Dababy’s second album Kirk has flashes of energy but is let down by poor features, a lack of direction, and Dababy’s inability to breakout of his mold. 

Before Dababy became the loud-mouthed energy stoked rapper that conquered the charts he was Jonathan Kirk. A hungry creative in Charlotte North Carolina who finally had his moment on the charts with his breakout hit Suge which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard and went platinum. After listening to Suge you’ve heard every Dababy song. They all sound the same, there fast rapping, high energy, adlib filled over generic bass heavy trap production. It may be repeated often for Dababy, but he is consistent at making “that one song”. 

Kirk gave Dababy the ability to expand his sound and go in a direction he doesn’t normally go, which he does on the first track Intro. Intro covers heavy themes about Dababy losing both his dad and grandma right when he has the most success, all over a beat that sounds straight out of a Sunday church service. But Kirk peaks to early as an album, and it never gets back on its feet. 

Dababys next two songs Off the Rip and Bop fit the general mold of Dababys regular songs but they show his energy in new and exciting ways all under production that is strong and unique. They show that Dababy can stick with his sound and still expand it. On Off the Rip Dababy proudly announces 0.01 seconds into the song before the beat drops. 

“Straight off the rip you know I don’t wait for the drop.” 

But none of the guests Dababy brings on to the album can match his pace. None of the 8 features can step up Dababys level. Songs like Pop Star, Toes, and Really are almost not worth talking about. Bland instrumentals, boring features, and a lack of effort. At this point in the album not even Dababy can save these songs from pure mediocrity. He points in minimal effort on verses, adlibs, and hooks.  

The album hits lowest low on iPhone with Nicki Minaj. Dababy proves why he can’t write hooks or sing all with in the first minute of the song. It’s covered in bad autotune and the Nicki verse only compounds the song. She’s mixed so quietly under the beat you can’t hear her rap poorly or sing poorly, not like she needs to be heard though.  

The least Dababy can do is finish the album strongly and at least break mediocrity but the last song XXL is his XXL freshman cypher with a beat behind it. If Dababy needs to pull from a freestyle, he did for the XXL magazine to pad out the album the album isn’t that good.  

Kirk is a mixed bag in the trust sense. Intro, Off the Rip, and Bop set the bar to far and Dababy never reaches those heights. Instead settling into his mold and not flexing his creative muscles, he is surrounded by features that sound phoned in and forgettable. All punctuated by iPhones sheer repulsiveness and XXL’s laziness to make a genuine song. 

There is only one way to rate Dababys Kirk, the most middle of the road rating a 5/10.