Maryland rapper Logic seems to have had much more fun making The Incredible True Story than his 2014 major-label debut, Under Pressure, which buckled under the weight of its protagonist’s dark childhood. His sophomore LP is practically giddy: He’s still contemplative but with a lot more swagger, as on the chest-thumping “I Am the Greatest.” There’s a loose narrative, told through skits: 100 years in the dystopian future, astronauts search for a new home planet with True Story as their soundtrack: “You know this is the album that changed everything, right?”
It’s an audacious claim that Logic never makes good on. He’s a gifted rapper with dense lyrics and an ear for beats. (The breezy funk of “Like Woah” and the chipmunk soul of “Never Been” are highlights.) But most of his ideas seem borrowed from peers like Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Kanye West.