Review Summary: A road that needs to be further traveled on.
Miami rapper Jake Miller is a young guy who has promise of breaking out in the industry. His partaking of the pop-rap sub-genre is one with high risk, his 2012 debut "Spotlight" showed both promising and glaring signs of what the young rapper can do. It was all a matter of the mostly-generic production in which took the brunt of the blame, mainly because of the teen-pop influence in which lathered in the bulk of the content. Aside from that, he did fairly alright on his first attempt. Fast forward to 2013, where Miller releases another EP with "The Road Less Traveled", where some of Jake's best material to date is full-on displayed.
In Miller's 2012 debut, there was some hip-hop influence where it was strictly that with little to no pop background. That isn't the case in this album, where none of that exists at all. It definitely is one with risks, especially because of the prominent teen-pop influence seen in "Spotlight" that did no justice to help Miller. He also ditched, for the most part, the discussion on his stance towards mainstream hip-hop. The only time where you see that is on the EDM-pop influenced "Glow", in which he touched on for a little bit. With all these risks Jake is taking on this album, you'd think that this would end up being a sheer disaster. What ends up being the case is that some of the best material Jake has put out to date is on this album, and the fact that the high risk pays off. for the most part.
"The Road Less Traveled" is more emotionally-driven, where Miller showcases his vulnerability. Tracks like "Goodbye" touch on saying farewell, in this case, to a relationship. As generic as it sounds, because it has been done too many times, Jake excels with his on-point rapping on this track which is also EDM-pop-driven. Afterwards it culminates in "Steven", undoubtedly the best track in Miller's career. Touching on a teenager whose struggles are immense, ranging from suffering at school, drugs, family issues, leading to his eventual suicide: Miller raps in sheer, gripping detail about him to the beat of militaristic drums and a dire, hopeless piano which sets the sadistic atmosphere for the track. The lyrical content is as blunt and cold as it gets, with Jake digging in deep with lines like "now your all an accomplice for murder/each and everyone of you checked in to kill me" that will give chills down anyone's spine. This kind of track really shows how great Miller can be as an artist.
For the most part, Jake Miller's second outing is definitely better than his debut. While the strictly hip-hop influence is all but gone, the change in direction isn't that bad at all. With that said, a couple tracks like "See Ya Soon" feel more like 'album filler' than actually fitting the premise, it just doesn't belong on the album. Also the attempt to sing, in which Jake does try to do in that song, doesn't pan out so well either. Aside from that, there isn't much to criticize on. Jake stepped up lyrically as well on this album, with his best outing obviously in the depressing "Steven". In this music industry risks do have to be taken, and man did Jake Miller take some on "The Road Less Traveled". This could've been terrible, but instead this ends up raking in the rewards for being able to make it work, and that's something that needs to be noted big-time.
