“Ask God why, I didn’t get an answer/Why I lose my brother to bullets/Why I lose my grandma to cancer,” Offset harmonizes on “Say My Grace.” Few could have imagined that the Atlanta artist who emerged as one-third of Migos a decade ago with “Versace,” reintroducing the concept of a rap group to the Zoomer generation, would settle uncomfortably into the role of husband to pop icon Cardi B, and become a target of internet gossip so pernicious that the phrase “Offset cheating” elicits thousands of Google search results dating back years.
All of Offset’s controversies — Migos breaking up, his lawsuit against former label Quality Control Music, the tragic murder of Migos “brother” Takeoff last November, a heartbreaking rift with Migos’ Quavo that the two publicly squashed at 2023 BET Awards in June — have given the impression that he’s now better known for industry drama than the thrilling hip-hop that first brought him renown.
On Set It Off, Offset tries to shift the spotlight back to the music. Its opening track, “On the River,” which centers on a stirring sample of Kirby Lauryean’s retro-soul track “Black Leaves,” reveals that this hour-long album will be a much bigger and emphatic production than Offset’s solo debut, 2019’s Father of 4. Released while he was still with Migos, Father of 4 found him awkwardly negotiating celebrity intrigue and a serviceable amount of trap rhymes. The tone seemed unintentionally gloomy as he chafed under the dehumanizing aspects of viral notoriety. However, the handful of songs that crystallized his ideas, particularly on the underrated deep cut “Red Room” where he criticizes cops and establishment figures and painfully recalls his street exploits, made sifting through Father of 4’s uneven qualities worth the effort.
Set It Off is a much more confident solo project. The 31-year-old sounds hungry and driven to prove his relevance beyond Migos and Cardi B, even as she and Offset join forces on two tracks. The first collab, “Freaky,” flails on a clumsy and middling chorus. But the second, “Jealousy,” sparkles with energy as Cardi drops her inimitable Bronx cadence over a sample of Three 6 Mafia’s “Jealous Ass Bitches.” Other solid cameos abound, including Latto on “Fine as Can Be” — she drills into her verse as she raps, “I’m big dog, you bitches is runts” — YRN protégé Mango Foo on “Skyami,” Young Nudy on “Dope Boy,” and Future on “Broad Day.” “Princess Cut,” a melodic duet with Chlöe Bailey that’s all about “fucking and stroking,” may scandalize some listeners. Still, there’s a sense that everyone is working hard here.
