Fivio Foreign Shows Growth On 'Pain & Love 2' — But He Has A Long Way To Go

Fivio Foreign‘s new project Pain & Love 2 is the follow-up to a relatively obscure 2019 EP that dropped long before the New York MC’s accelerated rise to fame. After a show-stealing feature on Kanye West‘s Donda in 2021, Fivio became a bit of a household name; when Ye returned the favor on Fivio’s major label debut two years later, the rapper was a bonafide force.

Part of the reason is certainly that Mr. West used his Fivio feature, “City of Gods,” to threaten his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s then boyfriend Pete Davidson: ​​”This afternoon, a hundred goons pullin’ up to SNL/ When I pull up, it’s dead on arrival.” But Fivio also positioned himself as a bridge between New York’s drill roots and its next generation. On Pain & Love 2, he tries to build on this status, though the results are mixed.

Fivio Foreign broke through as a trench rapper, an MC eager to spit about the cold realities of life on the corner in New York City. Fivio is at his best on Pain & Love 2 when examining the ramifications of quieting his life down, of tightening his circle and focusing on his career. On the skittering, electric album opener “Who Knew,” the MC raps: “Who knew if I told ’em n-ggas that I need ’em and they wouldn’t really care?”

The obvious plays at radio don’t work nearly as well. The Swae Lee-assisted “Could it Be” is trite and generic; Fivio sounds like the AI-generated result of “mid-2020s New York rap hit.” He raps: “When you think of Fivi, think of the deli/ When you think of Fivi, think of some wetties/ You got a number? Then give me the celly.” Has anyone called a phone a “celly” since 2004?

These dull moments are all the more frustrating because Fivio Foreign often shows all the ways in which he’s grown as a rapper. On the Meek Mill-assisted “Same 24,” he queues up the sort of turn up jam the Philly icon has become associated with, going bar for bar with one of rap’s biggest names. The soul sample simmers, the piano equal parts melancholic and motivating.

The R&B-lite groove would crumble in lesser hands, but Fivio uses the minimalism to his advantage. He’s genuinely introspective and reflective of where he’s been and where he’s going, actively imbuing his story with history and valuable insights. “How I get rich off of a skill that I taught myself?/ I remember when I couldn’t even afford this belt/ I ain’t had the best drip, but I wore it well,” he spits.

Fivio Foreign is at his best when he has little interest in showing off luxuries, instead using this newfound wealth to illustrate how far he’s come since the days of the first edition of Pain & Love.

RELEASE DATE: February 9, 2024

RECORD LABEL: RichFish/Columbia

Listen to Pain & Love 2 below: