DaBaby has been one of the biggest new stars of this year due to his single “Suge”, his album Baby on Baby, and his numerous features. DaBaby has landed on a Chance the Rapper album and a Post Malone album. He’s also hopped on remixes that made the song even more popular, like “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo and “Panini” by Lil Nas X.

While I liked DaBaby, I can’t say he didn’t strike me as a little one dimensional at times. He uses a very similar flow and delivery to most of his features and songs. Not to the extreme of saying “Every DaBaby song sounds the same”, but admittedly his incredible display of charisma can only get him so far.

However, that changed for me with his latest single “Intro”, an introspective track about family and the loss of his father over a heavenly vocal sample. It almost sounds like a song from Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book, but DaBaby makes it his own. After hearing that single, I was hoping DaBaby could come through on his newest album Kirk. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

This album has a strong start to it. “Off the Rip”, “Bop”, and “Vibez” are where DaBaby is in his element. All three of these are catchy and infectious with bassy, booming beat and DaBaby’s signature flow. I also enjoyed the track “Gospel” for the gospel-like pianos, the smooth vocals on the chorus, and the great features from both Chance the Rapper and Gucci Mane.

But after this, the album starts to trail off. There were already signs of that with the song “Pop Star” where really the only highlight is the Kevin Gates feature. Same thing with the song “iPhone” where Nicki Minaj is the only enjoyable part. “Toes” is the real sign this album is on a downward spiral. It’s sad because this is one of DaBaby’s better verses and hooks on the album, but the features on here ruin it. With Lil Baby doing his best to play dress up as Young Thug and Moneybagg Yo doing his best to try as little as possible.

The last leg of this album is so dry. It all just feels like typical DaBaby and not in a good way. The only song I enjoyed in this last leg is “Raw Shit” with Migos, although it admittedly sounds more like a Migos song with a DaBaby feature. Quavo is alright here but Offset and Takeoff steal the show with this song. With that, Kirk ends in an anticlimactic and flaccid manner.

While not the worst album this year, Kirk is disappointing to say the least. It is a shame because it does start strong and I was legitimately hoping he would pull through after hearing “Intro”. This album shows DaBaby is focusing too much on making a second “Suge” and he loses steam fast.

2.5/5 Spurs