Quality Ingredients, but the wrong recipe

Jay Worthy has put in the work, and it’s paid off. He’s had many great collaborations and features, both as a guest and host, and it feels like things have been building up to Once Upon a Time, a double-disc album of which we’ve only received the first part so far. I’ve always liked Jay Worthy’s random songs but have only delved into a few of his projects, so I was looking forward to this.

Jay Worthy delivers laid-back, mostly chill West Coast tracks on Disc 1 of Once Upon a Time. The first half includes some boppier joints, but as the album progresses, it gets even calmer—sometimes to its detriment for me. “96 Big Body” is the first track and one of the standouts here for sure. “The Only One” is another solid track, and “For the Homies,” featuring DJ Quik, is decent enough. “Rekkless” is another good track but introduces nostalgic sounds that start to dominate the project, creating a vibe I’m not that into.

“Open Minded” feels out of place compared to everything before it. I think it’s a fine song but doesn’t fit within the context. “FTJ” is okay, but the blend of artists doesn’t really work for me. Jim Jones, E-40, and Wiz Khalifa don’t need to be on a track together. Even “Dark Tints” I didn’t fully enjoy because, unfortunately, it’s one of those Conductor beats I just didn’t like. The outro beat of the song is better than the main beat. “Famous Players” returns to that throwback sound that feels out of place and doesn’t work for me at all. “Tides” is another track that doesn’t fit for me, which has me worried when Disc 1 of a double-disc album feels like I could cut out half the songs. Things finish much stronger from “Bellagio” onward, but that middle chunk of the disc gets rough for me.

I’m hoping the second disc is better and can elevate the project as a whole. If it’s similar to this, though—which I don’t see why it wouldn’t be—I’m not sure I’ll enjoy it much, unfortunately. The sound Jay Worthy leans into for a large chunk of this just doesn’t work for me or fit with the rest of what I was hearing. Not every album clicks for everyone, and that’s okay. This one just didn’t happen to be for me.

Standout Tracks: 96 Big Body, Bellagio, Choosing Shoes & 2P’z

Album Rating: 👑👑👑👑👑👑 (6.5/10)