Last Lap
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Last Lap Album ∙ Rap ∙ 2024 Rod Wave No matter how hard he appears to try, Rod Wave seems unable to escape the sadness. As the veritable king of pain rap, the St. Petersburg, Florida, artist has frequently sworn off the emotional depths that came to define his catalog, only to return to this thematic well again and again to produce masterful works born of hard times and mired in misery. As such, the trap-soul hybrids his fans continue to expect and, perhaps, demand from him persist on his sixth studio album Last Lap . Case in point: The finality implied by its title runs counter to the title track’s closing refrain, his inability to let go less a choice than a calling. From the very beginning, Rod shows that he’s still wrestling with demons. Opener “Turtle Race” mourns the lost while fretting over fresh woes, not the least of which being an ominous interaction with law enforcement. “Federal Nightmares” furthers the narrative as he watches loved ones ensnared by a carceral system ...