyable they are to listen to, how likely I am to revisit them and add them to my personal playlist. Obviously lyricism is important but for me it isn’t the defining factor in what makes a track good, with the beat and melodies being equally if not more important.
NAV’s second official project, Perfect Timing is a collaboration with incredibly talented producer Metro Boomin. I was a big fan of NAV’s self-titled first project and thought that it had much more depth than anyone would give it credit for. Track’s like ‘Myself’ and ‘Mariah’ had a lot more emotional weight to them, breaking up the records centred entirely on drug use, women, alcohol and money.
NAV gets a lot of criticism for his vocals, with djbooth.net’s review titled “Review: NAV & Metro Boomin’s ‘Perfect Timing’ Sounds Like Siri Made a Rap Album”. In the age where a lot of rappers use auto-tune, I haven’t found NAV’s vocals as offensive as others. I had very high hopes for this project, which may be why I came out so disappointed. There are definitely some positives to be found. Metro Boomin’s production is, as expected, simpy fantastic, with perfectly crafted beats provided for NAV to work with. Sadly, I can’t help but agree with a lot of critics and feel that Metro Boomin may have wasted an entire’s album’s worth of production on NAV, who leaves a lot to be desired.
Don’t get it mistaken, NAV does have some success on the album that I think got lost in the hate. Tracks such as ‘Held Me Down’ and ‘I Don’t Care’ do carry some emotional weight, with ‘Held Me Down’ talking about NAV’s experience with being rocketed to fame and how one girl has held him down throughout this process, whereas other girls are not as trustworthy. ‘I Don’t Care’ discusses the fake friends that come with fame, as lots of people who didn’t support him when he was broke now want him to pay for their stuff. Tracks like this are few and far between for NAV but I think they’re where he can really thrive. Unfortunately, he seemed too preoccupied with flaunting his wealth and talking about drugs.
Usually I have no problem with bragging rappers. I understand that it is a part of the hip-hop culture and has been a key part of many famous rappers catalogues. However, it being the only subject material for an entire body of work is very disappointing and I’d like all rappers, not just NAV, to stop glorifying drug and alcohol use.
NAV’s vocal work also leaves a lot to be desired on the album. While not as big of a problem for me as compared to others, I do admit that NAV here does not experiment or show anything different from his mix tape, keeping the same monotone vocal work and almost exactly the same flow in every track. I wish that NAV had flexed his muscles a little more and displayed more vocal range and diversity in tones and flow. Maybe he should look at his XO leader The Weeknd, who has so many different styles that everything he does feels fresh and new.
Track’s such as ‘A$AP Ferg’ and ‘NAVUZIMETRO#PT2’ are standouts for me, but I attribute that more to the work of Lil Uzi Vert rather than NAV. ‘Minute’ is also a track made great by the features, in this case Playboi Carti and Offset. ‘You Know’ with Belly is a slower song, with a a methodical trap drum beat by Metro that was a highlight for me. I have to give a lot of credit to Metro Boomin for this album, as without his production I don’t think I would’ve given this album a second listen.
All in all, Perfect Timing seems like a missed opportunity for NAV. So many rappers would be want to have a full collab album with Metro Boomin and NAV was the one who won the lottery. He then wasted his winnings completely, sticking entirely to his own status quo rather than experimenting with flow and vocal work. Perfect Timing will be seen as a waste of Metro Boomin’s stellar production, and although an inoffensive album with some easy to listen to tracks, feels like a major disappointment to me coming off of the stellar NAV mixtape.
Rating: 5/10
Songs for playlist:
- Held Me Down
- A$AP Ferg
- You Know
- Minute
- NAVUZIMETRO#PT2
Station 22 