LiMM – The Follow Up

LiMM – The Follow Up – Album Review

You had me at “my nuts hang” LiMM – let’s do this!

What else can be said?  Sometimes a line just catches your attention.  When I put on LiMM’s new album The Follow Up for the first time while I was on vacation and “Ghost” got things kickin’ into action, I ended up spinning this record more than I thought I would based on the level of interest the man behind the m-i-c generates as quickly as he does.  It wasn’t JUST about learning that his “nuts hang” though, I promise ya…”Ghost” puts LiMM’s determination on display right from the drop, and he added in other pieces of information that caught my attention like rapping about his “third eye” and “Pickle Rick” as well.  Maybe some of this seems trivial to you…I can’t speak on that…but what I can tell you from this side of the speakers over here is that LiMM made it pretty clear pretty quickly that he’s ready to load up his material with interesting shit and details you don’t normally find in every other tune you listen to.

“Vicious” continues to confirm the man’s engagement – LiMM ain’t here to fuck around, you feel me?  You can audibly HEAR the mission he’s on…the performance he puts in on this one track alone is all the proof you’d need to know he’s workin’ with his A-game on The Follow Up.  The sheer amount of words he’s put into “Vicious” is fucking staggering if I’m being real with ya…you’d think he’d have had to make the song twice as long as it is to fit it all in.  Yet, if you’re listening really closely, not only does he pull it off in the lead, he’s essentially doing it in the background as well through the layers he’s woven together in the vocals throughout “Vicious.”  If you’re fans of that hybrid vibe artists like Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, and Young Thug brought to the mainstream that combines Rap, Trap, and Psychedelic sound into one big melting pot of explicit greatness, you’d be doing yourself to have a listen to LiMM as well.  He clearly deserves to be in the same conversation as some of the best in the game when it comes to his particular style of music & from what you’ll hear on “Vicious” he’s more than comfortable going harder than most.

While there are fourteen cuts on The Follow Up, most of’em fly by pretty damn quickly.  “Vicious” is kind of the exception to the rule being nearly four minutes in length – most are closer to two & half minutes, or even shorter like you’ll find “Too Lit” being at less than two minutes in total length.  What’d I tell you earlier?  LiMM ain’t here to fuck around!  He steps to the mic, he handles his business like a boss, and then he’s onto the next thing…simple as that really.  “Get fly like a pelican, drip like a bird in this bitch” – I’m not here to pretend I understand EVERYTHING that’s on the man’s mind, but I’ll continue to argue that he’s putting in unique lines that stand out and get noticed…isn’t that what the Rap game is really all about to begin with?  Obviously LiMM understands the importance of adding in the charisma & stylistic vibes to his performance to enhance the words…he’s doing that manually perfectly fine, and he’s also using effects and backing vocals to make things stand out like they should be.  He’s on top of the details.

“And bitch I’m destined for this greatness,” he spits on “Do It Right” – no lies detected here y’all.  This would be up there with my favorites on The Follow Up because it provides us with some insight into who this man really is and what he’s really all about.  Autobiographical to a point, you feel me?  When it comes to the music I’m listening to, I appreciate getting a track like this in the mix that tells you more about the journey the artist has been on and what they’ve been through to become who they are today.  “Do It Right” was almost criminally short at 1:50 in length!  Would I have taken more of this track?  You bet your ass I would have!  But like, at the same time, I respect an artist that knows the right time to call game and knows precisely when a track is genuinely finished.  If there’s anything LiMM could have done to make “Do It Right” any better than it is, I couldn’t tell ya what that would be.  I think he started strong and then stuck the finale as hard as he could have by dialing it back to just piano at the end…everything connects and hits with the potency it should.  LiMM wastes no time when he’s in the booth and a track like “Do It Right” is all the confirmation you’d need to know that’s the truth.  Smartly incorporating a lot more tangible melody into the microphone as he raps was a brilliant move – this cut is genuinely killer.

Once you get about this far into a record and things are going as well as they are, you start to wonder about when the other shoe is going to drop and whether or not you’ll actually find anything you don’t like as much or some material that doesn’t quite measure up.  For the most part, I think LiMM’s got it all under control, especially when it comes to his own personal performances on the mic.  I’m not going to LIE to the guy either though…I’m here to be as honest with LiMM about what I hear as I am with anyone else y’all – you regular readers know who I am and what I’m about.  Do I LOVE the production on “Who I Am?”  No!  I don’t.  And you know what?  That’s A-OK.  First of all, who legitimately gives a shit what I think, or what any critic thinks for that matter?  We’re just assholes with opinions, and everyone’s got one.  Secondly though, I’d be the first to tell you that there are PLENTY of people that dig that slightly blown-out bass-led vibe, because there is TONS of music out there that makes use of it.  I’m a bigger fan of unmistakable clarity though, if only for the simple reason that the average everyday listener can’t discern what’s done on purpose, and what’s a legitimate mistake.  When you’re working with a blown-out vibe, the people don’t know that it’s not a producer that isn’t paying attention to the sound raging across the red lines on the studio boards…that’s just objective reality.  The people that get it, get it, but you also have to live with the commentary of the folks that don’t…simple as that really.  It’s one of those live by the sword, die by the sword situations – you make stylistic choices as an artist, and not everyone is always going to get what you’re going for.  All that being said, LiMM is still putting “belt to they ass” when it comes to his performance, armed with a “different kind of mindset, you wouldn’t understand.”

Sometimes artists and bands make the case for me, like how the clarity of “Regardless” immediately makes an impact on ya.  Obviously there are other factors at work as well – “Regardless” is one of the cuts that makes the most noticeable shifts in style in the music that you’ll find in the first half of The Follow Up, so it had a couple chances to stand out from the rest of the stuff surrounding it.  Is it just me, or do you also get the sense that LiMM spends about half his days with his dick down somebody’s throat?  A mere mouth seems to not interest the guy.  I ain’t saying he doesn’t ease it in there like a gentleman…maybe he does!  But yeah – he’s sure got no problem rapping about his conquests with explicit details, that much is even clearer than the production on “Regardless.”  This ain’t music for yo momma!  If it is, you might find her being part of the army of bitches on LiMM’s jock as well.  He gets bonus points from me for shouting out James Harden, my favorite basketball player of all time on “Regardless,” and verbally, LiMM proves he’s got those same slick skills to ball out on the mic.  Plus, if you’re really listening, you’ll easily notice the uniqueness in the music he’s working with on this track.

So…like…I think there are two ways you can look at a record like this.  Obviously, it’s not always easy to get an album THIS explicit out there into the mainstream, but let’s be clear – it’s not impossible either.  The tangible addition of MORE melody is the way to win the war if you ask me.  I’m not saying that you’re about to hear LiMM’s music standing in the lineup at the bank or the grocery store regardless, but melody directly equates with accessibility and how listeners connect with the music they listen to.  The more you’ve got in there, the more single-worthy something becomes.  “Beast Mode” is one of the best examples of that theory in action.  I’m not saying it’s my favorite track on the record, but I’m not saying it shouldn’t qualify either – what I am saying, is that the more noticeable focus on melody in his vocals makes a HUGE difference in terms of what the public will respond to.  Like, if you told me that one outta every five listeners to The Follow Up had “Beast Mode” in their top three tracks I definitely wouldn’t be surprised by that, simply because it has a more universal vibe to it.  I also dig how he’s got the vocals shifting from the lefts to the rights to give this track the real surround sound treatment too.

Case in-point once again, “Ritual” makes clever use of melody and movement on the mic as well.  In fact, if you’re the kind of person that digs into stats and numbers and shit, you’ll see that “Ritual” is actually the top performing track he’s got on Spotify to-date, nearly clocking a half-million hits on that one platform alone at the time this review was written.  Is it because of lines like “I’m the boss man in the meeting, shawty wan’ eat on my semen?”  Ayyy – MAYBE it is!  Or maybe it’s because LiMM’s making the kind of stylistic moves that get noticed and once again made melody a priority in the main hooks as well – I’ll let you decide.  He’s made it into the pussy this time around though, so give the man some credit for finding his way outta the throat game for a hot minute or two.  “I swear that pussy medicinal,” – sounds damn good to be young, don’t it?  I’m so old my dick hasn’t worked for a decade now, so I’m choosing to live through the words of LiMM.  Did I mention this album is explicit AF?  If there’s one dude out there in the scene right now that ain’t holding anything back & telling you like it REALLY is, it’s LiMM.  Anyhow.  “Ritual” is obviously speaking for itself through the numbers – don’t get caught sleeping on it.

Gettin’ agro with “Push Me To The Edge,” LiMM amps up the intensity on this next cut.  I’m of two minds about it…same as earlier on with “Who I am,” I’m not gonna tell you I’m the biggest fan of the blown-out BIGNESS of the bass beat, cause that ain’t me.  What I DO like about “Push Me To The Edge” is that LiMM really shows us his performative instincts in action on this cut and adds a metric ton of personality into the way he raps this one out.  Like I’ve been tellin’ ya from the drop, he’s extremely focused and it makes all the difference in the world.  You might feel some type of way about this track or that track when it comes to the music he’s working with, but when it comes to what he’s doing on the mic specifically, I’m not hearing any points that can be taken away from the work he’s putting in.  I also dig the details he’s put into the background vocals of this track as well – “Push Me To The Edge” is pretty wild shit when it comes right down to it.  Do I think more clarity in the production would enhance the overall listenability of this particular song?  Yes.  Yes I still feel that way, but it is what it is.  We all like different things at the end of the day, but I feel like the potent level of personality that LiMM has put into this track along the way is more than enough to convince everyone out there to keep on listening.

Again…I don’t always have to do the work – I find most times the artists and bands I’m listening to make my arguments for me.  LISTEN to the supreme clarity of “Hyper” and how much of a difference that makes to the accessibility of what you’ll hear, especially coming after “Push Me To The Edge.”  If you can’t hear the difference that makes, I’m not sure what else to tell ya – it’s massive.  Once more, that’s not me telling you that “Hyper” is a better song that “Push Me To The Edge” because of that additional clarity – it’s just more accessible to the average everyday listener, that’s all.  Honestly, for myself on a personal level, I probably like “Push Me To The Edge” more than I like “Hyper” – so don’t get it twisted, clarity isn’t the end-all and be-all – I’m just pointing out how much it helps get listeners invested in what they’re listening to.  Look at it like this…the production on “Push Me To The Edge” might take a few spins to convince people to listen to it if we’re talking about the way it sounds, whereas you’ll put on a track like “Hyper” and your ears will immediately respond positively to it…it’s really that simple.  Content-wise, I still lean towards “Push Me To The Edge,” but sound-wise, there’s no real contest when you compare these two tracks back-to-back from my perspective.  I just call things like I hear them y’all.

Personality of course, can work for and against you in certain situations.  Is LiMM “singing like Jodeci” on “Let It Go?”  We probably wanna pump the brakes on a comparison like that with the wild tones he’s working with on this cut.  What really does work when you make personality a priority in the music you make, is that things stand out – and for better or worse, it doesn’t really matter.  It makes things MEMORABLE, and obviously that can be a major asset when you’re “going for the win” in the Rap game, or any other style of music for that matter.  You want to stand out in whatever ways you can, if only to avoid drowning in the sea of sameness and sounding like everyone else.  LiMM isn’t going to have too many problems with that…he’s got identity, he’s got personality, he’s putting himself into his music, and ultimately that goes a very long way in the course of an entire career.  He could diversify his material a little bit if I’m being real with ya…I’m not all that sure that everyone out there wants to be tuning in just to hear about how LiMM is getting his dick sucked in every second song, but maybe I’m wrong about that – maybe that’s exactly why people are tuning in.  Maybe there are people out there betting on Polymarket about whether or not LiMM has got his Johnson stuffed into someone’s throat right at this very moment!  At least he’s spitting his truth, one way or the other, whether it’s from his mouth or from his…well…you get it.  “Let It Go” is alright!  Is it the cut that’ll keep you coming back to The Follow Up or a song that’s doing anything radically different than what we’ve heard already?  That’s a whole other conversation, but LiMM continues to hold his own on the mic and the quality has remained consistent.

Second reference to MJ on The Follow Up on “Runner,” which I think is…interesting.  Don’t get me wrong, more than half the world seems to be happy to push right past all the controversies surrounding his career, but it still seems like a weird dude to shout out in today’s world, in my opinion.  It’s kind of become the modern day litmus test for whether or not you feel like you can separate the art from the artist…and I suppose I fall on the side that can’t.  On the bright side, LiMM so consistently references his sexual preferences throughout this set-list that at least you know firmly where he stands on what he’s interested in.  Twelve tracks into The Follow Up…I dunno…I think he’s making a bit of an argument that thematically, he’s got tons of room to continue his evolution as an artist and that there could be other ways to use his platform, but again, maybe that’s just my perspective.  I’d argue that tracks like “Do It Better” are more compelling in that regard, because it tells more of a story I suppose.  That isn’t to say that “Runner” doesn’t still possess tons of aspects worth tuning in for – I actually dig this track quite a bit too, and there are valid comparisons that can be made between “Do It Better” and this one too.  I think you get another strong and insightful glimpse into the man’s mindset and emotions when he’s not concentrating on eating pussy with his “eyes closed” or getting his dick wet for the hundredth time.  First of all, eat it with your eyes open dawg…stare at it while you’re munching and make sure it knows you’re not afraid of it.  Secondly, I don’t really care about all that so much as the rest of what you’re rapping about on “Runner.”  Again, I know I’m not everyone, and obviously I’m just jealous of LiMM’s functional dick compared to this limp noodle I’m packin’ around that’s long past retirement – but yeah, he’s proven throughout this record that he can write highly engaging and compelling content, when he WANTS to.

Pull up Goose, pull up!  So…look…regardless of the record being only thirty-five minutes in total length, fourteen tracks is still fourteen tracks, and I’ve told ya a million times that there are about five perfect records with more than twelve songs on them on these pages of ours.  It’s RARE to find lengthy albums that don’t have dead space or tracks that should have probably ended up on the cutting room floor, and yes…that includes this one as well.  The moment that “To The Head” started up, I could feel that lack of objectivity it takes to drop a track to increase the overall accessibility of an album right away – this one needs work.  It HAPPENS.  I understand WHY that is.  As artists, we end up so close the material that we work on that it’s like it’s impossible to put down.  Or in the case of a track like “To The Head” where so many things are going RIGHT, it becomes super easy to ignore the pieces that aren’t coming out as strong.  Obviously at this point in the record, it’s easy to see/hear that LiMM and I would disagree on the whole blown-out bass sound thing…and that’s fine, it is what it is.  Where there’s one person like myself dissenting on that, there’s five others nodding their heads in approval, so take it all with a grain of salt.  My role here is to simply report on what I’m hearing as honestly as I can, all in an effort to help get those barriers between you and your music being listened to on the widest scale possible, but you’re always welcome to take it or leave it.  Other than that one aspect of “To The Head,” I’d probably tell you this is one of the stronger cuts on The Follow Up all-around, but from my perspective, the production is going to hinder the potential reach of what would otherwise be an easy slam dunk with the people out there.

What I’d want to hear more from LiMM going forward, is tracks like “Sacrifices” at the very end of The Follow Up – because this is the kind of material that holds up over time.  As I always tell ya, the more YOU there is in YOUR music, the more WE will connect with it as we listen – and this is a stellar example of that.  Don’t get me wrong, if you wanna rap about your dick or your sexual encounters in explicit detail, I’m still gonna listen and I’m probably even going to turn it UP – for the moment.  If we’re talking about tracks that can stand the test of time though, we’re talking about different things.  It’s content that we haven’t heard about before…stuff that comes from the real you, inside, not just your impulses that endures over the course of time.  Obviously, there are a million arguments that could be made of how much more accessible content like “Sacrifices” than something that’s much more throat-centric, but that’s a decision for LiMM to make about how far he wants his music to go in the long run.  All I can tell ya is what I’m hearing in the way I hear it – I’ll listen to the guy rapping about pussy all day long, and I have throughout my whole vacation and time away – but if you’re asking me which path is the best route for him to take to reach the success his skillset should be in line for, I’m gonna tell the guy to keep on diversifying his material as much as possible to make sure we stay interested in what he has to say.  Like, EVERYTHING about “Sacrifices” is a stunning example of the blueprint to follow towards his success, and it’s an extraordinary finale to The Follow Up.  If the songs are all about the sex & drugs, that might work for a while, but eventually we’re going to need more than that, and branching out earlier in a career is always going to make it easier to do later down the road.  For my money, I might very well tell ya that LiMM has saved the best for last with “Sacrifices” – of all the cuts on this record, I think it’s not only the most well-balanced track on the record for production and the technical aspects, but the content, performance, and character he displays proves he’s got so much more in the tank than he’s chosen to reveal on The Follow Up as well.  So I suppose what I’m saying is, even with as solid as the majority of this record has been to listen to, don’t be surprised when LiMM surges forward from here, and proves that his best years as an artist were still ahead of him all along.  As great as he is right now, trust me when I tell ya, he’s just scratching the surface of how great he can be.

Find out more about LiMM from his official websites below!

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/worldoflimm

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/worldoflimm

TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@worldoflimm

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@LiMMofficial

Multi-link:  https://dot.cards/worldoflimmbusiness

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