By Andrew Stahl

L.A. hip-hop artists Blxst, member of the XXL 2021 freshman class, and Bino Rideaux, whose full-length debut came out in 2019, have teamed up for the sequel to 2019’s Sixtape. And you know what they say about sequels….

Bino and Blxst quickly fall into a pattern: chorus by Blxst followed by a verse from Bino – usually bearing a tenuous connection to the themes announced in the chorus – then chorus, verse by Blxst, and again, and again. The routine becomes grating on a complete listen, and the choruses don’t do enough to sustain interest. Blxst’s presence on Sixtape 2 shows little of the emotional sensitivity of No Love Lost or the creative flexes of “Don’t Forget.” But one learns to appreciate Blxst’s choruses after slogs like “Hate How Much.” Bino’s slurs and autotunes the track into almost total incomprehensibility. And the dedicated listener who checks Genius will not be shocked to find a limited repertoire of subjects dominating his verses. Like highly-regulated forms of poetry, lyrics about sex, drugs and money are meant to showcase one’s creativity and cleverness in addressing well-worn themes; Bino merely rehearses them. 

There are some highlights. “Accountable” maintains their predictable song-pattern, and the lyrics aren’t particularly sophisticated, but at least the song has something to say. Album closer “Beginning to the Ending” edges up to catchiness, as if to catch it by surprise. What was it they say about trilogies?