By Alexas Durr

HE’S BACK! Sporting a low-cut and becoming completely vegetarian, Lloyd dropped his new album “Tru” August 31st, 2018.

Lloyd can now be considered a business vet. His first album through The Inc. Records was Southside, including entertainment favorites: Southside (feat. Ashanti) and its remix featuring Ashanti and Scarface. His second album Street Love was released around albums such as Late Night Special (Pretty Ricky) and Because of You (Ne-Yo). Street Love debuted the US Billboard 200 at #2 with 145,000 copies in the first week and received gold certification. Big singles from Street Love include “You”, “Player’s Prayer” and “Get It Shawty”.

 

The singer’s third album Lessons In Love debuted at #7 on Billboard 200, #1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and had sales of 51,000 in the first week. The biggest hit from this album? “Girls Around the World” featuring Lil Wayne and peaking at #64 on Billboard Hot 100. The last major project Lloyd had dropped was King of Hearts on July 5th, 2011, but the artist had singles and mixtapes drop intermittently including song “Set Me Free” and mixtape The Playboy Diaries Vol. 1, which featured favorite August Alsina and legend Lil Wayne.

Would we say that Lloyd was in a hiatus? We could, but the bigger question is: “How does “Tru” compete?”

With 46 minutes and 31 seconds of sound, Lloyd starts the album with “Appreciation Day”. Listening to the lyrics, Lloyd discusses his foundation and people who poured into him, and vaguely illuminates some of the obstacles he has endured over his career. This track features Khujo Goodie discussing what blessings are. “Appreciation Day” sets the tone of the album depicting that this album will venture through Lloyd’s life during his hiatus.

Songs that remain on replay? “Infinity”, “Lil Sis” and “Tru”.

“Lil Sis” features the Spelman Women’s Choir and the song shows a more vulnerable side of Lloyd with him publicly speaking on his sister’s transition shortly after her birth. Lloyd verbalizes on Instagram:

“I have been so reluctant to speak about her in public, keeping her love in a safe space, and I feel so happy to be able to confess my love for her now. I think about her everyday. And I know if it weren’t for the sacrifices she made, I may not have my beautiful young brother, Christina, who was born the year after her”

“Infinity” discusses his love for his son, River and Lloyd discusses how it was not until his birth that he truly realized that he had a bigger purpose.

“Tru” was a summer hit and is certified Platinum with over one million sales and streams. Lloyd closes the album with this track by culminating his life over the past few years and wanting fans and critics to understand that life happens and this was his way to cope and he wants to be accepted for who he is.

With the buzz of the album drop, Twitter and Instagram vent viral with trying to see if the lyrics were “fine, too” or ” she’s 5’2″.

While the social media craze was good for welcoming Lloyd back to the game, “Tru” gets an overall rating of 6.8.

1. My rankings of discography:

1.1. Street Love

1.2. Southside

1.3. Lessons of Love

1.4. Tru

1.5. King of Hearts

2. The album is different compared to the others in terms of the songs’ messages, but I appreciated the transparency because there was always that thought of “Where has Lloyd been?”

3. Some of the tracks are relatable to the average person. Lloyd followed Chance the Rapper’s approach with Coloring Book; they talked about their experiences in the industry and how their personal and professional lives intertwined.

4. He doesn’t completely abandon the Lloyd we knew back in the early 2000s. We get some sultry, playboy vibes from Lloyd, but there’s a twist. It’s all focused on one woman. It was interesting to see how he gave us what we knew from previous music to incorporate his evolvement as a man.