1. Bryson Tiller True To Self Sales
2. Bryson Tiller True To Self Review
3. Bryson Tiller True To Self Sales

Review by Andy Kellman

The first three singles off Bryson Tiller's debut album kept the singer/rapper hovering near the top of Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart for a few months during 2015 and 2016. Each one went platinum, as did the parent release. This consequently made Tiller one of the decade's major R&B breakouts. For True to Self, his follow-up, Tiller opted to employ an almost entirely new and slightly larger cast of collaborators -- a little over two dozen in number, once again strictly producers, no guest vocalists -- yet the method nonetheless seems to be 'If the style you coined ain't broke, don't fix it.' Like T R A P S O U L, True to Self is primarily thumping, dispirited slow jams laced with smudged samples -- '90s R&B once again the crate raided with the greatest frequency. This kind of thing sounds a little less novel in 2017 than it did years earlier, but True to Self is more colorful and melodic than what preceded it. Likewise, fame evidently gave its maker more issues to write about, including new romantic complications, greater wealth, and a deeper sense of humility. The latter quality is evident in several cuts. When he references missing a work deadline due to his inability to resist temptation, he does so as if he's admitting fault, not boasting. In the opening 'Rain on Me,' worried about losing his lover, he declares 'I wanna grow gray with you.' He even slips in a line about providing for his grandmother in the foe-flicking 'Blowing Smoke.' On the surface, Tiller still gives off that wallflower baller vibe; the brashness of the debut largely remains. The lack of connection made on the one stylistic shake-up -- the lightly jutting 'Run Me Dry,' a cousin of Rihanna's 'Work' and Drake's 'One Dance' -- suggests that Tiller will likely be better off continuing to refine the sound for which he's known.

Bryson Tiller True To Self Sales

Bryson Tiller notches his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as his second studio effort, True to Self, debuts atop the tally.The set, which was released through TrapSoul/RCA Records. True to Self is Bryson Tiller’s sophomore album. It was released on May 26, 2017. The album was originally due to be released June 23rd, but Tiller surprised fans by putting it out a month.

Two articles in one night??? Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That’s just how I was feeling tonight. I had the idea of doing throwback album reviews a long time ago but never went out and executed the idea. I feel like this year I have been the most active I’ve ever been on this website. In a total of 42 articles on this website, now 43 including this one, I’ve written 10 in 2021. And hopefully the momentum keeps up and I’m able to keep on delivering some good content for both you guys and my own portfolio. Enough of the chit chat, let’s get into what we’re here for.

May 26th, 2017 Bryson Tiller surprised his fans with his second studio album, “True to Self”. The album was originally scheduled to be released on June 23rd (my birthday) but Tiller surprised his loyal fans with his album. “True to Self” would go on to become Tiller’s first, and only (so far), #1 album selling 107k units in its first week. However, after a classic like Tiller’s debut album, “TRAPSOUL” some fans were left wanting more. Some fans went even as far to claim that Tiller’s sophomore album was a miss, not coming close to what was once heard in his debut album. Despite the commercial success, hitting #1, and eventually being certified gold, “True to Self” became just “the 2nd album” to some people and nothing more. I’m here to tell you why that is simply outrageous.

There is one problem that a lot of fans have within the music community. It leaves a lot of artists in a double-edge sword/lose-lose situation. Whenever a music fan discovers a new artist that they end up liking, the thrill of new music is unmatched to them. The fan continues to use that standard of hearing an artist’s music for the first time as a base comparison to whatever the artist releases in the future. This is exactly the case of Bryson Tiller. Tiller came out of the gate in 2015 with a certified classic in, “TRAPSOUL”. This unintentionally set a crazy standard for whatever music he decided to drop in the future. No matter what he would go on to do, these type of fans just wanted to return that feeling of hearing his debut album for the first time. So instead of appreciating the new music they were trying to find “TRAPSOUL” in a whole new album, which obviously it wasn’t there. This is the age-old take between music fans whenever they say they “I miss the old _______” (insert artist). These type of fans don’t give any room for these artists to grow or even find new sounds. They just want to regain that feeling of discovering them for the first time. However, here comes the double-edge sword/lose-lose part I was talking about. There is another side to this stupidity. The opposite of this is in an example of an artist like DaBaby. DaBaby has gained extreme amounts of fame and riches in a short span due a fanbase that has increasingly grown over the past three or four years. The Charlotte rapper has developed his own signature sound and it has brought him success. However, after some time fans wanted to hear a “different sound” and were tired of the “same beats” being used. In spite of all that, the second DaBaby tried to venture into a new sound (ex. Rockstar) he was ridiculed for becoming “pop” and “going mainstream”. This is the problem I have with present-day hip-hop and music fans in general. Give artists room to grow and stop holding on to a certain sound/album of your favorite artist. Let them use their God-given talents the way THEY want to. Stop holding them to a standard created in your own head.

Back to my point, True to Self is a great album. And no it’s not because I’m a Bryson Tiller fan myself, it’s just sonically good. Songs like, “In Check”, “Stay Blessed”, & “Before You Judge” are perfect examples of just that. Fans weren’t trying to hear a new Bryson Tiller album, they were just trying to hear another “TRAPSOUL”. If Bryson Tiller were to ever see this I would just want to tell him that I’m sorry for his fans. I’m sorry that they held you to a ridiculous standard and put you on an impossible pedestal that made you get to the point of depression. I’m glad that you have regained your love for music and have used that newfound passion to get back into working on “Serenity” but just know that you can take your time. I promise the real fans understand.

True to Self is separate from any other piece of work Bryson Tiller has released. It is unique in the sense that it has no features, each song transitions perfectly into the next, and there is a lot of “rapping” Bryson on it. The album was never a miss to me, because I knew that it was a separate piece of work from his debut and I appreciated it for just that. I hope that other people are able to let go of their first impressions of other artists. Just let them do them. Please. This is YSN, signing out.

Favorite Songs:

Bryson Tiller True To Self Review

1. In Check
2. Don’t Get Too High
3. Set It Off
4. You Got It
5. Stay Blessed
6. We Both Know
7. Before You Judge
8. Rain On Me (Intro)
9. No Longer Friends
10. Somethin Tells Me
11. Teach Me a Lesson
12. Run Me Dry
13. Money Problems/Benz Truck
14. Self-Made
15. Blowing Smoke
16. Nevermind This Interlude
17. High Stakes
18. Always (Outro)
19. Rain Interlude

Bryson Tiller True To Self Sales

Rating: 8.4/10