Tory Lanez – Made You Think I Was Gone…But Album Review: A Tale of Two Completely Different Albums
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There was a time when my late-night playlists were dominated by the neon-soaked, 80s-inspired haze of “The Color Violet” and the melodic gravity of “Hurts Me”. As a long-time fan of these works, I found Tory Lanez to be one of the few artists capable of fusing R&B and hip-hop into a singular, “swavey” genre that actually felt cohesive. But that late-night momentum was suddenly and violently screwed up by the horrific incident involving Megan Thee Stallion and the subsequent legal fallout.
Now, with Tory beginning a 10-year prison sentence, his team is working overtime on a massive career recovery, attempting to keep his name in the conversation through a relentless stream of “Prison Tapes” and “Lost Tapes”. The latest—and most ambitious—move in this revival strategy is the release of a massive 23-track double record titled Made You Think I Was Gone…But. This project is a calculated split between two identities: Disc 1 (Fargo’s Revenge) leans into his aggressive rap roots, while Disc 2 (Fargo’s Heartbreak) returns to the melodic R&B space.
Collectively, the album feels like a cinematic post-jail dream—a 77-minute exploration of Tory’s desire to escape his current reality and live the life he wants on his own terms. But as we’ve seen with so many releases in 2026, the question remains: is this a genuine artistic statement, or is the “greatness” once again buried under a mountain of unnecessary bloat?
Let’s be real: if this project only consisted of Disc 1, I’d be shouting its praises from the rooftops. Fargo’s Revenge delivers exactly the kind of sharp, high-energy rap tracks that Future’s new album honestly should have sounded like. But Disc 2 is a total trainwreck. Instead of giving us the iconic, soulful melodies we know he’s capable of, it’s packed with incredibly boring, late-night R&B tracks that will put you straight to sleep. It’s completely unlistenable filler that utterly drags down what could have been a great release.
Production-wise, the album delivers some highly enjoyable moments, especially across the Disc 1 tracks. The first disc plays like a masterclass in cinematic trap, heavily built on the kind of gritty Toronto energy that thoroughly defines Lanez’s roots. Producers like 2one2 and Cashen lean into aggressive 808s and incredibly punchy percussion that hit the listener with a desperate intensity. On tracks like “Jalen Brunson” and “Revenge Of Fargo,” the production cleverly utilizes sports-celebrity shorthand and competitive imagery to construct a powerful, “MVP” persona.
This isn’t just about establishing a rhythm; it’s about constructing a heavy sonic suit of armor. The real “So What?” here is that the production is doing the absolute heavy lifting because Lanez is effectively a ghost in the machine. By placing his vocals deep within these high-octane soundscapes, the producers create a brilliant illusion of power that completely masks the sterile reality of prison recordings.
It successfully sells a narrative of intense rivalry and elite status that honestly shouldn’t work from behind a cell door, but the sheer “percussive violence” of the arrangement forces the listener to buy in completely. However, where the first disc thrives on this explosive external aggression, the second disc attempts to retreat into a more internal, atmospheric space that it simply cannot sustain.
On Fargo’s Heartbreak, the project shifts into a late-night R&B aesthetic that unfortunately highlights the widening gap between technical polish and actual artistic fire. While the arrangements themselves are moody and intricate, the final results are severely marred by a palpable sense of aesthetic stagnation. We have seen Lanez completely dominate this specific sonic lane before, but here, the production is effectively buried by a performance that has gone noticeably soft.
The performance-to-production ratio is completely lopsided throughout this half. When compared directly to the melodic benchmarks of “The Color Violet” or the raw emotional urgency of “Hurts Me,” these new tracks feel completely static and sleepy. There is a generic facelessness to the instrumentation—much of it uninspired—that makes the entire disc feel like a rushed cash grab of vault scraps.
Without the “fire” of compelling melodies or a genuine vocal presence, the professional sheen of the R&B layering becomes a liability. It’s a collection of songs in which the producer’s work is completely visible, but the artist’s soul remains hidden, creating a dull listening experience that pales in comparison to his previous heights. This leaves us with a project that is saved by its beats but totally sunk by its own lack of inspiration.
The songwriting on “Made You Think I Was Gone…But” is a frustratingly mixed bag that reinforces my “range over reinvention” thesis. On the rap-heavy first disc, Fargo’s Revenge, Tory’s pen is sharper than it has been in years, delivering bars about his impending freedom and his enemies with a visceral, gritty energy. Tracks like “Revenge of Fargo,” “Jalen Brunson,” and “GYMR” are absolute masterclasses in technical rapping; it’s actually wild to see him ditch traditional structures entirely for tracks composed of pure, hook-less verses.
However, that momentum hits a wall once we transition to the R&B-focused Fargo’s Heartbreak. While “Heartbreak From Cell 210” manages to tap into a genuine sense of isolation and romantic regret, the rest of the disc’s writing feels disappointingly generic, utterly lacking the piercing emotional core that made “Hurts Me” such a late-night staple. Ultimately, while the songwriting isn’t “bad” per se, the record lacks the definitive, memorable hooks required to stick in our minds for years.
It’s yet another example of good ideas being buried beneath a mountain of filler, failing to reach the heights of a true, cohesive artistic statement.
Frankly speaking, I really loved tracks like “Revenge Of Fargo”, “Jalen Brunson”, “GYMR”, and “9side Bodmon.” They deliver really sharp, cinematic rap soundscapes, even if none of them will ultimately stick in my heavy playlist rotation for long. Disc 1 is practically anti-filler—there isn’t a single track on that first half I would consider bad.
But Disc 2 is the exact opposite. It’s totally anti-good, completely bogged down by a string of boring, forgettable tracks like “Favorite Eater”, “Streets Want You Back”, “First Day Out”, and “Dancers Remorse.”
So, in conclusion, Made You Think I Was Gone…But stands as a stark monument to both the heights of Tory Lanez’s technical execution and the structural perils of the modern double album. When the smoke clears, the project functions less like a unified body of work and more like a battle between two competing artistic impulses, trapped inside a sprawling 77-minute runtime.
The record leaves the listener with a definitive tale of two halves. Disc 1, Fargo’s Revenge, is a genuine triumph of modern trap music—a lean, cinematic, and hook-less masterclass that proves the artist’s pen can still strike with razor-sharp urgency when backed by elite production from 2one2 and Cashen. It is an anti-filler run that immediately commands repeat listens. Conversely, Disc 2, Fargo’s Heartbreak, collapses under the weight of its own exhaustion, offering a sleepy, generic slate of late-night R&B placeholders that completely lack the unforgettable melodic fire of his past milestones.
Ultimately, this album proves that while an artist’s range can be a massive asset, a lack of editing can be fatal. By burying a brilliant, high-octane rap mixtape under a mountain of sleepy, uninspired vault scraps, the project fails to deliver the definitive, cohesive artistic statement it promised. It’s a lopsided effort that wins the battle with its stellar beats but ultimately loses the war to its own bloated runtime.
[Rating: 5/10]
- Favorite Tracks: Revenge Of Fargo, Jalen Brunson, GYMR, 9side Bodmon
- Least Favorite Tracks: Favorite Eater, Kody, Streets Want You Back, First Day Out (R&B Version)
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