The Voice of the Heroes

by Lil Baby & Lil Durk

Released June 4, 2021 via Quality Control / Alamo Records / Motown Records

Reviewed June 14, 2021

Top tracks (based on community voting)

Hats Off (44%), That’s Facts (28%), How It Feels (22%)

The highest-selling artist of 2020 and the artist with the most Hot 100 chart entries capitalize on their success and join forces on their new effort, The Voice Of The Heroes. Throughout, the two complement each other, incorporating the role of “The Voice” and “The Hero” oddly well, with Baby as the hero and Durk the voice of the streets. The sound is very Atlanta-centric, so The Voice of the Heroes can feel very repetitive. Nonetheless, Baby and Durk’s performances are good enough to keep it interesting, most notably Baby. Many of the choruses are lackluster—most notably, “That’s Facts” and “Okay”—and in general, the album feels a little too long with this lack of diversity in the tracklist. If the fat was trimmed down, this would be one of the better albums of the year. But The Voice of the Heroes is still pretty damn good, even if there is room for improvement. – Alan (8.1/10)

Lil Baby and Lil Durk join forces to put the current wave of hip-hop on display with their new collaboration, The Voice Of The Heroes. This album marks their first joint project, and it does not disappoint. An insane energy, paired with some impressive pacing keeps the listener engaged throughout the entire hour-long runtime. With only four features across 18 tracks, Lil Baby and Lil Durk do most of the heavy lifting, and that’s a good thing. Their vocals, melodies, and lyrics convey pain and prosperity over masterful production, drawing the listener in with each passing track. The Voice of the Heroes is a project meant to inspire. – Daniel (7.5/10)

Sure to have every junior college basketball locker room absolutely rocking before tip-off, the "OTF" and "4PF" parties have formed a union at the helm of Lil Baby and Lil Durk's collaborative album, The Voice of the Heroes. Without serious rollout or early promo, these radio heatseekers are capitalizing on the incredible weight that their respective names hold in the industry, giving fans something they've been asking for. Durk and Baby combine for a predominantly Atlanta-based pop trap sound (via a roster of majority Atlanta-based producers: London on da Track, Turbo, Wheezy, among others), with a slight, natural flare of Chicago-centric trap and drill influences. The Voice of the Heroes shines a light on the creative similarities these two rappers share, but their combined efforts aren't nearly twice as potent. The artistic overlap between each rapper is this duo’s definitive strength, but it comes at a cost, as too much of a good thing with little contrast becomes very tedious. The Voice of the Heroes would deeply benefit from some counteractive mass: the kind of chemistry that combusts instead of assimilating. Baby and Durk both put up a few great moments that make for a tolerable project, still short of the fireworks necessary to perfect an album of such length. – DeVán (6/10)