PREVIEW: Culture II Releases January 26th

"Culture album coming soon" 
(Album artwork from Migos Twitter)

364 days, one short of a full year, after releasing their monumental, platinum album Culture, the Atlanta trio will release it's follow-up: Culture II.

Culture II drops on January 26, 2018, for the biggest hip-hop release of the new year. With Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho releasing just last month, and with the Migos heavily featured on Quality Control: Control the Streets Vol. 1, the biggest question is: what else do they have for us? Will Culture II take risks, or should we just expect more of the classic Migos sound? 

So far we've heard 2.5 songs that are expected to make the album's final cut: Stir Fry, Motorsport (featuring Nicki Minaj and Cardi B) and a snippet of "Culture National Anthem," tweeted out by Quavo which you can see here:
On the tracklist, I would expect "Culture National Anthem" to either lead or close the album. Maybe it would make most sense as the opening track, similar to a National Anthem being played before a sporting event.

Otherwise, Stir Fry, released in December 2017, offers a fusion of old and new that could be a bigger hint at how the album will sound. The lyrics could have easily been rapped over a classic Migos beat: instead, they're performed over an interesting, upbeat track produced by Pharrell Williams.

Then there's Motorsport, which is more traditional trap. The production is pretty tight, but the show is stolen by features from two heavyweight female rappers: Nicki Minaj and Cardi B.

Could Culture II have more high-profile features? In October 2017, Quavo posted that he was with Childish Gambino and Lil Yachty in the studio. With the project being done a few months later, could they be featured on the album?
At this point, I'd be surprised if Travis Scott doesn't make an appearance after featuring on Culture's "Kelly Price" and making Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, with Quavo (and Offset and Takeoff each make a guest appearance).

An X-Factor for Culture II could be it's executive producer: which has yet to be revealed. Quavo has said the executive producer will be "interesting," leaving us imagining who it could be. Guesses literally hit all ends of the spectrum: from the legendary Kanye West to 1-year-old Ashad Khaled in another honorary credit.

So what kind of album will Culture II be? We don't have to wait too long to find out. Expectations are pretty high from fans and critics alike for the trio's third studio album. We can definitely expect a solid half of the album to sound like classic Migos: and that's not a bad thing. Trading triplets and hooks over great trap beats is the group's strength.
But I would still expect a few different types of songs. These songs could vary in many ways: lyrical content, flows, beats, themes and subgenres. Also, I don't think we've heard any of the album's "killer" tracks yet: like "Bad and Boujee," "Slippery," and "T-Shirt" were for Culture.

Finally, the features and producers could really blow the album out of the water. Not that the group isn't capable of creating a great album on their own, but these additions could make it that much better.

Culture II will release on January 26th, so be sure to follow B-Sak Hip-Hop on Twitter for updates and a review.

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