On July 8, 2022, one of my personal most anticipated albums of the year was released in Brent Faiyaz’s Wasteland. It is Faiyaz’s second studio album including nineteen songs with four of them being singles. Today, I will list off my five personal favorite songs off the project not including the singles or skits that were included. 

5. Loose Change-The second track on the album Loose Change really sets the tone for the album and the picture Faiyaz paints throughout. The standout to me on this song is the beat and production which captivated me the first time I listened to this song. Lyrics like “you got everybody thinking I’m all bad” and “you wanna be my equal, you won’t even do the half” shows the kind of vibe and toxicity Faiyaz brings to his songs and this album specifically.

4. Addictions (feat. Tre’ Amani)-When I first listened to the album Addictions, was my favorite song as the hook is maybe Faiyaz’s best of his whole music catalog in my opinion. Although the song has fallen a few places for me, Faiyaz’s lyricism on this track is easy to follow and really impressive. Tre’ Amani’s feature also wasn’t bad but I think Faiyaz would have been as a solo on this song.

3. Jackie Brown–Jackie Brown was a track that took some time to grow on me, but that was with most of the songs on this album. The hook which is pitched up heavily really stands out to me on this song. The lyrics of it are what really make it great however with Faiyaz saying in it “only been a few hours but it felt like days, only been a few hours but it felt like months, life moves fast when you’re doing what you want.” Faiyaz’s vocal performance is phenomenal as usual on this track, but to be fair Faiyaz’s vocals nine times out of 10 never disappoint me.

2. Bad Luck-This song is amazing, plain and simple. Faiyaz’s vocals stick out beautifully on this track and his lyricism is fantastic on this track. Once again the hook is my favorite part of the song with it saying “I must be a fool why you wanna see me so caught up, It’s all because of you that I’m always having so much bad luck.” 

1. Rolling Stone-The best song on this album in my opinion is Rolling Stone, although this wasn’t an easy choice, it just seems that little bit better. The song is calm and invokes a lot of emotion with a more vulnerable tone on this track. It’s easily the best vocal performance on the album with Faiyaz hitting a lot of amazing high notes and overall blending his vocals really well. The hook once again is a standout with it showing the vulnerability of the song with the lyrics, “I’m sorry in advance if I let you down.” 
Wasteland is a fantastic album with some of Faiyaz’s best songs being put down on it. The skits that I did not talk about in my song reviews are what really make the album stick out from his other ones and paint even more of the picture, bringing a story to the album. Overall I give the album a 9/10 and definitely recommend it to all.