Logic – "Supermarket" Review: The Painful Rock Experiment Nobody Asked For
- Daniel Rasul
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Quick Verdict
Logic's Supermarket is a 13-track rock and ska album released in 2019 as a companion soundtrack to his self-published novel of the same name. It has almost no rap on it. Logic, who was not a rock singer, decided to become one for an album that fans never asked for. Rolling Stone called it uniquely bad, bold yet bland, and a suite of vapid love songs. Pitchfork described it as a painful journey across guitar music of the past five decades. Album of the Year gave it a critic score of 33 — which may be the most generous major assessment it received. This is what happens when a rapper writes a novel and lets the novel win. Rating: 2/10.
At a Glance
Album Details
Table of Contents
Context: Where Supermarket Fits in Logic's Career
By 2019, Logic was already navigating a complicated critical reputation. His debut mixtape run had built him a passionate fanbase, but albums like Everybody and YSIV had left critics divided — too self-referential, too self-congratulatory, too convinced of his own importance. The announcement of Supermarket was met with confusion rather than anticipation: Logic had written a novel and was releasing a companion rock soundtrack, which practically nobody in his audience had requested. He had reportedly worked on the material from 2016 to 2019 — three years to produce an album that sounds like it was written in a weekend. The context of the album as a love letter to a woman he met in a supermarket during his divorce adds a personal dimension, but that personal dimension does not translate into musical quality. Logic's fanbase was expecting new rap. What they received was a genre experiment from a man with no demonstrated ability in the genre he was experimenting in.
Production and Sonic Landscape
The production on Supermarket is actually its least offensive element. The guitar-based arrangements are generally competent, and there are moments — particularly on DeLorean and the opening Bohemian Trapsody — where the sonic palette has a genuine mood. The problem is that Logic as a singer has no ability to match or elevate what the instrumentation is doing. Pitchfork accurately described the album as a painful journey across guitar music of the past five decades — not because the guitars are bad, but because the voice riding them makes every one of those five decades worse. The ska-influenced sections are genuinely unacceptable.
Sonic Identity
The album borrows liberally from decades of guitar rock without developing a coherent sonic identity of its own. You can hear elements of 1990s alternative rock, ska-punk, indie pop, and the occasional trap beat switch that reminds you this was made by a rapper. The chord progressions are simple to the point of being skeletal, and the song structures are minimalistic — not in a deliberate artistic way, but in a way that suggests limited compositional range. DeLorean is the exception: a night-drive instrumental mood that several listeners noted as the one track that works on its own terms.
Best Produced Tracks
Bohemian Trapsody opens the album with its most confident sonic statement — a track that blends trap elements with rock in a way that at least has structural energy. DeLorean is the album's most consistently praised track: its atmospheric, late-night production actually works as an instrumental mood piece. Both tracks hint at what an album built around a single, developed sonic idea might have accomplished.
Weakest Production Choices
Lemon Drop and I'm Probably Gonna Rock Your World are the production low points — meandering, tuneless, and structurally incoherent. The guitar solo midway through By the Bridge was singled out by multiple reviewers as physically uncomfortable to listen to. The ska sections scattered across the album are the most embarrassing moments: unacceptable is the word several critics reached for, and it holds.
Lyricism, Singing, and Delivery
Subject Matter and Themes
The album is largely a love letter to a woman Logic met at a supermarket during his divorce, which gives it a thematic focus it rarely earns musically. Several reviewers noted that the love songs tip into creepy rather than romantic — the title track's imagery about watching someone while they sleep, the obsessive grocery store stalking framed as charm, and the Baby rewrite of a Biz Markie classic into something that several critics described as incel-adjacent are all difficult to defend. Rolling Stone called it a suite of vapid love songs, which is perhaps the most efficient summary available.
Singing and Vocal Performance
Logic is not a singer. He has never been a singer. Supermarket requires him to sing for almost its entire runtime, and the results confirm that he should not have attempted it. His vocal performances are thin, frequently off-pitch, and — most critically — deeply earnest in a way that makes the bad moments worse. He is clearly trying. That sincerity, when matched to a skill set that cannot support it, produces something more uncomfortable than if he had been obviously joking. Reviewer after reviewer on Album of the Year and Rate Your Music asked the same question: why is he singing?
Best Lyrical / Vocal Moments
Bohemian Trapsody has the album's best vocal performance because it leans on Logic's rap delivery rather than his singing, and the trap-rock hybrid gives him something familiar to work with. The opening sections of Supermarket have moments of atmospheric vocal layering that reviewers occasionally cited as effective. These are the exceptions. The rest of the album's vocal content is at best mediocre and at worst genuinely painful, particularly on the ska-influenced sections where Logic attempts runs and slides he does not have the range to execute.
Track-by-Track Review
Best Songs on Supermarket
"Bohemian Trapsody"
The album's opening track is its only genuine standout. The trap-rock hybrid gives Logic something to work with that does not require him to sing for extended periods, and the production has structural energy the rest of the album cannot sustain. Background vocalists from Arkae Tuazon, Damian Lemar Hudson, Jairus Leon Gay, and John Lindahl add texture. It is the one moment where the stated concept — a rapper experimenting with rock — produces something worth hearing. That it is immediately followed by twelve increasingly disappointing tracks makes it more frustrating than satisfying.
"DeLorean"
A late-album atmospheric track that multiple reviewers cited as the one place where the production fully serves the mood Logic was going for. The night-drive energy is consistent, the chord progression is genuinely evocative, and Logic's vocal is restrained enough to avoid undermining it. If the album had more tracks in this vein and fewer ska-infused missteps, Supermarket might have been a curio rather than a disaster.
Weakest Moments
I'm Probably Gonna Rock Your World is the album's most embarrassing track — a ska-adjacent piece of musical torture that no amount of context can justify. Lemon Drop and By the Bridge follow closely. But the album's deeper weakness is structural: the majority of its thirteen tracks are guitar ballads with interchangeable chord progressions, minimal dynamic range, and no memorable melodies. Logic worked on this album for three years and produced something that sounds like a first draft written in a weekend. Rolling Stone's characterisation as uniquely bad is accurate in this sense — not aggressively terrible, but deeply mediocre in a way that is somehow worse given the effort reportedly invested.
Features and Guest Appearances
There are no traditional rap features on Supermarket. Several tracks include background vocal contributions from Arkae Tuazon, Damian Lemar Hudson, Jairus Leon Gay, and John Lindahl — credited on tracks including Bohemian Trapsody, Baby, and Time Machine. These background vocalists add texture in places but are not prominent enough to meaningfully alter the album's direction. The absence of any established artists willing to put their name on the project is itself a data point.
How Does Supermarket Compare to YSIV?
Logic's previous album YSIV (2018) was a return to boom-bap rap that received mixed reviews but was at least recognisable as a hip hop album by a rapper who could rap. It demonstrated craft, nostalgic appreciation for the genre's history, and occasional moments of genuine skill. Supermarket, by contrast, abandons everything Logic does well in favour of a genre he demonstrably cannot operate in. The step back in musical quality from YSIV to Supermarket is one of the more dramatic single-album drops on this list. It is a testament to how badly an album can go wrong when an artist mistakes ambition for ability.
Final Verdict and Rating
Supermarket earns its place on this list as the rare disaster that is also inexplicable. Kevin Federline's album made sense as a bad idea badly executed. Logic's Supermarket is a bad idea that was three years in the making, backed by a major label, released by a rapper with genuine prior success, and still managed to be a painful slog across genres Logic had no business singing in. Bohemian Trapsody and DeLorean prevent it from ranking lower. Everything else confirms that ambition without ability produces something worse than no ambition at all. Final Rating: 2/10.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Logic's Supermarket a good album?
No. Rolling Stone called it uniquely bad and bold yet bland. Pitchfork described it as a painful journey across guitar music of the past five decades. It received a critic score of 33 on Album of the Year, and fans who expected a rap album were uniformly disappointed. Only Bohemian Trapsody and DeLorean are worth revisiting.
What are the best songs on Supermarket?
Bohemian Trapsody is the album's clear standout and the only track where Logic's trap-rap background adds something valuable to the rock experiment. DeLorean is the second most praised track, with an atmospheric night-drive production that several reviewers cited as effective on its own terms.
Who produced Supermarket?
Logic (credited as Bobby Hall) handled the primary production on the album, working with various collaborators over a reported three-year period from 2016 to 2019. The album was released on Def Jam Recordings and Visionary Music Group.
Does Supermarket have any features?
There are no traditional rap features. Several tracks include background vocal contributions from Arkae Tuazon, Damian Lemar Hudson, Jairus Leon Gay, and John Lindahl, but no established artists are credited as features on the album.
How does Supermarket compare to Logic's previous album?
Logic's previous album YSIV (2018) was a boom-bap rap project with mixed reviews but clear connection to his strengths as an MC. Supermarket abandons rap almost entirely in favour of rock and ska — genres Logic cannot operate in. It represents one of the sharpest single-album creative drops on this list.
What is the rating for Supermarket?
Our rating for Supermarket is 2/10. The album's critic score on Album of the Year is 33. Rolling Stone and Pitchfork both gave it deeply negative reviews. Two points are awarded for Bohemian Trapsody and DeLorean, which are genuinely worth hearing. The rest is not.
References and Further Listening
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