Lil Tjay “222” Album Review

222

Lil Tjay

• Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
• Date: 14 Jul, 2023
• Content: explicit
• Track(s): 15
• ℗ 2023 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment

Following his April 2021 release, Destined 2 Win, Lil Tjay, a native of New York, has released “222,” his third full-length studio album. Tjay’s first song from the album, “June 22nd,” in which he extensively discussed the night he was shot, was released on June 22, 2023.  The album’s name, “222,” is a play on the angel number, which denotes concentrating on one’s romantic and familial connections.

The significance of the numbers is deeper because Tjay was shot on June 22, 2022, and he nearly died when he was airlifted to the airport at exactly 2:22 AM. With the title, Tjay implies that since God has allowed him to live, he now wants to focus on his relationships, which would have been shredded if he had died.

Album Cover Art

A topless and sober-looking Tjay holds on to the diamonds dancing around his neck, as he shows the world the scars from the lethal bullet wounds right under his chest, which forms the basis of ‘222.’

Tracks and Features

“Nightshift” begins the album with sobriety and reflection as the rapper takes us down memory lane before the fame and the racks. The song is more or less a grass to grace testimony, and Tjay’s brilliant and touching lines help buttress the message. Still on that memory lane, “June 22nd,” takes us back to the day Tjay got shot in 2022 and the experiences surrounding the incident that nearly cost him his life.

If “Nobody” dropped during the pandemic, it would’ve been an instant hit because the song’s message is so relatable it hurts. Tjay, still in a reflective mood, recounts how there was no one really standing by him when he was going through the thick of the whole shooting incident. The melodies and general rendition came too clutch! Then, he works with Summer Walker in “Stressed,” a track that highlights the regular internal back and forth in relationships, but this time both parties are willing to confront the truth and move forward, even if it’s on different paths.

“2 Grown” with the sensational The Kid Laroi continues discussion on relationship issues, as both artists wonder why they keep trying to water a dead plant. However, the singer with the sonorous vocals sampled on the record seemed to cast a small shadow on their performances.

For “Bla Bla,” Lil Tjay pulls another album feature by tapping Fivio Foreign, who changes up the mood with his Drill energy and vibe. When you’re down in the mud, everyone or at least most people, go mum and low-key forget you still exist, but the moment you climb out of the ditch and the light of success hits you, everybody suddenly has something to say. The track title is exactly how people like that sound to Lil Tjay, and rightfully so. However, the package would’ve been come nicer if that message was conveyed through much better melodies.

So many “what ifs” make a play on the contrite “Forgot I Was The 1?” as Tjay tries to imagine how things would’ve gone if shit hit the fan and he lost his life. He admits he took most things for granted and the tragic incident helped put things in clearer perspective for him. He also sings about disloyal friends and having to deal with unforeseen betrayal. Also, the calm beat betters the slow groove. “Hole In My Heart” makes you wonder if Tjay is a voluntary magnet for broken women. He even invites Jadakiss to help him breakdown to everyone just how traumatized a woman left him. And of course, Jada, in OG fashion, nicely puts his verse in a body bag.

NBA YoungBoy joins him in “Project Walls” to talk about the come-up struggle as they vow to never hit pause on the grind. They also cease the opportunity to leave a heavy middle finger in the faces of their critics. For a fitting closer, Tjay teams up with the R&B rave of the moment, Coco Jones, for “Grateful.” And it ends up becoming the beautiful collaboration we didn’t think we needed. Tjay expresses his immense gratitude for being granted a second shot at life, as Coco and the backup singers bless the track with serenading vocals.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	TIME
1	Nightshift	3:08
2	June 22nd	3:10
3	Nobody	3:04
4	Scared 2 Be Lonely	3:02
5	Stressed (feat. Summer Walker)	2:24
6	2 Grown (feat. The Kid LAROI)	3:52
7	Heart Felt Soul	2:35
8	Bla Bla (feat. Fivio Foreign)	2:26
9	Someone Who Cares	3:23
10	Forgot I Was The 1?	3:32
11	Hole In My Heart (feat. Jadakiss)	3:12
12	Project Walls (feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again)	2:32
13	Beat the Odds Pt 2 (feat. Polo G)	3:32
14	Foster Baby	3:33
15	Grateful (feat. Coco Jones)	2:48

Album Theme

The fatal shooting the rapper suffered last year, his recovery and some other personal experiences along the way of his career growth inspired this record.

Production Credits

Producers on the album include Andyr, Ari PenSmith, Ben Heet, Bizness Boi, Bordeaux, Boston (producer), DECSTER, Desirez beats, Drü Oliver, EMRLD BEATS, Fasbeats, Geo Vocals, G. Ry, Indyah, IOF, Itamar Gov-Ari, Jackum, Jahaan Sweet, KBeaZy, P2J, and a host of others.

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