Landlord (album)

Landlord is the fourth studio album by English rapper Giggs. It was released on 5 August 2016 independently through SN1 Records.[1] It succeeds Giggs's third album When Will It Stop (2013) and after parting with XL Recordings. The album features guest appearances from Stormzy, Donae'o, Youngs Teflon, CASisDEAD, among others. Production derives from frequent collaborator Boom Productions, Swifta Beater, Charlie Sloth, Danny Boom, Scott Styles, Smasher and Wizzy Wow.

Landlord
Studio album by Giggs
Released	5 August 2016
Recorded	2016
Studio	Lab Studios Media Sharks Studios MSM's Studio Sensible Studios Zephron Studios (London, England)
Genre	British hip hop
Length	54:40
Label	SN1 Records
Producer	Giggs (also exec.) Boom Productions Charlie Sloth CRT Danny Boom Donae'o Dukus (also exec.) Greatness Jones Hayzeus Jaisu Mazza Beats Nibz Scott Styles Sean Murdz Smasher Swifta Beater Wizzy Wow
Giggs chronology
When Will It Stop (2013) Landlord (2016) Big Bad... (2019)
Singles from Landlord
"Whippin Excursion" Released: 21 July 2016 "Lock Doh" Released: 26 September 2016

The album was supported by two singles: "Whippin' Excursion" and "Lock Doh" featuring Donae'o.

Landlord received positive reviews from critics and peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Giggs's highest-charting and most successful album to date.

Background

Giggs's third album, When Will It Stop was released in October 2013 and peaked at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming his highest-charting album at the time. The following two years saw Giggs releasing no solo material but making numerous guest appearances on high-profile songs; such as "Man Don't Care" with Jme and "3 Wheel Ups" with Kano.

In June 2016, Giggs announced the release date of the album through a teaser video posted on social media.[2] The track list was unveiled the following month. [3][4] According to an interview with Tim Westwood, Landlord was recorded in a broken period of two weeks, with the intention of releasing it to match the release date of his debut album, Walk in da Park (2008).[5] It was completed without the intention of releasing an album, Westwood stating: "I went to the studio and did three songs at the same time, starting one, stopping and going to another, doing all three of them at once. Then when they was finished I was like “Rah, this is sounding like some album shit.” And then I went to studio the next day and made ‘Whippin Excursion.’ That week I made like six bangers."[5][6]

Promotion

On 21 July 2016 the lead single, "Whippin' Excursion", was released along with its music video and pre-order for Landlord.[7][8][9] The single peaked at number 152 on the UK Singles Chart,

After popular demand, "Lock Doh" was released as the second single from Landlord.[10][11][12][13][14] It peaked at number 52 on the UK Singles Chart, number 5 on the UK Independent Chart and number 12 on the UK R&B Chart, becoming Giggs' highest-charting single.[15] In April 2017, the single was certified Gold by BPI Music with 400,000 sales.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[16]
Review scores
Source	Rating
ClashMusic	[17]
Crack Magazine	[18]
Complex	Very favourable[19]
NME	[20]
SpiceUK	4.7/5[21]
The Guardian	[22]
The Independent	Very positive[23]

Landlord received positive reviews from critics. It received a normalized metascore of 80 out of 100 on the review aggregate website Metacritic based on 4 critics, which indicates "generally favourable."[16] Damien Morris of The Guardian described Landlord as "frighteningly good" and "fantastic, crafted, big-stage trap with the lissom, conversational feel of a mixtape. The clever use of features offsets that lugubrious voice with a pleasing range of articulate rappers; and the beats intelligently mix intimacy and claustrophobia, making Giggs’s grownup rhymes more authoritative than ever."[22] Louis Pattison of NME commended the lyrical content, stating "Giggs’ delivery blends menace and sly comedy, while particularly choice lines are punctuated with a grunt, or a laugh so sinister it'd make the Grim Reaper soil his cloak."[20]

Eto Worchie of The Independent gave a highly favourable review to Landlord, complimenting the authenticity of Giggs and solidifying his longevity: "Giggs gives us some vulnerability and greez here, reaffirming himself as The Boss in this album. Even eight years later he reminds us he’s still the same person and is still 100% authentic and 100% paying no attention to the industry"[23] In a very favourable review, Jesse Bernard of Complex described Landlord as a "trap masterpiece" and "certainly a more cohesive effort than its predecessors [Let Em Ave It and When Will It Stop]".[19]

Commercial performance

Landlord entered and peaked on the UK Albums Chart at number 2, behind Blossoms by 9,500 copies.[24] It became Giggs's highest-charting album, surpassing the peak of When Will It Stop (2013) which peaked at number 21. However, Landlord charted at number 1 on the UK Independent Chart and UK R&B Chart. The album also peaked at number 39 on the Scottish Albums Chart.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Nathaniel Thompson	Jaisu	3:35
2.	"The Blow Back" (featuring Stormzy & Dubz)	Thompson Michael Omari Dubz	Scott Styles	6:02
3.	"Whippin Excursion"	Thompson	Scott Styles Sean Murdz	2:31
4.	"Just Swervin"	Thompson	CRT Nibz	4:44
5.	"The Process"	Thompson	Greatness Jones Wizzy Wow^[a]	2:54
6.	"Lock Doh" (featuring Donae'o)	Thompson Ian Greenidge	Donae'o	3:09
7.	"The Best" (featuring Aystar & Youngs Teflon)	Thompson Aystar Jimmy Conway	Smasher	5:03
8.	"Slippin"	Thompson	Boom Productions	2:22
9.	"501 (Hollow & Heston)" (featuring CASisDEAD)	Thompson CASisDEAD	Swifta Beater	3:42
10.	"Of Course" (featuring Rico Love)	Thompson Richard Butler, Jr.	Charlie Sloth	4:55
11.	"Savage" (featuring Kyze)	Thompson Kyze	Hayzeus	4:09
12.	"Lyrical Combat" (featuring CASisDEAD & Dubz)	Thompson CASisDEAD Dubz	Boom Productions	5:01
13.	"Clipped Him" (featuring Gunna Dee)	Thompson Gunna Dee	Mazza Beats	3:48
14.	"The New Shit"	Thompson	Danny Boom	2:45
Total length:				54:40

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes.

• Art Goon – cover art, art direction
• Aystar – featured artist
• Bernie Grundman – mastering
• Boomblast – producer
• Buck – management
• CASisdead – featured artist
• Dirty Saj – recording
• Donae'o – featured artist
• Dubz – featured artist
• Dukus – executive producer, mixing
• Giggs – primary artist, executive producer, vocals, art direction
• John Schullman – engineer
• Gunna Dee – featured artist
• Kyze – featured artist
• MSM – mixing, recording
• Raye Cosbert – management
• Rico Love – featured artist
• Stormzy – featured artist
• Trenton Harrison-Lewis – management
• Youngs Teflon – featured artist

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25]	39
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[26]	1
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[27]	1
UK Albums (OCC)[28]	2

References

1. "iTunes - Landlord by Giggs". iTunes. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
2. "Giggs announces 'The Landlord' release date". SBTV. 27 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
3. "Giggs Announces New Album 'Landlord'". Clash Magazine. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
4. "UK Rapper Giggs Releases New Album 'Landlord'". The Source. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
5. "Exclusive Interview: Giggs – "We're writing the history books as we go along."". RWD Magazine. August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
6. "Exclusive interview with UK rapper Giggs and his chart-topping album 'Landlord'". The Source. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
7. "Giggs shares new track 'Whippin Excursion' from 'The Landlord'". SBTV. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
8. "Giggs takes us on a 'Whippin Excursion'". Nation of Billions. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
9. "Giggs Shares the First Track from 'Landlord': "Whippin' Excursion"". Complex. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
10. "Giggs releases video for 'Lock Doe' feat. Donae'o". RWD Magazine. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
11. "Giggs - Lock Doh feat. Donae'o (Official Video)". YouTube. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
12. "BBC Music - Lock Doh (feat. Donae'o) - Giggs". BBC Music. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
13. "Tinie Tempah Remixes Giggs Single "Lock Doh"". Kings Media TV. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
14. "Giggs releases single "Lock Doh" feat. Donae'o". The British Blacklist. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
15. "GIGGS FT. DONAEO - Lock Doh - Chart Positions". Official Charts. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
16. "Reviews for Landlord by Giggs". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
17. "Giggs - Landlord". ClashMusic. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
18. "Giggs' Landlord is a transatlantic triumph". Crack Magazine. August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
19. "Giggs Shows Us Who's Boss On Trap Masterpiece 'Landlord'". Complex. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
20. "Giggs – 'Landlord' Review". NME. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
21. "Giggs Landlord Track by Track Review (Album)". SpiceUK. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
22. "Giggs: Landlord review – frighteningly good". The Guardian. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
23. "Giggs 'Landlord' review". The Independent. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
24. "Blossoms score debut Number 1 album: "We're absolutely made up"". Official Charts. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
25. August 2016/40/ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
26. August 2016/131/ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
27. August 2016/115/ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
28. August 2016/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 January 2017.