What We Didn’t Have was released on September 18, 2023, and is 15 tracks long. It is distributed by 10K Projects. The album is an excellent pluggnb project and it is Summrs’ return to the genre after straying away from it on his previous albums “Ghost” and “Stuck In My Ways”. Ghost didn’t feature any pluggnb tracks and Stuck In My Ways only featured a few.
The first track is titled “Overdosing On Toxicity” and it features a very nice piano instrumental. The song is a bit short and could’ve used another verse. Summrs showcases some impressive vocals on it. The second track “The Healing” is catchy and is an overall good song. The third track “Rehab” is a standout on the album. On it, Summrs talks about addiction and his family who has been through rehab. The fourth track “Feel Dumb” is a very good one and one of the best on the album. I am a big fan of the vocal performance. The track is overall very catchy and a good showcase of modern Summrs. The fifth track “International” is the weakest on the album in my opinion. It is not a bad song but it is the most boring. I like the vocals at times but most of the song is a bit stale. The sixth track “Playin With Demon/Jokes On U” is another standout. The song features a great transition but both halves are strong. The chorus is strong and so is the instrumental to the second half. During the second half, Summrs performs some of the best vocals on the project. The seventh track “The Talk” is another great one. It is also very catchy and the beat is good. The verse is very good on it. The eighth track “Xanax/Burnt Memories” has excellent vocals. This track hosts my second favorite transition on the album. I really like the piano transitioning into the guitar. The ninth song is called “Til Death Do Us Part” and has a lot of wasted potential. The song is very great but it is brought down because the lyrics end a minute before the beat ends. The tenth song “If Ya Wanted 2 Know” is about Summrs’ love for his significant other. He talks about how she boosts his confidence, how they met, and their memories together.
The eleventh track “Top Off/House Arrest” is my favorite on the project. It is also one of the more popular ones as it had a TikTok trend associated with it. It features one of the best flows on the album, some of the best lyrics, and the best transition. I really enjoyed the instrumentals in both parts. I love the second half of the song. Summrs speaks about missing his brother, his grandma, and how people hate on him. The twelfth song is titled “Auntie Cat/How Dare You” and on it, Summrs pays respect to his aunt who passed away. He also mentions his issue with drug use and how he misses his grandma. I like the second half of this song more as I feel like it flows together better. The thirteenth track is titled “Martin & Gina” and it features “Autumn!” It is the most upbeat song on the album and it’s one of the most popular. Summrs does great on the chorus but the real standout is the verse by Autumn. Autumn makes every bar relate to a letter of the alphabet and it is a great verse. The fourteenth track is “Chasing Ur High” which features Summrs’ brother “Desire”. It is one of my favorites on the album, on it Summrs talks about his experience with love and how he’ll be the man his partner wants him to be when he proposes to her. Desire’s verse is good but the lyrics are generic and don’t add much to the song overall.
The 15th and final song titled “It’s Nothing/Spiritual Outro” means the most to me. The first half of the song isn’t anything too special and Summrs mostly uses generic rap lyrics talking about females and money, things of that sort. The beat is pretty chill for the first half of the song. The song really gets good once it transitions into the “Spiritual Outro” half of the song. The instruments sound really good as we get to hear a guitar which is common in newer Summrs songs but wasn’t that prevalent on this album. After the instrumental transitions, we hear Summrs talk about things about being in a dark hole, not knowing what would come with fame and addiction. We don’t always get to see this side of Summrs so being able to see a more vulnerable side of him really adds to this song and helps create a powerful outro.
If you know anything about Summrs you likely have heard the name “Brenda”. Brenda is the name of his now-deceased grandmother. Although it isn’t new to hear Summrs speak about Brenda this is the song where the lyrics resonate with me the most. I lost my grandma earlier this year and the lyrics are relatable to me because of it. When my grandma passed away I listened to this album from front to back multiple times that day and for days to come. Even though this song is so important to me I can’t listen to it without feeling sad so I don’t return to it often.
To people who don’t already listen to this genre, it may seem odd and like an untraditional emotional album. I love this album so much not just because of my connection to it but because you can listen to it no matter what mood you’re feeling. If you’re going through grief you can listen to “It’s Nothing/Spiritual Outro”, if you’re in love you can listen to “If Ya Wanted 2 Know”, and if you just want a fun track you can listen to “Martin & Gina”.
My Overall Thoughts:
“What We Didn’t Have” is one of my favorite Summrs albums. After Ghost and Stuck In My Ways were a bit disappointing I was really excited for this album to bring back the pluggnb elements which I love so much. I really love this album because when I was at a sad point in my life it made me happy. My overall favorite song on it is “Top Off/House Arrest” and my least favorite is “International”. This is my favorite album of 2023 and one of my favorites of the decade.
Individual Track Ratings:
Overdosing On Toxicity-8.7/10
The Healing-8.6/10
Rehab-8.9/10
Feel Dumb-9.4/10
International-8.3/10
Playin With Demon/Jokes On U-9.6/10
The Talk-8.6/10
Xanax/Burnt Memories-9.2/10
Til Death Do Us Part-8.9/10
If Ya Wanted 2 Know-8.9/10
Top Off/House Arrest-10/10
Auntie Cat/How Dare U-9.1/10
Martin & Gina w/Autumn!-9.0/10
Chasing Ur High w/Desire-9.6/10
It’s Nothing/Spiritual Outro-9.7/10
Average:9.1/10
All My Album Ratings:
Autumn!-##B4GC2 ##B4GC2: 8.2/10
Autumn!-Golden Child, Chapter 2: 8.6/10
DC The Don-Rebirth:8.9/10
Summrs-What We Didn’t Have:9.1/10
