Was Huncho Jack/Jack Huncho a Perfect 10/10?

If you didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas this year, hopefully you found something you can enjoy in Hip-Hop’s most anticipated collaboration project, “Huncho Jack/Jack Huncho”. After continuously teasing fans on social media, Travis Scott and Head Huncho Migos member, Quavo finally released the album on December 21st. The project was packaged to the fans as what seems to have been an early Christmas present from the stars. The album artwork is both eerie and exciting. The cover was designed by Ralph Steadman and is a wonderful first impression before the unwrapping.

M E R R Y X M A S

A post shared by QuavoHuncho (@quavohuncho) on Dec 20, 2017 at 4:01pm PST

Merry Christmas

A post shared by flame (@travisscott) on Dec 20, 2017 at 4:02pm PST

The joint album, “Huncho Jack/Jack Huncho” consists of 13 tracks and is available on Apple Music and all other streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal, Soundcloud and many others. This project comes to us as an effortless, autotune composed album, with a mixture of melodic raps and trap beats. While I can easily say together they are hip-hop’s hottest duo, was Huncho Jack/Jack Huncho” a 10/10?

O N L Y S E T A N D T A K E

A post shared by QuavoHuncho (@quavohuncho) on Dec 21, 2017 at 12:18pm PST

The answer is no. Although I can’t justify this album being a perfect 10, my honest rating for Huncho Jack/Jack Huncho would be a 7/10. My reasoning for this is very simple. This album had little to none experimenting, there were no risk taken at any point on this whole project. Travis and Quavo stuck to the formula they’ve been used to since they got together back in Travis’ “Days Before Rodeo”, but I wanted them to spark a new vibe between them. Nonetheless, the chemistry between is there, quality production was given, but both artists did not match up to their true potential.

Without further ado, let’s get to the album. Huncho Jack/ Jack Huncho starts off with the first track of the album, “Modern Slavery”. Like always, the first track is a always a good indicator of what to expect from start to finish. In this track, the intro features an Otis Redding sample, which contrast the artists reference and comparison to past-tense and their version of present-day, modern slavery. This song reminds me of samples used previously on songs like “Blood on the Leaves” by Kanye West. It also reminded me of most tracks on J. Cole’s “Any Given Sunday” LP’s. In other words, kudos to Travis Scott and Quavo with their tone-defying intro.

Following “Modern Slavery” comes “Black and Chinese”, which seems to be an homage to Travis & Quavo’s preference in women. The transition between songs was done smoothly moving into the next vibe. In this song, we feel out a more melodic Travis. I also felt the “sweet sweet” similarities in tone towards the end. This song alongside “Motorcycle Patches” and “How U Feel” are by far my favorite songs on the album. I personally think I like “Motorcycle Patches” as my favorite mostly due to Travis’ similar cadence to his summer single, “Butterfly Effect”. The track after “Black and Chinese”, “Eye to Eye” was one of my least favorites. Not because Takeoff was actually the one featured on this song, but because it was very repetitive. There are other songs like “Huncho Jack”, “Saint”, “Best Man” who don’t resonate much with me either. Not really because of the repetitiveness but mostly because no bar stood out to me.

But speaking of bars, there were lots of memorable moments in the Huncho Jack album that are worth mentioning.

Most memorable lyrics:

• “Yeah she couldn’t drive it, she took a Tesla (It’s lit). Told her to wrap around me just like a necklace. -Black and Chinese
• “So many watches a n**a can’t run out of time”- Eye to Eye
• “Jumped out the coupe with the black inside you would think I’m racist” – Go
• “Paparazzi flashes wanna deprive me/ Hypnotized, I cannot let it blindside me”- Moon Rock
• “Need no Hennessy/ Crib in the trees/ Trap house with the bees (Alright!)/ Tell me how you feel/ Nike boys for real (Yeah)” – How U Feel

In all, I still can give the album a fair and overall positive feedback. The album was what we did expect from the two, but I don’t believe there will be a timeless overall lasting impression on many. I was expecting to receive at least a single that would excel or come close to Birds in The Trap Sing McKnight’s, “Pick up the Phone”, which has been one of the duo’s most successful track. The song was released June 3, 2016 by Grand Hustle Records, Epic Records, Atlantic Records and 300 Entertainment. “Pick up the Phone” debuted on the No. 90 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 a few months into the release. It eventually peaked at No. 43 and is one of the highest peaking songs released between the two. To conclude the successes between the two in this single, the song was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIIA) in May 2017.

In other words, this is the Travis Scott and Quavo we want. We hold our hopes and standards up very high for the two because we know what can come from artists of this caliber. I’m excited for the new year to see what will become of the two artist and Migos as a collective. We will keep you guys updated as far as when these artist drop music. Travis, we’re gonna need “Astroworld” from you soon. Huncho Jack can only hold us up for so long.