Under Pressure

Logic started from the bottom, now he's here. The Maryland rapper had a nightmarish upbringing in federal housing, and on his debut LP, he isn't afraid to explore it in technically excellent style. But this album is all surface-level, free of sharp punch lines ("I been Hungary like Budapest") or metaphors that connect ("Nikki" is the umpteenth rewrite of MC Shan's 1986 girl-as-drug tale "Cocaine" – this time about nicotine). For all his gifts, Logic lacks the emotional depth and cinematic eye to tell his story with any real insight.