Roy Woods has remained a unique presence on the OVO roster.

PARTYNEXTDOOR, Majid Jordan, and dvsn have curated the label’s R&B sound, while Baka Not Nice, and Drizzy himself mainly handle the hip-jop outings –all while newcomer Popcaan adds in a sprinkle of afro-dancehall, of which he’s already a master. As a young Brampton artist of Guyanese descent, Roy Woods always carried himself with a different timbre. He sings with a unique ear for psychotropic R&B and has previously dabbled in rap, EDM, and even afrobeats. With all these talents in his arsenal at just 21-years-old, his 2017 debut, Say Less, attempted to narrow in on the identity of Roy Woods but was still relatively unfocused.

Now after a slew of lackluster club releases late last year, Woods’ first EP in three years is shockingly mundane. Dem Times is devoid of the experimentation that made Woods such a unique talent to watch, instead scrapping it for the bouncy melodic trap that has plagued R&B. It just sounds like Woods isn’t having any fun. His braggadocious flaunting of Ketamine and Percocet sound disingenuous, as if he’s just saying what he thinks rappers are supposed to say, and it’s often hard to look past cringe-worthy bars like: “I’ma mash up the p*ssy like potatoes.”

Even though he enlisted the help of iconic trap producers like OJ Finessey and KBeaZy, Woods gets lost in trying to sound like Playboi Carti on “Like Pascal,” and continues to sound completely out of his element as he gurgles through autotune he doesn’t need on “Cool J.” Roy Woods doesn’t need to try so hard to be trendy and cool; he’s proven in the past to have unmatchable talent. Hopefully, on his next outing, he’ll realize that as well.

Dem Times