Disclaimer: Rankings are my opinion and based on my enjoyment level + replayability 

Last weekend Lil Skies dropped his 2nd studio album Unbothered. I really loved Welcome To The Rodeo and thought Shelby had some sleepers that I kept coming back to. I’m a big fan of the beats Skies usually chooses on his albums and the dude can definitely hit some crazy catchy melodies. The singles that were released prior to the album really had me hyped for it, so let’s jump into what I thought after listening to it for a week. 

Song Breakdown

1. Fade Away- The album starts off strong with the song Fade Away. This track gives classic Skies vibes right off the gate with the melodic autotune leading to Skies spitting on the track. This track is a good pick me up for when you feel like you’re losing motivation on your grind. Will definitely be a song for me to play at the gym or to blast in the whip. Like the little nod to Mac Miller. (“RIP Mac on my GOAT shit)  Ranking: 9/10

2. Take 5- This one goes even harder than the last for me. Reminds me of something off of Welcome to The Rodeo. Beat is pretty average but the chorus is mad catchy and Skies flows effortlessly on it making it a bop. Ranking: 9.2/10 

3. Excite Me (feat. Wiz Khalifa)- The first track with a feature comes out hot with Wiz Khalifa going in giving off a surprisingly good verse. The only problem is that it’s probably the best part of the song. The chorus is meh in my opinion and Skies verse is not too crazy. Probably won’t voluntarily go back to this one unless I decide to listen through the whole album.  Ranking: 4/10

4. Havin My Way (Ft. Lil Durk)- One of the singles from the album, this song is a BANGER for sure. The chorus flows hard on the catchy guitar-filled beat. Durk’s verse seams effortlessly into the track creating a real cohesive tune that I can still go back to. Even though it’s been out for a hot minute it still holds up. Ranking: 9.5/10

5. Ok- Another single that came out just before the album. This one is definitely a different type of sound that we don’t normally hear from Skies or really anything else I’ve really heard really. It’s not really bad but threw me off guard when I first heard it. The audio has a lot of reverb on Skies’s voice and it sounds like he outside the track if that makes any sense. I’ll come back to it since it’s in my rotation but it’s not the best thing ever that’s for sure. Ranking: 7/10

6. Dead Broke- Skies hits again on this track. It’s a basic trap beat but the flow is immaculate and it’s definitely catchy. Another song to get hype to so it’s in my rotation. Ranking: 8/10. 

7. On Sight- Like the beat on this one. Some more melodic rapping on this track from Skies. This is the type of vibe I love to hear from him so it’s a yes for me. Not the greatest track but if you like Lil Skies you’ll like this. Ranking: 8/10

8. Think Deep Don’t Sink- Song is just okay. Not really a fan of the choppy verses. The second verse flows better but the song is kind of long to get to that point. As a whole it’s kind of a struggle to get through without wanting to skip for me. Ranking: 3/10

9. Red Wine and Jodeci- Don’t think this song has gotten much play so far based on SoundCloud views, but this is one of my favorites. Really love the way the beat hits different frequencies. On top of that the vibe Lil Skies brings on his verses really matches. Best song on the album other than the singles for me. Ranking: 9.3/10

10. Locked Up- This song is pretty hard. It’s not really anything unique but it’s kind of a bop. Skies switches up his voice a bit and the flow is alright. The ad libs are kind of funny to me. It’s still hard though. Ranking: 6/10

11. Trust Nobody- Like the storytelling aspect in the chorus on this one. The second verse goes hard af. I Feel like I have to be in a certain mood to listen to this song but it’s nice. Ranking: 6.5/10

12. Riot- The final single, love this one. The beat and bass on this one is nice, bumps at just the right moments. This is definitely a hype song that I love to listen to at the gym. The catchyness of it’s flow is wild and it gets more fire as the song goes on. Ranking: 9.5/10

13. Sky High- A bit of a switch up from “Riot”, this song brings out more of that melodic autotune Skies in the chorus. Not really his best in my opinion. His verse around 2:00 in is pretty good, but not a fan of the singing in this one. Ranking: 4/10

14. Mhmmm- Skies on that autotune flow with this one. The rhyming is pretty nice and I like the violin beat. It’s a decent outro track probably not something I’ll go back to unless I’m listening through the album though. Ranking: 4/10

Final Thoughts:

I saw a lot of people online saying Lil Skies has been stagnant in his sound and that his album is the same, if not a step down, from his previous works. While it doesn’t quite live up to Welcome to The Rodeo in my opinion, it still has some fire hits. My favorites that weren’t previously released singles were: Take 5, Fade Away, On Sight, Dead Broke and Red Wine and Jodeci. 

Lil Skies was pretty versatile with only two features on the album. The singles were really the best of the album and I was hoping for another song or two that were at least on par with them. Some songs were close but not quite there. Skies seems to be spitting bars a lot more on this album instead of trying to flow melodically most tracks like in his past works. I personally prefer the latter types of songs but Skies does his thing when he wants to flow for sure. All said and done there’s a good amount of songs I’ll go back to.

Final Verdict: 7/10 

What are your thoughts? Is it hot or not? Leave a comment down below!

Thanks for Reading!

Check out my last review: Whole Lotta Red – Playboi Carti