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Critic Reviews
80
As his music shows, Royce is dead set on telling his story, and the surge of trendy rap will not stop him from doing so. I find Royce’s work touching, powerful, and refreshing, and I look forward to hearing the continuation of his powerful sonic narratives.
10y
70
Coming hot on the heels of his Trust the Shooter mixtape, Layers is a varied and ambitious LP from Royce da 5'9", the Slaughterhouse and Bad Meets Evil MC who found some time for his solo career in 2016.
10y
70
Layers is a great step forward, a glowing promise on his next album, his ambitions will be fully realized.
10y
64
The album ends strong, from "America" to closer "Off," but much like most of Royce’s solo catalog, there aren't many songs on Layers that really reward replaying or close listening.
10y
1. Tabernacle - 10/10 ⭐⭐⭐
2. Pray - 8/10
3. Hard - 7/10
4. Startercoat - 6/10
5. Wait - 8/10
6. Shine (Skit) - N/A
7. Shine - 8/10
8. Lincoln (Skit) - N/A
9. Flesh - 8/10
10. Hello (Skit) - N/A
11. Misses - 10/10 ⭐⭐⭐
12. Dope! - 7/10
13. America - 8/10
14. Layers - 8.5/10 ⭐
15. Quiet - 6/10
16. Gottaknow - 7/10
17. Off - 6.5/10
108/140
7.7/10 (Good 7.0-7.9)
I hear a lot of people calling this Royce's best album. I think a lot of that is due to his increased popularity at the time following BME and PRhyme. He does a good job rapping here, but it's definitely not his best album.
No one will dispute the claim that Royce Da 5'9" is one of the most complete emcees in the game. For some reason though, he has never been able to translate his skills into the creation of an album befitting to his stature as a lethal emcee. His albums up till this one have been decent to good - but never classic. While Layers is also not quite the classic Royce surely has in him, it is a really good album, his best up to that point in time. One of the reasons is that production on this ... read more
14 years after his debut, Royce has finally released a better album.
Best: Layers, Tabernacle, Gottaknow
Worst: Hard, Quiet, Statercoat
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Track List
| 1 | Tabernacle 5:13 | 91 |
| 2 | Pray 4:05 | 83 |
| 3 | Hard 5:51 | 63 |
| 4 | Startercoat 3:36 | 67 |
| 5 | Wait 3:12 | 73 |
| 6 | Shine 0:27 Skit | |
| 7 | Shine 5:18 | 71 |
| 8 | Lincoln 1:57 Skit | |
| 9 | Flesh 3:31 | 82 |
| 10 | Hello 1:29 Skit feat. Melanie Rutherford | 72 |
| 11 | Misses 4:09 feat. K-Young | 82 |
| 12 | Dope! 4:03 feat. Loren Oden | 70 |
| 13 | America 4:23 | 73 |
| 14 | Layers 4:20 | 87 |
| 15 | Quiet 4:07 feat. Mr. Porter, Tiara | 67 |
| 16 | Gottaknow 3:55 | 76 |
| 17 | Off 3:20 | 70 |
Total Length: 1 hour, 2 minutes
