Summer Walker: Finally Over It

"No amount of emotional clarity can substitute for the barbed specificity and desperate rhythmic phrasing of Walker's strongest writing, largely abandoned on Finally Over It in the name of self-restraint. Instead, she disappears, along with guests Anderson .Paak and Bryson Tiller, into a tedious stretch that brings to mind a certain subgenre of YouTube tutorial: How to Make a '90s Slow Jam Type Beat in FL Studio."

"the very character she seems to be forsaking on this album. Still, the journey isn't without lessons learned. By disc two, it's clear, for instance, that she fares better when her costars are women. "Robbed You," a set-up fantasy featuring Atlanta compatriot Mariah the Scientist, is more esprit d'escalier regret than warning: "I should have robbed you/I should have popped you," Walker sings, crafting a hook from imperfect anaphora."

Walker abandons the barbed specificity and desperate rhythmic phrasing of her strongest writing on Finally Over It in favor of self-restraint. She disappears, along with guests Anderson .Paak and Bryson Tiller, into a tedious stretch that resembles a '90s slow-jam type beat tutorial in FL Studio. A near-pathological obsession with overtly referencing past R&B hits runs through the album: "Baby" samples and interpolates Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" with a dispassionate Chris Brown, while "No" samples Beyoncé's "Yes" and rejects the gendered domesticity of Destiny's Child's "Cater 2 U." Walker proves most memorable when channeling the pistol-toting, drunk-dialling heroine of Over It and Still Over It, a character she seems to be forsaking. By disc two she fares better with female costars: "Robbed You" with Mariah the Scientist and "Go Girl" with Latto yield stronger, more natural performances and even outshine some peers.

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