the problem with party
After what was fast approaching three and a half years in the wilderness, PARTYNEXTDOOR has returned with his third album – his first in four years – with ‘PARTYMOBILE’. His previous effort ‘P3’ dropped in 2016, charting at number 3 in the US Billboard charts, becoming his most commercially successful album to date, including singles such as “Not Nice” and “Come and See Me ft Drake“, but critically it was not received as well as his first two projects.
Since then he hasn’t exactly been quiet, showcasing his proficient song-writing ability, having penned hits for icons such as Rihanna and Beyoncé, as well as releasing not one but two EP’s in 2017 with ‘Colours 2’ (along with a short film) and ‘Seven Days’ before going radio silent – at least publicly. This seemed strange from the Toronto native, who was coming off the back of his most productive year thus far in terms of musical output, as alongside the EP’s he also released and featured on over half a dozen tracks including songs with Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla Sign and Jadakiss, while teasing collaborations with heavyweights such as Kanye West, Ne-Yo and T-Pain to name a few, highlighting the volume of unreleased music he had in the vault at that point.
After going on tour with Halsey and Charli XCX, the OVO signee went on a hiatus, with the familiar jokes that he was locked in the OVO sweatshop resurfacing at an alarming rate as the labels other artists churned out their own output, including the head honcho, Drizzy Drake. His third studio album was originally slated for a 2017 release date and was set to be titled ‘Club Atlantis’, and while we may never know what happened to that project, in late 2019 he returned with two singles from the newly titled PARTYMOBILE album: “The News” & “Loyal” featuring Drake. The singles got a mixed reception with fans not sure what to expect from PARTYMOBILE but after being pushed back a month from its original release date, the album was finally released on March 27th.
Over 15 tracks, PARTY brings together elements of all of his previous work, opening up with “NOTHING LESS” followed by “TURN UP”, serving up the murky, lo-fi R&B vibes on which he first made his name back in 2013. This aesthetic is present throughout the project, but he manages to break that up with more upbeat, tropical sounding tracks such as “EYE ON IT”, which is a potential future hit, as well as the undeniable smash that is “BELIEVE IT” featuring the first vocals from Rihanna since her feature on N.E.R.D.’s 2017 single “Lemon”. This may sound promising for long-term fans of the artist but the problem with PND has never been that the music is bad but that he’s consistently failed to live up to the promise of either his previous work or the flashes of brilliance he’s shown in his work for others.
The album could still be considered to be bloated which is partly what made his previous album his first “miss” among his fans, although it is understandable that he wanted to give his fans a lot of music considering the time he’s been away. What makes this album an improvement on the last one however – aside from the variation in sound – is his subject matter. Towards the end of 2017, before the hiatus, PND tweeted: “I’m taking my time with this album, it’s straight party & unapologetic.”, and no track quite sums that up more so than the deliciously toxic “SAVAGE ANTHEM”.
This is perhaps where his pen is the sharpest on the whole record. With lyrics such as, “I put the dirt into dirt bag/Still got your jacket in my bag/ I stood you up, that was my bad/ Gave me your heart, watch me break that” and “Tucked you, then went to the strip club/ VIP, I got my dick sucked/ Came back to you and I kissed ya”, PND is cutthroat, unashamed and delivers one of his most personal songs on the project. For much of the album he delves into themes of love, repentance and loss, constantly conflicted between infidelity and commitment, with “SAVAGE ANTHEM” serving as a culmination of all these ideas and seeing him decide to choose himself and give in to his own selfish desires in contrast to the albums opener.
PARTYMOBILE combines all the facets of the OVO crooners sound – from the woozy, bass-heavy R&B of the ‘P2’ era to his more recent Afro-fusion stylings – the most successfully he’s managed to to date. And while the early reaction among fans seems to be a positive one, after going so long without releasing music, it’s hard not to think that we’re still very far away from hearing anything close to his full potential. With all the music he’s been making in his time away though, along with the aforementioned collaborations there is surely more music to come, with PARTYMOBILE indeed being a step in the right direction. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another three years for the next one.