More of the same sound continues on the artist’s second release of the year

NAV is ambitious, to say the least. Collaborating with dozens of other artists over the past few projects and releasing a double album earlier this Spring, the artist is back with a surprise mixtape, Emergency Tsunami.

The project clocks in at a mere 33 minutes over 12 tracks, which happens to be significantly shorter than his last project. The former, Good Intentions (Deluxe), is an immense 32 songs over nearly an hour and a half. This slim project wouldn’t be a complete NAV album without features from his closest collaborators, including Young Thug, Lil Keed, SahBabii and Gunna.

While NAV may not offer much in terms of new, interesting content on this project, a handful of the other artists offer some pleasant features. Breakout tracks from the album include “Young Wheezy” with Gunna, “Repercussions” featuring Young Thug, and lead single “Friends & Family.”

While hopes were high that NAV would break out of his creative path, that he’s stayed true to for the majority of his career, it seems as if the artist has stuck to his formula yet again. Delivering much of the same lyrical content in the same rhythm with little variance, the rapper has yet to bring a new style to the table since he climbed the charts years ago.

The one aspect of this project that does shine, however, is the remarkable production by Wheezy. Few producers can create a sound that revolves around the artist’s voice as well as Wheezy tends to with most artists he collaborates with. His instrumentals are attention-grabbing, high-energy beats with a certain flair of high-quality.

NAV sticks to his usual habitat when it comes to rapping and lyric delivery, as he sticks to the same, single flow on each track and discusses the luxuries of his current lifestyle. On the track “Friends & Family”, a standout primarily for Wheezy’s production, NAV solely discusses how successful his life is and how ruthless he’ll be towards others that challenge him. With this being his primary point of lyricism, it’s quite thought-provoking as to why the song is called “Friends & Family”.

While the project may not be a complete disappointment, fans expected much more from NAV on a brisk, concise project of this nature. With each new project that comes from the artist, it seems less and less likely that he’s going to deliver something creatively new and original. His fanbase can only hope that he’ll change and deliver something refreshing in due time.

Review: 2/5