Summer Walker Shows Us The Power of Elevation with CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE 

Don’t let the promo flick with Sukihana and Sexxy Redd fool you. This is not a ratchet twerking anthem tape. The next chapter of Summer Walker’s CLEAR tape series, Summer gives us her most honest work yet. She shows us that she takes her mentorship from Ms. Erykah Badu seriously.

The intro track “To Summer, From Cole” literally sounds like an auditory version of a hug. It’s literally to the point where I felt myself starting to actually get emotional while listening due to Cole’s personable words about her being able to juggle parenthood while being in the spotlight.

“Hardlife” is my current favorite due to her calling out the unfair culture of being able to see Caucasian and Hispanic women being able to “kick their feet, glass in hand, all their bills paid by the man” while black women are still to be subjected to strife and struggle, even in this day and age.

Summer adds “How Does It Feel and Set Up” to show us her acoustic skills. “Mind Your Mouth” is an early 2000s neo-soul vibe that talks about the struggle of finding love while being an independent woman. Jay Versace contributed to the production of Track 5 “Pull Up”.

Childish Gambino’s verse of “New Type” gives the same parallel of Earl Sweatshirt on Frank Ocean’s Super Rich Kids. Finding Peace tells of how separating herself from those with bad energy has helped her elevate in life.

“Agayu’s Revelation” is a deep, introspective spoken word outro where Summer reflects that the cycle of her past failed relationships was due to her wanting to build up men that was easily broken.

Through the production of Solange, Steve Lacy and John Kirby, Summer shares how she was mis-perceived as the “fun, ratchet” girl to date but things would go sour because she would want her partners to evolve and grow.

CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE is a cumulative music diary about her life since achieving fame, being a mother, and her continuous struggle with romantic love.