The Incredible True Story

The Incredible True Story
Studio album by Logic
Released	November 13, 2015
Recorded	2014–15
Genre	Hip hop rap opera
Length	61:52
Label	Def Jam Visionary Music Group
Producer	Logic (also exec.) 6ix (also exec.) Chris Zarou (co-exec.) Stefan Ponce Sir Dylan Syk Sense OZ Los Finesse DJ Dahi Tae Beast C-Sick DJ Khalil
Logic chronology
Under Pressure (2014) The Incredible True Story (2015)
Singles from The Incredible True Story
"Young Jesus" Released: September 22, 2015 "Like Woah" Released: October 14, 2015 "Fade Away" Released: November 5, 2015

The Incredible True Story is the second studio album by American rapper Logic. It was released on November 13, 2015, by Def Jam Recordings and Visionary Music Group.^[1] The album debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, selling 135,000 copies in its first week, convincedly sold for the amount of 500 or even more than its first-week sales from his debut album Under Pressure (2014). To date, the album has sold over 185,000 copies in the United States.^[2]

Background and artwork

The Incredible True Story is described as "a sophomore album and motion picture sci-fi epic from Logic". The motion picture stars Logic, Steven Blum (as Thomas), Kevin Randolph (as Kai) and Anna Elyse Palchikoff (as Thalia). The album tells a story that takes place 100 years in the future; the Earth has become uninhabitable, and the remaining 5 million people live in a space station. Kai and Thomas, both from the future, are trying to travel to a planet called "Paradise", and their trip is accompanied by the playthrough of the album.^[3] The project is subtitled “…And the Transformation of the Man Who Saved the World.”^[4]

The album was entirely produced by Logic and his longtime friend and in-house producer 6ix, along with C-Sick, who served as a guest producer. The album features guest appearances from Big Lenbo, English singer Lucy Rose, Dria and Jesse Boykins III.^[5] The album art was illustrated and painted by artist Sam Spratt, as a 3 panel panoramic album cover. The cover includes 12 main contributors to the album's creation, including Logic, 6ix, Steve Blum, Kevin Randolph, DJ Rhetorik, and a hidden Sam Spratt, among others.

Promotion

The album was announced on September 8, 2015, with a promotional video that said that the project would be released during fall of 2015. The trailer for the upcoming album shows Logic wearing a NASA MA-1 bomber flight jacket inside a spacecraft. He is also seen with an Akai MPC 2000 sampling a loop that repeats, "I am the greatest".^[6] On October 23, 2015, the album tracklist was revealed on the iTunes pre-order page.^[7] On his twitter account, his two promotional hashtags were created for promotion of the album and the film: TITSATOTMWSTW & TITS (NSFW).

Voice cast

Steve Blum as Quentin Thomas, the captain and pilot of the Aquarius III and one of the two main characters in the album's story. Thomas is portrayed as a very calm and collected man who is stable in times of chaos.

Kevin Randolph as William Kai, the first man in charge of infantry on the Aquarius III and the other main character. Kai is very excitable, frightens easily, and shares Logic's love of Rubik's Cubes.

Anna Elyse Palchikoff as Thalia, the Aquarius III's computer program. Palchikoff reprises her role from Under Pressure. Thalia is also voiced by Sean Anderson for a single sentence when Thomas shows Kai that the program can emulate anyone in recorded history.

Will Poulter as Christopher Smith, the deceased captain of the Aquarius I.

Full gatefold of the album artwork featuring 12 main contributors to the album. From left to right: Sir Dylan, Big Lenbo, DJ Rhetorik, Kevin Randolph, Bobby Campbell, Logic, Sam Spratt, 6ix, Steve Blum, Steve Wireman, Chris Thornton, John Berg

Music

Logic delves much heavier into the production side, he is credited as a producer on the majority of the album. Along with 6ix, Logic is crafting the beats and accompanying sounds that would serve as the score for the film portion of the album. In fact, the character Kai is named after Logic's AKAI MPC 2000 XL which he produces on.^[8] The sound differs significantly than those on Under Pressure. Martín Caballero of the Boston Globe calls the album "polished and appealing material" contrasting his former album that was "overeager" and "overproduced".^[9] The production also draws some multiple comparisons to other famous hip-hop songs. "Contact" borrows the same drums from Kanye West's "Amazing" and "City of Stars" is similar to West's "Flashing Lights". The song "Paradise" was crafted to sound like a OutKast track, even beginning with the lyrics "now this that SpottieOttieDopaliscious, hella vicious", referencing a track from the duo's 1998 release Aquemini. Logic wanted to feature Andre 3000 and Big Boi on the track, effectively reuniting OutKast, they however declined.^[8] Tonally, there is a duality across the album a back-and-forth of lighter and darker tracks. Insanul Ahmed of Complex outlined the album's sound calling the music "some of the happiest [Logic’s] ever made, but there are dark undertones to songs like “Fade Away,” a record about death, and “City of Stars,” which is a breakup record with hip-hop."^[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Exclaim!	7/10[12]
GoodMusicAllDay	(Favorable)[13]
HipHopDX	[14]
IBTimes
Pitchfork Media	6.1/10[15]

The Incredible True Story was met with positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 74, based on 6 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews."^[16]

Jullian Kimble of Pitchfork Media said "The Incredible True Story is a pleasant voyage to Paradise orchestrated by an artist who’s earned the approval of legends from Rick Rubin to Big Daddy Kane. Logic has the tools to create music that has longevity, but has yet to unlock the characteristics that truly set him apart. If he’s able to tap into that, his subsequent releases will have the impact he aspires for."^[15] Erin Lowers of Exclaim! wrote that "The Incredible True Story is Logic's best work yet, but there's still work to be done bridging the gulf between his ambition and his ability."^[12] Kellan Miller of HipHopDX stated "With every remarkable release, one can only hope that Logic will continue in this vein and not float too far into the stratosphere."^[14]

Singles

On September 22, 2015, Logic released the first single, titled "Young Jesus." The song features guest verses by his longtime friend Big Lenbo. It was produced by Logic's frequent record producer 6ix.

On October 14, 2015, Logic released the album's second single, titled "Like Woah." Logic produced this track alongside 6ix. On November 5, 2015, Logic released the album's third single, the self-produced "Fade Away" through SoundCloud.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Contact"	Sir Robert Bryson Hall II Stefan Ponce Patrick Wolf	Logic Ponce	2:43
2.	"Fade Away"	Hall II Gene Puerling	Logic	4:47
3.	"Upgrade"	Hall II Gilbert O'Sullivan Arjun Ivatury	6ix Logic	2:53
4.	"White People (Scene)"	Hall II		1:39
5.	"Like Woah"	Hall II Ivatury John Cameron	6ix Logic	3:52
6.	"Young Jesus" (featuring Big Lenbo)	Hall II Ivatury Leon Ressalam Renee Scroggins James Blake Robert Diggs	6ix	3:35
7.	"Innermission" (featuring Lucy Rose)	Hall II Ivatury Dylan "Sir Dylan" Wiggins	6ix Sir Dylan	4:00
8.	"I Am the Greatest"	Hall II Joshua "Syk Sense" Scruggs Ozan "OZ" Yildirim Christopher Bear Ed Droste Daniel Rossen Chris Taylor	Syk Sense OZ Logic	3:22
9.	"The Cube (Scene)"	Hall II		0:27
10.	"Lord Willin'"	Hall II Ivatury Wiggins	Logic 6ix Sir Dylan	3:28
11.	"City of Stars"	Hall II Ivatury Steve Hackett Jim Diamond	6ix Logic	6:16
12.	"Stainless" (featuring Dria)	Hall II Ivatury Dacoury Natche Dria Thornton Christopher Thornton	Logic 6ix DJ Dahi	3:19
13.	"Babel (Scene)"	Hall II		1:11
14.	"Paradise" (featuring Jesse Boykins III)	Hall II Wiggins Donte Perkins Sam Hardaker Henry Binns José Gonzalez	Sir Dylan Logic 6ix Tae Beast	4:42
15.	"Never Been"	Hall II Charles Dumazer Lawrence Matthews Dijon McFarlane	C-Sick	4:07
16.	"Run It"	Hall II Dumazer Richard Wylie Anthony Hester	C-Sick	3:20
17.	"Lucidity (Scene)"	Hall II Khalil Abdul-Rahman	DJ Khalil	0:55
18.	"The Incredible True Story"	Hall II Ivatury Sam Barsh Jeff Gitelman Daniel Seeff Abdul-Rahman	DJ Khalil Logic 6ix	6:56
Total length:				61:52

Sample credits

• "Contact" contains elements of "Amazing" performed by Kanye West and "Time of My Life" performed by Patrick Wolf.
• "Fade Away" samples "Deck the Halls" performed by The Singers Unlimited.
• "Upgrade" samples "Clair" performed by The Singers Unlimited.
• "Like Woah" interpolates "Liquid Sunshine" performed by John Cameron.
• "Young Jesus" interpolates "U.F.O." performed by ESG, "Take a Fall for Me" performed by James Blake.
• "Innermission" interpolates "Life's a Bitch" performed by Nas.
• "I Am the Greatest" samples "Fine for Now" performed by Grizzly Bear and "I Am The Greatest" by Cassius Clay
• "City of Stars" samples "Days of Long Ago" performed by Steve Hackett and interpolates "Last Call" performed by Kanye West.
• "Stainless" samples "Backyard" performed by Travis Scott.
• "Paradise" samples "Today" performed by Zero 7 and José González.
• "Never Been" interpolates "Call on Jesus" performed by Lawrence Matthews.
• "Run It" samples "Maybe So, Maybe No" performed by Mayer Hawthorne.
• "The Incredible True Story" samples "What If Money was No Object" performed by Alan Watts.

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17]	43
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18]	105
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19]	196
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[20]	7
Irish Albums (IRMA)[21]	79
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[22]	27
UK Albums (OCC)[23]	47
US Billboard 200[24]	3
US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[25]	1
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[26]	1
US Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[27]	4

References

1. Ortiz, Edwin. "Logic Announces His Sophomore Album, 'The Incredible True Story'". Complex.
2. "Check Out The 15 Best Selling Hip Hop Albums Of The Year". News.hiphopearly.com. 2015-12-30. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
3. Smith, Trevor. "Logic Announces Sophomore Album Title". HotNewHipHop.
4. "The Incredible True Story". Logic301 (21 September 2015). "#TITSATOTMWSTW" (Tweet).
5. C.M., Emmanuel. "Three Things You Need to Know About Logic’s New Album". XXLMag.com. October 9, 2015. Retrieved on October 24, 2015.
6. Herdandez, Victoria. "Logic Announces "The Incredible True Story" Album". HipHopDX.
7. "The Incredible True Story by Logic on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2015-11-13. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
8. Ahmed, Insanul. "The Winning Formula: How Logic Found the Key to Success". Complex.
9. Caballero, Martín. "Album review: Logic, ‘The Incredible True Story". Boston Globe.
10. "The Incredible True Story by Logic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
11. Jeffries, David. "The Incredible True Story". All Music. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
12. Lowers, Erin (November 17, 2015). "Logic - The Incredible True Story". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
13. Blair, EJ. "Our First Impressions Of Logic’s ‘The Incredible True Story’ (Album Review)". Good Music All Day. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
14. Miller, Kellan. "Logic - The Incredible True Story". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
15. Kimble, Julian. "Logic: The Incredible True Story Review". Pitchfork.com. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
16. "Reviews for the Incredible True Story". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
17. "Australiancharts.com – Logic – The Incredible True Story". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
18. "Ultratop.be – Logic – The Incredible True Story" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
19. "Ultratop.be – Logic – The Incredible True Story" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
20. "Billboard Canadian Albums". Billboard.
21. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 47, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
22. "Charts.org.nz – Logic – The Incredible True Story". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
24. "Logic: Billboard 200". Billboard.
25. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard.
26. "Top Rap Albums". Billboard.
27. "Tastemaker Albums". Billboard.