''Angels Exodus'' is the fourth studio album by the American rapper

Lil B Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), known professionally as Lil B and Lil B The BasedGod, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of the Berkeley, California-based hip hop group the Pack in 2005, who signed wi ...

, released on January 18, 2011. Unlike Lil B's previous releases, which were often released for free download, ''Angels Exodus'' was distributed via digital purchase by

Amalgam Digital Amalgam Digital is an independent record label based in East Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2006 by Anyextee, the privately owned label had been home to a variety of artists throughout the decade before significantly downsizing in its later ...

. It is also shorter when compared to his previous releases, with a runtime of 37 minutes. A

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

album, ''Angels Exodus'' sees Lil B deviating from his usual subject matter to deliver more serious and introspective lyrics. It is loosely built around a theme of Lil B fighting

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if they were alive. A common example of an undead being is a cadaver, corpse reanimated by supernatural forces, by the application of either the deceased's o ...

creatures, who serve as metaphors for people. Although ''Angels Exodus'' received mixed reviews, many critics considered it a display of Lil B's artistic growth.

Background and release

After seeing success as a member of the Pack,

embarked on a solo career in 2008. Over the following years, he regularly released

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

s; in 2010, he released nine. In December 2010, independent label

announced that it had signed Lil B to a deal. The label also announced that Lil B would be releasing two albums—''Angels Exodus'' and ''Glass Face''—with the former serving as a prelude to the latter. In a press release, Lil B stated:

We are putting out these two albums called ''Angels Exodus'' and then ''Glass Face''. It’s going to be historical works of art with these albums. On ''Angels Exodus'' it’s going to be real hip-hop and sticking to the script. I’ll be going far outside of the boundaries and staying far away from the script too. The ''Glass Face'' album will live up to its name. These albums are something everyone will understand.

''Angels Exodus'' was released through Amalgam Digital on January 18, 2011. It serves as Lil B's fourth album, and is his first to be recorded in a

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

. Unlike most of his previous releases—which had been distributed for free download—''Angels Exodus'' was released for digital purchase. Following its release, Lil B shared a self-directed and self-filmed music video for the track "Motivation". The album's cover art depicts Lil B as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

on a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

, draped in panties and with money in his pockets.

Composition

''Angels Exodus'' is a

album. It consists of 12 tracks and has a runtime of 37 minutes, which is short when compared to Lil B's previous releases. On the album, Lil B strays from his usual subject matter, and delivers serious, introspective lyrics, while still retaining the humor of his previous releases. It is built on a loose concept of Lil B fighting the

, with

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

s, and other beings serving as metaphors for people. Sonically, ''Angels Exodus'' often incorporates

reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

-heavy

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s. On the opening track, "Exhibit 6", Lil B raps over a slow, dark instrumental, and shows appreciation for rapper

Jay Electronica Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford; September 19, 1976), known professionally as Jay Electronica (stylized as ), is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in New Orleans, he first saw recognition wit ...

. The album's fifth song, "Motivation", features lyrics about how people who once criticized Lil B are now overly supportive of him. Its beat, which was produced by Clams Casino, is driven by a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

. On "Vampires", Lil B raps about transforming into a vampire over a happy-sounding instrumental. During its last 30 seconds, he repeats "don’t let the vampires get you", with a vocal inflection that critics compared to rappers

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

and

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer who gained prominence during hip hop's golden age. He was particularly recognized for ...

. The following track "More Silence More Coffins" as well as "The Growth" feature

chipmunk soul Chipmunk soul is a style of hip hop music that features sped-up vocal samples, originating in the 2000s. Early users of the style included Just Blaze, RZA, and Kanye West. The name "chipmunk" is a reference to Alvin and the Chipmunks, a 1960s m ...

production. The song "Connect the Dots" was produced by

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record ...

and features a piano

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

and an organ

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

Critical reception

Although ''Angels Exodus'' received mixed reviews, critics generally felt it showed mental and artistic growth from Lil B. Brian Richardson of ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

'' said he was surprised by Lil B's lyrical and rapping ability, and wrote that the album proved his potential. Richardson commented that ''Angels Exodus'' "plays more like a mixtape than an album", and said that some of the shorter songs felt like "unfinished sketches". Steve "Flash" Juon of ''RapReviews'' also praised the album, saying it benefited from its conciseness. In his retrospective review, Juon said that it comes close to being perfect, and wrote "It has the feeling of an album that he intended to be his legacy after he was gone." ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' magazine's Chris Campbell and ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'''s Amanda Bassa were critical of ''Angels Exodus''; Campbell felt it was worse when compared to Lil B's mixtapes. Bassa criticized the album, but commended Lil B's artistic growth. She concluded her review by writing "Even mass amounts of hype can’t cover up Lil B’s poorly mixed vocals, off-kilter methods of blending rapping with simply speaking, skewed perspective on life, and utter knack for taking what makes Rap great, and doing the exact opposite."

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2011 albums Lil B albums Amalgam Digital albums Albums produced by Clams Casino (musician) Zombies in popular culture Hip-hop albums by American artists