01. Our Condition (feat. Lifelike) 02. Heartburn Revisited 03. Lullaby 04. Omen 05. Untitled 06. Untitled 2 07. Our Condition (instrumental) 08. Heartburn Revisited (instrumental) 09. Lullaby (instrumental) The feel-good album of the year! No, wait. Wrong album. Definitely the wrong album. Some rappers (like jdwalker's ex-partner in crime, Sole) manage to get away with navel-gazing and excessive introspection because they actually have something to say and have interesting production backing them up. jdwalker, on the other hand, is just... sort of there. Oscilatting between rapid-fire and langorous, breathy delivery, jdwalker isn't lacking for technical skills. It's just that the content just never materializes. Exactly how self-absorbed do you have to be to fool yourself into believing that "faces clash with the scenery / intentions muddled by justifications / actions echo the need for self-approval / I'd rather be aware of our condition" makes for a good hook? Does that even make any fucking sense? He falls the unfortunate victim of dictionary rap, scattering nickel words around at an absurd pace, hoping that the piles of syllables left behind him prove that he had something to say and unfortunately, it absolutely doesn't. The production is even worse. Fuzzy, forgettable hooks linger atop weak drum breaks, and a third-rate metal hook even shows up on "Lullaby", making it the least judicious choice of a metal guitar since El-P's production job for "Revolutions Per Minute" on The Vapors Project. With few exceptions, the production is forgettable to the point of actually being offensive, only taking a break from the near-funeral-dirge lurch of the album on an "untitled" track. It's not even that great of a track, but it stands out from the rest of the album because it sounds naked and for once, the minimal production work melds with jdwalker's sing-song delivery. Maybe it's just the season talking for me (goddamned long winter), but I just couldn't bring myself to stomach this murky dirge. The production somehow manages to be grating at the same time that it's bland and the lyrics are pretty instantly forgettable. Is it an out-and-out insult to call this a so-so college poetry album? - jesus x. lovejones