Dude has a very clear lane but it seems like he doesn't know what the fukk to do with it. And Def Jam is straight clueless so you can't count on them to steer him in the right direction.
He wants to be a gangsta rapper but when you compare his music to rappers like Mozzy who specialize in that shyt the difference is like night and day. I was listening to some of his tracks just recently and it hit me out the blue, Why the fukk am I listening to this when I could be listening to someone like Freddie Gibbs who completely mastered his craft, mastered that style of music and is way more consistent with it? Which is my main issue with Dave East. At his level, he should have certain things down pat and he shouldn't be mailing in verses. From Hate Me Now to Paranoia, he lost some of that hunger that made me start fukkin with him in the first place. Even on Black Rose, the beats lacked but the hunger was still there. He kills features but is inconsistent on his own shyt. Doesn't make sense.
With his last EP he took a step back. Not only that, the way he marketed it to the fans then pulled the bait-and-switch (plus the fake Nas feature) was real shady. I believe in artist development, just don't do no hoe ass shyt and give me a reason to not support. Dom Kennedy dropped two trash ass projects back to back but I still give his music a shot cause he's straightforward with his fans and he has a proven track record. I hope Dave East figures it out, I still think some of his music is dope, I still fukk with "Maneuver" and hope the radio plays it but I'm not checking for dude's music like that anymore. Im gonna need a few opinions first before I listen to the album.